Artwork copyright Raymond Gendreau. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Checkerboards, 1986

Raymond Gendreau
(American, born 1951)

Location: North Beach Junior/Senior High School, Ocean Shores

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Checkerboards by photographer Raymond Gendreau was taken in a park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He is attracted to "the look of being suspended in time." Gendreau notes, "Hot Springs is an old resort town with faded elements from its glory years in the 1930s. In fall, it is quiet and a bit melancholy. Off-season is my favorite time to wander these places. The checkerboards painted on the tables recall the activity of enjoying the park on a warm summer day." He used infrared film, which captures the glow of radiant energy not visible by the human eye.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with North Beach School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Raymond Gendreau is a photographer and teacher. He has run a fine art photo-gallery and owned a commercial photography studio. He describes photography as: "a language unencumbered by words. The ideas flow from image to viewer... In creating a single image and deeming it worthy of the final edit, I hope it will be given study rather than a glance."

Gendreau grew up in New England and Florida. In the early 1970s while serving in the U.S. Navy in the Mediterranean, he became interested in photography and photographed street scenes in Barcelona, Napels, and Athens. In 1977, he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography from the University of Central Florida. He lived in Orlando, Florida and Dallas, Texas before moving to Seattle in 1987. He is based on Bainbridge Island, on Puget Sound, Western Washington, and is an instructor at The Art Institute of Seattle.