This spring, Valley Art Center is pleased to present Intimate Regard, a retrospective of the work of Roger Anliker curated by Dr. Kirsten Jensen and Dale Roberts, on display from March 20 to April 29.

Intimate Regard celebrates the work of Akron native and CIA graduate Roger Anliker (1924–2013), an influential teacher and artist whose body of work is remarkable for its riveting subjects, technical virtuosity, evocative beauty, and incredible singularity. Anliker taught painting and drawing at the Carnegie Institute (Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh from 1948 to 1963, before assuming a position in the Department of Painting and Graphic Art at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, where he retired in 1998. Threaded throughout these five decades was a significant legacy of awards, including two Guggenheim Fellowships and important solo and group exhibitions nationwide and in Europe. His work appeared at venues such as the Whitney Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Musée d’art Moderne in Paris.

The twenty-four paintings in Intimate Regard, executed in watercolor, gouache, and encaustic, explore the early years of Anliker’s career. They reflect both the influence of artists such as Charles Burchfield and Frank Wilcox (both associated with the Cleveland School) and the emergence of Anliker’s unique artistic voice. While his early landscapes are more representational, paintings from the 1950s and ’60s hover in a liminal space between realism and abstraction, probing our understanding of the boundaries between them. Each work reveals the artist’s technical mastery as well as his ability to harness the power of color, shadow, and light to amplify the emotional and psychological of his subjects.

Also on display will be select works by Dale Roberts. Roberts is an award-winning encaustic painter and teacher residing near Philadelphia. A former student of Anliker, Dale functions as a caretaker for Roger’s work.

This June, VAC celebrates its 37th Annual Art by the Falls at Riverside Park in Chagrin Falls. The beloved annual outdoor art fest features approximately 120 local, regional, and national artists working in a huge variety of media. This year will be especially noteworthy as it is the kickoff for VAC’s 50th birthday celebration, a year-long series of activities and exhibits exploring the past, present, and future of the Chagrin Valley’s premier visual arts organization, with exhibits spotlighting the visionary founders, current students and faculty, and illustrious alumni.

 

SPRING CLASSES BEGIN | MONDAY, APRIL 13

INTIMATE REGARD | MARCH 20-APRIL 29
RECEPTION FRIDAY, MARCH 20

DALE ROBERTS ENCAUSTIC DEMO & TALK | 6-8PM FRIDAY, APRIL 3

37th ART BY THE FALLS | JUNE 6-7

 

VALLEY ART CENTER

155 Bell Street

Chagrin Falls, Ohio 44022

valleyartcenter.org

440.247.7507