Exposures International Gallery, Sedona, AZ
October 8-10
Rebecca Tobey, Eros, bronze, 5 x 6 x 3 (left). Philia, bronze, 4 x 6 x 3 (right).
For many years, Santa Fe artist Rebecca Tobey and her late husband Gene Tobey collaborated to create their signature animal sculpture. Meanwhile, another member of the family was also fulfilling her artistic dreams—Rebecca’s stepdaughter Jami Tobey, a West Coast painter of bold, bright, expressionistic landscapes. Rebecca and Jami first showed their work together in Palm Springs, CA, and Jami later joined the roster at Exposures International Gallery in Sedona, AZ, where Gene and Rebecca had been represented for years.
Jami Tobey, Deep in the Canyon, acrylic/ink, 10 x 10.
This October, Rebecca and Jami are part of a 25-artist showcase celebrating Exposures International Gallery’s 25th anniversary, and both artists are looking forward to exhibiting new work. For Rebecca, it’s an ongoing navigation of life and art after her husband’s passing in 2006. “I continue to evolve as time passes, and I think my work reflects more of my own thought process,” she says. “Gene was very drawn to Native American iconography and imagery, which the work reflected when we were collaborating. My work is tied more to the animals and the Rocky Mountains where I live in New Mexico.”
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- Rebecca Tobey, Spirit Bear, bronze, 7 x 11 x 3.
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- Rebecca Tobey, Marco Polo, bronze, 4 x 4 x 2.
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- Rebecca Tobey, High Noon, bronze, 13 x 10 x 10.
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- Rebecca Tobey, Emergence, ceramic, 14 x 17 x 7.
Rebecca presents bronzes and jewelry created with her late husband as well as her current paintings, bronzes, and ceramic sculptures, including four new bronzes ranging from 7 to 17 feet high. Much of this work, created in 2021, explores the theme of finding meaning and a path forward in the midst of the devastation and isolation of the pandemic. For example, her ceramic piece EMERGENCE includes etched images of animals and people running from the back of the animal— where deep blues and twinkling stars suggest nighttime—toward the front, which includes the rising sun. “This piece explores the way the whole world has felt during the pandemic—a need to run from the darkness of this terrible plague into the light of a new dawn,” Rebecca says.
Jami brings to the gallery her signature acrylic-and-ink desert landscapes that pop with color. Alive with movement and rhythm, these pieces are full of swirling clouds and textured hillsides. Skies and rivers get in on the act, too, vibrating with stylized patterns. The artist is particularly excited to share a new subject: “I’m really into my canyon pieces right now,” she says. “I love the change of perspective and the detail work. The clouds are getting more involved and intense, and the landscape is becoming more refined and defined.”
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- Jami Tobey, The Mesa, acrylic/ink, 12 x 12.
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- Jami Tobey, Rolling Clouds, Rolling Hills, acrylic/ink, 10 x 10.
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- Jami Tobey, Grand Canyon, acrylic, 10 x 10.
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- Jami Tobey, Dusk Falls, acrylic/ink, 12 x 12.
That detail is something her stepmother notices as well. “Jami’s work has an element of the sgraffito drawings that Gene’s and my collaboration is known for,” Rebecca observes. “She goes back into her compositions and adds linear and circular patterns for embellishment, as I do with my linear sgraffito drawings etched on my sculptures.” For the Tobeys, it seems some artistic tendencies are a family affair. –Allison Malafronte
contact information
928.282.1125
www.exposuresfineart.com