Gallery North: Photographer Sam Spencer and 'The Bodhisattva Series'

In July, will present an exhibit titled “The Bodhisattva Series” by local photographer Sam Spencer.

Spencer explains that the Bodhisattva, a Buddhist concept, is an enlightened person who seeks to be a bridge to the spiritual world for the benefit of others.

“I’m not an especially spiritual person,” Spencer says. “But I am fascinated by people who are.”

A Gallery North member artist for several years, Spencer’s new series represents a departure from the work he has shown previously at the gallery. His current work is influenced by photographer Jerry Uelsmann and artist Thomas Hart Benton, and most particularly by an ink drawing of Benton’s depicting a farmer working in a plowed field.

A copy of this drawing hung in Spencer’s boyhood home.

“I used to stare at this picture for hours,” Spencer recalls. "It had strange clouds and bending trees that contrasted with the straight plowed rows of the field. And the broken fencing wire seemed to trail off into infinity.”

In this series of photographs, Spencer work conveys a sense of the infinite.

“This is meant to symbolize the connection bodhisattvas have with the spiritual realm,” he explains. 

Spencer bends the rules of classical composition for emphasis. “I tend to place my subjects on the outside edges of the composition because spiritual people often strike me as living on the outside of civilization looking inward. This gives them a different perspective from the rest of us.”

Spencer has been a photographer for more than 40 years. His education in photography includes four years at the University of Rochester,and several years at Everett Community College under Lloyd Weller and Ellen Felsenthal.

The public is invited to meet Spencer at two special events during July: the artist reception on Sunday, July 15, from 1-4 p.m., and a reception during the Edmonds Third Thursday Art Walk on July 19 from 5-8 pm. Refreshments will be served at both events.

For more information, go to the Galley North Web site or call Gallery 425-774-0946.

About Gallery North: In operation for more than 50 years, Gallery North is one of the longest running artist cooperative galleries in the nation. It continues its mission to promote local artists and display their work in the heart of downtown Edmonds.

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