THE GREAT ESCAPE — an invitational exhibition

celebrating 25 years of Blue Gallery

First Friday November 7, 11 AM – 7 PM

Exhibition runs through November 29th, 2025

Studio Above is a studio space with 5 working artists and one space for guest artists. Nancy Clay, Vanessa Lacy, Noelle Stoffel, William Rose and Jackie Warren are joined by Guest Artists Space — Perennial Places.

Visitors can view all different styles of work and visit with the artists during First Fridays.

Printmaker and painter Craig Allen Subler tackles the genre of still life with a new series inspired by the compositions of 16th century painter Juan Sánchez Cotán. Subler’s examination of the elements of form, space, and time are conducted through his exploration into new methods of printmaking using digital technology.

“As a pictorial genre I have until recently avoided creating still-life, perhaps mistakenly thinking it was too easy a genre. Then I began studying the 1600 century works by the Spanish artist Juan Sánchez Cotán, and these paintings were a revelation to me. I approached them not as realistic renderings, but as complex abstract compositions. The spareness of his design and the minimal space was unmistakably modern to me. Though his melons and vegetables exist in isolation on a black field they are engaged in a visual conversation with each other that invites the viewer to look deeper and contemplate these relationships. It is precisely this interplay between and among the damaged fruits in my works that evoke the inevitable processes of time and the unfolding awareness of climate change affecting our shared future.

The title is a metaphor that alludes to several related issues in my work: to my looking over the table to the long history of still-lifes and particularly the stark geometry of Cotán; to my exploration with elements of form, space, and time in image making; and to my interests in process and new ways of printmaking which uses digital technology.

For me, exploring still-life provided an opportunity to engage with a subject matter that was less controversial. Having recently completed a portfolio of 35 prints focused on the Hiroshima bombing, I welcomed the diversion when the pandemic began. The resulting isolation prompted me to seek a subject matter I had not tackled before, subject matter that could subtly reflect the profound tragedy occurring beyond the studio walls.”

“States of discovery are awkward and exhilarating and vital. Horsing around with fluidity and air, I came upon these expressions. These new paintings trace the feeling of standing inside color and space – where energy, light, and memory converge.”

Jane Booth built her studio on the rural Kansas prairie sited to overlook the landscape and sky that inspire her. Booth paints from the inside out, from her meditation of life experiences then out, through the physical activity of pouring, pushing, and brushing paint. Her painting begins with raw canvas on the floor of her studio or outside on the concrete, where paint and water can be poured, pooled, and pushed with a broom. The atmosphere of the painting begins with color, vast and saturated or thinned and fog like. A calligraphy of gesture akin to dance informs the composition. Only later, once the canvas is up on the wall, do gestures and forms emerge evolving in conversation forming a visual language that is Booth’s alone. Large scale paintings are the norm for Booth often ranging upward of 15′.

Jane Booth’s paintings are in public collections throughout the country including: Kansas University Hospital, Kansas City, MO; Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Cisco Systems, H& R Block World Headquarters and Hilton Hotels, as well as the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO.

Join us for our November First Friday! Since it was a well received show, we have extended The Edge of Your Field: DeAnna Skedel’s exhibition until the end of November now. We also will be having a small group exhibition composed of the resident artists (featuring Tj Templeton, Jana Duca, Wes Casey, Anna Marten, and more) here at the Bunker Center for the Arts as well!

Starts at 5pm and we’ll be around until 9pm!