IN THE EAST OREGONIAN GALLERY NOW:
Please join us for an Opening Reception
Thursday, February 9, 5:30-7:00pm

February 2 - 25, 2017

“An artist who is seeing international success is making the 7000 mile trip back to Pendleton in February to share photographic works that celebrate transformation and the retouching process.

Whitney Minthorn is a multi-media artist whose past work includes printmaking, beadwork and photography. His photographic works have been displayed throughout the nation including an exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. He has served as an official media team member for the United Nations World Conference on Indigenous Peoples in Norway and New York, capturing portraits during the historic event. 

These days he’s fascinated with using Photoshop as a tool to apply techniques that have been used in darkrooms since the beginning of photography in the eary 1800’s. He’s currently working as a high-end retoucher specializing in beauty, portrait and fashion. He spends a fair amount of time these days in Southeast Asia and his client list includes Đẹp, the Vietnamese editions of ELLE, Harper’s BAZAAR and L’Officiel, Men’s Health Magazine in China, Native Peoples Magazine and Samsung.

Instead of being focused solely on the finished product of his work, he’s fascinated by the process. “I build layers on top of a photo dodging and burning (lightening & darkening) small areas until light distribution on a photo becomes even and free of distractions,” he says. “I create an art piece by removing the base photograph leaving behind only dodge & burn layers which I then colorize.” 

Minthorn is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and works with and promotes Native models. He studied painting at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, NM USA as well as fashion and textiles at Cambridge Regional College in England, and holds a certificate in photography and digital manipulation from Oregon College of Art and Craft. 

In 2016 Minthorn was one of 34 artists selected by Portland2016 Biennial curator Michelle Grabner for an exhibit at one of the project’s 25 partner venues. The Biennial was considered the largest and most comprehensive survey of Oregon art ever. 

In conjunction with the main exhibit, painting by Mark Thompson will be on display in the Arts Center’s Lorenzen Board Room Gallery. 

Both exhibits are supported by Cayuse Technologies with additional funding from the Wildhorse Foundation. The gallery is open Tuesday through Fridays, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm and Saturday, noon – 4:00 pm and admission is free to the general public. For more information, contact the Pendleton Center for the Arts at 541-278-9201”

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www.pendletonarts.org