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I attended this exhibition with Cathy Breslaw and it was so refreshing to discuss the show and compare our choices. You will see below some images chosen by each of us. Seeing five shows all at once leads one to compare them and to find some common ground. Almost all of the works are figurative, nudes, portraits and figures in a certain context. As with all shows, it is intriguing to choose your favorite works or even works that you might like to buy or at least imagine hanging on your own walls. We hope you go and make up your own list of favorites. It is only by looking often and challenging yourself to make choices that you become more discriminating.
20th Century Nudes from the Bram and Sandra Dijkstra Collection
So much of this show was variations on the Renoir ideal of full frontal lush volume of flesh. We mainly choose those who did not fit this profile.
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| Natalie Newking - This work reminded me of Matisse's Petite Dejeuner sur Herbe but with all women. The women are interacting and because the artists is a women, you don't get the feeling of a voyeur and instead just capturing a moment of a society not of our world. |
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| William Newport Goodell.- although badly framed this work has that look of a Balthus...under ripe but looking directly at us, not at all shy. |
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| K Groak - a grouping of nude figures but maybe on the beach, a joyful combination of lines and shapes |
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| Julio de Diego.- a de Chirico influenced surrealist view...the nude in a dream of war and parachutes with a strange tea pot shaped village in the distance |
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| Hugo Crosthwaite - always beautifully draw, Crosthwaite nude seems to part angel. This was one of Cathy's picks. |
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| Charles Ashford Binger - this Hollywood type painting is also a lurid cover for a noire paper back novel. |
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| Belle Baranceanu - this almost oriental composition has dark outlines and low intensity color palette that treats the body in the same way as the background. |
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| Alexander Brook.- we both were drawn to the quiet perfect beauty of this back view. |
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| John Wilde - a final surreal, almost mystic gather of little naked angels. |
California Dreaming: An International Portrait of Southern California
In this selection we tried to choose work that represented the contemporary California dream, not one from the 80's or 90's.
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| Cynda Valle.- So LA...is she a prostitute or a starlet...is she have a pre-party drink or is the party in the next room? |
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| Jen Trute - no one does it better than the late Jen Trute. Her fabulous technique and strong environmental message is the essence of California in the new millennium. |
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| Glena Jennings represented that crossing over the border into the unknown., I think this was Cathy's favorite. |
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| John Eden (top) and Jeremie Riggleman (bottom). John Eden takes surface to the next level which is over the top and Jeremie's photo of a photo of two fallen companions observed by one of them is so very now. At first we thought they were meant to be one work. |
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| Laura Jo Regan - I was obsessed with these three images of dark hair roots which take on a landscape aura and yes, the obsession with beauty is a California dresm. |
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| Steve Gibson - my choice as I just like Gibson's style so much. It is recognizable and distinct, like no other, this artist is getting stronger and stronger. |
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| Yoichi Karamura - this view of Santa Monica pier is the second non-figurative work along with the one above. With the large blank sky, it is the view that those of us on the coast see everyday.. One of Cathy's favorites. |
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| Barbara Sexton - chosen by Cathy with my added stamp of approval, this has the humor Location, location, location is everything |
Omar Lopex: RELÁMPAGO
We were both intrigued by the description by the artist of how he arranged families. At first we thought he put together people to make what looks like the oldest possible glass wet plate photos from a paste era. But then we noticed that this one figure appears in many of the photos. Lopex has inserted himself into the situation before the image was taken. These become almost performance art works.
I am very fond of Neil Shigley's work. He made a presentation at my home as part of the SDMA Contemporary Art Committee meetings. The video helps to show the technique of the large block prints and also shows Shigley interacting with the street people who are the subject of these works. We both like the large hand drawn graphite images, how the soft edges of the seams of the paper made the subject almost glow. We also liked the rough nature of the prints where seams did not meet, There was only one image of a women. She has the look of Janis Joplin....ridden hard and put away wet.
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| These symbols that appear in the composition are part of the hobo | 's code and was used to help each other to survive during the depression. . |
My Sister's Voice: Photography by Pablo Mason
Most of these portraits looked like studio shots instead of art works. But we likes the following three especially. Each women has something to say, advice to pass on. And it was wonderful to see a whole room of these diverse visages.
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| Samantha Shine McPherson - this young women told the story of how her mother put her into a bath one day when she was hysterical after a failing grade in school. She was told to let the disappointment of a bad grade wash off and go down the drain. She always thinks of this when she needs some comfort. |
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| We loved the back light hair on this one and each of these had a message and a small description of the subject |
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| Proud sister to us all....wearing he art on her chest. |
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