Coos Bay, OR - Coos Art Museum presents Garden Conversation a solo show of acrylic paintings by Northern California artist Leslie Kenneth Price, April 22 through June 25, 2016. The opening reception is Friday April 22 from 5 to 7pm and coincides with the opening of Expressions West 2016 the Museum’s painting competition for artists from the western states and juried by Mr. Price.
A retired Humboldt State University painting professor, Leslie Kenneth Price uses acrylic paint on wood panels to create layers and transparent planes of color. Price’s work is deeply influenced by Zen Buddhism and by Jazz music. A practitioner of Zen meditation his work is informed by the impermanence of nature. Jazz is full of complex rhythms, melodies, and improvisation, one can find the visual equivalent in Price’s work. He grew up listening to his father play saxophone in a Jazz band, and since early childhood has been influenced by music. While painting, Price frequently makes artistic decisions in the moment rather than methodically planning each stroke of the brush. “My aim is to make a painting that is dynamic and meditative simultaneously, which is similar to my experience of the source material.”
After attending the High School of the Arts in Manhattan and later earning an art degree at The Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, Price moved to Oakland, California in 1971 to attend graduate school at Mills College. Then followed a thirty year teaching career at Humboldt State in Arcata, California. Among his solo exhibitions are: Piante Gallery, Eureka, California; Kimpton Gallery, San Francisco, California; and Morris Graves Museum, Eureka, California. He has participated in group exhibitions at: Edward Hopper Art Center, Nyack, New York; Museum of African Diaspora, San Francisco, California; and DiCirico Museum, Volos, Greece.
Coos Art Museum has been a cultural focal point of Oregon’s scenic Southern Coast since 1966. It occupies the historic 1936 Art Deco US Federal Building in downtown Coos Bay. The Museum offers a wide range of arts activities including exhibitions, art classes and lectures. Hours are 10:00am to 4:00pm, Tuesday through Friday and 1:00 to 4:00 pm on Saturday. Museum admission: $5 general, $2 students, veterans and seniors, free to Museum members.
