Mara De Luca at Quint and Hunt Slonem at Madison by Cathy Breslaw

Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA

“Even If The Lights Go Out”: Mara De Luca

Review by Cathy Breslaw

“Even If The Lights Go Out” is an exhibition of acrylic and mixed media collage paintings by Los Angeles based artist Mara De Luca.These ten large scale abstract works were inspired by the mystical poet Rainer Maria Rilke’s collection called“ Duino Elegies”. De Luca’s works strongly reference sweeping gestural landscapes – some giving subtle indications of vistas with hills and sky while others suggest cloud formations.  The paintings are minimal in the number of shapes and forms - just enough to create luminous and sometimes transparent washes of color creating an ambiance that is atmospheric in nature. There is an ‘other worldly’ feeling about the works bringing the viewer along to float in the empty spaces within the canvases. A few of the ‘sky’ works are more literal in their color choices while the others are focused in the fuschia – purple – gray range suggesting skies and landscapes one might see at sunrise or sunset but with much greater intensity.  While the paintings are quite enchanting with subtle beauty, they are also disquieting. There is a certain loneliness and emptiness in the calm, quiet spaces of the landscapes alluding to De Luca’s reference to Rilke’s poetry suggesting a world that includes both beauty and despair.

Madison Gallery, La Jolla, CA

“Butterflies and Rebirth”: Paintings by Hunt Slonem

Review by Cathy Breslaw

At first glance, Hunt Slonem’s large exhibition of oil paintings appear as simply a collection of richly colored, decorative images on canvas.  However at closer examination, these works featuring birds, butterflies, flowers and human faces Slonem reveals a deeply intimate, sensitive familiarity and keen technical knowledge of subject matter.He creates his paintings in his New York studio that also serves as an aviary where he cares for rescued birds. Through pattern, repetition and color, each painting portrays a field of images of mostly birds or butterflies seemingly suspended in space, appearing and disappearing as they move in and out of view.  There is an underlying grid structure to most of Slonem’s works and a surprising subtle free-handed cross-hatched pattern scratched into the surface of each painting.The cross-hatching alludes to a cage or screen that may be restraining the birds or butterflies. Painted in an expressionistic style, these works have a sense of levity, light and space that is both spiritual and joyful.

 

Cathy Breslaw is a southern California visual artist, writer and lecturer who has had over 25 solo exhibitions, and 50 group exhibitions across the country at museums, art centers, college and university galleries and commercial galleries. Her work can be found in many private and corporate collections. Her work and writing can be seen at:
www.cathylbreslaw.com
www.artfullifebycathy.blogspot.com
cathybreslaw@roadrunner.com

 

Spiral: New Paintings by Gail Roberts

Scott White Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA

Review by Cathy Breslaw

Spiral by Gail Roberts at Scott White Contemporary Art  (7655 Girard Ave. Suite 101, La Jolla, 92037)has an opening reception: Sat, June 8, 6-8 pm and continues until  until July 27More info: info@scottwhiteart.com 858.255.8574

   

“Spiral” is an exhibition of oil paintings by Gail Roberts.  Roberts, whose work is primarily representational, incorporates Fibonacci, a mathematical principle referencing number sequences and spiral patterns in nature.  Her work portrays nature’s decomposition of organic matter in the form of bird nests, feathers, twigs and leaves. This imagery appears to serve as commentary on our relationship between nature and culture. The central theme of nests is a metaphor for the life cycle of birth to death and Roberts sometimes juxtaposes these nests with text about birds in flight, hunting and being hunted. 

Curiously, there are no images of birds in these paintings, only evidence that the birds were at one time present in these environments. Some of the works are painted on canvas while others are painted on 12 inch squares of marble, slate and terrazzo – materials that are culled from the earth and commercially produced. Many of Roberts’ compositions have a delicate and fragile quality in the way they are painted, bringing to our awareness the temporal nature of life.It is the “empty nests” we recall when we walk away, wondering what Roberts left unresolved  - that there is more to her story – a narrative that remains unexplained.

Cathy Breslaw is a southern California visual artist, writer and lecturer who has had over 25 solo exhibitions, and 50 group exhibitions across the country at museums, art centers, college and university galleries and commercial galleries. Her work can be found in many private and corporate collections. Her work and writing can be seen at:
www.cathylbreslaw.com
www.artfullifebycathy.blogspot.com
cathybreslaw@roadrunner.com

Ernest Silva, Jay Johnson and Chuck Arnoldi at OMA

Volcanoes and Full Moons: Ernest Silva, Looking For Things: Jay Johnson, Tony Delap: Selections from 50 years (opens June 29 and three until Sept 15), Intersections: Charles Arnoldi (only until Aug 25) at the Oceanside Museum of Art (704 Pier View Way, Oceanside, 92054) More info: Daniella Susalla 760.435.3720

I was very impressed by the curator’s statement for the volcanoes and Full Moons exhibition, a mini retrospective of the work of Ernest Silva. Daniella Susalla worked hard and successfully to put together this and the other three major shows at the OMA. All these artists are top quality and two of them Silva and Jay Johnson, both SD Art Prize established artists, are local to San Diego. It is nice to see our own on equal footing with Charles Arnoldi and Tony Dulap.

