By P.A. Geddie
Lines & Layers: The Art of Gary Bachers & Christopher Bachers opens July 27 and runs through September 5 at the South Arkansas Arts Center in El Dorado, Arkansas.
It’s the first posthumous retrospective exhibition of Gary Bachers’ work since he passed away in August of 2023. His colorful hand-drawn images were a staple at art festivals around the country and none appreciated them more than the collectors at Texas shows including Edom Art Festival and Cottonwood Art Festival in Richardson.
“Four Seasons” by Gary E. Bachers
His wife and business partner Gabrielle — a talented fiber artist — continues to share his art at a few shows and has worked diligently this past year organizing and preparing his life’s work for exhibitions to continue sharing his inspiring story.
Gary and Gabrielle moved to New Boston, Texas, west of Texarkana, after he graduated from medical school at the University of Manitoba in his hometown of Winnipeg, Canada. For 10 years he served the rural community as a family practice physician. His career was cut short when at the age of 38 he suffered a debilitating stroke, leaving him with right-sided paralysis and global expressive aphasia, which prevented him from speaking or writing.
Gabrielle and Gary Bachers
As part of his stroke-recovery therapy, Gary had to learn to hold a pencil in his left hand. Frustratingly, he could not form words with the pencil, but he started sketching flowers from Gabrielle’s garden. With colored pencils he began perfecting his compositions of lilies, peonies, irises, and birds of paradise. He developed his own language of design as his art evolved from simple monotone sketches to meticulous and brilliantly colorful composition. Mandalas, human figures, insects, and architecture feature in many of the works, but the full moon is the most pervasive element in his artistic lexicon, as if to mark not only the brief moment of spectacular beauty but also each composition’s place in the cosmos.
Christopher and Gary Bachers
Gary and Gabrielle’s son and the oldest of three siblings, Christopher Bachers, grew up surrounded by his father’s art and was exposed to the art world from a young age. Christopher pursued a career in English and American literature, but began painting as a hobby during his graduate studies. He has developed his own unique style, combining vivid colors and abstract lines to create enigmatic compositions that explore themes of communication and self-expression.
“Orbit” by Christopher Bachers
Christopher has won several awards for his art and has participated in various exhibitions, including the same national show in Texarkana where his father started his career.
“Orbit” by Christopher Bachers
Gabrielle and Christopher are carrying on this “legacy of love and creativity,” a tagline for the exhibition.
“People always say we’re a creative family,” Christopher says. “Not only my dad and I, but my mother, brother, and sister are all artists in their own areas. Looking back, it’s clear that we were all inspired by Dad. We lived alongside his daily art practice, watching his compositions and second career steadily develop over the years. It’s a small example of how art can make meaning and transform lives.”
Gathering Gary’s body of work for this first exhibition through the grief is hard, but with the tears, there was joy, Gabrielle says, and especially heartwarming that it is a father and son exhibition.
“This exhibit is partly a retrospective of his work. It’s also the first time that collections of Christopher and Gary will be exhibited together, something Gary had so looked forward to.
“Putting this show together has been bittersweet. He left an incredible gift of art behind and it is sad to accept that there will be no more. I am so privileged to have walked this journey by his side. He inspired so many people along the way and I want to continue that by sharing this show.”
The South Arkansas Arts Center is located at 110 East Fifth Street, El Dorado, Arkansas. The galleries are free and open to the public 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Learn more at saac-arts.org.
See some of Gary and Christopher’s artwork in The Gallery at 1894 and Christopher’s (no relation) Frame and Gallery, both in Texarkana. Find Christopher on instagram.com/cjbachers. Look for Gary’s art at Cottonwood Art Festival and Edom Art Festival this October and check their website for upcoming shows and exhibitions, garybachers.com.
“Unstoppable” by Christopher Bachers
