Lockwood Dennis | In the Emerald City
EXHIBITION: February 6 - March 29
OPENING: First Thursday, February 6, 6-8pm
Davidson Galleries is pleased to present In the Emerald City, opening Thursday February 6th. This exhibition features selected woodcuts from Northwest artist, Lockwood Dennis, including newly added Seattle street views. The Pacific Northwest was Dennis’s home for most of his life, during his childhood in Portland and for 37 years in Port Townsend. His love of cities and city life spanned from the famous buildings to the factories, bridges, cars and boats.
Lockwood Dennis, City Park. Woodcut.
It’s difficult to imagine someone who knew Seattle better. He captured the iconic King Street Station and Triangle Hotel as well as overpasses and neighborhood streets. Dennis tracked every movement, from the interurban to the ferry to the viaduct. Cars and pedestrians cross through the picture, like equal characters with their own personalities. Some of these scenes capture a lost moment in Seattle’s history, while others can still be seen today. In either case, Dennis’s woodcuts show the persistent spirit of Seattle, a collection of communities tucked into the hills beside the shining water.

Lockwood Dennis, Streetcar. Woodcut.
Please join us to view these newly added works at our new gallery, 85 Yesler Way, on Thursday February 6th from 6 –8pm or online at davidsongalleries.com.

Lockwood Dennis, 2nd Avenue. Woodcut.
“...what animates a picture is what animates the objects in the picture. An attitude. I see it when I'm sketching. Houses watching a street. Cars disagreeing with each other. Trucks happily cresting a hill, trundling off into the distance. Factories outdoing each other. And trees, full of very dark observations on the events around them. Water, a brooding, waiting peril. Sunlight, the one benign presence, saying for everything it touches, ‘I exist!’” –Lockwood Dennis

Lockwood Dennis, Ferry Loading. Woodcut.
Lockwood Dennis (American, 1937–2012) was born and raised in Portland, OR. He earned a BA in Philosophy from Whitman College in Walla Walla in 1960 and an MA in Philosophy from the University of Washington in 1963. Dennis then decided to pursue his interest in painting and received a Junior Fellowship from the School of the Fine Arts in Boston in 1968. In 1969, he taught at the Charles River Art Center in Massachusetts. In 1970, Dennis returned to the Northwest to teach at the Yakima Valley College Evening School. He settled in Port Townsend in 1975 where he would reside for 37 years until his passing. Known as both a painter and printmaker, Dennis produced over 400 woodcuts during his 45 year career. Dennis was an invested member of the Northwest arts community and his art often depicted industrial scenes and natural landscapes drawn from his childhood in Portland and later years in the Puget Sound. He was also inspired by his domestic travels to California and Colorado and international trips to Africa and Japan. Dennis used bold graphics influenced by German Expressionism, Japanese woodblocks, comics and WPA industrial design, to collapse complicated scenes into charming, accessible images.
Lockwood Dennis | In the Emerald City
EXHIBITION: February 6 - March 29
OPENING: First Thursday, February 6, 6-8pm
View exhibition here.