One of the entrance images with faux fur and paint.
When I was teaching art in London,
I was able to take my class to an important landscape exhibition. Their assignment was to imagine that they were actually in the painting and design
what activities they would do there for a day… a picnic, a swim, a stroll, a
rock concert, a masked ball. They had to place themselves inside, wandering
around, noticing their surroundings. Twenty-five years later, this experience
would be made much easier for them with Beyond Van Gogh. But instead of our
own imagination, we are invited inside the creative mind of Vincent Van Gogh.
Fanny Curtat, the Art History
Consultant for this show, believes events like this might lead reluctant museum
goers to seek out the original works that inspired so much effort by her team. Normal
Studio with thePaquin
Entertainment Groupand Primo Entertainment who put together Beyond are just
one of several conglomerates that have packaged the Van Gogh legacy. This one has
a large educational component and calls upon it own creative tech artists to
imagine the works and words coming together with music and animation for a
truly impressive presentation.
Ms.
Curtat was careful to emphasis that the Beyond Van Gogh does not concentrate on
his self-mutilation, but instead takes you from darker days to huge burst of
joy and color. There is a room of lighted text, followed by a space filled with
a moving waterfall of color to accustom
you to the final large room with about a 35 minute sequence of images. You can
come in at any stage and you might want to repeat parts by quietly sitting on
anyone of the benches that seem to be lifted from the style of a Van Gogh
room.
Outside entrance to the Wyland Center at the Del Mar Fairgrounds
It would be great for every child in San Diego to have the chance to be awed by this display
Boy genius
Words from his trove of letters are brought to life.
Waterfalls of color are created by the artist techs.
Fanny Curtat, Art History Consultant
In November, Van Gogh had his most successful auction month ever, also leading to a yearly record. One outstanding lot was his Young Man with Cornflower, which sold for $46.7 million - having been estimated at only $5 million - $7 million. You can buy your own little bit of Vincent memorabilia in the extensive gift shop at the end of the show.
Xuchi Naungayan Eggleton Dr. Reuben Shaw Elegant simple shape, complicated materials and construction
Marcos Ramírez ERRE, the De La
Torre Brothers, Siobhan Arnold, David Adey, Xuchi Naungayan Eggleton, Debby and Larry Kline,
Mely Barragan, Christopher Puzio, Cesar and Lois Collective and Wendy Maruyama. Now that is a major line-up of talent and they do
not disappoint. Curated by Chi Essary and with an absolutely stunning catalog, we
were pleased to see this show before it closed. Hopefully this report and the catalog
will be a permanent memory of such talent coming together.
The show is a trifecta because these artists were
each assigned to a different endowed chair scientist recipient at the Salk
Institute. The endowment ($3 million for each chair) is the patron part of the
title. These scientists are working on cures for disease and asking those
important questions like why do we age, how can we save the planet? What the artists (even ERRE) all
discovered was that answers did not come in black and white. The research has
shown that finding one answer might lead to more complications. So thank
goodness we have these beautiful visual images to remind us that life is good and with
that beauty comes hope.
Xuchi Naungayan Eggleton (detail)
Wendy Maruyama Dr. John Reynold Ripples of memories reflected in the mirror like surface, more distorted as the piece progresses.
Wendy Maruyama
Wendy Maruyama (detail)
Mely Barragan Dr. Kay Tye Trying to connect biologically or culturally.
David Adey Dr. Jan Karlseder Dolly the cow entangled in loops of knowing and unknowing,
Cesar and Lois Collective Dr. Joanne Chory Proposing an artificial intelligence that learns from nature not from humans.
Marcos Ramírez ERRE Dr. Clodagh O'Shea Trying to make a black and white world that we can control,
Marcos Ramírez ERRE (detail)
De La Torre Brothers Dr. Gerald Shadel The good changes to the bad changes to the good changes to the bad.
De La Torre Brothers
De La Torre Brothers (detail)
Christopher Puzio Dr. Geoffrey Wahl Metaphors within metaphors,
Christopher Puzio (detail)
Siobhan Arnold Dr. Susan Kaech A secret little message inside of every lymph gland.
Siobhan Arnold (detail)
Debby and Larry Kline Dr. Thomas Albright Truth hidden and revealed and hidden and revealed.
Trifecta: Art, Science, Patron La Jolla Historical Society Wisteria Cottage Gallery
780 Prospect Street, La Jolla HOURS: Wed-Sunday, 12-4 p. m. through January 16. Free admission.
PHES Gallerypresents Impermanence a group exhibition with Wendy Maruyama, Kathi McCord, Michelle
Kurtis Cole, and Andres Amadorreflecting life's transitory nature. But
this is not a sad grouping of doom and gloom but a hopeful one because of the
beauty reflected in each of the works.
I am most familiar with the work of Michelle Kurtis Cole.
