The Classic Scene (4 minute read)

There is a photo that stops me in my tracks whenever I come across it on my phone. In the photo are 4 men and me. We were the award winners of the 12th Annual Juried Lyndon House Exhibition held in 1985, in Athens, Georgia. This was not the first time I had been juried into a Lyndon House show. As a senior at the University of Georgia, I had a charcoal drawing in the 9th Annual Show.

The photo is a full page on the cover of “The Classic Scene”, a section that appeared in the Sunday publication of The Athens Banner Herald Daily News. I have a vague memory of the newspaper’s photographer calling to schedule a meeting for this photo.

But let me step back a minute. The juror for this show was a very big deal. Somehow, The Lyndon House folks managed to get Thomas Messer, who at the time was the Director of The Solomon R. Guggenheim in New York. I was so thrilled to be juried into this show! It gave me hope that my art had legit value! I probably submitted 3 works to be juried. That was and still is, the standard number to submit.

I don’t remember what pieces weren’t selected, But I can tell you about the piece that was. It was a large pastel drawing called, “Lone Mountain Night”. The first “Lone Mountain Night”, was 5 x 7 foot, oil painting done earlier in graduate school. It was figurative abstraction and landscape combined. Lone Mountain was one of the most significant landscape features that attracted my attention when I was living in Bozeman as a National Student Exchange student to Montana State University. Lone Mountain was the spectacular, singular peak at Big Sky Ski area…30 miles or so, southwest of Bozeman. I had visited there many times and the mountain made a deep imprint on my soul . Lone Mountain is prominent in the pastel drawing, but there is also a shimmery, female figure, not unlike an angel, hovering in the foreground.

The oil painting, “Lone Mountain Night” was created first…during my time in Griggs Hall. A former dormitory turned into studios for painting graduate students. (You won’t find that building on the campus today; it was razed to make way for a new science building.) Art Rosenbaum, one of my professors, introduced me to the concept of taking a painting, and turning it into a drawing. I did this with a half a dozen pieces, reducing the size of the piece and using chalk pastel in lieu of oil paint. The resulting drawings were so satisfying… and new works of art in their own right.

So, to re-cap, “Lone Mountain Night”, the pastel was juried into the Lyndon House Exhibition by the director of the Guggenheim Museum. Susan Roberts was a professor in graphic design, that I knew slightly. I don’t remember all the details, but I ran into her in the art building. She mentioned that she had been to the Lyndon House, and knew who the award winners were. My insecure ass said that I was certain that Patrik Keim was one of them. Patrik was the darling of the art department at the time, it seemed to me. I have vague memories of his piece being an installation involving 5 gallon paint buckets. At the time, conceptual art seemed to trump anything remotely traditional…at least with some faculty members. Susan hesitated when I asked about Patrik, and in doing so let me know that yes…in fact, Patrik did get an award. I groaned softly, convinced that my that my work would never be taken seriously. I had no desire to create installations, nor was I outwardly quirky and avant garde, like Patrik was.

The next evening was the show opening. I don’t remember any details, except that I found out that “Lone Mountain Night” had received an honorable mention from the director of the Gugenheim Museum . One of five awards. I could have levitated from joy! My artwork mattered to someone who mattered!

The award winners in the photograph? Patrik Keim for his installation. Len Woodall for a ceramic piece. Me. Bill Johansen for his graphite portrait of Patrik Heim. And Mike Nicholson for an amazing textural painting, with small, collaged, pornographic images of women, entitled, “Knocking the Air Back”. The message of the painting was very much anti-porn. There was no 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th place, but rumor had it that Mike’s painting would be considered the best in show. Mike was my major professor as I worked toward my graduate degree, and I couldn’t have been happier for him.

Back to the photo. The photographer from the Athens Banner Herald chose a spot under a large oak tree on the Lyndon House property for the setting. Len Woodall and Bill Johansen (who was also a former professor of mine) chose to wear sports coats with ties and slacks. Patrik was in an orange jumpsuit like a prisoner, with short-cropped hair and brown work boots. Mike Nicholson was dressed in jeans and a polo shirt, as he did every day when I’d see him in the Art Department. I look like a PE teacher: lank and suntanned, with my Raybans on a cord around my neck…navy shorts and a tucked in cotton blouse. I don’t look like a badass at all, although I thought of myself as one at the time. We are a funny looking bunch, us artists award winners.

Epilogue:

In 1987, Mike Nicholson died of a rare cancer at the age of 51. In 1998, Patrik Keim ended his life with a self-inflicted gunshot. He must have been around 40 years old. In 2016, Bill Johansen succumbed to a lengthy battle with caner at age 79. I have been unable to locate any information on Len Woodall.

Karen Adams 2024