Experiential and involving, both Notions of Place, upstairs at Angels Gate, and Mingle Mangle, in the first floor gallery, provide a wide range of interesting art in separate, smart group shows.
MINGLE MANGLE is a part of SoundPedro, and as such, the Angels Gate studio artists exhibited in this this show are responding to concepts of sound. If you’ve ever walked through a gallery and felt as if you could “hear” the art – well, in this case, you actually do. As curated by FLOOD, works include a terrific video piece by Phoebe Barnum, mixing drawings with photographic images; Beth Elliott’s fascinating “Lifeboat the Wedding,” a mixed media sculpture that floats from ceiling to ground and includes palm leaf, bannana leaf, and a repurposed wedding gown found by Barnum in an alley and given to Elliott. Ann Weber shows a geometric cardboard sculpture as conjoined as a pretzel and reminiscent of coral, Ashton Phillips offers an plastic cushion and suspended skylight installation that glows violet and magenta set to audio of mealworms digesting sytrofoam. Viewers are invited into the space to participate simply by being there. Also terrific are works by Lowell Nickel, Susan Rawcliffe, Ed Maloney, Bill Faecke, and Tim Maxeiner. Maxeiner’s lush “Blue Noise” is both mysterious and captivating. It’s a terrific show that reverberates with sound and color.
Upstairs, Notions of Place, curated by Lauren Kasmer, examines community, societal divisions, and each artist’s views ofwhat makes up a home or pertinent place in their lives. It has a dream-like quality that keeps the viewer moving with a sense of wonder through the exhibition that features works by Kasmer as well as from Hilary Baker, Joyce Dallal, Natalie M. Godinez, Kio Griffith, Flora Kao, LaRissa Rogers, Jenny Yurshansky, and HK Zamani. An ongoing participatory work, Homesĭtē, from Joyce Dallal and Lauren Kasmer creates a series of open sides apartment-like structures that reflect on the residences and residents of the city. Examining each small cubby-like exposed interior is absorbing and awakening to the diversity and complexities, the frailties, and dreams of our lives.
Each work is quite wonderful, from Griffith’s enigmatic, spiritual video to Kao’s large-scale, gorgeous rubbing of the rocks along White Point Beach in San Pedro. Kasmer’s physically involving living room setting and video art, Zamani’s mix of the painterly and the sculptural form, and Baker’s lovely, intimate small circles depicting flora and fauna and architecture, are each special and unique, as is the sense of poignancy, beauty, and purpose each of the artists create in the space. Shaping home and hope has a different meaning for each artist, and for viewers to carry with them to their own personal points of refuge.
Notions of Place and Mingle Mangle will both be exhibited through June 17th. Don’t miss.
- Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis