Classic Stone and Bronze Sculptures Provide Compelling Motion from Doug Thielscher

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Doug Thielscher’s stone and bronze sculptures are created using a traditional stone carving technique that the artist learned in Pietrasanta, Italy. His classical forms are just as beautiful and powerful as they were centuries ago during the Italian Renaissance, but presented with a fresh, modern twist.  His graceful work will be exhibited through Project Zola at the upcoming 29th iteration of the LA Art Show.

Thielscher’s mastery of stone carving spanned two decades, time spent in part working with the artisans/artigiani in Italy in the coastal Tuscany region known for both its marble quarries and bronze foundries. Both marble and bronze are the materials that the artist prefers to work in despite the difficulties inherent in manipulation of these mediums.

It is his ability to capture delicate detail in such resistant materials that is perhaps most striking;  his works vibrate with passion and desire, struggle, pain, and triumph.  Thielscher’s thematic purpose reveals intense and eternal human feelings and actions. The subjects he creates – hands, feet, faces, horses – all honor the historic art of figurative carving while creating potent images that very much reflect the ethos of today.

The artist explains that he wants his work to truly capture a viewer, compelling moments of reflection. He says that he wants to reveal “the moment of greatest tension” in each visual story. With this in mind, his work is designed to illuminate “the most expressive gestures of a scene…[and] highlight the intensity at that climactic point.”

Much of Thielscher’s work focuses on fragmentary parts of a figure, but he also creates abstract sculptural works that offer multiple interpretations for the viewer.  As an artist working in such classic form, he strives to create work that is utterly original and not derivative of anything that has come before but is still visually meaningful and compelling. He also ensures the image he’s creating will present as a full 360-degree view for a multi-sided experience.

The ultimate purpose of his work, he says, is to exemplify the ways in which human beings seek, reach for, and embody the way we reach and strive for goals in our lives. Thielscher’s art expresses that very moment when success or failure hang in the balance.

In his Carrara marble sculpture “Crux,” above, a twisting, reaching arm and perfectly wrought hand, partially wrapped in a ribbon, rise upward from an abstract form below. Of this work he says “I was trying to create the feeling of an old-fashioned spinning top that is just at the point where it starts to lose momentum, and the point kicks out at the bottom… The ribbon can also be seen to symbolize a ribbon that is often given out as a prize in a competition.” For Thielscher, that competition might well be life itself.

Other commanding images include a foot stepping on an amorphous bundle in the Carrara marble “To Be Different,” and the Red Persian travertine, bronze, wood, resin, and stainless steel “Equine XI.” The piece is an entirely unique image of a horse that is also an homage, the artist says, to favorite artists such “Henry Moore, Brancusi, Dali, Tony Cragg, Mondrian, Rodin, Francis Bacon, Giacometti, Alexandros of Antioch, and Anish Kapoor,” in terms of both form and material employed.

Many of Thielscher’s fine works will be viewable through Project Zola at Booth 918 of the LA Art Show. The LA Art Show’s Opening Night Premiere is February 14th, with the show on view via general admission February 15-18th. The event features over 120 galleries and a diverse selection of art, artists and galleries that span over 180,000 square feet of exhibition space.

  • Genie Davis; images provided by the artist

 

Betye Saar Offers Haunting And Evocative Immersive Installation at the Huntington

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Paddle your own canoe.

Never, though the winds may rave,

Falter or look back:

But upon the darkest wave

Leave a shining track.

Sarah Bolton

Drifting Towards Twilight, Betye Saar’s large-scale immersive installation, commissioned by the Huntington Art Museum and Library, is a deeply moving sculptural piece, comprised of evocative found materials collected over years along with dried cuttings from the gardens. Set in the middle of a blue-gray hued room, the large canoe filled with assembled travelers is an evocative piece rich in metaphor. With a nod towards global mythic narratives, the canoe, which the artist altered to make it look more vintage, rests on a bed of dried organic materials sourced from the myriad gardens, seemingly in a liminal state between heaven and earth. The intense neon blue light visible underneath the canoe suggests a supernatural voyage into the looming unknown.

In the middle of the canoe, situated on small children’s chairs, are three almost identical bird cages (each slightly larger or smaller than the preceding one) with deer antlers sitting inside. In the front and rear of the canoe are guardian human-like figures which are constructed of altered staircase balustrades. One cannot help but see this as a family portrait of the artist with her husband and three children. Though the white bone antlers can reference death, here they are a symbol of regeneration – as they fall off naturally and grow back even larger. The skeleton-like cages become a vessel for containing the soul while paradoxically letting light and air in.

