Linda Sue Price and Michael Flechtner – Neon’s Dream Duo Pair Up at the Fine Arts Building

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Neon carries an inherent sense of glowy magic. But in the hands of master neon artists, the magic transcends the medium and takes shape.

Now at the Fine Arts Building through the month of May, Linda Sue Price and Michael Flechtner each offer distinct and different visions of neon as a medium and as art in their latest iteration of Art + Science + Craft.

The two artists have exhibited paired solo shows in the same space multiple times: the alcoves and shadows of the building offer a well positioned and ornate space for honoring and displaying neon in all its lustrous glory.

This time around, the artists present some entirely new elements in their works.  Price, whose work is abstract, geometric, and sinuous all at once, has added natural wood to one piece, “Onyit,”  which includes compelling neon beading added to that wood amid a vibrant orange and red palette. She describes the work as one that “celebrates determined and consistent focus.”

Her “Mandis” is something entirely different, described as a work that”helps to eliminate distractions.” However, this playful piece is plenty distracting. Amid its tangled yellow neon coils, a small black computer tablet repeats a simlar coiled and moving pattern with animated beading on its screen.

Other works here by Price include alchemic looking green, blue, and yellow plant-like neon wall sculptures. A 3-D sculpture, “Montessence,” revealed as supporting connectivity and healing” in its desciption, is both plant and sensuous, growing and burgeoning life-form, reaching toward a sun possibly as bright as its own red, yellow and orange.

Flechtner’s often playful, smart, and amusing works are the literal yin to Price’s abstract yang. Where Price is exploring shape and pattern, Flechtner’s focus is on language, both literal and figurative, as he often uses words within his work. In this exhibition, he employs mechanicals in more than one piece. Gold, black, and white Japanese cats take a mechanized spin around a glowing red neon platform in one piece; in another, three of these cats wave, representing, with dark glasses, cotton stuffed in ears, and a mouth gag, respectively, the see no evil/hear no evil/speak no evil monkeys. Glowing with bright green, the scripted word “hell” pops out from a chroma-blue neon base; on top of this sculptural piece are yen, a collar sign, and black and red darts.  In another work, a pure neon piece, a cat with an open can of fish,waves within a neon circle. Combining mediums again, a golden neon bolt emanates between the eyes of two pink-faced Japanese cats.

In short, both artists create fun and fabulous neon worlds, abstract and mystical in Price’s work; profoundly clever in Flechtner’s. And both are adding new touches and mediums, new forms within their shining neon mastery of their art.

Go see these artists light up a (large) room.  And if you need a little brightness in your life, these gems are the kind to collect.

The Fine Arts building is open daily except weekends, noon to 5 p.m.

  • Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis

 

Catalina Dreamin’

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If you’re longing for an island getaway, without the flight to Hawaii, Catalina Island is a great choice. With spring weather finally showing up for SoCal, taking a smooth and quick Catalina Express boat from Long Beach, San Pedro, or Newport Beach will land you in Avalon Harbor in just over an hour (a bit longer from the OC).

We stayed in the Hotel Atwater, which has been beautifully refurbished, from the elegant, art deco lobby – replete with a harp, to the tasteful, plush rooms, blissfully quiet rooms, too. Done in understated creams and pastels, the rooms exude a hushed but unpretentious elegance. Adjoining the lobby, guests can easily pass into a covered shopping area that includes a coffee bar that makes a nice stop for a morning bagel and of course, a cup of your favorite a.m. beverage.

For lunch or dinner, try the perfect bluewater view at, naturally the Bluewater Grill. Fresh fish, views for miles, an airy, maritime-themed dining room, and a capacious patio, plus terrific cocktails make this a must-stop. And of course, their renowned fresh baked sourdough bread. The buttery sauteed sand dabs with capers were perfect in a light, refreshin lemon buere blanc. Served with decadently rich scalloped potatoes and flavorful well-prepared spinach, it was a classic dish that tasted freshly caught. The same freshness was more than evident in the Black & Blue Ahi, served two ways: blackened and seared rare with a slightly spicy, delicious wakame seaweed salad, wasabi cream, coconut ginger rice, and broccolini. For dessert, a smooth, fluffy key lime pie. My cocktail was a well-seasoned meal in itself. The Fisherman’s Mary was made with Blue Ice Vodka, housemade Bloody Mary mix, and served with bamboo skewered shrimp, pimento stuffed olive, lime and a tasty pickled green bean. My partner went for the Serrano Margarita, made the way he likes it – hot. The drink featured Cuervo Tradicional Silver Tequila, De Kuyper Triple Sec, freshlime juice, a splash of fresh orange, organic agave nectar, and his favorite – hand-crushed fresh serrano chili with a requested extra application.