I am a huge fan of Ernest Silva’s art and he is an immensely likable and intelligent man who is as charming as his work.  In this show, I recognized his continuous use of a recognizable set of images that is his visual language.  I was most surprised to be unable to date any of the works.  Within a theme (and the work was hung in themes) the dates ranged over 40 years. His consistency in no way means there are limitation in the variety of the work.  Instead,  I feel that the work has a freshness that makes it impossible to recognize a chronological order.  I always feel as if I am looking at pages from a graphic novel when I see Silva’s work. You know there is a story there but it is up to you to make it up in your head. Nostalgia and Nature live side by side with Scary and Silly. 

I also admire Jay Johnson greatly and especially the way he has combined his graphic design and display sensibilities which are top notch with his fine art vision. But I am the most taken with his small metal and turned wood figures. The small boat from this small show was the winner for me although the large work which we first showed two years ago at the Art San Diego Fair is a museum quality acquisition waiting to be made. 

I know the twig themed works of Charles Arnoldi but it took me a while to transition to the flat paintings. That is why the hacked painting for me was the star of this show. It looked like he had painted on a thick wood slab and then sawed it like someone who had never used a chain saw before…rough and in your face and bold. I like that raw power.  

 

So now it is up to you to go and see this great collection of show and tell me what you think of Tony Dulap art on display. 


Here are two additional reports by Cathy Breslaw on Jay Johnson and  Ernest Silva :

Looking for Things: Jay Johnson at Oceanside Museum of Art

 

Jay Johnson’s exhibition in the Parker Gallery is an elegant collection of wall works reminiscent of both assemblage and minimalist sculpture.  The works call to mind the sculpture of early 20th century sculptor Brancusi in their highly well crafted wood forms and the minimalist works of American sculptor Donald Judd. Johnson’s work is both quirky and playful, as well as poignant and symbolic. His metal sculpture “Flag Path”(2009),  mixes small oval shapes with pine cone-like texture, gestural line, a statue-like figure holding up a sign with an oval metal shape within it. This wall piece comprises a balanced set of shapes whose compositional formality outweighs any narrative meaning. Symbolic formalism is a hallmark of Johnson’s work. Another larger piece “I Keep Looking for Things”(2010)is a black and white wall piece made of ceramic tiles with photographs , and some painterly forms on tile creating a vertical assemblage of square and rectangular tiles joined together.The photographs suggest biographical material.The composition follows a visual pattern that is more mechanical rather than personal in its content. Johnson’s love of shape, form and craftsmanship along with an intriguing combination of materials, forms the foundation of the work in this exhibition.

Volcanos and Full Moons: Ernest Silva at Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside, CA

“Volcanoes and Full Moons” is a large survey of Ernest Silva’s work that spans four decades.  Paintings,installation, sculpture, and drawings create a landscape rich in visual poetry and story telling that is uniquely Silva’s own.  Sometimes illustrative and often with a loose painterly style Silva’s work evokes early twentieth century art history and an appropriation o the work of Matisse and Gauguin,together with a mix of German Expressionism and folk art. Many of the subjects of these works explore personal imagery of deer, lighthouses, bodies of water, birds, tree forests, volcanoes and burning fires – all recognizable as Silva’s vocabulary honed over many years. Silva’s mostly large scale works include a series of black and white expressive paintings depicting nude figures in idyllic landscapes. They are simultaneously romantic and thought-provoking, and appear to speak to a deeper universal search for meaning. Other richly hued paintings of interiors and outdoor landscapes are narratives that require the viewer to decipher or create on their own.Creation, destruction, bringing awareness to the fragility of the environment  and natural world and the duality of darkness and light are all themes that are explored in Silva’s work.

 

London Art Newsletter May, 2013

Patricia Frischer, coordinator of San Diego Visual Arts Network reports on art exhibition in London during the month of May.

