Now at the new gallery and event space Unita in El Segundo through January 27th, the beautiful work of stellar photographers offers an eye-opening view into a fresh new world of landscape images.
SCAPES, curated by Hayley Marie Colston and Moshe Levis from NOTINDOOR Photography magazine, features the work of photographic artists Ryan Meichtry, Diane Cockerill, Osceola Refetoff, and Chris Pelonis along with additional works from NOTINDOOR contributors.
Each photographers work is unique as to approach and subject matter.
Refetoff’s Desertscapes curation is haunting and poignant, raw and vivid; his images of clouds, sky, and road pull the viewer into travels of their own. A series of photographs taken over the wing of airplanes is both transcendent and triumphant.
Cockerill offers rich Cityscapes, with urban skylines, intimate views of architecture, street scenes – a collection that gives viewers a fresh, loving, and visceral look at Los Angeles that is both sophisticated and warm.
Pelonis’ rich and varied Landscapes takes viewers intimately on an international journey; Meichtry’s Seascapes are wild and evocative, revealing the sinuous curves of awe-inspiring waves and sleek water. Meichtry’s short film, The Perilous Sea, which screened at the opening of the show, offered intense views of surfing off the coasts of Nova Scotia, the Hebrides, and Ireland.
At the closing reception, planned for January 27th from 6 to 11 p.m., an additional exhibition will include the work of both curators inside Colston’s Gypsy Trails Gallery, a portable space to be parked behind Unita.
Colston explains that she has been invited by Unita to be a resident curator. “As an artist, I find curating to be an additional and different outlet. Photography allows me to capture life’s passing moments and painting, to capture the passing thoughts in my mind. Curating a show is a newer form of art for me and I’m enjoying the process of connecting or colliding the themes of different artists’ works.”
Choosing a photographic exhibit for her opening salvo at Unita was an easy choice. “I wanted to do a photography show to reconnect to where I started as an artist, and the photographers selected consistently inspire me. Each photographer selected for the show has their own style and concentrated theme, so I wanted to find a way to tell a story through them.”
Colston describes that story as “… the evolution of scenery. Starting with pristine landscapes to humanity’s play with the world. I wanted a look at the harmony, growth and desertion of people and their environments. Landscapes without people, seascapes and how people interact and have to go with flow of the mighty oceans,” she relates. “I decided to include the Perilous Sea surf film to really emphasize this. I also wanted to include Cityscapes and how people have created their own scenes, and Desertscapes to show the desertion of people and the lasting effects of their presence to the original landscapes.”
The wide-ranging exhibition offers ample space for each of the artists to present their work, and to draw viewers into a “whole new world.” Now that’s an escape, or SCAPES as the case may be.
Unita is located at 215 Arena St. in El Segundo.