Saturday, July 23, 2022

Gary Lang at Quint Gallery & Dana Van Horn at The Museum of _

 by Patricia Frischer

Gary Lang's Waving -  NFT


Gary Lang: Stars
Quint Gallery
June 4 to July 30

The five four-pointed star shapes created by Gary Lang reside in the long room at Quint Gallery. I could not help wanting to see these shaped canvases, point to point instead of separated by so much space, but maybe they were trying to reproduce a feeling of a constellation in the sky. But the eye opener for me was being able to see my first NFT work, projected in a space of it’s own, also by Lang. You see them online, but this light filled circle was radiant.  

 

Gary Lang

Gary Lang

Dana Van Horn: Caught
Quint's The Museum Of__

A room within a room with it’s door was the perfect venue for Dana Van Horn’s 441 realist portraits. On view is a selection of 441 realist portraits by Dana Van Horn. The are subtle changes of color but mainly black and white watercolors. Evidently one was made every night and together they are a wonderful wall paper of humanity.

 

Dana Van Horn

Dana Van Horn





We always enjoying seeing the work of Kim MacConnel (SD Art Prize 2009) and the painted chair is a delight.  There are a couple of works by Roman de Salvo (SD Art Prize 2007) and this table sculpture is a conversation starter. We understand Adam Belt (SD Art Prize 2011) will be included in the next display.  SD Art Prize

Kim MacConnel

 Roman de Salvo

 

Multiple Insights at R.B. Stevenson Gallery


Deanne Sabeck
by Patricia Frischer

During the lazy hazy days of summer lots of sales galleries feature artists from their stable. When the galleriest eye is good, these shows are just as satisfying as a well curated theme show or solo exhibition. At R.B. Stevenson Gallery you also get that extra service which makes it a pleasure to learn more about the talent that produced the works on the walls.  Plus, make a simple request to see more work and in this lovely space they will pull art of the stock and let you sit and contemplate it.  

Molly McCracken and Deanne Sabeck in installation

The star for this current show for me was the dichroic glass wall sculptures by Deanne Sabeck. These very special works seem to float and bend the light. They create a magic effect with no moving parts or special light, but by their sheer presence. 



Molly McCracken - layers of paint are applied and wiped off becoming more and more opaque. Ron allowed me touch the surface which is super smooth and even soft.  

Molly McCracken (detail)

Peter Stephens (not on display but from the shelves)

Peter Stephens - these work start with paint sample and then acrylic pens are used to hand draw every stripe. 

Geoffroy Tobé

Chris Trueman

Rex Yuasa

Rex Yuasa (detail)

Judith Foosaner  - This large work might have started with the sketch below...maybe figurative, maybe abstract, maybe language, maybe a way to let your own imagination soar. 

Judith Foosaner 

Charles (Chuck) Arnoldi



Other artists in this display include: Jimi Gleason, Therese Herron, Wayne Hulgin,  Mark Perlman. Works range from $1000 to $16,000.

R.B. Stevenson Gallery
July 23 to August 27th Opening reception: Sat. July 30th from 5 to 8 pm.
7661 Girard Ave, La Jolla 92037
Moe info: Ronald B, Stevenson 858.459.3917

Destejidas (Unwoven) by Marianela de la Hoz: A brilliant revisioning of old stories at the newly remodeled Timken Museum

By Lonnie Burstein Hewitt. Photos by Maurice Hewitt


Marianela de la Hoz with Cassandra, the mythical Trojan princess who had the gift of prophecy and the curse of never being believed. See the facial similarities? Marianela used her daughter Mariana as her model for the woman whose unheeded warnings about how to avert future disasters led to the fall of Troy. “The same thing happens today,” says the artist. “The warning about the impending destruction of our planet by climate change is not heeded. Birds of ill omen fly over the horizon.”

Closeup of Cassandra

Balboa Park's Timken Museumof Art, best known for its collection of Old Masters, now has a new look, and a new exhibition to celebrate its reopening: Destejidas (Unwoven), a series of 21 small but brilliant paintings by contemporary master Marianela de la Hoz

Marianela, who uses the ancient medium of egg tempera to express her distinctive views of the world we live in, revisits classic myths, religious texts, fairy tales, historical characters and her own family history to inspire her artworks. About Destejidas she says: "I unweave the stories of women who have accompanied me since childhood, and then I reweave them, and let them address contemporary issues too." 

She begins with Penelope, wife of the titular hero in Homer's Odyssey, who put off a mob of aggressive suitors - 108 of them - while waiting 20 years for her husband to make his way home from the Trojan War.

