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

 

Magnificent Nature is Monumentally Fragile in Palm Desert

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The natural beauty of the desert is art in itself.  A recent weekend viewing these desert vistas, the exhibitions at Desert X, and the gorgeous luminescence of Phillip K. Smith’s work at the Palm Springs Art Museum – both exhibitions up through May 5th – was richly rewarding. Both exhibitions will be featured in a separate pictorial essay here in coming weeks.

But the biggest art standout of all was an exhibition that spoke to those desert vistas, the mountains behind them, the fecund forests, natural landscapes far and near. Monumentally Fragile at the Walter N. Marks Center for the Arts in Palm Desert offered the most resonant of all the exhibitions viewed on this trip to the desert, memorable images with a dream-like lingering in the eye and heart. The three-gallery space was curated by StartUp curatorial founder Ray Beldner, and featured three different artists, each with a single room to present large scale, but yes, delicate, individual exhibitions.

These intricate paper works were each entirely unique, but taken as a whole, vibrated with even greater meaning. Here is nature in all her wonder, in her own precarious state, given humankind’s rampant disregard for preserving her.  Using fragile materials to create images of an environment that we should all strive to protect is an inspired idea; carefully, gently, and pointedly positing the importance of our stewardship. Having recently curated an exhibition in Los Angeles about climate change, Leaving Eden, I was excited to see work that spoke to the same precious fragility of nature.

The works in Monumentally Fragile are as magnificient as nature herself.  Catherine Ruane, who lives in the desert’s Morongo Valley, has created a series of emotionally moving smaller circular works, arrayed in a pattern around a larger circular work. Here are yuccas and Joshua Trees, night sky and its constellations, each so perfectly rendered in the artist’s signature monochrome use of pencil and charcoal that their intricate beauty brings tears. On an opposite wall, Ruane adds walnut ink to her coloration, depicting leaves and flowers with an even more wistful cast, as if they were relics from a distant time. The centerpiece of the exhibition, however, is her vast General Sherman tree, a nearly life-size paper cut out of a tree with  delicate drawn leaves and branches shaping a mesmerizing, even ethereal, creation. These pieces ache with life and light.

David Tomb of Marin, Calif., creates in full color, shaping wonderfully sweet and fairy-tale-like forests of voluptuous green, flowering plants, and animals to frolic and fly through this world.  Reminding the viewer of a wondrous jungle, within this amazing world bright blue, yellow, and orange butterlies and golden-beaked birds are joined by shadow-casting, dimensional sparrows suspended in flight.  Dimensional vivid green plants spring from the ground. Tomb’s lustrous work is like a stage set for the senses, poetic, wild, and adventurous.

Holly Wong of San Francisco fills the center of her gallery with brightly colored abstract shapes, reminiscent of both flowers and mosaics, of woven lace and cacti, undersea coral and tangled vines. On the walls, smaller pieces of mixed media also evoke sea life, with a rich and opalescent cast and tangled strands of netting and fiber. Hers is mutable moonscape of nature,  mysterious and fascinating, a tapestry of colors and movement.

All three artists have created work that is beautiful and carefully wrought, special works that reveal sensuous, solemn, grand, and perfect nature in all her wonder and all her valuable, vibrant, easy to break, glory. While the exhibition has closed in person, the works can be viewed online, by clicking on each image. Take care of nature – and watch out for the blissful work of these three artists.

  • Genie Davis, photos by Genie Davis

The Los Angeles Print Society Presents Between Us and the Trees: Conversations in the Secret Language of Nature

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The Los Angeles Print Society’s members-only exhibition, Between Us and the Trees: Conversations in the Secret Language of Nature opens this Saturday, April 1st at Eagle Rock’s Center for the Arts.

As one of LA’s most highly regarded art associations, this year’s exhibition is a perfect fit for April’s Earth Day celebration. The exhibition was inspired partially by forest scientist Peter Wohlleben who authored The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, What They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World, a book which discusses the secret language of the trees, the forest ecosystems, and the fungal communication of the ancient forests.

