THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 11, 1994 TAG: 9412080186
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Mary Ellen Riddle
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
The creative spirit soars as the ``International Icarus '94'' art show unfolds in two Outer Banks galleries this month.
At the risk of drowning in a sea of metaphors - not unlike the show's namesake, a mythological figure who plunged to his death after flying too close to the sun - ``International Icarus '94'' is uplifting.
``Winged Messengers,'' the theme of this year's show, is the second of 10 annual Icarus exhibitions that will culminate in 2003 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the First Flight.
Splitting the show between The Ghost Fleet Gallery and Seaside Art Gallery - both in Nags Head - allows for more work and unlimited size restrictions.
An artist from Minnesota has already called to request a forklift for a performance piece that will be videotaped for the show. And, ``We got a rooster all the way from El Cajon, California,'' said co-host and artist Glenn Eure.
While it is not unusual for the idea of an inspirational show to pop up in Dare County - especially in the mind of Eure - and not particularly unusual for it to focus on the First Flight anniversary, it is rare to find a show that is already funded for its duration.
More than 17 contributors have made a commitment for the decade, the largest being $50,000 pledged this year by a Washington, D.C.-based air freight association.
Last year's show was a nip-and-tuck scenario, said Icarus show committee member Denver Lindley. ``We came out a few dollars behind. It was very close,'' he said.
The D.C. donation has made it possible for the show to offer high dollar awards, a definite lure to artists around the globe.
But from looking at the work, the theme may be the true calling card.
Artists from 19 states and Israel have contributed visual, performing and literary art - varied interpretations of ``Winged Messengers'' - that range from the literal to the metaphysical, from the simple down-to-earth to the complex and heady.
Both galleries are overflowing with tributes to flight, real and fancied. A multi-colored rooster lights on a window sill, ready to sing revelry to a blanketed form in a distant room. A video flickers computer art with a single guitar meting out a percussive jazz-like score.
Bending to the earth is a carved raven with a remarkably lifelike coat and a clever title, ``N.E.W.S: Nature's Early Warning System.'' In ``Release of Autumn,'' colorful butterflies and leaves swirl dream-like from a glass jar - pure poetry. ``121,'' a black-and-white photograph, captures long lines of birds perching on double high wires.
Golden angels with black faces pay homage to one artist's heritage and spirituality. A yellow biplane soars across an oil-painted landscape. And on a park bench, an elderly man sits, melancholy, as pigeons fly against his pain.
``The theme has released a lot of the artists and given them impetus to stretch,'' Lindley said.
Show co-host Pat Eure said she was fascinated that the artists could create so much diversity from a single theme. ``Well, we have a flying chair, pterodactyl, garden plow, beets, flying fish, angels,'' she said.
``And a bomber plane laying a line of napalm in the jungle as a winged messenger,'' added Glenn Eure.
``It has really taken on a whole new meaning,'' said Seaside Art Gallery co-owner and show committee member Melanie Smith. ``I would have expected cupids, Pegasus and Mercury, but no.''
There is also a children's category, no less powerful or diverse than the adult works. ``I think the children's artwork is truly exceptional,'' show chairwoman Barbara White said. ``It's a great balance.''
``International Icarus '94'' will run through December with the awards ceremony and reception scheduled for Friday. While the show, with an annually changing theme, will be offered through 2003, Lindley says it could live on beyond then. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY ELLEN RIDDLE
Artistic celebrations of flight surround Denver Lindley as he
watches a video in the International Icarus '94 show.
WHAT & WHEN
What: International Icarus '94
When: Through Dec. 31
Where: Ghost Fleet Gallery and Seaside Art Gallery, both in Nags
head.
Also: Reception and awards ceremony, 7-9 p.m. Friday at both
galleries.
by CNB