Here's the original story: Every day, Penelope went to her loom, saying she was weaving a shroud for Odysseus' father and could only remarry once it was finished; every night, she unwove all the work she had done. Weaving, unweaving, reweaving until Odysseus finally returned, disguised as a beggar, and she set all the men a challenge: she'd marry the one who could skillfully shoot with her husband's great bow. Only the real Odysseus could do that, then he and their son Telemachus killed all the suitors, and Penelope ended up with one small adjective to define her: faithful. Wasn't she more than that - endlessly smart and creative? Not just a minor character in an epic poem?

Here’s Marianela’s Penelope, barefoot at her loom, with young Telemachus and Argos, the faithful dog who, in old age, recognized his master in beggar’s disguise. “Penelope weaves life and death, light and darkness, hate and love,” says the artist. “All the opposites we face in our lives.”

Among the other women she honors are Lilith, Adam’s first wife, who refused to be subservient to Adam and was demonized for it; and Eve, biblically recorded as the first woman, who dared to eat from the tree of knowledge and was forever held responsible for original sin. 
  
Eve, Prometheus’s Teacher

There’s another Eve too: our 200,000-year-old African ancestor who passed on her DNA to all living humans and was named after the original Eve — the science of genetics referencing Genesis. Marianela calls her “something like our great-great-great-…(× 8000) grandmother.”

Mitochondrial Eve, with a nod to Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man and the female fossil named Lucy, discovered in 1974.

Marianela also portrays historical characters, some of whom you (like me) may never have heard of, such as Margaret Jones, a midwife, herbalist and physician who was the first person executed for witchcraft in 17th-century Massachusetts. And she envisions a special heaven for Hypatia, a gifted mathematician, astronomer and philosopher in 5th Century Alexandria who was brutally murdered by a gang of Christian fanatics. We see her holding a compass like the one she perfected “in that sky that she loved so much, where the asteroid 238 Hypatia and the lunar crater Hypatia pay her eternal tribute.”

Hypatia’s Heaven

Catherine the Great was one women who managed to triumph over all enemies and detractors and get what she wanted. Best known for an apocryphal horse story, Marianela sees her as a hugely influential figure, a ruler who modernized Russia and surrounded herself with lovers, artists, scientists and philosophers.

The Bigger the Slander, the More Catherine Grew.

And then there’s a much-slandered indigenous woman from Marianela’s native country: Malinche, the Nahuatl princess still labeled a traitor for having been the translator and consort of the conquistador Hernán CortĂ©s. Sold into slavery as a young girl, she was passed from hand to hand, acquiring several languages along the way, and was just in her teens when she was given to CortĂ©s in 1519. Their son Martin CortĂ©s was the first mestizo to carry the name of a non-native father. 

Me Too. “I have friends in Mexico who call me a Malinchista because I chose to live in the USA!” Marianela said. 


Even closer to home is Marianela’s portrayal of her grandmother Mercedes, a docile woman overshadowed by an abusive husband. She spent her life serving others, never having time to find out who she was or what she wanted. 



Mercedes.

Destejidas concludes on a hopeful note, with Penelope’s hands weaving an image of the phoenix, a mythical bird able to be reborn from its own ashes.  In these times of worldwide crises, Marianela encourages us all to find our own ways to rise from adversity and create a new and better world.  

This is a show you won’t want to rush through, with so much to see, think and talk about. There’s also music in the gallery, selections from contemporary women composers curated by Nuvi Mehta, artistic director of San Diego Symphony, though I confess I was so involved with the art that I never noticed the music until afterwards. If you have time, browse through one of the two books in the gallery that contain Marianela’s written thoughts about the paintings on view. It’s a great way to top off your visit.

 

Destejidas (Unwoven) by Marianela de la Hoz
On view through September 4, 2022
Timken Museumof Art
1500 El Prado, Balboa Park
San Diego, CA 92101
(619)239-5548

Open Wednesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Free admission.

Lonnie Burstein Hewitt is an award-winning author/lyricist/playwright who has been writing about arts and lifestyles in San Diego County for over a dozen years. You can reach her at hew2@sbcglobal.net

Monday, July 18, 2022

Park Social in July and August

by Patricia Frischer


Park Social was developed and produced by the City of San Diego to help support artists during the pandemic while encouraging people to explore the local parks. It is an innovative way to expose the public in a safe way of how artists are on the vanguard of thought in today's world. Twenty four artists are involved in bringing pleasure, thoughtfulness and creativity to our community spaces. Here is a brief update on what you can see just in July and August with more events planned in Sept/Oct/Nov. 



TO NOV 20Tribute to Paleteros Installation, Standley Park Map, and  University Gardens Park  by Roberto Salas  Map  Video. Drive or walk by the installation which takes the form of Popsicle sculptures, and becomes a roadside attraction especially when illuminated by cars at night. Take a look at it for the sheer pleasure of seeing the design and color and because it is a tribute to the humble popsicle sellers.



