At the Korean Cultural Center on Wilshire Blvd., through May 12th, the Durden and Ray art collective has mounted an impressive array of abstract art and sculpture with Odd Convergences: Steps/Missteps. The expansive gallery features the work of artists Carlos Beltran, Carl Berg, Jorin Bossen, Gul Cagin, Jennifer Celio, Sijia Chen, Joe Davidson, Dani Dodge, Lana Duong, Tom Dunn, Roni Feldman, Ben Jackel, Brian Thomas Jones, Jenny Hager, David Leapman, Sean Noyce, Max Presneill, Ty Pownall, David Spanbock, Curtis Stage, Valerie Wilcox, Steven Wolkoff and Alison Woods. Curated by Gul Cagin, Roni Feldman and Valerie Wilcox, this is a strong show that features experimental approaches to understanding the world around us.
There is so much to be appreciated, both in the curation that allows viewers the time and space to take in the vivid abstracts here, and in the works themselves, which are unique visions of the world both within and without. They are interpretive and passionate, a look into the minds and hearts of artists looking to make sense of our culture, our lifestyles and culture, and life itself.
While too many to mention here, each piece is frankly worthy of contemplation: Jenny Hager’s deeply dimensional acrylic on canvas, “Higuera, above;” Carl Berg’s pixilated pigment on matte paper musings; Carlos Beltran’s stunning “Digital Landscape” that straddles the line between painting and digital creation, below.
Curtis Stage’s mysterious archival inkjet print photographs, Dani Dodge’s immersive styrofoam sculptural “Ruins,” and David Leapman’s lush “Markers of Four Decades,” with bright abstract forms popping out from black are all standouts.
Above, Curtis Strange; below, Dani Dodge
Below, David Leapman
Alison Woods’ “Utopia Machine” glows with gold; Jennifer Celio’s “The Simple Operation” is awash in light.
Above, Alison Woods; below, Jennifer Celio
Working in oil and spray paint on canvas over panel, Max Presneil’s “RD210” offers marks and forms that feel iconic, below.
Roni Feldman has a dazzling, fecund green universe in “The Way,” while Sean Noyce’s screen prints and acrylic work are a visceral mix of color, form, and technological reference.
Above, Feldman; below, Noyce.
Faces peer from the dream-like lushness of Tom Dunn’s “It’s Only Painting but I Like It;” Ty Pownall works his sculptural sand forms powerfully in “Excavation Set.”
Dunn, above; Pownall below.
Steven Wolkoff works in sculptural black and white paint in “Static Pile,” while Valerie Wilcox shapes mixed media wall sculptures from wood, acrylic, plaster, and paper mache among other materials, her “Constructs” are like puzzle pieces well worth figuring out.
Wolkoff, above; Wilcox, below.
So too are Gul Cagin’s acrylics that create abstract body shapes in the orange, gold, and black; David Spanbock’s fascinating depictions of abstract cityscapes.
Cagen, above; Spanbock, below.
And Ben Jackel’s stoneware “Dark Tower,” (below, with Jackel, right) is a literally and figuratively weighty sculpture, a meditation on power and control.
The KCC is located at 5505 Wilshire Blvd. in Miracle Mile. Go out and art!
Above, close up, Dani Dodge “Ruins.”
- Genie Davis; photos: Genie Davis
