Descanso Gardens Blossoms with Holiday Light

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Now through January 5th, catch a glimpse of the illuminated trees, gorgeous stained glass houses, and waves of color shifting tulips that make up Enchanted Forest of Light at Descanso Gardens in Pasadena.

This fairytale of a holiday light show uses elements of the gardens as part of its tableau. The singing tulip fields are first on view, charming as music shifts and colors change in waves; they are a returning favorite.

We pass through a tunnel of stars followed by a series of beautifully patterned lanterns colored in fushias and gold. Created by HYBYCOZO, these are delicate and astonishing, seemingly as ephemeral as the delicate woven shadows they cast.

Visitors move into a section of tall, coast live oak trees with musical steps around them – tap your feet to summon a bell-like sound.

Afterwards, illuminated “park benches” provide a rest and the chance to take in an entire field of stained glass houses created by artist Tom Fruin. Some are large enough to enter; some are themed with illuminated playing card patterns, four leaf clovers and the like, while others present orderly geometric patterns, or collage like colors. One floats like a lilypad of light on a small lake.

A field of golden light filaments wavers near by; wire fencing holding swirly abstract flourescent tubing rise adjacent to real, headily scented roses. Fountains glow; a large full faux moon rises above and reflects in a royal blue-lit pond and waterfall. In the Japanese garden, red lanterns cast a seductive glow.

Finally, there’s a wonderful and hushed magical forest, with soft sound effects played live and echoing through speakers in the woods. Here, fairy-like sparks flick between the higher branches, a chandelier is suspended from a towering limb; and in the “sacred sanctuary,” the final stop on the walk, the scents of fecund forest and recent rain petrichor add to the magic.

Carolers, classical quartets, and solo cello players appear at intervals create additonal aural pleasures. Guests can purchase hot chocolate, coffee, or tea or headier adult fare along with sweet treats and snacks in several different food areas.

Advance ticket purchase is required.  Discounted admission of $10–$22 tickets on Dec. 2–3 and Dec. 9–10;  other dates, adult ticket prices range from $15–38 (members) to $22–45 (non-members) with children’s tickets (2-12) priced at $10–23 (members)
$17–30 (non-members); prices vary by date. The exhibition is held from 5:30-10 p.m. nightly,  closed Nov. 28 and Dec. 24–25.

  • Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis

 

An Artist Who Matters: Hung Viet Nguyen Coming to Matter Gallery

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Opening December 8th at Matter Gallery in mid-city, Hung Viet Nguyen’s Chances Matter is a dazzling new body of work,  his first in which the human figure plays a central part in his highly textured, immersive landscapes. The exhibition marks a new direction for the artist. While continuing his masterful work in oil and palette knife, building up and manipulating his paint as if sculpting it, he now paints human subjects with a greater emphasis. The new prominence of humans speaks to both our coexistence in and joy of nature, but also to our effect upon it, from climate change to a self-absorption with our cell phones that may preclude the ability to be one with the natural environment around us.

When adding the human figure into the pristine yet entirely alive natural landscapes that he paints, Nguyen reveals that he’s not judging the intervention of humans – that judgment resides with viewers. He fully embraces the idea that while we can never regret experiencing beauty, we cannot control the outcome of our experience of it, one which affects not only us personally, but nature itself.

In “Hot Springs Bathers,” the human figures remain oblivious to jet trails in the sky that could represent wildly increased travel or an on-coming war. Above these floats what could be another view of the earth as if seen from a 360-degree perspective looking backwards, or another planet falling from the sky, also blissfully ignored by the human figures below.  Startlingly vivid colors and the dichotomy of tranquility with possibly ominous outcomes creates a visceral tension in the work.

Likewise, Nguyen’s “Tomorrow Won’t Be the Same,” above, fully embraces a belief he expresses that change will come, regardless of the hour, for good or ill. Here we see viewers taking a selfie in front of a beautiful waterfall, obliviously standing near a growing crack in the ground.

“Eclipse” shows the sun nearly fully occluded by the moon, leaving a stunning Ring of Fire. Below this astonishing spectacle, two women and a man, mostly naked, relax on the grass, cell phones in hand, small parts of the cosmic show.

