Innovative and experiential are a good descriptive match for the visual and mental mind twists of Shape Shift at SEiS Gallery in mid-city.
The exhibition offers work from Heather Lowe, Mike Savage, and Chalavie. Lowe presents a potent mix of geometric loveliness in her acrylic on canvas and bristol works, and takes these shapes into depths that resemble an alternate reality with her lenticulars. Dazzling lenticulars like “Pinna Bouquet,” in lime green and oranges, look terrific before you even notice that they are awash in motion; the painted works, such as the spiral twist of “Seashell,” are equally exciting, here a combination of stereo and single images which form a kind of gymanstic puzzle for the mind. Lowe is an alchemist of art and the art of science.
Savage, in one instance collaborating with Lowe, also has a variety of geometric images, including a glowing mild steel and automotive paint sculpture “New Order Portland,” an impressively monochrome shape that turns up in one of his painted works, “New Order PNW,” and a variant in “New Order Pico,” both acrylic and gesso on canvas. Of his color-rich works, “LCW Red Blue Yellow Black” appears to be a chair, if a chair vibated with variants of primary shades to the extent that the fabric radiated off the form.
Chalavie has a mix of perfect, beautifully wrought wood work such as “Tool Kit for the End of the World,” and “Totem” as well as intricately detailed images of construction equipment, and in “Stack,” a pile of boards that look as if the painted work could be as dimensional as her sculptures.
Lowe offered a fun, short workshop along with an artist talk on the making of lenticulars, this past weekend (see below); Savage also hosted a special art event. Closing is the 20th so hurry in!
SEiS is located at 1910 6th Ave. in the heart of LA.
Bryan Ida, left, with galleriest Tressa M. Williams, right
Bryan Ida creates art that sings with meaning. It comes as no surprise that he once majored in music composition before turning to fine visual art.
His astonishing use of minute and meaningful words to shape fascinating, rewarding images of people – such as several such works recently exhibited in the group exhibition Bridging the Pacific at Torrance Art Museum, is just one way in which the artist expresses rich feeling and creates compelling work. Ida’s intensely detailed, powerful, and meticulous ink on panel works there depicted a very personal story, that of his mother and father, being forcibly “evacuated” from the San Francisco area in 1942, when Japanese Americans were torn from their homes and livelihoods due to World War II-fueled, race-driven paranoia. The delicate and precise nature of that work is that of an artist both empath and activist.
In his new exhibition, his fifth solo show at Billis WIlliams, Ida’s exhibition DEEP is entirely different, yet equally suffused with understanding, compassion, and purpose. Here, he goes to the heart of the human relationship with the natural world. Works are from two separate series, one of which is filled with vivid color and geometric lines, the other is muted in palette, yet glowing, in intimate, moving depictions of animals in a twilight sky.
The work takes on the complex beauty of the natural world, and how human existence – as currently exercised – direly effects it. Ida’s landscapes feature sliced images, as if viewed through slatted blinds, or seen through the limited vision that humans are presently capable of viewing the natural world. Vivid orange leaves are dissected by slats, as are startling emerald and chartreuse grasses and trees. Some images include intensely touching depictions of animals, such as the orangutan above or tiger below. The colors are vibrant, blunted only by their dissection.
The “broken” images spell out the dichotomy between how humans view and treat the natural world, as well as the earth’s innate lovliness.
With the artist’s Fading Light series, above, depicted animals emerge gradually to the viewer, as if transcending a twilight fog or thick, moonless dusk. The lack of illumination speaks to endangered species, extinction, and man’s disregard for other creatures. Yet, within each image, within each sensitive and almost angelic animal face, there is a glow, as if a facet of light had permeated a black diamond. There is still a ray of hope, if we will catch it.
Both series are not only masterfully beautiful but brimming with both sorrow and the ecstatic. Nature stands at the brink of a cataclysm caused by human carelessness and greed. As Ida says “In the name of human advancement and expansion the cost to animal species and the environment is deep and irreversible. The true measure of a civilization is in its compassion and empathy, not in its ability to consume.”
In the face of loss and adversity, the flora and fauna, the creatures that share our world, are waiting for us to act and end the destruction our relentless quest for conquest has wrought. Ida presents the message without prosthelitizing, creating lush and poetic works that give viewers both thoughtful pause and thrilling beauty.
Experience the empathy and ecology and the consummate wonder in this exhibition – and let its meaning resonate.
Also at Billis Williams, see Stephen Wright’s liquid luminosity, in Beach Break in Gallery 2, all euphoric mid-sea sunshine and light in motion.
Both DEEP and Beach Break are on display through June 3rd; the gallery is open Wednesday-Saturday 10 a.m. -5 p.m.
Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis and provided by the gallery
Finally, the cold weather that has plagued Los Angeles seems to be ending, and spring flowers are everywhere. And so are terrific group art exhibitions.
As if celebrating the season, the Loft at Liz’s serves up a delicious, vibrantly colorful exhibition, Finding Beauty. Splashing big with texture, color, and light, the exhibition is all about natural beauty and ecology, and is the creation of a new multi-disciplinary art collective, UOOORS. Curated by Fatemeh Burnes and Mei Xian Qiu, the exhibition features the works of Aline Mare, Fatemeh Burnes, Naida Osline, Neal Taylor, Ray Beldner, Marjan Vayghan, Rob Grad, Sue Irion, John David O’Brien, Kubo Hkla, Poul Lange, Ellen Friedlander, Naida Osline, and Mei Xian Qiu.
Stellar works in a variety of mediums even included an opening night performance: a ritual burial of a deceased lizard, joining the soil of a potted plant. It’s a jubilant and delightful exhibition, from the rich painted works of Vayghan and Burnes to the lush and liminal photography of Friedlander. The gallery is open every day 11- 6 with the exception of Sunday, and runs through June 12th.
Hagop Najarian with Stephanie Sherwood and Carsten Bund at Durden and Ray
Downtown there’s even more art in bloom. Head downtown to the Bendix Building for a wide range of shows on multiple floors. On the 8th, don’t miss the terrific new group exhibition at Durden and Ray. Curated by Hagop Najarian and Stephanie Sherwood,Expansion Joint offers a visually stimulating, richly entertaining exhibition. Debby and Larry Kline‘s sculptural works appear throughout the show, both tying the varied images together and adding notes whimsical and mysterious – perhaps bunny astronauts or interstellar adventurers, they “visit” works by Gretchen Batchellar, Carsten Bund, Kim Garcia, Hagop Najarian, Stephanie Sherwood, and HK Zamani.
The exhibition as a whole investigates space – both on Earth and apart from it. Edgy and surreal, witty, and, well, expansive, the show includes an eight foot ink drawing (just one panel in a larger piece) by the Klines, “The Dark Side of the Moon (Phase 3);” as well as Sherwood’s fascinating abstract-painted discarded furniture, fusing 3D with 2D work. Similar fusion but a very different style, Zamani’s mix of dimensions comes in vivid chromakey blue and black; it’s a slash of color that commands attention. Bund’s mesmerizing digital painting; and Najarian’s vivid, delightful mix of the figurative and abstract, are also among this show’s thoroughly immersive works. In short, this is an exhibition that stimulates, amuses, and, well, expands the viewer’s sense of artistic consciousness. Don’t miss – the show is only up until May 21st, and is open on Saturdays 12-6, and by appointment.
Elsewhere in the building, Christopher Ulivo’s fantastical, narrative, fun, and intricate egg tempura paintings, Ancient Rome Today glows with light and calls out for a detailed viewing through June 3rd at Track 16; the gallery is open Wed-Sat 10-6.
Pas de deux: Death’s Crook is a spooky, cool digital exhibition pulsing with eerie black and white appeal by Jacqueline De Jong and Ozgur Kar at Chatteau Shatto next door, through June 4.
The absorbing, highly textural group exhibition at Tiger Strikes Astroid – Theories & Prayers on Concrete, runs through May 21st, featuring work that examines migration both physical and emotional, by Adrian MM Abela, Mariam Alcantara, and Lupita Limón Corrales, curated by Jackie Rines.
Next door at Monte Vista Projects, a two-person exhibition blends sculpture and painted works in Push & Pull, an exhibition offering the painted work of Wendy Duong and the wiry, inventive sculptures of Connor Walden.
And, 515 Gallery serves up a group show of tasty abstract works, many geometric in nature, through May 20th. A. M. Rousseau, Sijia Chen, Fatemeh Burnes, Mei Xian Qui, Ave Pilada, Ruth Trotter, Carolie Parker, Danny Shain are among the fine artists exhibited in Rewire. Contact these galleries for hours.
What a great way to spend Memorial Weekend! May 24th through 28th, the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival will be debuting it’s 9th annual event. Known for its eclectic and often cutting-edge mix of films, the fest offers a wide range of documentary and narrative features both domestic and international this year.
