New Release: "Oaks Park Pentimento" by Jim Lommasson

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Jim Lommasson’s new book of photographs entitled Oaks Park Pentimento: Portland’s Lost and Found Carousel Art (OSU Press) is available for purchase now.  The book features an introduction by journalist Inara Verzemnieks and an afterword by art historian Prudence Roberts, and is described by the publisher as such:

Over two days in 1982, Jim Lommasson photographed the strange and beautiful paintings that decorated the center column of the historic carousel at Oaks Amusement Park in Portland, Oregon. The original carousel images were a collection of Edwardian-era scenes—a little blond girl clutching a rag doll, a corseted woman beneath a parasol, “exotic” renderings of Arabs and Native Americans—painted by anonymous German and Italian immigrants around 1912. In 1944, two itinerant painters, brothers from Vashon Island, Washington, painted over the eighteen panels. Their paintings featured Oregon landmarks from the coast to the Columbia River Highway and from Mount Hood to Multnomah Falls.

After years of wear, the new images began to flake and fade, revealing parts of the original images in unusual and unexpected ways. The resulting double exposures or “pentimentos” included a ghostly sailboat gliding through a forest, an Indian chief looming over the Columbia River Gorge, and the parasoled woman with the road to Crown Point emerging from her loins. Each new image created a completely accidental, even surreal, story about the juxtaposition of two generations of paintings.

Just three years after Jim Lommasson captured these images on film, the original paintings were restored and the mysterious double-exposures disappeared under yet another layer of paint. Oaks Park Pentimento preserves these haunting photographs and also includes an appreciation by art historian Prudence Roberts and a look at Oaks Park, past and present, by journalist Inara Verzemnieks.

“Jim Lommasson’s exquisite photographs of the twice-painted, much damaged panels capture the surreal beauty of the original images… Oaks Park Pentimento is a timeless treasure about time.” —Katherine Dunn

An Oaks Park Pentimento exhibition is on display now at the New American Art Union, and will run trough December 20th.  A slideshow of the images is also available on the gallery website.  Additionally, a book signing will be held December 6th from noon to 4:00 at the Oregon Historical Society.

You can keep track of future events and learn more about the book on the Oaks Park Pentimento blog.