Steve Lawrie established his reputation as a large-canvas portrait artist. But This Thing We Call the Ocean is an homage to fishing, and to the people who thrive in Sitka’s maritime culture. “Some of those people unload the boats, some of those people catch the fish, some of those people repair the boats,” says Lawrie. “There are paintings of boats at sea with usually gnarly-looking water, you know, because half the time it is.”
Sitka artist Steve Lawrie has been around a long time, and his acclaim has grown along with the size of his portraits: huge canvases that focus almost exclusively on the faces of his subjects. And while these faces are not often glamorous, every line (to quote singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile) tells us the story of who they are.
So naturally, the best place for Lawrie to hang his new exhibit is in a bar.
“Every now and again, we go in there for a beer and some fish and chips, and we have mutual friends that we meet there,” said Lawrie. “And Maite was looking around at the place and pointed out that this would be a good venue for paintings. And the more I thought about it, the more courage I got to do it. So, she kind of kicked me into this, and cracks the whip on the project.”
Maite Lorente is Lawrie’s friend and curator – and sometimes-collaborator. They partnered two years ago for an exhibit of paintings and writings inspired by the lives of Pam and Eric Bealer, who disappeared together from their home near Pelican in 2018.
That exhibit, called The Squirrel and Bear, was mounted in a more conventional space, with people slowly milling through, sipping wine, and eating cheese.
Certainly there will be wine at the opening of This Thing We Call the Ocean, and over the run of the show there will be pool, beer, and all the usual delights served up by Rita and her staff behind the bar.
Lawrie began his career in Sitka as a commercial troller, and This Thing We Call the Ocean is an homage to fishing, and to maritime culture. The Pioneer Bar is probably ground zero of that culture in Sitka, if not the ideal space for art.
“Fishing has been here a long time,” said Lawrie. “We have these other powerful economic drivers in town, our tourism, our SEARHC hospital, but fishing is always there. It’s like a stainless steel backbone, if you like.”
Cruise tourism and healthcare are both growing in the region, but Lawrie is correct that fishing binds everything together in Southeast Alaska. And Lawrie’s portraits demonstrate that the people who work in fishing bind communities together.
“Some of those people unload the boats, some of those people catch the fish, some of those people repair the boats,” he said. “There are paintings of boats at sea with usually gnarly-looking water, you know, because half the time it is. So I’m trying to revitalize or refocus our Sitka look at fishing.”
The show features 28 portraits in all. Those already familiar with Lawrie’s work won’t be disappointed – but they may also be surprised. Decades into his craft, Lawrie says he’s continuing to evolve. Maybe, he’s even loosened up a bit.
“In this exhibition, there’s two old paintings, by old I mean, like 20 years or 25 years ago), a couple of portraits,” said Lawrie, “and then there’s one more recent portrait. So they are strikingly different to these paintings. These paintings are more tactile, the paints thicker. The artist is clearly having more fun. That would be me. They’re different. They’re heavier with the paint, and more bold.”
Others visiting the bar who’ve never heard of Lawrie may chafe a little. On any typical day, the Pioneer Bar is an unofficial maritime museum, with hundreds of photos of fishing boats representing several eras of fishing in Sitka, from the early 20th Century onward. Those photos aren’t going anywhere; Lawrie is just borrowing the wall space for a while. When his portraits come down, he expects that bar patrons will see the photos with a fresh eye.
“Paintings are different than photos, but yeah, there’s two art shows going on there, essentially,” he said.
This Thing We Call the Ocean, a show of 28 large canvases by Stephen Lawrie, opens at 3 p.m. on June 21 in the Pioneer Bar in Sitka, and runs through July 6.
