Artists take flight in Durham exhibit

Birds are singing, chirping and flying overhead as people walk around downtown Durham on the way to see the Craven Allen Gallery’s summer exhibit exploring the idea of flight in everyday life.

Durham and Chapel Hill artists alike flutter in to show their work in the gallery’s latest exhibit called“FLIGHT: A Group Exhibition Featuring Nine Outstanding Artists.”

“FLIGHT” will be on display until Sept. 14. A closing reception with an Artists’ Talk will be held on Friday, Sept. 13, as well.

Kathryn DeMarco, the gallery director and an artist in the exhibit, said the idea for “FLIGHT” started as a liberal interpretation of space, birds and butterflies.

“It started with my work with birds, and then expanded into other artists,” she said.

DeMarco and gallery owner John Bloedorn then began to look for artists in Durham and Chapel Hill who would work with the open interpretation of flight to create their own pieces for the exhibit.

For a gallery that doesn’t normally have a lot of group exhibits, getting nine artists together gave the space more exposure and interest, DeMarco said.

Artists featured in the exhibit include Harriet Bellows, Kathryn DeMarco, Larry Downing, Bryant Holsenbeck, Paul Hrusovsky, Cathy Kiffney, Jean LeCluyse, Luna Lee Ray and Matt Tomko.

The decision to include artists from both Chapel Hill and Durham was made by DeMarco, a Durham native. And from this starting point, the exhibit ended up including a variety of art styles, as well as many thought-provoking parts, she said.

One of the Chapel Hill artists featured in the exhibit is Jean LeCluyse, whose graphite drawings have to do with birds in various stages of flight.

“The interpretation of flight was pretty literal in my case,” LeCluyse said.

She also said she appreciated the opportunity to share the pieces with a new audience.

“I primarily show my work in Chapel Hill, so getting to show my work in Durham for a change was great,” LeCluyse said.

Carrboro-based artist http://cravenallengallery.com/artist-list/flight/Luna Lee Ray, a mixed-media painter, was also among those artists who enjoyed the chance to show her work in Durham.

Ray paints crows to challenge the traditional negative views associated with the birds by looking into their historic symbolism.

With nine different artists from the Triangle, mixed media and art in all different shapes and sizes, the variety in this exhibit is what makes it so unique.

LeCluyse said she hopes people will enjoy looking at art and that this exhibit will inspire conversations and new ways of thinking about flight.

“In addition, I hope more people from Chapel Hill will view exhibits in Durham and that more people from Durham will view exhibits in Chapel Hill to have their art seen,” she said.

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