Along with strolling the streets and browsing the shops of Avalon,  must-do sfor any visitor to the island include a stop to see the latest exhibitions at the Catalina Museum for Art and History – see our earlier article on the Tiki Tales exhibition, running through September, and the recent, but now-closed, perfectly curated CROSSING WATERS: CONTEMPORARY TONGVA ARTISTS CARRYING PIMUGNA, both discussed in two earlier articles in this publication.

And, whatever you do, you can’t miss the Behind the Scenes tour at the Casino. Yes, there’s a considerably shorter tour that gives you just a glimpse of this beautiful building, but the 90 minute Behind the Scenes is the way to go, to explore the private screening room, sit down and watch the lights dim in the stunning theater, learn about murals, dressing rooms, the ballroom, and take in the views from the balcony.

Our guide was well-versed in the history of this palatial structure, which opened May 29, 2029, and served as a major achievement for the island’s then-estate holder, William Wrigley Jr. His vision to create a welcoming “playground for all” on the island included the casino theater and ballroom. The theater was among the first to screen a “talking picture.” The ballroom hosted all night dances that brought revelers on steamships to the island to swirl along to Big Band sounds, while partaking of non-alcoholic beverages in the undersea-themed lounges.

Another recommended dining experience is the Naughty Fox, a relative newcomer to Catalina’s cuisine. Here we enjoyed a lovely version of a classic Mai Tai – Vic’s features Don Q silver, Mysters dark rum, pineapple juice, orange juice, and orgeat syrup. My partner’s margarita with tajin rim was refreshing and bright. Our meal: a rich, dreamy  platter of elevated macaroni and cheese; and a trio of fresh-from-the-sea shrimp tacos, simple, and simply delightful. The meal is served with a street and bay view either at a hip bar with chartreuse seats or outdoors on a triangular patio.

And of course for tiki drinks, decor, and yummy sea-centric bar bites, the place to go is Luau Larry’s, a bit farther down Crescent Street, and open late, mentioned in last week’s look at Catalina Island.

So — what are you waiting for? Go ahead, enjoy an island getaway – without the hassles of TSA and a long flight.

  • Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis and Jack Burke

It’s Always Tiki Time Somewhere at the Catalina Museum for Art and History

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Serving as a truly beautiful adjunct to the Catalina Museum for Art and History’s permanent collection, now through September 3rd, visitors to Catalina Island can enjoy the transporting exhibition Tall Tiki Tales. Curated by author, tiki scholar, and cinematographer Sven Kirsten, the widely encompassing show includes artifacts from films shot on the island, dining spots, and resorts, as well as and original books and artwork that enhance the understanding of a cultural phenomenae that shaped tastes and traditions – as well as wildly fun beverages – both on and off Catalina.

Frequently serving as a film set that helped to popularize tiki as an art form, Catalina has a rich history in the development of America’s happy obsession with all things tiki, including the bars and restaurants that grew nationwide during the 1930s.

A highlight of the well-curated exhibition is an interactive one – visitors can sit down at a cozy table in a replica tiki bar to experience a unique design by master tiki bar designer Bamboo Ben. Viewers are transported to a blissful paradise with the sound of pattering rain upon sitting down. The only thing missing is a classic beverage.

According to Johnny Sampson, the museum’s Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Catalina Island served as a major film set for movie adaptations of works such as Nordhoff and Hall’s Bounty Trilogy and The Hurricane, W. Somerset Maugham’s short story “Rain” and The Ebb Tide by Robert Louis Stephenson. “Hollywood quickly adapted these and other stories into movies, using Catalina Island as an accessible backlot for far away South Seas locales…we had Christian’s Hut from the set of Mutiny on the Bounty, the Chi Chi Club at the Isthmus and in Avalon, Hotel Waikiki, and Hurricane Cove—which even had lighting effects and fans to recreate the thrill of Hurricane for its patrons.”

The fascinating mix of photographs, original art, and collector’s items – as well as the one-of-a-kind tiki hut immersive experience, beautifully support another look at the island’s past, a stellar permanent historical collection touching on other areas of Catalina life, including other film shoots, Chicago Cubs memorabilia, a wide ranging survey of Catalina pottery and tile, and a collection of photographs, negatives, and films documenting island life from the early 1880s to the present.

Viewers will also observe early phone switchboards, the evolution of transportation from the mainland, sport fishing items, and a wonderful collection of Tongva and Gabrielino artifacts. The fine art collection includes photography, plein air painting, contemporary sculpture, and examples of architectural and graphic design.

Combined with Tiki Tales, viewers will find an absolute treasure trove of art and history, as the museum continues to live up to its name with deep dives into island life and vibrant, intelligent art exhibitions.

