Peculiar Portraits, Tattered Aesthetic, and Stop: Fifty Ways to a Better World exhibit opens

The work of Oklahoma artist John Hammer is on exhibit at the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center in Enid. The exhibition features selected works from three of Hammer’s themed series titled, Peculiar Portraits, Tattered Aesthetic, and Stop: Fifty Ways to a Better World. The curated exhibit will be on display at the Heritage Center during regular business hours from June 26th through August 21st.

“John Hammer’s work is bright, exciting, and full of character. And, he has the ability to both challenge and entertain you at the same time,” said Heritage Center Director Jake Krumwiede. “The wide range of colors in his work really make the painting jump off the wall. It’s an exhibit you won’t want to miss.”

The works displayed in this exhibit come from three separate themed series. Tattered Aesthetics explores subjects that are common to anyone that has driven down an old Oklahoma county road. They depict oil pumpjacks, derelict cars, and old forgotten buildings. All the subjects share a common theme of being lost to time.

“Peculiar Portrayals comes from a need I have to freely sketch with no pre-determined outcome. The portraits are first sketched in a small sketch book and then refined in a larger pencil sketch before screen prints, linocuts, paintings, sculpture, murals, or any other variety of art forms. The refined concept here is to display how one unique sketch idea can take on multiple identities just by changing the art form in which it’s rendered,” said Hammer.

The final series, Stop: Fifty Ways to a Better World, highlights the many different problems that plague society, that follow a distinct, unified theme.

The artwork on exhibit is available for purchase. Selected prints are also available. For more information, please call 580-237-1907 or visit www.csrhc.org.