New oil paintings
James Lavadour is renowned for his expressionist paintings based on familiar and abstract landscapes. In addition to the earthen formations, recurring motifs for Lavadour include flame, fume and mist. Mr. Lavadour's dominant palette of primary and secondary colors, coupled with his gestural brushstrokes, evoke a sense of energy, whether paced or surging.
James Lavadour is one of the Northwest's most revered painters. He will be included in a major exhibition at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of the American Indian in New York in spring 2007. Lavadour is the recipient of numerable awards and accolades, including the Eiteljorg Fellowship (2005), Award for Visual Arts from the Flintridge Foundation (2004), Oregon Governor's Arts Award (1994), and the Betty Bowen Award (1991), among many others. Lavadour's work is in the collections of the Portland Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, Boise Art Museum, the MicroSoft Collection and other respected public and private collections. James Lavadour is also one of the founding members of Crow's Shadow Institute for the Arts on the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Oregon.
Sun Spots is part of the body of paintings that I began in 2000 that were made of simple landscape and architectural under-paintings. After six years both structures have moved from the surface to the background to the surface again in intersecting and rippling layers and patterns. It still adds up to landscape and interiors but the surface of the paining has exploded into time and space. Every painting talks about some ancient thing that is as old as ground we walk on and connects us all in a shared existence.
- James Lavadour, July 2006
