Rick Bartow: Bestiary
Past exhibition
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EV 4/6 on Hahnehmüle cotton paper
EV 4/6 on Hahnehmüle cotton paper
Rick Bartow
Salmon Boy, 2015
drypoint on white Hahnemühle rag paper
image 19 3/4 x 27 3/4 in
paper sizes were variable
paper sizes were variable
Edition of 6 plus 3 artist's proofs, and 2 printer's proofs
BAR2880
R. E. Bartow Trusts
$ 2,800.00
Published by Moon and Dog Press, master printer Seiichi Hiroshima, Tokyo for Rick Bartow. Paper size was variable throughout this edition, editioned #s where on handmade Japanese Mitsumata paper, PPs and APs were on handmade Japanese Kozo paper, some VEs were printed on handmade Hahnehmüle cotton paper. Context of this work: “Salmon Boy” is related to the many human/animal transformation works Bartow made throughout his life. Salmon are a force of life on Oregon's coast and the Columbia River and are held in the highest regard in most of the regions’ cultures. He depicted them often in drawing, painting, sculpture and prints. Salmon are tenacious and resilient, fighting great odds to spawn and reproduce… Rick talked about foolish pioneers and industrial fishers who thought they could eradicate predatory eels by poisoning the estuaries- only to discover that they had also killed the Salmon. He bemoaned the release of hybridized fish into the wild streams- “when you mess with nature things don’t often turn out right.” He presented us with images of salmon with human hands for fins and eyes where they did not belong. He spoke often about the interdependence of species- fly, salmon, bear, human. “Salmon Boy,” is the largest of the 25 drypoint prints he scratched during the Spring of 2015 and editioned with Seiichi Hiroshima. This is an homage to Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian man. Often he cited artists’ names or initials in titles, sometimes not. Bartow often made homage to artist peers and artists from the past- for example Claude Monet, Egon Schiele, Francis Bacon, Gustave Klimt, Fritz Scholder, Horst Janssen, Frank LaPena, Jim Lavadour, etc, etc. Joe Feddersen and he playfully bantered about whose fish-head works were better! He was a voracious reader and he always knew who he was quoting. He loved handmade Japanese papers- the more worm holes, crimps & folds or marks from another person or creature - the better. The chop identifying the collaborative work he printed with Hiroshima-san appears in the lower right corner- it is a dog jumping over the moon with a backwards R. Rick Bartow was born in December 1946 and passed away April 2, 2016, Newport, OR
Only one edition of this print, the VE #4 of 6 on Hahnehmüle is available. Unframed.
Exhibitions
2024 February, Winter Group Show, Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR.
2023 "What The Crow Knows," Solo Exhibition, Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR
2016 “Sparrow Song”, Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR
