The magical, miniature world of assemblage art dollhouses are on display this Sunday at TATABA in Santa Monica, where shop owner and assemblage artist Gilena Simons offers a reception into her perfectly detailed world.
TATABA itself will be going on hiatus at the end of April and preparing for a reopen next year as a hybrid art gallery and vintage shop in a new location just across the street. The exhibition is a taste of things to come, in terms of Simons delightfully detailed artwork.
Simons collects and reuses once-treasured vintage items in her work, and with this exhibition presents a varied palette of materials.
Works on display include “Love Letters – War Torn,” made with ephemera including fragments of correspondence from a U.S. Navy officer to his wife during WWII, above; and “Black Pearl – The Josephine Baker House,” a tribute to the legendary entertainer and French resistance agent, below.
“I am especially interested in the amount of time and resources it takes to amass a collection, whether stamps or matchbooks, buttons or love letters, only to have it one day become meaningless and end up in a stranger’s — my –hands,” Simons explains. “I feel a responsibility to honor time and chance by providing new homes for lost or forgotten things.”
She began working in assemblage for a simple reason, she attests. “Easy answer: I’m an artist who can’t draw lol. Seriously though, I always knew I was… able to put together attractive vignettes. I didn’t know it had a name – assemblage – until I was already doing it.”
This show includes a benefit portion – a portion of proceeds from sales will benefit OUR HOUSE Grief Support Center.
“I was widowed 20 years ago and met my ex-husband, whose wife also died, in a bereavement group at Our House. Besides the obvious ‘house’ reference, my work deals with loss and finding new purpose and meaning, so it is a good fit,” the artists relates.
Simons wants viewers to know that her work is a collection – of time. “Not just my time as an artist – but the total time it took for all of the other unknown individuals to design, create, and collect the components assembled in each piece. I also want people to think about chance and the coincidences crucial in order for any of us to meet and find meaning in arbitrary happenstance,” she says.
According to Simons, the store’s closing is really an art opening in Simon’s eyes. TATABA will reopen with a focus on monthly exhibitions and events, tying art with vintage home décor and fashion.
As for the future, Simons plans to spend the next year getting permits from the City of Santa Monica and the Coastal Commission to renovate and restore a historic building at 2914 Main Street to house her new gallery and shop.
“Once renovations are completed, my new space will house an art gallery featuring underrepresented and local artists with an emphasis on assemblage artists, as well as a rotating selection of highly curated vintage home décor and fashion. Stay tuned for the grand re-opening,” she enthuses.
And visit TATABA this weekend Saturday, March 24, 11AM-7PM, and Sunday, March 25, 12-6PM. A reception with beverages and bites will be held on Sunday from 3 to 6. TATABA is presently located at 2823 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405.
Dear Gilena, what imaginative, creative, meaningful art you are creating! I had no idea you were right here in Santa Monica. Thank you for your ongoing support of OUR HOUSE Grief Support Center. All my best, Fredda