Patricia Frischer: London, May 1 to May 26, 2013
Fine Art Edition

May 4

Lunch with Lesley and Stephen at Zucca was simply delicious and the impetus that lured us to this area in Bermondsey. Stephen told us that there was a very small law market ouvert on the books for ions which said anything sold in Bermondsey Square before the sun rises would have undisputed ownership. We were always told to get the best bargain in antiques you had to go to the market before the sun rose, but I had no idea until today that this had a whole other foundation and gave the square its reputation for thieves and scoundrels. Just repealed in 1995, all the antique trading was abandoned. so no evidence of antiques anymore but we saw lots of interesting contemporary shops including the Textile Museum started by Zandra Rhodes and Glass house of Andrew Logan, both looking very smart.  And everyone is talking about the Shard which is just that, a giant wedge of glass that soars above Guy Hospital............................................

May 23

I wrote about ArtEco Gallery previously but they changed their show and I was very impressed with Global STYLE Battles by Daniele Tamagni, a freelance photographer from Italy who is exploring street style trends in Havana, Dakar, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. His book Gentlemen of Bacongo influenced men’s fashion designer Paul Smith, who wrote the preface. The Gallery is run by a Norwegian lady and her German husband who is also the architect who designed the space. He works for Norman Foster and is working right now on a re-think of the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach. There are no other galleries yet in this area, but this dynamic couple is on the road to changing that as they break into new territory not only with this space but with the quality of work they are showing.  

May 25

We are privileged again to visit Boyd and Evans in Wolverton. I am including an image of a reticulated cloud formation which has been printed on a transparent plastic. We will be displaying this in the window of our home in Cardiff so come by and take a look.

 

Read the entire 18 page newsletter

Debb Solan and Marjorie Pezzoli on Video: Channel 6 SD Lving with Marc Baily, April 24, 2013

Maximal: Palette 2 Palate

Many of you don’t know that I am a working artist. I make very complex detailed painting and sculptures with lots of color and details. I might aspire to make minimalist art, but that will have to wait for another life time.

For the promotions I do for SDVAN, I know that I get what I think is a good and simple idea, then somehow it always gets turned into a giant project with hundreds of moving parts and a large group of artist involved. In other words, what I do for SDVAN imitates what I do for my own art.

So for example, for the past few years we have been putting on Eat Your Art Out dinner parties. These are simple parties for no more than 12 people around a theme of the artist choice and a way to get artists and art patrons to move past the opening reception chit chat and have real conversations. Art Patrons in San Diego really love to meet real artists.

SDVAN’s tenth anniversary is this year and so 10 tables instead of one table seemed like a lovely idea. We teamed together with Synergy Art Foundation who put on a silent auction of small canvases to support their wonderful work for artists in need. So from a little acorn a giant tree is blooming on April 27^th. About 30 artists will host over 60 patrons with themed table top décor and a gourmet 5 course meal. That will be followed by a dance, the auction of art by 120 more artists and even a boutique of food related craft items.

I think this will be a fabulous evening but I don’t know if people have any idea how much creativity it takes to put on such an evening. The committee for this project is now working full time to present the artists in the best possible light and to make sure that the public has the most amazing time. The artists have gone out of their way and over the top to out do each other and make us proud. They are creating work in honor of a pair of organizations that want nothing more than to help the general public value what they do.

The VIP dinner for this event sold out in the first month, which was immensely gratifying. We have no limit on tickets to the second part of the evening when the silent auction takes place and we can get down and dirty with Ruby and the Redhots.  So please join us to celebrate 10 years of prosperity in San Diego.  PALETTE TO PALATE  Sat April 27, 2013.

Grey Murr and Joan Winte at Susan Street and Morgan Ervin at Martin McNabb

Too Late For Goodbyes by Morgan Ervin at Martin McNabb Contemporary Art (1990 Columbia Street, SD 92121) opening on  Thursday April 4 from 6 to 10 pm and running to May 31. More info: Pat McNabb Martin 619.546.5888

Evidently Morgan Ervin was too late for his own show at Martin McNabb. We understand that the work was not complete in time for the exhibition and some of the resin finished seem to be not to the highest standard. Having said that, I found the work engaging and attractive. This may be a artist who is trying to rush his fame and he needs to step back and slow down and build his audience. Technically he might need to improve but his composition, the strength of his message and the overall look of the work shows enormous potential. 

in White/unseen nature at Susan Street Fine Art Gallery opens on Thurs. April 4 from 6 to 9 pm with an artist presentation by Greg Murr (drawings, paintings and prints) and Joan Winte (cast resin sculpture). More info: Melissa Sager

Greg Murr has given us some beautifully rendered drawing of dogs with pearls and shadows and the feeling is cold and almost snowy which makes the two sculptures of Joan Winte fit right in with their frosted surfaces. The renderings are oddly static, caught in time even though the creatures are caught in ropes of jewelry they, don't seem to struggle or protest their presence. 