 

In “Self-Baptism,” the human figure is what draws the viewer most fully. This figure wears a blue scarf as she enters the water of a flower-ringed, steaming spring. 

Although many settings in Nguyen’s new series are inspired by locations such as Iceland and the greater Mammoth Lakes area, “Journey Through Dry Lake” was inspired by the desert terrain of the Salton Sea. Here the human subject is carrying a boat across a dry lakebed speckled with dead fish; the artist’s “Contemplating,” below, reveals a man holding a stick against his shoulders behind his head, a position of relaxation that also recalls the crucifixion; sacrifice and acceptance in this pose.

While each of the above works are large, there are a range of smaller artworks as well, many featuring Nguyen’s arched gates, waterfalls, and snowy mountains, each perfectly rendered. He is also including a series of images created in tins, displayed as if they were open lockets; many which feature more of this evocative human subjects.

Do be sure to catch this meaningful show – your chance to see it matters!

Matter Studio Gallery is located at 5080 W. Pico Boulevard LA, CA 90019. The exhibition will be up through January the 5th.
Opening reception: December 8, 2024 4-8 PM; artist talk December 22, 2024 2-4 PM; closing reecption January 5, 2025 4-6 PM
The regular hours for tis show are Friday 4-6 PM; Saturday and Sunday 12-6 PM; also available for viewing by appointment.

  • Genie Davis; photos – Genie Davis and as provided by the artist

 

Fascinating Film Art Upcoming at Wonzimer Gallery: A Rack of Banshees Makes Noise

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Coming up November 7th – that’s this week — The Association of Hysteric Curators (AHC)  presents an evening of feminist experimental films and video art,  “A Racket of Banshees.”

Comprised of a series of twenty-one short films, the program explores an array of feminist and women’s rights issues, many of which currently occupy the forefront of US national policy debates. Collectively, all of the films invite viewers to reflect upon what it means to be a woman in our contemporary society and to gain a deeper understanding of how women’s identities shape their everyday lives.  This is particularly pertinent in light of the historic election taking place as I write.

Participating Artists: Attic Portrait (Michelle Tift & Sea Zeda), Melanie Elyse Brewster, A. Laura Brody, Alessia Lupo Cecchet, Ching Ching Cheng  & Manyu Gao, dama (aka Amanda Maciel Antunes), Victoria Delgadillo, Diana-Sofia Estrada, Rachel Finkelstein, Malado Francine, Raghubir Kintisch, Ibuki Kuramochi, Leslie Lanxinger, Marne Lucas & Tyler Hubby, Maya Mackrandilal, Sarana Mehra, Alexandra Neuman , Snezana Saraswati Petrovic, Leah Piepgras, Mei Xian Qiu, Margie Schnibbe, Kayla Tange, Matt Odom & Caroline Yoo

Each flmmaker takes viewers into a world which critically examines feminist issues such as aging, disability, reproduction, ecofeminism, violence, politics, and self-determination.  The works are presented in a range of styles from claymation and AI and utilize source material such as wildlife camera footage.

Even the title of the program is fascinating: Kiki Smith explored the concept of the banshee in her 1991 work, Banshee Pearls, in which she cast herself as a banshee in a series of 12 lithographs, surrounded by images of skulls, death masks, and other beast-like forms. As in Smith’s Banshee Pearls, each film in “A Racket of Banshees” may be viewed as a single banshee in celluloid form, who has come to us to declare all manner of deaths: that of women’s reproductive rights; the pandemic of global femicides; the death of our Mother Earth; and the ultimate demise of patriarchy.

The program was curated by the Association of Hysteric Curators collective, under the special organizational direction of member artists Margie Schnibbe, Snezana Saraswati Petrovic, and Mary Anna Pomonis. For more information about the Association of Hysteric Curators, please consult their website at: www.hystericcurators.com.

