Diehl gallery hosts annual summer kickoff
June 30, 2021 - Siena Rush
One summer evening, every summer for 17 years and counting, the Diehl Gallery hosts a fête, or as the gallery describes it an “annual feast for the eyes.”
“The Fête is a party — it’s our annual celebration of summer and the kickoff of the art season in Jackson,” Diehl said. “It’s a time for us to reconnect with long-time collectors and of course meet new ones. It’s become a tradition and is known as a lively, festive event.”
The gallery contains a congregation of contemporary Western works, often tethered by what Diehl calls “a thread of organic flavor throughout.”
“We’ve received so many stunning pieces this summer,” Diehl said. “I am gobsmacked by Jonathan Smith’s photo, ‘Stream #41.’”
Smith, a photographer living in Brooklyn, is an exemplar of that organic thread Diehl mentions. “Stream #41” captures an unyielding and serene spaciousness, even emptiness which marks much of Smith’s work.
Smith roamed the less-traveled roads in the northernmost parts of Iceland seeking what he calls the “primordial” winter vistas of the fjords. The Fête features three of the resulting photographs.
“I was standing in front of this gigantic waterfall, and I just had this feeling; I am such a tiny, tiny little speck on the Earth, just sort of passing through this space,” Smith said. “My artwork is about the personal experience of being in the landscape … a landscape which has existed for thousands and thousands and thousands of years.”
Stark lines of water carving through pristine glacial ice define Smith’s photographs, often captured with long-exposure lenses which lend a velvet texture and illusory quality to the work.
Other pieces in the exhibition diverge from the crisp simplicity of Smith’s photographs. Hung Liu’s work brims with texture, and dusky, dripping color. Liu is best known for her mixed-media paintings, derived from photographs taken throughout Chinese history. Diehl described “Flower Girl II” as “ethereal and haunting in its beauty.”
Via email, Diehl mentioned a few other favorites featured in the exhibition.
“The rich, luscious color and movement in Jeremy Houghton’s ‘Be Still My Beating Heart’ ” — an oil painting filled with avian silhouettes — “gives me joy,” Diehl wrote. “And I love Miya Ando’s ‘Tasogare 2.4’” — a metallic sculpture that mimics a landscape — “which shimmers and begs the question about how it’s made.”
The Fête celebrates just shy of 80 works created by 22 of Diehl’s artists. The Fête, like all of Diehl’s exhibitions, benefits nonprofit organizations, in this case the Grand Teton Music Festival.
“We have partnered with the Grand Teton Music Festival in the past, and they are a vibrant, important part of our community, and they’re also kicking off their summer season,” Diehl said. “We’re very excited to have a string quartet from the Grand Teton Music Festival joining us this year to play for our guests. It should be a beautiful evening.”
The gallery hosts the Fête on Thursday, July 1 between 5 and 8 p.m. with food and drinks for guests to enjoy. The art in the exhibition remains on display until July 12.
During the pandemic the gallery suspended in-person events in favor of virtual exhibitions. Now, with a fully vaccinated staff, the Diehl gallery welcomes back visitors, with or without a mask.
“We are excited to again share discussions about art, visit in person and renew all of the interactions we’ve so painfully missed over the past year,” Diehl said. “This year’s Fête truly is a celebration on so many levels.”