Retrospective of Life’s Work

January 21 - May 9, 2020

Great Plains Art Museum, University of Nebraska–LincolnJanuary 21–May 9, 2020

All works are pigment ink on archival paper and on loan courtesy of the artist.

Retrospective of Life’s Work

Charles W. Guildner: Retrospective of Life’s Work

In 1990, Charles W. Guildner began photographing in the rural heartland, primarily in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska. As a native Nebraskan revisiting his roots, Guildner was initially drawn to the landscape as the subject for his images, but his focus soon shifted to the people he encountered. From this the Lives of Tradition series was born. In the years since, Guildner has expertly documented the farms, ranches, and small rural communities where people live and work in some ways that have changed little since the settling of this country’s heartland. With this series, Guildner records a way of life that may be gradually disappearing, yet his images capture the spirit and vitality of those who keep these traditions alive.

This exhibition presents selections from the portraits, scenes, and rural schools found in the Lives of Tradition series. Also included are images from the photographer’s 1993 trip to Mexico; close-up views of water-sculpted sandstone found on Washington’s San Juan Islands; vibrant scenes from a 2013 visit to Cuba; and striking color images of ginkgo leaves. These series, combined with Lives of Tradition, demonstrate the depth and breadth of Guildner’s interests and skill, and provide a comprehensive overview of the photographer’s significant career.

Guildner has made the Great Plains Art Museum the repository for his photographs, negatives, and archives. The museum is grateful for this continued relationship, and we are pleased to be able to present this retrospective of his life’s work.

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Charles W. Guildner was born in 1932 in Hastings, Nebraska, and currently resides in Washington. He attended Hastings College and the University of Nebraska College of Medicine, and he has a postgraduate degree in anesthesiology from the University of Wisconsin. Guildner has had many exhibitions in museums and galleries in California, Iowa, Nebraska, Washington, and Wyoming. His photographs are held in private collections and in the permanent collections of the Great Plains Art Museum, the Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney, the Sheldon Museum of Art, the Durham Museum in Omaha, and the U.S. Library of Congress, among others.

Collin, Grampa G., & Alicia2003

Chico y Perro—Guanajuato, Mexico1993

Zapatería—Guanajuato, Mexico1993

La Parrilla—San Miguel de Allende, Mexico1993

La Parroquia—El Viejo, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico1993

Las Compañeras—Guanajuato, Mexico1993

Mexico

Abuela Lopez1993

Edge of the Sea Lives of Tradition: Portraits

Sea Monster—Sucia Island, San Juan Islands2002

Beauty & the Beast—Sucia Island, San Juan Islands2002

Dr. Seuss Fish—Sucia Island, San Juan Islands2002

Ted Kooser—United States Poet Laureate, 2005–20062005

Glenna Stucky—Avon, Montana2001

Buck Buckles and Team—Gordon, Nebraska1997

Western Gothic: Denley & Lisa Norman & Belle2004

Ellis Bockelman—Greenwood, Nebraska1998

Katherine & Mary Ann Kelly ’971997

Orland Wahl—Western, Nebraska1995

Walt Vermedahl—Paulson, Montana1993

Katherine & Mary Ann Kelly ’042004

Lola Leu—Hayes Center, Nebraska2002

Jim Myrick—Gibbon, Nebraska2000

Justin Bradley—Brewster, Nebraska2002

Judy Durnal—Bayard, Nebraska2002

Edsall Family: Merl, Roy, Clayton, & Sharon—Avon, Montana1997

Rick Gaudreault2001

Mov’n Camp—Haythorn Ranch—Arthur, Nebraska1996

Matthies Farm—Springfield, Nebraska 1995

Fort Kearney Road Farm1995

Morning Mounts ’022002

Haythorn Branding ’951995

’48 Plymouth1990

High as an Elephant’s Eye1997

Lives of Tradition: Scenes

Blizzard Feeding—Buck Buckles—Gordon, Nebraska2004

Ashby, Nebraska ’941994

Haythorn Branding Panorama ’042004

Headn’ Home1994

Leroy and Lucille Walker—Gibbon, Nebraska1994

Pink School2004

Round Hill School—South of Broken Bow, Nebraska2002

Chelsey Jones—Round Hill School—South of Broken Bow, Nebraska 2002

Ellsworth School—Nebraska2003

Ellsworth Restored School2005

Sybrant School2003

Daly School2005

Lives of Tradition: Rural Schools

City Bus—Santiago, Cuba2013

One-handed Fruit Seller—Santiago, Cuba2013

Street Festival—Havana, Cuba2013

Boxing School—Havana, Cuba2013

Sugar Cane Cart—Cuba2013

Street Embroidery—Trinidad, Cuba2013

Glimpse of Cuba

Ginkgo Leaf #5 Red2016

Ginkgo Leaf #12016

Ginkgo Leaf on side #72016

Ginkgo Triptych2017

Ginkgo

Ginkgo Leaf #32016

Ginkgo Leaf #62016

www.guildner-photo.com

To purchase prints, contact the artist directly at (425) 870-9073.

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