Downhome and Dog Gone
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REVIEW
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by Kevin Nance
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Art doesn’t have to be serious. It can be playful, it can be silly, it can be fun. In “Downhome and Dog Gone,” Arts Connect’s delightful, light-hearted two-person show by painters Suzonne Hall Bunch and Sarah Spradlin now at Central Bank’s John G. Irvin Gallery, the artists eschew gloom and doom in favor of smiles, laughter and more warm fuzzy feelings than you’ll find in a month of Christmas movies this holiday season.
Bunch’s joyful, often hilarious images of dogs on vacation — nodding off on floaties or sipping cocktails poolside; surfing, snorkeling or parasailing; screaming with glee on log-flume rides at amusement parks — will have you giggling and guffawing at their giddy whimsy. In a pinch, Bunch’s work could be interpreted as a satire of humans at their simple pleasures, but I doubt that’s her intention. This is art for dog lovers, first and foremost, especially those who take special satisfaction in seeing |
their pets dressed up in cute outfits and the like. (Why not, assuming it doesn’t make Fido miserable?) It helps that Bunch’s acrylic painting technique is solid, her blue water dappled with light, her neon color choices perfect for her tropical settings. The chipper, punning titles — “Beach Break Bow Wow,” “Triple Dog Dare” and, my favorite, “Pup Pup and Away” — complete the overall merry effect.
Then there are Spradlin’s folksy, upbeat street scenes, which, while sometimes depicting run-down buildings and storefronts that have clearly seen better days, leave you optimistic about the world. At once nostalgic and timely, humble and utopian, this artist’s oil paintings might be advancing a vision of working-class communities living in harmony (and relative prosperity), but that’s probably overthinking it. Spradlin is just showing us how life once was and still might be in a multicultural future. In “Hide n Seek” and “Shotguns,” racially diverse neighbors seem completely at home, literally and figuratively, in their modest dwellings. In “Luncheonette,” folks of all genders, races and ages get along just fine as they enjoy their ice cream sundaes and mugs of coffee. And in “Pink House Rides Again,” this show’s masterpiece, a family goes about its chores (feeding the chickens, hanging the laundry) as if nothing else in the entire world could harm them. You want to be there, safe like them, pitching in. |
Beach Break Bow-Wow - Suzonne Hall Bunch
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Triple Dog Dare - Suzonne Hall Bunch
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Pup, Pup and Away - Suzonne Hall Bunch
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Hide n' Seek - Sarah Spradlin
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Pink House Rides Again - Sarah Spradlin
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Shotguns - Sarah Spradlin
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DOWN HOME AND DOG GONE at The Central Bank, John G Irvin Gallery, Mon-Friday 9am-4pm, Nov 15 - Jan 14 2025
