James Harris Gallery | Adam Sorensen "Honey from the Sky, Yoghurt from the Mountaintop"

Adam Sorensen "Honey from the Sky, Yoghurt from the Mountaintop"

May 3, 2012—June 2, 2012 | Reception Thursday, May 3rd, 6-8PM

James Harris Gallery is pleased to present Honey from the Sky, Yogurt from the Mountaintop, our third exhibition of paintings by Portland artist Adam Sorensen. Sorensen continues to bring new perspectives to the Romantic landscape as he considers humanity’s contemporary relationship with the natural world. What was once the voyage of the painter to the fringes of civilization to depict the landscape’s unmatched power and grandeur must now be imbued with a conversation about depletion. The exhibition’s title, Honey from the Sky, Yogurt from the Mountaintop, references modern attitudes regarding the ideal, pointing to the excess that often overtakes an appreciation of pure natural substances, such as water. The acidic blaze of color in Sorensen’s landscapes presents this dichotomy by artificially rendering nature sublime, a metaphor for desire and the liminality of the real and imagined in the spectacle of modern life.

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“Landscape painting affords me a wealth of tradition and influence, and provides a platform that seems familiar and recognizable. 19th century romanticism, Japanese woodblock prints, and Abstract expressionism all factor into my works vocabulary. I work primarily in a reactive sense. A certain rock may lead to another, which in turn may lead to a specific tree. The scenes I end up composing, function as both utopian and eerily post-apocalyptic. Both of which can be seen metaphorically as social concerns in contemporary life. By inviting the viewer in visually, I ask them to recall where we have been, explore where we are now, and confront where we may be headed.” - Adam Sorensen

Adam Sorensen lives and works in Portland, OR. He had a solo show of his work at the Portland Art Museum in 2011, and shows extensively around Portland and Seattle. The artist has work in the collection of the Boise Art Museum, Seattle University, Portland Art Museum, Progressive Corporation among others. His paintings have been shown nationally.