Yambar's 'Familiar Spirits' on display at Arms Musuem

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

“Familiar Spirits: Remembering the Arms and Wicks,” an exhibition of 24 paintings from the Gothika series of Youngstown-based pop artist Chris Yambar, is now on display at the Arms Family Museum, 648 Wick Ave.

The exhibit consists of 12 variations on each of two images: the Carrie Arms Ford, and Caleb B. Wick monuments in Oak Hill Cemetery.

The Gothika series captures the markers, icons and statuary of local cemeteries that inspire, haunt and comfort the living.

Born and raised in Youngstown, Yambar adopted a blue-collar productivity that he applied as a commercial artist and later as a pop-art painter.

From 1987 until 2015, Yambar produced more than 4,000 images that made their way into numerous celebrity, corporate and private collections, as well as into galleries and museums around the world.

His work can be found in such diverse holdings as the Ronald Reagan Library, Superman Museum, P.T. Barnum Museum, Hummel Museum and the Butler Institute of American Art.

In 2015, Yambar began an intense reinvention process as a painter due to numerous health issues, including the loss of vision in his right eye and a 40 percent decrease in his other. This is when his annual output increased from 100 images to more than 200.

His new style combines photography, acrylic and enamel painting and silkscreen on canvas. To see his current work, go to yambartoday.com.

The Arms Family Museum is open Tuesday-Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is $7 ($6 for seniors and college students; and $5 for children), and includes a same-day visit to the Tyler History Center, 325 W. Federal St. For information, go to mahoninghistory.org.