“Night Moves,” a show featuring oil paintings, watercolor and photography depicting the mysteries of the night, opens Friday, Dec. 2, at Gallery 625 in downtown Woodland. It features the work of 12 artists from Davis, Woodland and the greater Sacramento region.
The show’s paintings capture the diverse moods of cityscapes, landscapes and dreamscapes around the world. Included are paintings by Bato Bostandzic, Matt Connors, Rhonda Egan, Joanne Jensen, Gene McKinnon, Larry Swanson and Alice West.
A variety of photography — including light trails, nightscapes and mesmerizing images of the night sky filled with stars — also is in the exhibition. Photographers are Susan Lord Bovey, Danielle Collins, Joseph Finkleman, Alan Fishleder and MaryAnn Owens.
Owens is a lifelong landscape photographer striving to “place the galactic heart of the Milky Way in a composition” and often is found working in remote, dark locations where she is more likely to “encounter more nocturnal wild beings than human beings.” Finding sharp camera focus in the dark is a continual challenge.
“Working to process a star composition on my computer monitor is the closest thing I’ve experienced to the past magic of watching a film image take shape in the liquid developer of the darkroom,” she says in her artist statement.
Bostandzic takes inspiration for his paintings from the tranquility of the night, a relaxing time of feeling “the velvet cloak of the night around my shoulders.” His paintings are static and sedentary, incorporating the movement of waves, clouds, rain and moonlight.
In addition to playing with shutter speed to capture striking images of light at night, Collins carefully considers how to make her photos a physical reality. She has been using a new process that infuses dyes directly into aluminum sheeting, resulting in prints on metal with “beautiful” luminescence.
“The print’s simplicity feels modern yet warm,” Collins says in her artist statement.
Bovey, a YoloArts board member, will host the exhibition’s opening reception, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2. It coincides with downtown Woodland’s First Friday Art Walk. Holiday music will be provided by Julie Dachtler playing the piano.
“Night Moves” runs through Jan. 31 at Gallery 625 in the County Administration Building, 625 Court St. in Woodland. Regular hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call YoloArts at 530-309-6464, or visit yoloarts.org
Bato Bostandzic, Night in the Open Sea, 2016, oil on canvas
