Aviary Soared – Curated by Betty Brown at Loft at Liz’s an Astonishingly Lovely Group Show

With Aviary, the just-closed massive group exhibition curated by Betty Brown at Loft at Liz’s, birds of many feathers flocked together in a wonderful all-media exhibition that ranged from the sculptural to paintings, mixed media, and more.

There was the fragile, poignant newspaper-based work of Nurit Avesar, and the lineoleum block ink tattoo of a fighting cock on rich crimson from Edwin Vasquez. Six stunning free-form sculptural works by Samuelle Richardson, working in fabric over armature to create birds in flight. Calling out, and about to fly, they were arrayed in the project room; Debbie Korbel’s cardboard, steel, and wood “As the Crow Flies”  took off from the floor in the front gallery.

Placed with Richardson’s work, Joanne Julian evoked the brush strokes of Japanese calligraphy in her graceful graphite, ink, and prisma color work. Cynthia James oil on copper work seethed with salmon color in the same space while Jodi Bonassi’s vibrantly colored, intensely detailed canvas works were joined by her own sepia toned, simpler birds created on paper bags, and equally sublimely magical.

Like a shedding royal cape, feathers fell from a large scale work by artists Cheryl Dullabaun and Linda Parnell in the lush, regal “Volaries.” John M. White positioned his paintings of birds on wires; L. Aviva Diamond’s riveting archival pigment prints soared in black and white.  Edwin Vasequez provided “Mayan Birds” as masks, evoking both totem poles and Mayan civilizations.

Kaoru Mansour presented works on wood panel illuminated with gold leaf and thread.

Dean and Laura Larson offered a phenomenal collaboration. Laura Larson’s astonishingly alive bronze sculptures, “Birds in Mourning,” were paired with a beautiful large-scale composite photograph by Dean Larson that placed the sculptural works within a fully invented setting.

As very different as they were striking, works by Bibi Davidson – touching on the vibrantly surreal, and rich works from Deena Capparelli both each provided immersive visual stories. Quite different works by Roberto Benevidez were equally filled with movement and power, his astonishingly alive sculptural birds perched on wooden dowls. Jill Sykes’ work glistened and shone in spare, graceful patterns.

Seventeen artists in all presented work, which viewed collectively was like entering an actual aviary, filled with varied birds from every corner of the world. Feathers, captured in sculpture or paint, photography or mixed media erupted in a swirl of motion and color, layered and lovely, fragile yet powerful.

Collectively, the works spoke to each other in a kind of contrasting, wonderful cacophony of song you could almost hear, wings you could almost feel brushing the air of the gallery space. There were resting birds, fighting birds, flying birds, perching birds, floating birds, sleeping birds. While the opening was crowded with artists and guests, on a quiet afternoon, one could almost hear the birds rustle, stir, and soar.

Vivid, beautiful odes to the longing for flight and the joy and pain of this species and our own – each work joined in this aching chorus.  If you missed it, but would like to possess a winged thing or two, reach out to the gallery or curator.

Loft at Liz’s is located at 453 S. La Brea Ave.

  • Genie Davis; photos: Genie Davis

Forest Bathing Takes Root at Loft at Liz’s

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Memory Tree by Catherine Ruane, above

Through June 17th, take a walk in a forest of art with Forest Bathing, now at Loft at Liz’s. Curated by Betty Brown, the exhibition is a celebration of nature. Paying homage to the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku, the exhibition takes the idea of mindful discovery and peace through nature and transforms it into an experience in the gallery through paintings, drawings, sculptures, and photography, as well as mixed media installations. 17 artists create their own depictions of nature, and it is worthy of a long, deep forest-bath.

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Above, artist Catherine Ruane.

Catherine Ruane’s brilliantly realistic graphite drawing, “Memory Tree,” draws viewers within its massive, comforting branches.

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Lyrical and wondrous, the work feels tactile, as if the branches were embracing the viewer.

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Bibi Davidson, in contrast, gives us brightly colored trees in a surreal world that leads viewers into a dream-like state. Viewing her work is a fabulous adventure.

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Linda Vallejo’s graceful paintings of the oak trees around Topanga Canyon exude peace.

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Hung Viet Nguyen’s richly textured tributes to the trees of the Ancient Bristle Cone Pine Forest outside Big Pine, Calif., seem magical and beyond this world.

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His thick paint and vibrant palette add to the sensation of having entered a new realm.

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Speaking of a different world, Marthe Aponte takes over the Projects Room, with “Sacred Trees,” using drawing, embroidery, and paint and picote, a traditional, painstaking, and delicate form of French paper art.

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To enter the room is to step into a different dimension, a hushed and holy and strange place that glows. In the back of the room, a Joshua Tree of slightly different construction stands, as if watching over the viewers who enter the room, a guardian of a reverent place.

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Another mixed media work comes from Dave Lovejoy and Susan Feldman, who have created a contemporary grotto in one of the gallery’s stairwells, one made of wood and thread, shaping trees that are instantly recognizable as such, and yet deconstructing the shape of limbs and trunks. The use of lighting, the evocative green glow of this dimensional installation, make the work seem like a portal. It beckons, fecund.

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Also contemporary: Chenhung Chen’s 3-D tree constructed of electrical cords and wires: using this detritus of technology, she’s created a poetic and lovely reduction of the essence of “treeness.”

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Another true stunner is Samuelle Richardson’s white wood tree, occupied by cacophonus crows. You can almost hear them.

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Her fabric sculpture is evocative and haunting, but at the same time, she’s managed to convey a sense of whimsy in the work, as if one had entered a fairy tale.

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Above, glittering trees from Hermine Harman.

There are many other wonderful works taking root in the gallery forest as well. Exhibition artists include in all: Marthe Aponte, Chenhung Chen, Bibi Davidson, Barbara Edelstein, Susan Feldman & Dave Lovejoy, Renee Fox, Maria Greenshields-Ziman, Hermine Harman (whose glittering trees explode with color above), Joanne Julian, Sant Khalsa, Alberto Mesirca, Hung Viet Nguyen, Samuelle Richardson, Catherine Ruane, Jill Sykes and Linda Vallejo.

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Above, beautiful, elegatic photographic work from Sant Khlasa.

If the words dream, other worldly, mysterious, and haunting have come up in this review – and they have – it is because entering the gallery, one must give up a sense of the “real world:” the noise of the street, the crowds on the stairs at the opening, and instead embrace the sensory experience of stepping into a forest of art, one that is indeed all of those things.

From the most realistic to the most fantastical renderings, Brown has shaped a forest that embraces and explores natural beauty and our perception of it, soaking us in the shadows, serenity, and life force that is inherent in these artistic woods.  Emerge from this forest refreshed, yes, but also expanded: let these images of nature and wonder slip into your soul, and feel the better for it.

You’ll need to hurry in – but once you’re there, bask. Loft at Liz’s is located at 453 S. La Brea in mid-city. The exhibition closes June 17th.

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  • Genie Davis; photos: Genie Davis, Susan Feldman installation photo courtesy Cheryl Henderson.