Gallery IMA is pleased to announce the opening of La Recherché: 2007
by local artist Beth Adams, and Drypoints by Czech artist Emmanuel Ranny.

January 3 – February 3, 2008.
Opening Reception Thursday, January 3, 2008 6-8 pm.

La Recherché: 2007 is a mini-retrospective survey of paintings by Beth Adams. “After painting for over thirty years,” says Adams “I have found that the search is as important as ever. Never forgetting where I came from as it informs where I am going.” This idea is reflected in the importance of process and technique in her work; characterized by broad, gestural brush strokes and bold overlays of color.

Adams’ Black and White Zen Studies are matte-surface caligraphics painted Alla Prima (all at once) to reflect a single moment in time. Her Impasto paintings are lyrical abstractions, melding the palettes of Washington State and the Desert. She captures elusive moments as movements in color and space — scraping through layers reveal under painting, as though looking through a window into the past.

Beth Adams' abstract paintings have been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows at galleries in the United States and Canada, and at the "Artquake" exhibition juried by New York's Newsweek art critic, Peter Plagens. Beth's work has also been selected to appear in many invitational events including the San Francisco Art Commission's invitational-juried exhibition and the Bellevue Art Museum's invitational auction.

Emanuel Ranny, Drypoints, an accomplished Czech artist, presents an exploration of mark making using sensitive strokes- gently building mass, texture and negative space resulting in contemplative compositions vaguely reminiscent of a landscape. Groups of lines record both the artist’s individual experience and the collective wisdom of past generations. Ranny’s palate is restrained often using black ink on white paper or neutral tones.

Mr. Ranný’s work, which bears little resemblance to any other Czech artist, can be described as lyrical, meditative, and even fragile. He made his U.S. debut in 1996, and is displayed in Oregon’s Portland Art Museum, the National Gallery in Prague, and the Bavarian National Library in Munich. His work is also shown in the Institute for Art and Culture in Catania, Italy, and the Prefectural Gallery in Kanagawa, Japan.