Her dedication to bringing attention to climate change and how it affects the
ocean and our environment is a long time theme of her work. We were lucky
enough to show a whole selection of her work in the DNA of Creativity exhibition
at Oceanside Museum of Art as part of the Sea Change: ACT project. A
set of 7 of her dying corals from that show are newly presented here. When
corals die they are bleached of all color and appear underwater as ghost of
their former selves.
Michelle Kurtis Cole and Andres Amador.
Kurtis Cole hand sculpts interpretations of the precious
undersea beings from red wax. Molds are then made from the waxes as the process
is so tricky, that more than one model is needed. Then they are spurred and
invested in plaster. The next step of the loss wax process is to melt the wax
out of the investment. Then glass frit fills the hollow, the work is adjusted
so that parts get more heat than other and the long process of firing begins.
Slow heating and cooling assures the safety of the art, and then the lengthy process of finishing these glass gems begins, grinding off spurs, polishing, creating
and setting stands to display them.
There are two new works made especially for this show and if
you look closely you can see the glass disintegrating. They are lit from within
as if they have souls yet to be released.
Michelle Kurtis Cole
Michelle Kurtis Cole
Michelle Kurtis Cole (detail)
The delicacy of a pencil line creates the impermanence in
the drawings of Kathi McCord Endangered flora and fauna of the rain
forest fill two walls. Everyone knows how to erase a graphite line and everyone
is invited to do so in room two of her display. It is an emotional experience
as demonstrated by the box of tissues available for tears. I could not bring
myself to erase a monkey, but someone did and I am sure ended with wet cheeks.
Kathi McCord
Kathi McCord (before erased)
Kathi McCord (after erased)
Kathi McCord - erasers and tissue
Wendy Maruyama makes the most incredible furniture
which is solid and long lasting, so seeing her soft and flowing hanging of identity
tags from Japanese Americans interred in camps during World War II reminds us
of these citizens uprooted from their homes and businesses. Having your foundation whipped out from
underneath you has happened to all of us at some time, but seeing this almost Christmas
tree like form in the center of the gallery, almost make it feel like a
celebration of resilience, bravery and the determination to survive.
Wendy Maruyama (detail)
Making a sand castle and then watching the waves wash it
away is one of the joys of childhood. Andres Amador takes this
experience to a whole new level. It is impossible to imagine how these
perfectly formed geometric shapes can be created. The photographs are stunning and
it does help to see a video to really experience the dissolution as a complete
part of the process. The sand is reborn to be its natural self or a fresh
canvas. Amador not only works with sand and water but also clay and water as he
uses native American basket pattern on rock formation that are then water
blasted away.
Andres Amador sand and sea
Andres Amador
Andres Amador clay on rock
Ellen Speert, curator of this show and the ES of PHES with husband Paul Henry recalls the words of philosopher Francis Bacon, "We have only this
moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake."
One thing you can take to the bank is display of work at the Cannon Art Gallery is always tip top and this show is no exception. Karen McGuire, the curator, has chosen the five artists from those juried into the 2021 Biennial for this 9th invitational exhibition. The dramatic view when you first enter the show is to the back wall and the stunning wall sculpture by Melissa Walter (SD Art Prize 2020, La Mesa). Stark but warmly lit, the works draws your eye immediately, but you walk through the graphite black and white drawings by Samantha Barrymore (Carlsbad) to get a closer look. Barrymore’s art is hyper-photographic and by using the regular texture of the canvas sub-strait, the works almost look pixelated.
Melissa Walter (details)
Melissa Walter
Samantha Barrymore (pencil on canvas)
Brad Maxey’s (San Diego) intimate views of building interiors are also hyper, this time realism. They are beautifully rendered in full color
Brad Maxey
Brad Maxey
Jiela Rufeh (Encinitas) was the surprise of the show. Her encaustic and mixed media works seem to invoke a science fiction world where animals heads with extended horns have shrouded human bodies.
Jiela Rufeh
Jiela Rufeh
Jiela Rufeh
The sculptures by Griselda Rosas (SD Art Prize 2020, Chula Vista) continue to intrigue me. These multiple media pieces use materials in such unusual combinations and they appear to have some function but that is left to your imagination. Her wall hanging with embroidery continue to develop in theme, shape and color.
These are the ones to watch!
Griselda Rosas (detail)
Griselda Rosas
Griselda Rosas
To experience the process for making art that Griselda Rosas uses, there are some art kits that are being given away for free. I followed all the instructions and here my own multimedia art work influenced by Griselda and made with all the materials in the kits.
Patricia Frischer
The Cannon Art Gallery Invitational
exhibition
On view from Nov 13 to Feb 5, 2022.
Carlsbad City Library complex at Dove Lane and El Camino Real in the south of
Carlsbad Tuesday
through Thursday: Noon - 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday: Noon - 5 p.m.
Admission is free. Masks are required.