The exhibition explores the topics in this book, including themes of plant intelligence, hidden communication, and the transcendent connections between us and the natural world.

Participating artists include: Leslie Brown, Renee Amitai, Curtis Bartone, Mary Sherwood Brock, Andra Broekelschen, Jennifer Chen, Sydney Cross, Michelle Dakan, Judy Dekel, Mollie Doctrow, Holly Downing, Beth Fein, Christina Yasmin Fesmire, Karen Fiorito, Betty Friedman, Deanna Glad, Yuji Hiratsuka, Jani Hoberg, Linda Hunsaker, Gail Jacobs, Carolyn James, Gesine Janzen, Cindy Koopman, Mako Lanselle, Carolyn Liesy, Linda Lyke, Diane McLeod, Jared Millar, Mary Anne Molcan, Teresa Munoz, Jackie Nach, Angela Oates, Rebecca Harvey Pollak, May Roded, Marianne Sadowski, Sarah Sanford, Annie Silverman, Elsie Sims, Barbara Sloan, Noriho Uriu, Cathy Weiss, Donna Westerman, and Linda Yoshizawa.

According to Karen Fiorito, president of the LA Print Society, “The idea for this show came from discussions between Melinda Farrell, the Director of the Center for the Arts Eagle Rock, and our Exhibitions committee. Melinda had been working with the theme of plant intelligence and communication in some of her projects for the Center, and we all agreed that this idea would be a great exploration for our membership.”

The idea was equally supported by juror John Greco, who turned out to also be a fan of Wohlleben’s book. The exhibition includes 54 artworks created by 42 artists. Greco says the selection process was  based on adherence to the theme of the exhibit – feeling the healing presence of the forest. On this basis, he notes that “My selective process for this exhibition has been primarily through my feelings about what each work of art delivered to me. Secondly, the execution of the processes involved in the making of the piece, along with the fundamentals of composition, color, and design. Art created through printmaking is a time-oriented process that allows the work to percolate and evolve with its involvement with the subject matter.”

Greco (above) himself was chosen for the exhibition both to honor his accomplishments as a renowned printmaker and service on the Los Angeles Printmaking Society Board and due to his dedication to the art of printmaking and to the community of artists he’s served. Fiorito adds that “I also chose him to jury this show for his love of the natural world. I knew that he would appreciate the theme.”

Fiorito says it is impossible to choose favorites as the work is all strong; she notes that “I think there is something for everyone in this exhibition, no matter what your tastes may be.”

While many artists are based in California, the Los Angeles Printmaking Society, founded in 1963, has grown into a national artist-run membership organization devoted to presenting state of the art printmaking exhibitions to the public. Exhibiting artists stretch far and wide, including participants from Minnesota and Montana.

Along with beautifully evocative 2D wall works, there are some pieces that are somewhat unconventional in the exhibition, including a sculptural piece, and several wall works that include additional elements beyond the print medium itself. According to Fiorito, “Many of our members are not only talented printmakers but innovative artists as well. The Center often encourages our artists to come up with site specific works for their shows. For this exhibition, we asked that members create new works or submit works that were made within the last year. We always encourage off the wall works, installations, and sculptural printmaking.”

While this Saturday’s show offers an opening reception for the artists and public with light refreshments, an awards ceremony, and of course, lots of beautiful and inspiring art.

On Saturday, April 22nd, there’s another don’t-miss event. “We will have a special Each Day event featuring a Cyanotype workshop by May Roded, one of the artists in the exhibition and a Gelli Plate demonstration by yours truly,” Fiorito relates.

The exhibition runs April 1 – April 27, 2023, with the opening reception and awards ceremony from 3 to 6 p.m. on the 1st; the April 22nd Earth Day event will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The exhibition is located at:

Center for Arts Eagle Rock (CFAER)

2225 Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90041

Zimmer Frei at Wonzimer: Journey to Home

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Can an exhibition offer something warm, welcoming, and cutting-edge immersive? Well, yes it can. Curated by Snezana Saraswati Petrovic, Zimmer Frei, now at Wonzimer Gallery brings together a cohesive, fascinating group of artists who explore what home means to them, as well as expressing a rich panoply of the experience of emigrating to the U.S. from a different country.

