Behind the scenes: Artist shows pageantry of performance

Art inspires art. Creativity feeds off creativity. It can be an endless circle of energy, symbiosis and delight.

Artist Karen Horne invites you to step inside that circle with her latest exhibition, "Art of Performance," which will be on display at Horne Fine Art through March 14.

Although she is a visual artist, "I've always been inspired, fascinated by the other arts, especially dance and music," says Horne. "I even took ballet for eight years as a child."

The paintings in the exhibit, done in both oils and pastels, go behind the scenes with performing groups such as Utah Opera, Ballet West, Salt Lake Symphony, Odyssey Dance and others, to show rehearsals, costuming and warming up in the orchestra pit. Horne also highlights favorite venues such as Capitol Theatre, Abravanel Hall and the Deer Valley Amphitheatre.

"I love the richness of colors these scenes provide," says Horne. She received permission from various groups to visit backstage, attend rehearsals and such. Portions of the proceeds from the sale of the paintings will go to those arts organizations.

What she hopes to convey through art, she says, is the experience of performance.

At various venues, she does not just look at the architecture, "although that is often elegant; these buildings are wonderful resources."

But she wants to go beyond that look. "I wanted to show the festive feeling you get entering a foyer. I want to convey the excitement of dressing up, the anticipation of performance, the sense of gathering. I wanted to show people braving rain to get in. I wanted to show the crowd after a performance, coming out on such a high."

There's a communal experience in live performance that "takes the experience to a whole new level," she says. "That's why people gather in venues, rather than watching on a wide-screen at home."

Horne wants to portray "the luxury of costumes and sets. I love glossy and guilded period costumes." Can-can dancers, for example, sport ensembles from Toulouse-Lautrec's time. Ballroom dancers sweep across the floor at a Viennese ball.

With musicians, her focus is on "the fascinating interplay of shapes and colors; the instruments, with sensuous, glossy wood; the array of stands; the white of the music. I can't re-create the music, but I can look at the pageantry of that art form; it's so visually rich."

It is so very interesting, she says, to "try to re-create the sense of rhythm, the sense of movement in a still image."

Horne is still adding a few pieces to the show as it goes along. "I really feel like I've just touched the tip of the iceberg."

But that, she says, "is the great thing about having my own gallery," which she operates with her husband, Michael Rowley. "It can be a dynamic, rather than a fixed, show."