TO NOV 20
Locked Groove Installation, Plumosa Park by Margaret Noble Map  Video Experience this looped audiovisual work that traces and morphs along the entire curb edging of the park reminding the artist of a vinyl records shape. Temporary chalk based spray paint added graphic elements. Be sure to find the project sign at the park for the QR code to open a multichannel sound mixer to augment the experience.


JUL 30 - NOV 20: Barely Touching Installation, Kensington Park by Trevor Amery, Map  Video The work carved from wood invites park-goers to make rubbings based on surfaces inspired by kelp.

SAT. AUG 6 and Aug 13, 2PM to 6PM  : Barely Touching A Drawn Together Workshop at Kensington Park  At this hands-on Drawn Together workshop, Trevor Amery demonstrates how to make rubbings from the Barely Touching sculptures and shows park-goers how to make collages from their rubbings. An exhibition at the culmination of the installation will highlight artworks made during the workshop.


AUG 20 - OCT 22Treeline Installation, John P. Baca Park by  Kasi Muñoz and Kline Swonger Map  Video Discover a temporary art installation set in the trees, even contribute to it with pieces of fabric, rope or other linear material.  Come dance and play and connection with fellow area residents and gain a new awareness of this park place. 

AUG 20 - OCT 13: Billboard Installation, The Park Social at Chollas Lake by Brian & RyanMap Video Stop by the park to see Brian & Ryan present the intervention documentation in the form of images on a billboard structure, portraits carved from tree stumps, and a whole range of discoveries they will make while at  Chollas Lake. 

SAT. JUL 30, 10AM to 3PM : Spring Tide: A Mini Pop-Up Festival at Southcrest Community Park  by Armando de la Torrea(Space 4 Art Resident Artist) Map  Video Hang out at Armando de la Torre's pop-up community festival in the park. Enjoy a family-friendly event with storytelling, puppetry, and musical performances as Armando allows for a greater diversity of views and practices to be recognized in art.


SAT. AUG 13, 2PM to 6PM: The Honeycomb Harmonies Musical Playground at Jarabek Park  by Keenan Hartsten Map Video Keenan Hartsten makes his own xylophones and ceramic pot drums and bells to host a drop-in musical playground in the park. Park-goers can creatively express themselves through music and chalk drawing in an immersive environment inspired by bees.


SAT. AUG 27, 11AM to 6PM : Essential San Diego  Temporary Installation at Kate Sessions Park by David White Map Video Experience a pair of "scenic overlook" style binoculars like no other. In this temporary installation by David White, park-goers don’t see a scenic view, but instead see into the lives of some of the essential workers who help make the city exist.

Ongoing Events:

To NOV 20: Tribute to Paleteros Installation, Standley Park Map, and  University Gardens Park Map by Roberto Salas  Video. Drive or walk by the installation which takes the form of Popsicle sculptures, and becomes a roadside attraction, illuminated by cars at night.


to NOV 20
: Locked Groove Installation, Plumosa Park by Margaret Noble,  Map   Video Experience this looped audiovisual work that traces and morphs along the entire curb edging of the park. Be sure to find the project sign at the park for the QR code to open a multichannel sound mixer to augment the experience.


JUL 30 - NOV 20:
Barely Touching Installation, Kensington Park by Trevor Amery, Map  Video Interact with this high-touch installation, inspired by San Diego’s natural environment; the work invites park-goers to make rubbings on the carved wood surfaces.

 

AUG 20 - OCT 22: Treeline Installation, John P. Baca Park by  Kasi Muñoz and Kline Swonger
Map  Video Discover a temporary art installation set in the trees, and experience a new sense of play, connection, and awareness of place through the formal and metaphorical qualities of line within this park.


AUG 20 - OCT 13
: Billboard Installation, The Park Social at Chollas Lake by Brian & Ryan, Map Video Stop by the park to see Brian & Ryan present the intervention documentation in the form of images on a billboard structure in Chollas Lake.

 

One Day Events

SAT. JUL 30, 10AM to 3PM : Spring Tide: A Mini Pop-Up Festival at Southcrest Community Park  by Armando de la Torreat (Space 4 Art Resident Artist) Map  Video Hang out at Armando de la Torre's pop-up community festival in the park. Enjoy a family-friendly event with storytelling, puppetry, and musical performances.

SAT. AUG 6 AND AUG 13, 2PM to 6PM  : Barely Touching A Drawn Together Workshop at Kensington Park  At this hands-on Drawn Together workshop, Trevor Amery demonstrates how to make rubbings from the Barely Touching sculptures and shows park-goers how to make collages from their rubbings. An exhibition at the culmination of the installation will highlight artworks made during the workshop.

SAT. AUG 13, 2PM to 6PM: The Honeycomb Harmonies Musical Playground at Jarabek Park  by Keenan Hartsten Map Video Keenan Hartsten hosts a drop-in musical playground in the park. Park-goers can creatively express themselves through music and chalk drawing in an immersive environment inspired by bees.

SAT. AUG 27, 11AM to 6PM : Essential San Diego  Temporary Installation at Kate Sessions Park by David White Map Video Experience a pair of "scenic overlook" style binoculars like no other. In this temporary installation by David White, park-goers can see a different view of the city.

Thursday, July 14, 2022

New Art Gallery in Solana Beach: Oolong Inaugural exhibition "Global Entry"

Carrie Marill — Cornell MFA, paintings of modern art in relation to folk art and sculpture  

The very first exhibition at the new Oolong Gallery is Global Entry on view until July 23 and we suggest you don't miss it or miss seeing this wonderful space. It looks rather like an Asian Tea house and that is why the gallerist/owner Eric Laine called this slightly re-jigged space Oolong after the Chinese tea.  

The current show is a selection by Mr. Laine of what he calls mid-career artists, those who have a healthy resume and are professional artists of note. The prices reflect that from $2500 to $24,000. Because of Laine's art world connections in New York and LA as well as Miami and Berlin, I wonder if he will soon be involved in the secondary market, which has always been a source of income for contemporary galleries. 


349 North Highway 101,  Solana Beach 92075

Right off the bat you see the two sculptures by Fay Ray (yes, an alias) which seem to be site specific to this gallery. They fit the architecture, impose themselves on the space as if they are royalty. 


Fay Ray  — represented by Shulamit Nazarian, aluminum sculptures inspired by the Mojave  

Fay Ray and gallerist Eric Laine

 
I was immediately drawn to the works of Carrie Marill. I related to the work at the top  of this blog titled Crowd, 2014  because of  the depiction of fingers and the title. My own art site is drawscrowd.com and one of my recent series is Not Your Mother's Finger Bowls. But it is her obsession with patterns that I share and that I find compelling, simple and clever, meticulously rendered and selective in hue. Her studio is at the rear of the gallery where she has also curated a selection of jewelry, clothes and artifacts. So I would hope we will see more of her work in the future. She and her husband Matt Moore turned the gallery over to Laine when Moore's business, (the desks designed by him in the space) took off online. 

Carrie Marill

Carrie Marill

Carrie Marill

Griselda Romas was a 2020 San Diego Art Prize recipient who is now the curator of the Athenaeum Bread and Salt Gallery. SDVAN has posted articles about her from the the Cannon Gallery 2021, Lux (now ICA North) 2020, Oceanside Museum of Art 2020, Art San Diego 2019.  Laine is showing an iconic work on faux ostrich with deep fringe and her colonial themed stitch work. 

The candy colors continue with a glorious abstract canvas by Sara Carter which is large enough to consume you. 

Sara Carter — veteran abstract painter from Texas, studied at SF Art Institute in early 90s

Michael Decker's jig saw of floral flattened boxes is a rather elegant composition of his normally useless objects transformed.

Michael Decker — prolific CA mixed media artist, sculptor, and former Mike Kelley assistant

Alika Cooper gives us a cast bronze bathing suit. Making casting from real life objects is nothing new. Peter Volkos cast an entire chair back in the 70's, but these are  pleasingly composed and could grace any beach home.
Alika Cooper — acclaimed LA artist originally from San Diego, showing bronzes and painting 

I was pleased to get an explanation from Eric Laine about this transfer and graphite work by Bas Louter. Evidently he was trying to listen to music when his son was making annoying noises.  These little insights into the daily happenings in an artist life I find endearing and authentic. 

Bas Louter — Dutch mixed media artist published in "The Age of Collage, Vol 3" (Gestalten) 

No, this is not a digitally enhanced photography. It is a painstaking graphite on paper composition by Carlos Valencia. 
Carlos Valencia — NY bred freehand graphite work on paper, Filipino American from SF 

I am including this last gallery view of the sculpture by Jason David as this my husband's favorite work in the show. I always try to ask him to chose one and tell me why he likes it. He told me he enjoyed be able to walk all the way around it and he like the massive weight of the work. There are four other artists not included in my personal selection, so visit the gallery, enjoy the space, and welcome a new gallery to San Diego.

Jason David — wood sculptor Art Inst. Chicago, fine line between figuration and landscape

Other artists in this exhibition include:
Robbie Simon — CA painter of flat abstract graphic compositions, bright unique palettes
Timothy Ernst — dark paintings of SoCal nocturnal urban and desert settings, Tulane MFA
Kinga Kielczynska — Rietveld Academy artist from Poland, nature vs artifice in video art 
Robbie Simon — CA painter of flat abstract graphic compositions, bright unique palettes 

Please note: Captions are from the Oolong Gallery Guide.  
 
Global Entry at Oolong Gallery
Showing from  June 4 - August 21st. 
Gallery hours Tu- Fri 10-6  Sat 11-5
349 N Highway 101,  Solana Beach 92075