While Saar has used cages in the past to allude to the slave trade, in this piece the intent seems different. The canoe serves as a metaphor for transitioning from one place to another, from the physical plane to the spiritual plane. The dazzling neon blue light mysteriously illuminates the ground under this cosmic canoe, amplifying the imminence of a supernatural excursion. The subtle and exquisite lighting design shifts the mood ever so slightly, suggesting the sun setting and rising through daylight to nightfall. The phases of the moon painted on the wall speak to Saar’s longstanding interest in mysticism and the occult.

The accompanying short film directed by Kyle Provencio Reingold, program director of Ghetto Film School LA, is a gem. It documents Saar’s history and childhood connections to the Huntington while documenting her process building the installation. This contemplative piece connects to the burial traditions of the Vikings and South Asians whose rituals include majestic funeral pyres floating out to sea. The boat is a widespread and potent symbol of transitioning from one world to the next in mythology. Betye Saar, at 97, is la national treasure, upbeat and masterful as she continues to delight, educate, and surprise as she and we all are drifting inexorably towards the twilight, enjoying the pleasures of creativity, family and kin along the way.

  • Nancy Kay Turner; photos by Joshua White provided by the Huntington Art Museum and Library

 

 

 

Must See Art in DTLA – Luis De Jesus, Vielmetter, Nicodim, Artbug, and at the Bendix

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There is a plethora of excellent art in downtown Los Angeles right now. It might, if you feel daring, even be possible to walk between them. Whether you go by foot, car, or public transport, here are some excellent shows that you simply should not miss.

At Luis De Jesus, two stunning solo shows use unique materials to create riveting, utterly original art. Hector Dionicio Mendoza Buscando Futuro / Searching for a Future, marks the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, and it’s a splendid one. From wall art to giant sculptural forms, Mendoza shapes his figures from unusual materials, some of which he describes as “ethnic breads, ” as well as “wood, feathers, bark, and cardboard.” Monumental in size in some cases, and in meaning in every piece, Mendoza’s work is informed by his own personal experiences and the border politics of the U.S. and Mexico. His visualization of immigrant experience is richly moving, a series of browns and beiges and golds with the occasional splash of color from peacock feathers and recycled clothing. This is literally and figuratively colossal work.

Griselda Rosas‘ Donde pasó antes (Where it happened before) is equally passionate and glorious. Drawing from both personal memories and fairy tales, Rosas’ work is as vividly colorful as Mendoza’s is steeped in the brown of desert dust and southwestern landscapes.

Rosas creates mixed media collages from fabrics, cyanotypes, acrylic, watercolor, natural pigments and lush embroidery on linen and ostrich skin. Sculptural works represent ornamental slingshots. Her magical collages tell trenchant tales about colonization and resistance, while using skilled textile manipulation and fanciful figures. She blends mythic images and children’s stories, using a brilliant palette that vibrates with both color and meaning. Remarkable work.

Both solo exhibitions run through February 17th. Luis De Jesus is located at 1110 Matteo Street in the arts district.

Not far away, there’s a new kid in town, a small but well-curated art collective has shaped exhibition space for MAARLA members at Artbug. The opening show, A Mirror to the Sprawl features the brilliantly colored acrylic painting of Hagop Najarian; a riveting abstract utilizing found objects from Stephanie Sherwood; and a terrific series of diminutive vinyl cutout and acrylic flora from Surge Witron. Electronic timers animate a visually cool and thematically fascinating work from Carly Chubak providing apt social commentary on the cost paid for labor. Sean Cully offers a lovely, interactive wood rain stick sculpture, while josh vasquez exhibits a still life of a classic alcoholic beverage presented behind a thick wall of plexiglass, much as it would be on a shop shelf. Emily Babette Gross, Katie Shanks, and H. Leslie Foster II also offer beautifully wrought work.

The exhibition runs through the February 4 at Artbug, which is located at 441 Hunter Street, Unit B.