And, if Tiki Tales made you thirsty or hungry, there’s a quick solution for that. Walk on down Crescent street to Luau Larry’s. The indoor  thatched roof hut and bamboo walls and delightfully kitschy ocean-themed paintings and murals here are even joined by an historic tiki wood carving, hanging above the booth we choose to sit in, a happy coincidence.

We enjoyed  vibrantly colored Polynesian- style cocktails – a bright Blue Hawaiian and the bar’s signature tiki drink, a Wiki Wacker with Cruzan aged light rum, Parrott brand, pineapple/orange juice and grenadine. The latter comes with imbibers’ choice of straw hat or bumper sticker. The food was fine too –  fresh, savory popcorn scallops and shrimp, a well-seasoned, fresh poke, and a first-rate seared ahi platter served with ginger, wasabi, soy sauce, and a nicely sweet, crisp cole slaw.

Currently, the Catalina Island Company is offering a terrific getaway – the Tall Tiki Tales package, that combines a hotel stay at the beautifully updated Hotel Atwater and a boat ride to Catalina – we had the pleasure of traveling from Long Beach via Catalina Express,  a safe, swift, and beautiful passage across the blue Pacific, arriving with a great view of the historic Casino building upon arrival in Avalon Harbor. We experienced the journey two ways – indoors in the comfortable Commodore Lounge, replete with a glass of Brut Chandon, and outdoors, with the wind whipping our hair and an eye trained on pelicans on a long flight.

In an upcoming article, our stay at the Hotel Atwater, a look at the in-depth Behind the Scenes casino tour, and additional dining experiences. For now, go experience a few Tiki Tales at the Catalina Museum for Art and History – and then raise a toast to the exhibition at Luau Larry’s.

  • Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis and provided from the museum’s collection

 

AstrotheBaptist Takes Us Radiantly Home in Space

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The first solo exhibition by astrothebaptist, a.k.a. LJ Kim, Home in Space, is a dazzling, metaphysical wonder.  The artist’s chosen name is appropriate – he is leading his viewers, literally and figuratively to see the light. Creating rainbows and patterns using glass and light, astrothebaptist transforms image into something both transcendent and empowering, creating a new way of seeing color and light that uplifts and resonates.

Exhibited in a Glassell Park pop-up gallery space through March 19th, seeing this radiant work lifts the viewer into an entirely different place. Having transformed the gallery space into a black box experience, he shows visitors how he interacts with and transforms a single source of white light using dichroic beam splitters. In this way he reflects different parts of the color spectrum against a canvas, creating a dimensional wall sculpture presented with painterly skill from beams of light and the special positioning of the glass he uses.

The works are both vibrant and mysterious. During Home in Space, astrothebaptist not only shows his dimensional light paintings, he demonstrates his process, and how he can change a work by manipulating the position of glass pieces and light beams. Just as watching an involving movie lifts the audience out of the prosaic space of the theater and into another world entirely, so too does this artist’s brilliant rainbow of work.

As astrothebaptist’s first solo exhibition, the exhibition’s beauty and unusual materials are perhaps closest to a kind of floating neon in appearance, more than any other form. He describes the exhibition as one in which viewers are invited to join on a journey to the “far reaches of the cosmos, where the details of everyday life fade away.” Such a description in other hands might be considered hyperbole, but not here.

Manipulating different wavelengths of light, the artist shapes the colors and patterns almost as if he is sculpting a less ephemeral material. It’s a zen-like experience for both the artist and the viewer, one which the artist hopes will expand a personal view to one that is connected to “the wide world around us.”  It also connects us with a true sense of home, and what that means for each person.

The New Jersey-born artist himself says he felt estranged from the concept of a permanent, structured home, raised abroad in a variety of very different locales by his Korean immigrant parents, returning to the U.S. after many years. According to the artist, “Through my study/play and exploration of light, I have found a different perspective on what home can mean. When I look at light and the way it behaves, from its reflections and refractions to its absorption and mixing of different hues to create new colors, I see a metaphor for the way cultures and perspectives interact and evolve over time.” He adds that “Light is constantly traveling and connecting everything in the universe, just as our experiences and identities are constantly evolving and shaping one another. It’s this idea of home as a dynamic and interconnected concept, rather than a static place.”

In short, his sense of belonging has found a center from a cosmic distance, a perspective born of color and light, providing a mind altering and heart-opening window to the world that is perhaps as resonant and all-encompassing as a NASA astronaut’s view of Earth from distant space.

“For me, the concept of ‘home’ has always been a complex and evolving one. As someone who has lived in different places around the world, I never felt like I had a fixed home in the traditional sense,” he asserts. By playing with light and color, I hope to convey a sense of belonging and wonder that transcends physical boundaries and celebrates the unity of all things in the cosmos. For me, this is what makes working with light such a powerful and transformative experience.”

