"Interpretive Landscapes" -Bob Chadwick- January 30- March 11, 2010

Interpretive Landscapes:
Through the Lens of Photographer, Robert Chadwick

The Jerome Artists Cooperative Gallery will feature the works of southwest photographer Robert Chadwick in a six week exhibition, opening on Saturday, January 30th, 2010. Chadwick and his fellow artists will welcome the public during extended hours of 5 to 8 pm. Known locally for his expert tips on hiking both nearby and far-flung areas of northern Arizona and southern Utah, ‘Bob’ promises interesting discussion for photographers, artists, geologists and area visitors.

Robert Chadwick has had a camera in his hands since his teens and has often put it to good use in his life- during an Army tour in the Middle East, as journalism teacher and unofficial photographer for his high school sports teams, music and dance ensembles, and play productions, directed by his wife, Dee, but it was the advent of digital photography, coupled with a move from Montana to Flagstaff, Arizona, 26 years ago that turned the life-long ‘cameraman’ into an artist.

After applying his teaching/counseling skills at Flagstaff High School for two decades where he and Dee worked side by side, the couple chose the Village of Oak Creek as a retirement locale, leaving the pines and mountain slopes behind in 2003 to build a new home in the shadows of the towering cliffs of Red Rock Country.

The new retiree lost no time pursuing two of his favorite interests: tennis and hiking the local trails, always with camera in hand. Often accompanied by his best friend and 4- footed hiking partner, Woody, and armed with an ever-expanding knowledge and interest in geological forms, the artist photographed the vast land and skyscapes, hidden pools and secreted canyons of ancient embedded cultures while simultaneously studying the formal elements of landscape photography and painting along the way.

Chadwick’s fascination with the geology of the southwest and continuing passion for photography turned to professional endeavor when he was accepted 5 years ago as a member-artist at the internationally known Jerome Artists Cooperative Gallery. His eye-catching vistas of red rock and turquoise sky accented by reflected water, delicate spring wildflowers and drifts of winter snow on cactus have subsequently found homes far and wide in the US and beyond. The artist’s work is currently displayed at the Jerome Co-op and at the Village Gallery of Local Artists in the Village of Oak Creek, Sedona.

Among the artist’s most memorable adventures are his early exploratory trips through the expansive northern plateau of Arizona and beyond. Often in the company of knowledgeable friends and armed with a desire to explore new regions, a long time interest in geology and his ever-present camera and film, he ‘discovered’ and photographed such wild areas as the Grand Escalante Staircase in the Glen Canyon Recreation Area, the Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness Area and the Paria Plateau before these sites were designated as treasures by federal authorization.

Most recently, the artist has begun to re-focus his lens to search within the larger landscape- in a sense, to extract and showcase the ‘abstract’ elements that create line, color, texture, and geometric form in a rock overhang, a mineral-stained cliff, or an undulating slickrock surface. Always fascinated by a silent reflecting pool, his work also explores the impressionistic effects water produces on these shimmering surfaces. To those ends, Chadwick has been busily creating a completely new body of work based on a more analytical photographic interpretation of the natural elements which surround us and which he has come to know so intimately. It is this collection of ‘reinvented’ landscapes that will form the core of his upcoming 6 week exhibition as the Jerome Artists Cooperative Gallery featured artist.

"Interpretive Landscapes" opens January 30th, 2010 5-8 pm in the old Hotel Jerome,

502 Main St., Jerome, AZ. 928-639-4276
http://www.jeromecoop.com/ jacooperative@qwest.net