A short distance away, Vielmetter’s multiple galleries offer two separate solo exhibitions and one vividly delightful group show. London-based artist Celia Paul’s Life Painting in Gallery 1 offers a primarily pastel palette and soft focus on images that include the British Museum, a white rose, the Devon shore, and her “Standing Self Portrait.” Opalescent shadows and a gentle rhythm of brush strokes suffuse the quietly lustrous exhibition.

In the Greenhouse annex, a lively, vividly colorful group exhibition from artists Lavaughan Jenkins, Mario Joyce, Raffi Kalenderian, and Kiriakos Tompolidis showcases works of oil over foam and acrylic on wood panel from Jenkins that vibrate with color and texture; stained-glass-like collage and mixed media works from Joyce; cool and dream-like patterns in truly lovely work from Tompolidis created in acrylic, oil and photo transfer; and Kalenderian’s vivid and visceral images of everything from a ruby red cocktail to a burnished orange backdrop to a Glendale billiards hall. Both terrific shows are up until March 9th.

Closing soon, January 27th in Vielmetter Gallery 2, Todd Gray offers splendid 3D photo collages created from acrylic, oil and photo transfer in a tour de force solo exhibition Rome Work. Images convey thoughtful and startling takes on religion, colonialism, and outdated cultural tropes in a completely unique multiplicity of images.

Upstairs at Nicodim’s annex, a lustrous display of rich acrylic still-lifes glow with inner light from Massachusetts-based artist Nicole Duennebier, in her solo exhibition The Only Way Out is Through. suffused with radiance but dark, these dream-like yet intricately realistic images cast mysterious spells.

Down the hall at another Nicodim outpost, No Shortcuts to Aztlan, Christian Ruiz Berman’s multi-cultural kaleidoscopic images overlap with figurative, surreal, geometric, and abstract elements whose patterns are as supple and evocative as its layered subjects. Both shows are on exhibit through February 17th. Nicodim and Vielmetter are located at 1700 Santa Fe Ave.

A few blocks away at the Bendix building, Tiger Strikes Asteroid presents the vibrant palette of Sara Vanderbeek. The Austin native uses vivid fabric dyes to create images reminiscent of Gaugin figures on linen. Works are hung from the ceiling – including cut outs of legs and objects of clothing – as well as on the walls for an immersive exhibition of a passionate palette. From pregnancy to social violence, while some subjects may be dark, others are more whimsical, and all are celebrations of the glories, indignities, traumas, and triumphs of life itself. Above all else, the joyousness of creation is hanging on the figurative line in these textile works. This is a wow. On display through February 4th.

Adjacent gallery space Monte Vista displays the layered, glossy works of Olivia Booth, works so deep that the viewer feels as if diving into the glowing abstract images is a real possibility. Using a combination of diverse materials that include flashglass and borosillicate, plastic, melted mirror, oil and rubber, the images are both gorgeous and gritty, shining and disturbing. The works will also be on display through February 4th.

At 515, the group exhibition On Painting covers a wide range of creativity in a series of abstract works that include Carlos Beltran Arechiga’s futuristic standout, as well as stellar works by Surge Witrön, Crystal Michaelson, Pamela Taguinot, Peter Nagy and Sasha Mariyem. Sleek, supple, and all about the brush stroke, this show closes February 3rd.

Also in the Bendix, Durden and Ray offers a fascinating collaboration between the Los Angeles based collective and a collective in Arctic Norway, Small Projects. Titled Beyond Horizons, the exhibition was curated by Jet pascua, and featured artists Marsil Andjelov Al-Mahamid, Jojo Austria, Arezoo Bharthania, Tanya Busse, Joe Davidson, Dani Dodge, Eva Faché, Stein Henningsen, Ged Merino, Ina Otzko, Jet Pascua, and Stephanie Sherwood.

The show focuses on landscape – both geographic and political, with note made of climate change and border conflicts. Conceptually strong, exhibition images are primarily abstract, and visually absorbing. Images of golden Joshua trees from Dodge and wonderful geographic landscapes created from the improbable medium of Scotch tape from Davidson join a vertically hung urban forest of images from Barthania among other stellar works by the LA team, while images from their Nordic counterparts include beautiful textile works and sculptures. The exhibition is on exhibit until February 4th.

The Bendix Building is located at 1206 Maple Avenue in DTLA. Go downtown!

Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis

 

 

 

Patricia Fortlage Makes Artistic Lemonade

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Photographic artist Patricia Fortlage brings an ethereal beauty to her new exhibition, Lemonade, My Chronic Illness Story. The exhibition is at Shoebox Projects online gallery through February 25th. Take a long, deep, visual drink.