The eleven astonishing permanent, wall-mounted artworks in the artist’s first exhibition provides viewers with the same perspective of wonder and joy, innocence and power.

He explains that “As an artist, what draws me to working with light is the multifaceted nature of this intangible medium. On one level, light has a deep spiritual significance, with many cultures and religions using it as a symbol of life or a higher power.” He adds that the unique qualities of light, its capability for movement, reflection, refraction, and ability to change color through the introduction of filters or layers has created a vast, exciting, and playful medium for him. “Working with light is like exploring and discovering something new each time, with endless possibilities for creation and animation. In a way, it is a metaphor for the mixing of cultures and experiences, just as light mixes and blends to create new colors and shades.” In short, using light as his medium, astrothebaptist explores something deep and vibrating at the heart of human nature, or perhaps of nature itself.  “I tap into this sense of discovery and wonder and create a space where people can connect with the natural beauty of the world around them.”

The artist had a flourishing career as a filmmaker and working in film production, for over 15 years.  Both his film career and the pandemic shutdown in part led him to create this whole new box of light “crayons,” as he describes his material.

“In my various roles on film sets, I’ve always been attentive to the quality and nuances of lighting…I’ve spent many years color grading, which plays into my strong interest into color science,” astrothebaptist notes.

This attention to technical elements has, he says “heightened my sensitivity and receptivity to the intricate details of light manipulation.” When COVID-19 brought the film industry to a halt, he finally had the time to dive deeply into the way he was experimenting and playing with dichroic optical filters, a passion he’d discovered only about 6 months before the lockdown, allowing him to fully journey from discovery and exploration into craft and form.

“Finding my original four ‘crayons’ of optical dichroic filters was a natural part of my exploration phase. I scoured the internet for all types of affordable dichroic filters, including cubes, vinyl, glass, and more. However, it wasn’t until I began working on my solo show that I realized just how difficult it was to get a hold of the specific type of optical dichroic filters I was using,” he says. Because he needed to commit materials to permanent pieces, he searched long and hard for an optics lab that could manufacture filters to his exact specifications. Despite the challenge and financial risks, he obtained three new filters that provided him with new options with which to create his art.

 

And what an art it is. There are flowers and geometric forms and mysterious orbs within his work, which he describes as “a celebration of the intersection between art and science. Through my light art installations and space-inspired pieces, I hope to inspire curiosity and wonder about the cosmos, while also exploring themes of human connection and our place in the universe.”

While that’s no small feat, astrothebaptist pulls it all off. The patterns and colors that emerge and the colors that explode are entirely unique and exceptionally, even spiritually, involving for the viewer. It is the kind of art that whether placed in a gallery, home, or museum, it can be viewed many times, and each time the viewer will be compelled to go deeper into its meaning and beauty.

“Kandinsky, one of my biggest inspirations, said it best in Concerning the Spiritual, ‘Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul,’” astrothebaptist asserts. “Playing with the animation, shapes, and colors has become the way I feel ‘vibrations in my soul.’ He believed that art should move beyond simply depicting the physical world and should instead evoke emotions and spiritual experiences through the use of color, form, and composition.” Kadinsky also didn’t start his art career until the age of 30, the same age astrothebaptist discovered optical dichroic filters, he notes, adding to the sense of connection. Stephen Knapp, who created light paintings with dichroic filters and French conceptual artist Daniel Buren, who works using colored vinyl over windows to create shadows of color using shifting sunlight, are additional inspirations.

Hoping to create both a public art installation and a musical light show in the near future, astrothebaptist says Home in Space “represents a significant moment in my artistic journey…my first showcase of any work featuring dichroic glass and light. The result is a journey through the darkness of the cosmos, where each piece of art is revealed one by one, through the interplay of light.”

As he illuminates each piece one by on, explaining both his process and journey he allows viewers to discover something new with each image, watching the transformation of glass and canvas into alchemic color and visual magic.

“As the finale, I added a live light show to music, followed by a casual monologue…[sharing] my personal story of discovering my love for playing with light and color.” He says he had three key aims for the exhibition “to educate, inspire, and connect viewers with the power of light.”  But, he may have left out the part of the exhibition that most spoke to me: he has created a world within or beyond our own, and an artistic journey like no other witnessed in my viewing of hundreds of art exhibitions. To say astrothebaptist’s work is special is far too small a summary.

With Home in Space about to close, the artist’s next show will be at the Brewery Art Walk this coming April 29th and 30th. While he will not be able to provide a full guided experience there, he will be exhibiting many of the same mind-blowingly lovely pieces, and perhaps including once again his personal collection of vintage tin space toys, inspirations, and digital photographs of previous works.

To learn more and experience astrothebaptist’s art, visit him at: www.astrothebaptist.space

  • Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis and Megan Johnson