Prestigious Lark Books goes straight to the dogs

Last year, Thames & Hudson published an endearing little book called David Hockney’s Dog Days. In the preface, the famed ‘60s pop artist writes: “I make no apologies for the apparent subject matter. These two dear little creatures [a pair of dachshunds] are my friends. They are intelligent, loving, comical, and often bored. They watch me work; I notice the warm shapes they make together, their sadness and delights.”

Local Lark Books employees have taken a page from Hockney’s book to honor their own companions, past and present. Parental-like pride is given unabashed vent: Dana Irwin shows irresistible little portraits of her cream-colored dog in his blue wing chair. Bernadette Wolfe presents a tiny portrait of her sheltie with a card above the painting proclaiming the dog’s agility-contest championship.

Unsurprisingly for Asheville, most of the featured creatures are dogs. But media, approach and style are varied. They reflect the personality of the artists, but better than that, the personality of the animals being portrayed. Kristi Pfeffer’s mixed-media “Throw the Ball” groups the repeatedly written title phrase with Polaroids of a totally obsessed dog, an orange ball perched on a small shelf attached to the center of the piece. An abstracted black-and-white dog floats among the moon and stars in John Widman’s “Lepus Major,” and Ursula Gullow has painted a parking lot with cars, pedestrians, billboards and a row of different dogs: some howling, some just standing around as dogs are apt to do. Kate Condon’s “Corgi in Charge of the Garden” is carefully rendered, as is Robin Hanes’ “Road Dog.” This painting gives you a tight feeling in your chest—a circle of red car grills encloses another circle of birds flying through a vibrant blue sky. A square inside the two bright bands of color shows tall dead grass, a section of yellow striped highway, and a black dog making his way toward certain doom.

Bill Emory’s beautiful black-and-white photograph, “Rob-Irene Town Creek,” lifts the mood—it captures the genuine respect and joy in the relationship between a woman and her dog. Another memorable photo is Aaron Tucker’s sensitive portrait of a young pointer, her foot lifted in a tentative pose.

Shannon Yokeley plays with the idea of positive and negative space in her “Equi.” The monoprint shows two frieze-like bands of horses in motion. Fabric-wrapped blocks presented by Nathalie Mornu are embroidered with animals she, in all probability, never owned: A snail is coupled with a light bulb, an ostrich with a crown, and an ornate sequined fish with a bicycle.

Cats get diverse treatments: In Joyce Thornburg’s humorous painting “Feline Fantasies,” fish fall from the sky, while a distinctly different mood permeates Jeff Hamilton’s smoke-fired “Myra Meets the Hibachi.” Terry Taylor, always full of surprises, has cut out paper silhouettes of “Meigan’s Kitties.” In another work, Taylor gives us a paper parakeet and, with it, that poignant, familiar narrative of childhood: pet purchased, pet loved, pet laid to rest.

It’s great to see sculpture by Jeff Minzer, including a dog statue made of aluminum foil and “Maxine,” a hugely fat cat crafted from a basketball. Somewhere in Biltmore Village, those skinny cats from the craft-fair posters are cowering.

[Connie Bostic is an Asheville-based painter and writer who can be found in her studio with her blue heeler, Dr. Pepper, commonly known to most of her friends as “the dog from hell.”]

The Lark Books Pet Show can be seen at Lark Books (67 Broadway) 10 a.m.-4 p.m. by appointment through Wednesday, May 30. 253-0467.