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John
Millei, "Red Bow" Oil and Flashe on canvas 42" x 36"
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Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla , CA
John Millei
describes his new paintings as “an investigation of personality traits of both
men and women through simple mark making”. Curiously, some of these paintings
are more obvious about their figurative references while others appear purely
abstract. While the title of the show “Anthropomorphic Abstractions”
is a tip
off to this body of work, the viewer will often have to search hard to see
these references. Perhaps Millei is attempting to create a new visual language
for his self defined figurative abstractions but it doesn’t appear
necessary. These abstract paintings
stand alone without all that. The character of the brushstrokes are luscious,
seductive and bold - and his color
combinations are clearly well mapped. The 19 oil and flashe paintings on canvas
vary in size and scale, but appear to have similar proportional dimensions
creating a rather static quality to the totality of the
exhibition space. There is a series of works called “Hat Head”, another series
called “Torso”, and six others whose titles are unique to the particular work. Works
titled “Red Bow”, “Lips” and “Yellow Streak” seem to fit Millei’s intended
investigations best. One thing is certain –these paintings are power-packed
with energy, vitality and emotional intensity that viewers will appreciate.
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Miya
Hannan "Trapped Histories" Installation: Resin, Bone, Concrete, Tree
Limbs
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R.B. Stevenson Gallery, La Jolla,CA
MiyaHannan’s
exhibition, “Layers and Missing Links”, explores the complexities of the cycle
of life and the histories and connections between human beings and nature. The
heart and soul of this exhibition is a room -sized installation constructed
from bones, resin, and tree branches that span the main gallery space suspended
from ceiling to floor. This archeological landscape conjures up thoughts of
skeletons and earth excavations alongside chain links created from concrete
repetitive forms. The long cylindrical white and golden ‘icicles’ extending off
the branches of the tree forms, lends a visual starkness that is mitigated by
the spiritual feeling this landscape evokes. The concept of linkages of people
from past to present to future is central to the work in this exhibition. Included in Hannan’s other works are several
suspended sculptural forms - a series called “Roots”. Hannan uses tree roots,
epoxy resin, concrete, wire and phone books to amplify repetitive organic and
skeletal forms as they float in space suspended from the ceiling. A triptych
called “Rings” features burned pages of phone books and the concept of time - of
people, past and present, visually portrayed in the form of sliced off tree
trunks framed in raw wood. The
relationship between life and death, and body and spirit, all come into play in
the constructions of this intriguing and thought provoking exhibition.
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Arnold
Kramer "Breakfast Room" silver gelatin print 16" x 20"
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Joseph Bellows Gallery
Arnold
Kramer’s “Interior Views” is the artist’s first west coast exhibition of his
photographs. They are all vintage
gelatin silver prints measuring 16” x 20”.
The show features work from a 1978 critically acclaimed exhibition at
the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington
DC. Kramer is well known for
these black and white photographs which focus on the importance of the
environment of everyday indoor life. Most images are of rooms where families
typically gather – living rooms, dining rooms, in front of the T.V., and
kitchen. No matter which room is photographed, the objects are flatly
illuminated and are shot with a bare bulb flash. The photographs have an
airless, toneless homogenized quality and have a certain starkness of
appearance. The images of these environments appear static, and firm, and
possess a certain rawness, with no emotional temperature expressed by Kramer.
The photographs are more about depicting domestic habits in a suburban
environment where the compositions are about the scrutinizing of the
distribution of objects. Kramer seems to be most interested in photographing
how things are arranged in a particular manner in a particular room. This compositional perspective highlights an
appreciation he seems to have for the person who has arranged them. While
Kramer’s images depict a certain simple topography of furnished rooms, there is
an element of sensitivity about them that transcends their ‘at first glance’
ordinary persona.
Cathy Breslaw
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