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Arts & Entertainment

Sonoma Artist Transcends City Limits

Chester Arnold is among thirty Northern California artists in the 5th annual Graton Gallery Invitational.

In the heart of the beautiful Green Valley, a historic apple-farming region better known today as a wine appellation, sits the tiny town of Graton, California. With a population of around 2,000, Graton is the geographical hub of West Sonoma County, centered between Occidental, Santa Rosa and Sebastopol.

It sounds like an unlikely place to find the work of an artist as renown as Sonoma-based Chester Arnold, whose work is included in the public collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Pasadena Museum of California Art, the San Jose Museum of Art, to name a few.

Arnold is one of thirty well-known and admired master painters, print-makers and sculptors who have been invited to exhibit their work at the Graton Gallery during its "5th Annual Invitational Exhibition," opening tonight.

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“This annual exhibit has grown in stature over the years,” said Rik Olson, artist, founder and curator of the Invitational.

“Our goal is to bring together a collection of diverse artists that exhibit the best of the best in their medium,” says Pam Lewis, a public relations representative for the Gallery. “This is our premiere event of the year.”

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Arnold, a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute, has been receiving recognition for his work since the early 1990’s. His first exhibition was at Catharine Clark Gallery in 2003.

Chester Arnold is a thinker and a painter. He was born in American but raised in post-war Germany. His compositions often present natural landscapes that are undermined by the overwhelming detritus of human accumulation.

His landscapes are littered with objects, junk and unnecessary possessions that give us a perspective on our lives and environment that is often uncomfortable if not downright grim.

Many of his paintings are so complex, so packed with images that one can stare at them for hours. In his recent work, Arnold has been painting what he calls “natural history.” He chuckles, “You know, weeds, fallen tree stumps, bird nests.”

Arnold teaches painting at the College of Marin in Kentfield. In 2003, he was presented with the City of Sonoma Art Treasure Award. He has recently exhibited at the Petaluma Arts Center and has a large painting in the permanent collection at di Rosa in Napa.

Graton Gallery, located on the main drag in the town of Graton, is an artist-owned and operated gallery. The space and adjacent sculpture garden hold one of the largest selections of local fine art in Sonoma County with rotating exhibitions about every six weeks. The opening reception for the 5th Annual Invitational Exhibition will be held Saturday, January 22nd from 2-5:00pm.

The Gist: Catch the "5th Annual Graton Gallery Invitational Art Exhibit" at the Graton Gallery, 9048 Graton Road, Graton, CA, from Jan. 18 - Feb. 27. The gallery is open Tues. - Sun., 10:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. Questions? Phone (707) 829-8912.

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