Catch the Glow at MOAH Cedar with Luminous Mysteries/Human Symmetries

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Making his debut solo museum exhibition at MOAH Cedar, Nikolas Soren Goodich weaves complex glowing stories that mix light, vivid color, and symbolic abstraction. Creating works that both literally and figuratively glow, the artist’s Luminous Mysteries/Human Symmetries combine a sense of both dream and reality.

The museum show offers an encompassing look at the artist’s work, and provides an immersive walk-through of images that seem to move with the viewer’s eye. The illuminated effects of Goodich’s art make many of his works feel wildly alive.

Particularly impressive are his large scale works “Luminous Mysteries/Human Symmetries Ground One and Ground Two”.  This  two-sided work is kiln-fired glass paint on tempered glass and acrylic on plexiglass in an aluminum frame.  Mysteriously embedded LED lights and a transformer make the pieces pop to neon shades; the sunshine of an amber and gold palette blazes to the eye.

His work flows and spins, both captivating and startling the viewer in its vivid coloration and intricacy. Some works are only layers of plexiglass, others are plexiglass panels layered onto canvas.  Some are more figurative, such as the twinned red faces in “Untitled New Psychedelic Diptych” and “Humananimal 1.”  “Doppelganger” in another dazzler, an acrylic on plexiglass work with embedded LED lights.

Some works include both Goodich’s painting and printmaking techniques. His process takes the different surfaces of plexiglass and kiln-fired glass into account, making fine use of both the reflective surfaces and their transparency as well as how they fuse with light.

These are fierce, smart images that feature bold color. He applies colors directly onto the surface of one glass panel and hand monoprints onto the next, creating images that seem to be woven together, fluid yet geometric; layered not just in paint but in light. The experience of viewing many of these images, whether they contain embedded LEDs or they do not, is as if light was stitched in between the layers.

He has described his paintings as touching upon physics, biology, chemistry, geography, consciousness, and philosophy. It’s his wish to make his work healing, both in the visual and emotional sense. He himself has healed from a harsh past, but is still reflective of that journey.  As an artist, it’s the resilience and fragility of the human spirit, the wisdom of self-reflection, and his own emergence as if from a chrysallis of pain into his life as an artist. This metaphor is often present in works that feature a butterfly-like, twinned/winged image.

In fact, his personal path is entwined with his artwork,  and just as his own difficult personal trajectory has changed, the art itself can seem mutable, depending upon the environment in which they are located, as well as the time of day in which they are viewed, shifting one’s experience of them. He notes that his own layering of glass interacts with space and light – as well as with the mood of a space of the mood of the viewer.

While the inner glow of these works is manifest at MOAH Cedar, it is perhaps even more stunning outdoors in an installation at Palm Desert’s Melissa Morgan Fine Arts. Viewing his work at both locations fully explores Goodich’s own perception of art as mirroring the internal and external at work in all of us, with the figurative represented in the portraiture embedded in his work, and the abstract, also vitally present in his work, and perhaps more aligned with our own inchoate spirituality.

Goodich’s personal history, both culturally and racially as Black and Jewish,  his survival of the trauma of addiction and homelessness, and his personal resurrection as an artist is certainly one part of his art. But he extrapoloates forward into broader questions of justice, identity, toxicity, and healing — with the cure to all the world’s ills, as well as his own personal past darkness, being light.

The 22 works at MOAH Cedar, all created within the last five years, are truly reflective: of light, the magic of simply being alive, and how we see ourselves and others. They are mirrors of the artist’s psyche, of our own, and of the environment. Presented at the museum as a collection of two series of work,  Double Inverted Portraits and Luminous Symmetries, both are transformative and alchemic.

As noted,  Goodich’s large scale two-sided edge-lit public artwork, “Luminous Mysteries Human Symmetries Ground Two,” is on permanent display in Palm Desert. Both high and low desert destinations are well worth a drive to feel the Goodrich glow.

The MOAH Cedar exhibition runs through November 24th with an artist’s talk with critic and curator Shana Nys Dambrot on November 16th at 2 p.m.

The installation at Melissa Morgan Fine Art is positioned permanently.

  • Genie Davis; photos provided by the artist and Laura Grover; additional images by Genie Davis