The word diversity has been too often misused, twisted to mean divisive. Here, its expression is just the opposite: the sum of our many different parts, of the blending of cultures and the unique individuality of each, forms the springboard for relationships, art, love, and hope.

The international creators on display have made Los Angeles their home, but still managed to maintain their sharp, insightful voices as they explore the country and city in which they now live, form connections, retain roots in their heritage, and find a place to set those roots down in the new culture of our polyglot country. There are sculptures and dimensional experiential works, paintings and video art,  and performances.  Every piece is tactile and resonant. The curation also makes good use of Wonzimer’s cavernous new space, including it’s towering ceilings.

Exhibiting artists and their original homelands include:

Adeola Davies-Aiyeloja, Nigeria
Alaia Parhizi, Switzerland
Amanda Maciel Antunes, Brazil
Arezoo Bharthania, Iran
Carsten Bund, Germany
Chenhung Chen, Taiwan
Kalpana Vadnagara, India
Katya Usvitsky, Belarus
Marisa Caichiolo, Argentina
Max Presneill, United Kingdom
Nadir G Gergis, Egypt
Snezana Saraswati Petrovic, Yugoslavia
Tom Dunn, Australia

 

Dunn’s black and white video art pulses with energy, humor, and joy; Presneil’s vivid abstract canvas exudes power and light.

Petrovic’s own vine enclosed haven – replete with a “magic” AI mirror that also forms a terrific selfie spot, is rich and green, while Usvitsky’s fabric sculptures are presented here partially suspended, soft and fecund, like a nest on a cloud.

Gergis offers a dark and deep riff on the Coptic icon that speaks to the inner workings of the soul. Parhizi provides richly colored narrative painting that pairs beautifully next to Gergis work.

Vadnagara, working in a variety of mediums including fabric, gives viewers a vibrant palette and involving textures. On opening night, the artist also gracefully demonstrated the creation of nan bread with the gestures of a potter at a wheel.

Chen’s delicate hanging mesh sculptures contrast beautifully to her more solid metal and parts floor sculpture that recalls the shape of a volcano in form.

Bund’s video work is a resonant, shifting piece that moves, flower like, between face and abstract form.

In the foreground, above, is a scroll, hand embroidered by Antunes.

Caicholo creates a grass and earth miniature landscape along with a video installation that interacts nicely with Petrovic’s Edenic recylable plastic zip tie and fresh hanging orchid garden across the room. Also on view from Caicholo is a collection of silver, an assemblage provocatively filled with and using hair, Caicholo’s commentary on heritage, borders, and their transitory, arbitrary nature.

Antune’s textile sculpture and hanging wall scroll both lend an air of profound mystery and magic to her own travelers story. Antunes also created a tour-de-force performance piece, Memoryhouse, which she presented this past weekend.

Davies-Aiyeloja gives us a haunting, purple-hued image of women travelers in a lustrous painting.

Bharthania has a floor to ceiling stunner as delicate and intricate as the wings of a butterfly or a space kite, seen above.

There is also a singular “collage” of sorts in Zimmer Frei, with objects of signficance to each artist laid out in a mandala-like circle around a robe once worn by Usvitsky’s grandmother.

The exhibition title referes to a German phrase for vacancy, evoking that “welcome” or “vacancy” sign and fond memories of travels during Petrovic’s childhood with stays at private homes or B&Bs. This collection of works allows viewers to explore and move similarly with nomadic joy, being equally welcomed as we recall what we have, had, and want in a home, both physically and metaphorically, through art.

The exhibition runs through April 7th, with an artist dinner March 31st from 5:30 to 7:30 at the gallery, followed by short film screenings of works never before seen in the U.S. by Petrovic, Vojislav Radovanovic, and Neša Paripović.

Go get yourself welcomed!

  • Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis