By Patricia Frischer
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| 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.
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| William Feeney |
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| William Feeney |
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| William Feeney, detail |
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| Rozko Garabatos |
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| Julie Goldstein |
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| Julie Goldstein |
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| Julie Goldstein |
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| Sarah Bereza |
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| Sarah Bereza |
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| Annalise Neil |
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| Annalise Neil |
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| Annalise Neil |
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| Bryan De Roo |
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| Chuck Thomas |
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| Chuck Thomas |
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| Chuck Thomas |
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| Chuck Thomas, scarf |
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| Leslie Wang and Chuck Thomas |
Broken Mirror showing until
September 16th
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.
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| Leslie Wang |
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| Leslie Wang |
