‘The Portal’ on North Main offers exhibit by the late Robert Perillat, along with wood sculptures by his son William
By Art Van Kraft for Ashland.news
An art exhibit featuring the paintings of Robert Perillat, who was one of America’s major contemporary artists, is on display at The Portal art gallery at 88 North Main St. in downtown Ashland. Perillat died in 1991 after four decades of producing hundreds of works.
Most are in storage, but the artist’s son, Ashland sculptor William Perillat, has created the exhibit of his father’s work and added a number of his own wood sculptures. Perillat says his sculptures represent 40 years of work and this is the first time they have been shown. He said it’s been a long wait.
“After 40 years, I wanted to have a solo show of my work. I wanted to expose Ashland to my concept of what wood sculpture should be. My earliest piece here is from 1982. It was simply a need to create these, I never for a moment made these sculptures to sell,” Perillat said.
“Since I was very young, I’ve seen the difference between art and the art world. It’s quite a gulf. The art world pertains to investment and name recognition. These are things that just came out of my need to create,” Perillat said. “I can redefine how wood is used as a sculptural medium. Sculpture should be very self-explanatory when you look at them.”
The Prize of Persius is one of Perillat’s favorites sculptures.
“In the myth Persisus looked at Medusa through a polished breastplate so he would meet her eyes and turn to stone. So I represent that with a bronze sliver, and the stone I represent by a piece of petrified wood. I borrowed a physicians 36-inch diamond saw to cut the petrified wood then polished it. I also added the name Medusa in ancient Greek,” he said.
Perillat said most of his father’s paintings on display at the gallery were made in Stinson Beach.
According to Robert Perillat’s web page, the artist spent seven years painting in Woodstock, then returned to his native California.
“I guess I am old enough to want to uncover the treasure for my own sake. I want the thing itself. The fame … the fortune … will come, I am sure, but it is only secondary to what I thirst for — the full birth of myself into the world as a true and complete artist,” Perillat said.
“It has been a long journey. No part of it do I regret and nothing of it has been wasted. I am profoundly thankful to life for giving me so much and above all, for moving me so deeply in so many, many ways,” he said.
The exhibit runs through Aug. 15.
Art Van Kraft is an artist living in Ashland and a former broadcast journalist and news director of a Los Angeles-area National Public Radio affiliate. Email him at artukraft@msn.com.
