Salem, Oregon – Portland artist G. Lewis Clevenger will exhibit “Moving On” in the Governor’s Office of the Capitol Building in Salem from May 26 to July 25.
Clevenger paints abstract compositions with bold colors and overlapping, softly geometric forms. To him, painting each piece is a give-and-take process that takes time: “The paintings develop as I ‘push’ the mark making and the canvas pushes back in response. The colors and composition shift and settle in as the painting progresses. My paintings develop and change daily.” The final works both reveal and hide these storied layers, inviting the viewer’s eye to return to the lines and colors again and again, searching for a meaning that is just out of reach.
Born in Roseburg, Clevenger attended the Pacific Northwest College of Art in the early 1970s. His work has been exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions throughout the Pacific Northwest, including at the Portland Art Museum, the Tacoma Art Museum and the Corvallis Arts Center. He was selected for the Oregon Biennial in 1982, 1999 and 2003, and received the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award in 2004. Clevenger’s work can be found in public collections such as the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University (Salem), the Portland Art Museum and the Meyer Memorial Trust (Portland). He is represented by Russo Lee Gallery (Portland), where additional works by Clevenger will be on view from June 6 to 29.
The Art in the Governor’s Office Program honors selected artists in Oregon with exhibitions in the reception area of the Governor’s Office in the State Capitol. Artists are nominated by a statewide committee of arts professionals who consider artists representing the breadth and diversity of artistic practice across Oregon, and are then selected by the Arts Commission with the participation of the Governor’s Office. Only professional, living Oregon artists are considered and an exhibit in the Governor’s office is regarded as a “once in a lifetime” honor. Artists whose work has previously been shown in the Governor’s office include Henk Pander, Michele Russo, Manuel Izquierdo, James Lavadour, Margot Thompson, Gordon Gilkey and Yuji Hiratsuka.
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The Oregon Arts Commission provides leadership, funding and arts programs through its grants, special initiatives and services. Nine commissioners, appointed by the Governor, determine arts needs and establish policies for public support of the arts. The Arts Commission became part of Business Oregon (formerly Oregon Economic and Community Development Department) in 1993, in recognition of the expanding role the arts play in the broader social, economic and educational arenas of Oregon communities. In 2003, the Oregon legislature moved the operations of the Oregon Cultural Trust to the Arts Commission, streamlining operations and making use of the Commission’s expertise in grantmaking, arts and cultural information and community cultural development.
The Arts Commission is supported with general funds appropriated by the Oregon legislature and with federal funds from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as funds from the Oregon Cultural Trust. More information about the Oregon Arts Commission is available online at: www.oregonartscommission.org.