Joan Winte

Greg Murr

2012 SD Art Prize at the Athenaeum

2012 SD Art Prize recipients. Jeffery Laudenslager with emerging artist Deanne Sabeck, Arline Fisch with emerging artist Vincent Robles.  Reception on Friday, April 5, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM March 30 - May 4, 2013. Athenaeum Music & Arts Library   (1008 Wall St. La Jolla, 92037)  More info: press@ljathenaeum.org 858.454.5872   SD Art Prize 2012 Catalog 

 I was so proud and a bit astonished by the all new work that was displayed at the Athenaeum for the SD Art Prize exhibition. We showed these artist in September of 2012 and they have all managed to make new art this exhibition and show us a completely different body of work. 

 

 

Arline Fisch

 From Arline we see the most exquisite female saints and two angels, each one displayed on a gold leafed alter. They are all actually pendants and can be removed and worn with their chains. This is the first time for the showing of the first 12 from the alphabet and the final series will include all 24 letters. 

Vince Robles Dustress

These new works by Vince were made from particle board cut to reveal the inner texture and then arranged in a sort of geometric pattern. They were very pleasing to the eye and an unusual use of the material. I was particularly fond of the Dustress work which was a more than a decontructed push broom, it was, cut and reassembled and actually hung upside down in the show.

Vince Robles - dry wall detail

 

Jeffery Laudenslager

Jeffery Laudenslager installation view

 Jeffery is not only showing the sculptures we love and adore but also a new series of tulipmania inspired work which are digital image printed on canvas, some shaped. You can spend hours interpreting all the art figures that populate these spaces. I saw hints of Fontana, Tracy Ermin, and Jeff Koons to name just a tiny portion. On of the smaller of the Gasgoian figures sold at the Affordable Art Fair in New York last week for $1550. So they very large one here is a steal.

Deanne Sabeck

These new works by Deanne are astonishing when they create negative and positive shadows from the same image. The use of commercial glass shudders is so clever and allows you to manipulate the angles even if your position is static, but walking around the works for the first time was a joy as they are usually wall works. There were many that were impressive but the one in the stacks to the right when you walked in was a very small physical work but the reflection took up a large part of the wall and gave the work a huge presence.

Deanne Sabeck detail

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner helps celebrate 2012 Art Prize winners at La Jolla’s Athenaeum Music & Arts Library

By Lonnie Burstein Hewitt

2012 SD Art Prize recipients. Jeffery Laudenslager with emerging artist Deanne Sabeck, Arline Fisch with emerging artist Vincent Robles.  Reception on Friday, April 5, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM March 30 - May 4, 2013
 Athenaeum Music & Arts Library   (1008 Wall St. La Jolla, 92037)  More info: press@ljathenaeum.org 858.454.5872
SD Art Prize 2012 Catalog

 

The San Diego Art Prize, funded by San Diego Visual Arts Network, is an annual award given to two established artists, who in turn, choose an emerging artist for the award. Selected works of the 2012 winners, established artists Jeffery Laudenslager and Arline Fisch and emerging artists Deanne Sabeck and Vincent Robles, are now on view through May 4, 2013 at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St. in La Jolla.

The Art Prize committee, including Patricia Frischer of SDVAN, Ann Berchtold of Art San Diego, art collector Debra Poteet and Executive Director of the Athenaeum, Erika Torri, chose the winners from a list of nominees presented by visual arts professionals and former Art Prize recipients.

At the opening reception April 5, a crowd gathered to admire the distinctive styles of the prize-winning artists. Jeffery Laudenslager, best known for his elegant, large-scale, kinetic sculptures, also showed an eyecatching array of his new “Tulip Mania” paintings, which reference the 17th-century Dutch trading of wildly overpriced tulip bulbs, comparable to soaring prices at art auctions today.

“My kinetic works have no story, but I thought since I was showing in a library, I should have a story,” Laudenslager said.

Deanne Sabeck’s glass sculptures charmed viewers with light and color, while Vincent Robles, a grad student in SDSU’s Furniture Department, offered cool, tongue-in-cheek riffs on furniture forms. And Arline Fisch not only attracted attention with a pair of crocheted silver breastplates and a row of saint-and-angel pendants, but also wore one of her dramatic chain necklaces to complete her display of wearable art.

Toward the end of the reception, Patricia Frischer stepped up to congratulate the prizewinners and announce the new recipients for 2013: established artists James Hubbell and Debby and Larry Kline, who will choose their own emerging artists later this year.

IF YOU GO

• What: San Diego Art Prize Exhibition

• Where: Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla

• When: Through May 4, 2013
10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday
Closed Monday and Sunday to

• Contact: (858) 454-5872

• Website: athenaeum.org

Lonnie Hewitt

Author/Arts & Lifestyle Writer

858-523-0223

hew2@sbcglobal.net

www.lonniebursteinhewitt.com