‘Til Death Do Us Art will feature the artwork of Kurt Fishback and Cassandra Reeves in an exhibition of drawings, ceramic sculpture and mixed media collages. The show opens March 3 at YoloArts’ Gallery 625 in Woodland.
Fishback and Reeves, Antelope residents, represent an art legacy spanning over 50 years.
Fishback began a career in fine art in 1964 as a ceramic artist involved with the “Funk Art Movement” – the UC Davis art movement inspired by professors Robert Arneson, William Wiley, Manuel Neri, Roy Deforest and James Melchert.
“Making sculpture with clay gave me the highest visibility and through the 60’s my focus shifted from the craft of utilitarian pottery to fine art sculpture,” Fishback recently said.
His work has been included in major exhibitions and collections in the U.S. and internationally. This exhibition will feature sculptures Fishback made beginning in the 1960’s. Since 1979, Fishback’s fine art focus has been making portraits of artists in their studios and “most personal spaces” and has gained him visibility and recognition having photographed over three hundred artists to “produce images that share themselves, their art, art and their environment” with the viewer. ‘Til Death Do Us Art will also showcase drawings by Fishback, all made over the last four years using a mix of pencils, pens, and brush mediums on acid-free paper.
Reeves is a singer, energy healer, shamanic practitioner as well as an artist. She studied at Cal State Stanislaus where she received a B.A. in Fine Art and Anthropology. Her background in shamanism and healing work is evident in all of her work – from collage to simple landscapes.
“I love the inspiration that can come from an object or image. To me, my role as an artist is to bring that story to the viewer in an aesthetically pleasing way, and also in a way that one can discover it for oneself,” according to Reeves’ artist statement.
Fishback and Reeves are married, each with their own studios in a “upstairs – downstairs” situation. They work separately, and sometimes bounce ideas off one another, and while they are not always inspired the same, they both “appreciate well made art of all kinds.”
‘Til Death Do Us Art opens March 2 and continues through April 4. A meet the artist reception is planned for 5:30 – 8 p.m. Friday, March 3, during the downtown Woodland First Friday Art Walk. Singer-songwriter Michael B. Justis of Davis will be performing Folk Blue music during the reception.
Gallery 625 is located at 625 Court Street in Woodland, in Yolo County’s Erwin Meier Administration building and is open Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., and by appointment. For more information contact YoloArts at 530-309-6464.Prepared by Carol Souza Cole, consultant.