Top Floor, June 2023 Oceanside Museum of Art

 by Patricia Frischer

CONNIE JENKINS, detail

CONNIE JENKINS: INTERTIDAL PAINTINGS FROM THE CHANNEL ISLANDS to AUGUST 13, 2023

CONNIE JENKINS

CONNIE JENKINS

These views of tide pools need close up attention.  There were inspired by visits over 13 years to 8 different Channel Islands by Connie Jenkins. I could not see any climate change difference, but I was enchanted with the art that looks super realistic from a distance, but close up breaks up into wonderfully satisfying abstract shapes with lovely soft colors.  

The artist is a volunteer with the Intertidal Monitoring Survey team, the park’s Natural Resources Specialist, and with Channel Island Restoration and says that the tide pools are both “fragile and impervious”. 

JANET TAYLOR PICKETT: LIGHT, COLOR, AND DESIRE to Sept 3, 2023 Curated By Dr. Jennifer Baahng

The curator of this show, Dr. Jennifer Baahng, uses three mighty artists to describe Janet Taylor Pickett’s paintings; Johannes Vermeer for light, Henri Matisse for color, Frida Kahlo for desire. But I found that Pickett’s work could stand alone as a joyous rendition of the black female form. If anything, I would compare the figures in this show to the Greek Goddess of love Aphrodite or the Roman one, Venus. They are celebrations. 

SOMETHING DIFFERENT FROM OMA'S PERMANENT COLLECTION  to Sept 17

Tiny Canvas

Robert Matheny

There are just 12 works by nine Southern California artists for this show in the sweet little corner gallery next to the administration offices of OMA. They are unique and fun and might not ever fit into a general themed exhibition curated from the permanent collection. We know the museum hopes to expand into the fire station next door and at that time, they might have room to accept more donated works of art.  I choose one painting by Robert Matheny and the painted finger nails to give you a little taste.    

 

You can also see: Melissa Meier: Becoming Nature at Oceanside Museum of Art Picked RAW Peeled by Patricia Frischer

Oceanside Museum of Art
Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday 11:00am–5:00pm
Friday 11:00am–8:00pm 

Melissa Meier: Becoming Nature at Oceanside Museum of Art

 by Patricia Frischer

Melissa Meier, detail of below

Melissa Meier: Becoming Nature at Oceanside Museum of Art
Showing until June 25, 2023 Curated By Kate Stern  

Melissa Meier just seems to love textures and patterns and has a terrific skill in design. The fact that most of her shapes are from natural materials (I am not sure if pasta counts as totally natural) reflects her interest in upscaling materials maybe more than a true passion for saving the earth. After all, these are mainly fashion statements. I would imagine that the delight in getting lost in the process of constructing these works of art is quite meditative, certainly looking at them is a delight. The photos of models wearing the garments are stunning and extremely suitable for a high end fashion magazine. The photos function as works of art themselves. 

By far my favorite in the show is the Medusa-like head of snakes illustrated at the end of this article. Medusa was beheaded by a Greek God and her head was used as a weapon to turn onlookers to stone.  Eventually he gave it to the goddess of wisdom Athena to put on her shield to ward off evil. That is real environmental power!

 

detail of above

detail of above

detail of above

detail of above

Melissa Meier: Becoming Nature 

Showing until June 25, 2023 Curated By Kate Stern 
Oceanside Museum of Art
Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday 11:00am–5:00pm
Friday 11:00am–8:00pm 

Robert Xavier Burden: Relics at Oceanside Museum of Art

by Patricia Frischer

Fay Wray in King Kong's mighty hand

Don't miss Robert Xavier Burden: Relics at Oceanside Museum of Art which is only showing until Sunday, June 4, 2023 In Honor And Memory Of Curator Bob Self . This is a terrific show to take the kids to and Saturday and Sunday are perfect days for a family outing.

Most kids play with action figures at some point as testified by moms and dads stepping on them when the kiddos have not put them away. But Robert Xavier Burden has taken the images of these figures to a whole new level. He has morphed some of our historical figures into heros(?). He grants these figures a status that is above and beyond even some of the movies they appear in. And yes, he says,” There is an obvious irony in spending thousands of hours to create a single painting that glorifies a cheap, mass-produced toy.” But for many of us, thoughts of childhood represent freedom and these works are awe inspiring. 

Kong in all his glory

Black and Pink  Panther 

So much to see including below Queen Elizabeth and Dictator Putin. 

Most of the works are on a truly grand scale, but this small work gives you an idea of the study taken to include dinos of all kinds. 

Neu Glas: Art Glass Association of Southern California at Front Porch Gallery

 by Patricia Frischer

Deanne Sabeck

The first thing I must say is that I have never seen the Front Porch Gallery looking more professional and lovely. The layout and design of the show gives these glass art work the full exposure and respect that they need and deserve. These are all recent works by members of the Balboa Park headquartered Art Glass Association of Southern California expertly curated by Julie Weavering, the gallery director. 

Here we see a selection of many techniques that make glass so fascinating; blowing, kiln-casting, fusing, slumping, pâté-de-verre, flame-working, hot-sculpting and cold-working,  etching, even powder screen printing. The works I have chosen below are by artists that have mastered the particular skills they need to communicate their messages.  Technique is only half the story of good art. 

Deanne Sabeck’s verticle wall hanging flying saucer shapes are urging you to take them home (ET). Tom Morosz transparent wings and cubes invite us to take a chance and come fly with me. Kathleen Mitchell fossil bird beaks are asking us to save the environment. While Jack Wade’s Venus Fly trap with tongue screams “feed me”. Krista Heron’s wall piece makes us wonder which parts are photography and which are 3-d glass drops.  The shimmering flat column by Jon Simpson brings sun to a rainy day. 

Deanne Sabeck

Tom Morosz

Tom Morosz

Kathleen Mitchell

Kathleen Mitchell

Jack Wade

Krista Heron

Jon Simpson

The following is a selection of work by some of the many other worthy artists in this exhibition. Visit and see up close why glass continues to grow as a major category of fine art. 

Neu Glas: Recent Work by Members of Art Glass Association of Southern California

May 21 to July 8, 2023
Front Porch Gallery
2903 Carlsbad Blvd., Carlsbad 92008
Opening Hours Wednesday - Sunday 11am - 5pm
More info: Julie Weaverling  760-795-6120

Broken Mirror at the Techne Art Center

By Patricia Frischer

William Feeney

Broken Mirror at the Techne Art Center

A Broken Mirror conjured up images of bad luck, accidents, and psycho movies. But that is really not the case with this exhibition, which is, instead, the partial reflections of multiple minds.  

Artist and curator Chuck Thomas and cofounder Leslie Wang have a really terrific and really large space in Oceanside that is set up as a gallery with a few studios.  The spaces are so large that shows here can almost be conceived as multiple one person exhibitions. The partners are developing a stable of artists slowly by exhibiting a combination of local and national artists, many from New York and others discovered through art fairs around the county, especially like Spring Break in LA. Techne Art Center has been open less than a year, but there is a possibility of more art gallery and studio space to come.

I have chosen just some of these artists in the following report, but the full list is Bryan De Roo, William Feeney, Annalise Neil, Julie Goldstein, Sarah Bereza, Rozko Garabatos, Josh Dov and Shelly Burgon

William Feeney's art is about questions.  He tries to tell a story, but gets hung up on details, which would be easy to gloss over.  Feeney occupies those taken-for-granted aspects of the narrative, and presents objects that speak to questions he has fixated on.  The result is his artwork occupies a space that exists between things. All those tiny pieces of wood veneer that make up feet, or the complicated rolled up skeleton or the oversize skull with its gun shaped tongue/arm/fingers lead us up, around, through and back. William Feeney is a past SD Art Prize recipient.

Annalise Neil like Bill Feeney is a local artist but educated in New York. She is working with visual metaphors in the series of cyanotypes on view. These metaphors seem to want to connect the viewer as a human being to other ecological environments with which we share this earth. So though there are no figures, we see some of the views through human eyes of flowers, plants, suns, water forced into round shapes, even bowls and dishes.

Julie Goldstein, the third local artist in this show, is a storyteller who uses her own life plus historical women to inspire empowerment. Her mixed media works include paper and fabric, lithography and woodcut printing. I think it is the woodcutting that shows most the hand of the artist as she uses a wooden spoon to burnish the ink into the paper. The editions are thus very limited i.e., only 3 per block which can be as large as 4 by 6 feet. But her work seems always to have an element of water… she invites you to swim and boat with her.

Sarah Bereza seems to be starting with an empty frame, but somehow the frame takes on its own importance. It morphs and enters the interior space and only allows either the natural world or other worldly creatures to join it. A visit to Chernobyl with the disappearance of everything is a stated influence.  

Although Chuck Thomas is not part of this show, he has a studio at Techne Art Center and his works were on view in the second floor where the exhibition continues. These luscious oils draw you in like a sweet tray of cookies your grandkids might over decorate, with so many colors and sprinkles and lots of drawing outside of the lines. I was especially intrigued when I visited his website and saw the cityscapes that he made previously. This is a continuous journey for an artist who duplicates and repeats to reproduce his travels. As the curator of this exhibition, you might even say he has a vested interest in mirroring the world.    

William Feeney

William Feeney

William Feeney, detail

 

 Rozko Garabatos 

Julie Goldstein

Julie Goldstein

Julie Goldstein

Sarah Bereza

Sarah Bereza

Annalise Neil

Annalise Neil

Annalise Neil

Bryan De Roo

Chuck Thomas

Chuck Thomas

Chuck Thomas

Chuck Thomas, scarf

Leslie Wang and Chuck Thomas

Broken Mirror showing until September 16^th
Bryan De Roo, William Feeney, Annalise Neil, Julie Goldstein, Sarah Bereza, Rozko Garabatos, 
Josh Dov and Shelly Burgon  
Techne Art Center 1609 Ord Way, Oceanside, 92056
More info: Chuck Thomas  917.972.1752
Wed-Fri 1-7pm, Sat 12-6pm

Leslie Wang is also a jeweler and her works are available to see by appointment at Techne art Center. 

Leslie Wang

Leslie Wang