Held at three venues in the town of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., the festival is always warm and welcoming, offering inclusive and illuminative Q & A discussions, panels, and prizes. As always helmed by founder and festival director Shira Dubrovner, with programming director Paul Sbrizzi, subject matter on feature length films – the extensive shorts line-up has yet to be released – is both fresh and prescient.
According to Dubrovner, “It’s the artist’s responsibility to create change by holding up a mirror to society, inspiring audiences to self-reflection and taking action to better the world around us…”
Narrative features include a range of suspense, comedy, and dramas:
U.S. films include Free Time, focusing on a young man’s efforts to embrace life and actually find a life along the way; Pure Gesticulation, a mother/son story involving a mysterious new business begun by the son instructing strangers over the phone; I Said Daddy I Said, which tells the story of LaLa, whoses plan to leave her abusive boyfriend Daddy crumbles when she realizes someone is watching her every move; and Love Dump, a quirky rom/com about an antique shop owner’s search for her
missing father, who falls for a determined dog lawyer along the way. Viewers will also enjoy a highly inventive animated film, Unicorn Boy, in which a heartbroken young artist is sucked into a unicorn-run alternate dimension, and a mission to conquer a dark force in order to bring peace to the kingdom.
International Narrative Features include The Horse Tail (Poland), which details an aging sex worker’s return to a small and secretive town; Mad Cats (Japan), the story of a shiftless young man, his quirky new friend and an edgy, mysterious young girl, searching for his brother, kidnapped by a pack of vicious monster cats determined to execute unscrupulous pet shop owners. Nut Jobs (Canada), unfolds a far-fetched-sounding story told by a man to his ex-girlfriend about joining a leftist terrorist cell to
avenge her from being fired by an awful right-wing talk radio station. The Serbian film Where the Road Leads, tells the story of a stranger’s arrival in an isolated village, the girl who falls in love with him, and her commitment to saving him when he is endangered by townspeople who suspect his involvement in constructing a nearby highway.
Starring Jerry as Himself, above; Mississippi River Styx, below
North American Documentary Features include A Still Small Voice, the story of an aspiring hospital chaplain’s yearlong residency in spiritual care; Mississippi River Styx, which depicts an enigmatic drifter with terminal cancer living his dream of
floating down the Mississippi River on a ramshackle houseboat — until locals start to question his story; and Name of the Game, which reveals the untold story of black male exotic dancing in south Los Angeles. In Starring Jerry as Himself , a family re-enacts the unbelievable, twisting true story of how their immigrant father Jerry, a recently divorced and retired Florida man, was unexpectedly recruited by the Chinese police as an undercover agent in an international money laundering investigation.
International feature docs include Destiny (Iran), which offers a poignant profile of a smart and gifted teenage girl who desperately wants to go to college but has to face hard choices in the wake of her mother’s death and her
father’s need for daily assistance; Naked Israel (Israel), which offers an insightful look at Israeli masculinity through a series of interviews; and No Place For You In Our Town (Bulgaria), which depicts a soccer team’s success in a decaying ex-mining city in a changing world. From India, To Kill A Tiger presents the story of Ranjit, who takes on the fight of his life seeking justice for his 13-year old daughter, the victim of a gang rape.
Queendom, above
There are also three Spotlight presentation films which are not eligible for festival competition awards. The opening night film is from Russia: in Queendom, a queer Russian artist, stages radical performances in public that become a new form of art and activism—and put her life in danger. The festival’s closing film is Kokomo City , a U.S film in which four outspoken Black transgender sex workers explore the dichotomy between the Black community and themselves. The third spotlight presentation is a decidedly unconventional approach to musical film. In Burning Stone (U.S.), an ensemble of hypnotic instruments and choir weave together, intersect, and thread sonic and visual information.
The festival will also feature a Short Films Program of 38 Narrative Shorts, 24 documentary shorts and 17 animation shorts, as well as a program of music videos and a screenplay competition.
Having attended MLFF many times since its inception, one thing is sure: viewers will experience unique, exciting film at its best, in a wonderful environment where audience members can interact with filmmakers and explore ideas that will enrich, confound, involve and celebrate the human condition.
And note, this year, there will be an as-yet-unscheduled Best of the Fest series of screenings here in LA. But why wait? MLFF offers what just may be your best Memorial Weekend yet, movie-style.
