Speaker For Monday, April 1, 2013 - Scott Shields
Scott A. Shields, chief Curator and Associate Director at the Crocker Art Museum is our featured speaker on Monday, April 1st. Scott has made a major contribution to the Sacramento community in his compiling and editing the beautiful hard bound catalogue featuring the 70 pieces of Gregory Kondos art now on exhibit at the Crocker. The name A Touch of Blue was chosen by Kondos who had long wanted a book to be published of his life’s work. In pulling together images for the publication, the reality of the exhibit was born. Planning started 3 years ago, and the real celebration of this effort comes to a high crescendo on Tuesday, April 2, Kondos 90th birthday.
Shield’s formal education in art history was obtained at the University of Kansas where he completed both his MA and PhD in art history. But the early reality of the love of landscapes probably occurred much earlier in Scott’s youth where he was raised on a farm on Nebraska. His father had a herd of cows. Since the Crocker has expanded into its beautiful new galleries, exhibits of extensive size and quality have been possible on a scale not previously experienced in Sacramento. As the curator, Shields has brought considerable recognition to our community by taking the lead in producing and writing for such major exhibits. The recent Norman Rockwell exhibit put Sacramento in the league with major galleries in other metropolitan areas.
Shield’s has a well-established friendship with featured artist Greg Kondos, such that writing about this painter’s life and accomplishments came together with a freshness that is characterized in the many landscapes. As a teacher Kondos has often said I can’t teach you how to paint but I can teach how to see. This important book, certain to be a major reference, is a vital documentation of the way Kondos has used color and shape to get the feel of the land and the water. Much of the work depicts areas along the Sacramento River, Tahoe, Yosemite, the Napa Valley and some costal scenes. Such is a legacy and interpretation of where we live, work and play. Other works reflect visits to Greece and France, locations where light lends a different interpretation to the landscape. All these variations are worth exploring, and we appreciate having a local writer, Scott Shields who has been so successful in this documentation. Our region is so open to discovery, and sometimes it is through the eyes of the painter that we gain new perspective on our own region.