Rain forest artwork blooms in the desert

Kimberley McGee

Monday, Feb. 11, 2002 | 8:32 a.m.

Birds perch on the exaggerated limbs of exotic trees, flowers bloom along the lush growth of the forest floor and lizards linger on the banks of muddy rivers.

But the birds are silent, the flowers never grow and the crocodiles are seized in arrested animation in the vibrant rain forest paintings by artists who hope to educate and realistically portray the endangered natural resource through their art.

The inhabitants, vegetation and magic of the rain forest are depicted by 36 artists in "Rainforest: Contemporary Paintings by International Artists," on exhibit through March 3 at the Las Vegas Art Museum.

The Rainforest Art Foundation in Taiwan gathered works by artists from the United States, Taiwan, Germany, Brazil, England, France, Scotland and Switzerland.

The paintings represent the personal meaning to each artist about the rain forest, Lorenz said.

"These are very realistic, contemporary paintings that show the beauty of the rain forest (as well as) the depletion of it," Marianne Lorenz, executive director of the LVAM, said.

The exhibition is divided into four sections: "The Beauty of the Rainforest," which includes a piece by local artist Joseph Palermo titled "A Place of Beauty"; "Spirit of the Rainforest," which features lush landscape works; "Abstraction of the Rainforest," depicting the artists' views of the rain forest's vegetation and animal life; and the moody pieces of the final section, "Disappearing of the Rainforest."

"The artists' (works) were broken down based on what they had painted, what they imagined," Lorenz said. "It's quite beautiful."

The show originated in Taiwan in August and recently was displayed at the Taipei Gallery in New York.

Judge Gil Yarchever, a member of the LVAM board of directors, said the international exhibit is an indication of the museum's worth in the art world.

"This international exhibit shows how far we've come," Yarchever said. "It's a wonderful exhibit, really, with artists from around the world contributing and we have it here for (Las Vegans). It shows how much we've grown."