Fortlage’s inspiration for the series came from shared and nearly identical stories expressed by other women suffering from chronic illnesses and disabilities that were similar to her own. “While I cannot possibly represent an entire population because of the inherent variability in being human, I can definitely share my own experience and hope that people can relate to it. Our culture has very strong ideas on how I should look having a disability, how I should behave, what I should do about my health… if I should exist at all,” she explains.

The exhibition chips away at the stereotypes surrounding disabilities. “There is an overwhelming amount of discrimination, medical gaslighting, misogyny, and dismissal,” she says, along with the assumption that those with disabilities are somehow “faking ill health to gain some sort of perceived systemic benefit.” The reality, she notes, is the complete opposite. “The truth is, I AM faking it.  I am faking WELLNESS. To do anything less leaves me vulnerable, dismissed, discarded.”

Her new series is designed to show “there is still beauty here, and power, and fight. That I have much yet to offer. Yes, there are challenges and there are truly gruesome moments… and some of that is shared as well… but I mostly aim to shine a spotlight on the resilience and fighting spirit and beauty that still lives within me.”

Viewers will see images and read writings from Fortlage that are both poignant and genuinely inspiring. There is a stunning image of the artist in a medical gown viewed from the behind, a trail of pearl necklaces running like tears down her exposed back. The image is accompanied by writing about the discovery of Tarlov Cysts that were only addressed by an out-of-town specialist after local doctors and surgeons dismissed her.

In her image “The Breath,” butterflies land on Fortlage’s face, caressing and sustaining her, as she receives oxygen through a nasal cannula.

“On the Menu” is a gorgeous still life reminiscent of 17th century Dutch Golden Age paintings. Along with the flowers and fruit in Fortlage’s image, there are medicines and medical devices. “File 13 or Circular Trashcan” refers to the medical system’s discard of patients whose chronic conditions they fail to understand. Once such trash can is the trivialized Chronic Fatigue System. The image here is a truly haunting one, a black and white photo discarded in a clear plastic cup.

“Manifesting” presents the viewer with a candlelit altar devoted to a variety of medications and treatments, as well as a pretty mask the artist wears figuratively to conceal her condition from those who tire hearing of it. In another image, a levitating double of the artist floats above herself as she lies on the ground, as she questions whether she is still “in there,” despite being unable to pursue her full-time job or athletic activities.

There are images of an overly familiar and thus no-longer frightening MRI tunnel; a piece titled “Weapons of Battle,” in which walking aids are displayed like precious samurai swords; and a lovely image of a perfect floral skirt worn by Fortlage above leg braces. Viewers also see the contents of her purse; the sterile emptiness of a doctor’s waiting room; and in “Elixers,” beautiful but frightening cocktails are presented in voluptuous focus on a silver tray, while medicines are revealed in soft focus behind them.

Also exhibited are a lush noir image of cigarette smoke rising to cause an immune compromised “flare,” while words of fragile independence describe the meaning of another image that reveals a disabled parking sign outside and parking tag inside a vehicle. The exhibition concludes with a somberly lovely and eerie image, “Troubling Thoughts,” which depicts the artist in a bathtub as seen from above, isolated, and alone.

This collection of images is as devastating as it is beautiful, and one that the artist describes as an outgrowth of prior work and who she is as an artist. “I am a documentary and fine art photographer by trade, but I would also describe myself as a subtle activist. I am consistently creating work in hopes to educate and/or inspire positive change… especially for women and girls. This work certainly builds upon that foundation.”

As should be obvious from viewing the exhibition, Fortlage is creating truly lovely and lovingly revealed images that also expose the need to understand “the discrimination, medical gaslighting, misogyny, and dismissal that those of us with chronic illness and disabilities face.” She calls the show a small step toward “exposing that behavior, in lifting the veil, and calling it out.” She hopes that viewers will join in her effort to do just that and lead the way forward with “love and compassion.”

Certainly this fine visual exhibition and its accompanying, poetic, deeply felt prose will encourage just that. Enter the exhibition online and prepare to be moved; and do tune in to the artist talk, Wednesday the 17th at 6 p.m. The link for the Zoom talk is posted here.

  • Genie Davis; images provided by the artist