Spoiled for Choice equals a Guilt Free Art Life

By Patricia Frischer, coordinator, San Diego Visual Arts Network

 This month I am writing a very simple post about an observation that I hope will make others have a guilt free art life. 

I lived in London for 35 years and London has so many visual arts exhibition, fairs and events that you could never attend them all. I took my students out every Friday to a new major art display at a museum and never ran out of choices. The result was a strange confidence. There is always something to see and do and yes, it is true, when you are tired of London, you are tired of life. 

The result of all this plenty is what I am now feeling in San Diego. When I first arrived and started to make friends and find out what was going on, I tried to attend all the events I could. Sometimes it was quite a thin selection, and I was pretty much able to see everything I was told about. 

But over the last 19 years, San Diego has exploded with art events. Now we are spoiled for choice. Now no matter how hard you try, you could never show up for everything that everyone you know creates. So now I am more relaxed. I know there will always be something to see and I know that no one expects me to show up for this multitude of riches as it is just humanly impossible. Now I enjoy a guilt free art life in San Diego. 

So go out and see some art today, and if not today, then tomorrow. There is plenty to go around.

California Photographers Anthony Friedkin, Steve Kahn, Grant Mudford, Share 'Drawn To Light' Exhibition at Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla

Drawn to Light

Anthony Friedkin, Steve Kahn, Grant Mudford

Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla, CA

Through July 3

Article by Cathy Breslaw

www.cathybreslaw.com

Anthony Friedkin   Silver Curl   Hermosa Beach, CA         2005   gelatin silver print

It is a particular sensitivity to ‘place’ and  ‘light’ that unites the work of Anthony Friedkin, Steve Kahn and Grant Mudford in their current show together at Joseph Bellows Gallery. The images of these Los Angeles based photographers elicit an emotional response whether it be the Pacific

Ocean waves in Friedkin’s images, the long dark shadowy corridors of old apartment buildings

in Kahn’s images or the stark sharpness and contrasting light used in the urban landscape images of Grant Mudford. Friedkin’s wave images are often abstractions that speak to the structure and textures of waves portraying their power and force as they move toward shore. There is an intimacy, and a personal knowledge present in these images that only someone who surfs or spends a lot of time in the ocean could capture. The beauty of the waves are further enhanced by these images being in black and white, allowing the ‘light’ to glisten and create form as the waves take center stage. The subject matter of Steve Kahn’s images – that of dark corridors in an old building wouldn’t normally grab attention, but Kahn has built a quiet mysterious beauty into his photographs.  Observers are drawn to his sense of deep space using only one-point perspective, as well as his obvious keen familiarity and personal connection to these hallways.  Studying the light, focusing on the textures of the walls, ceiling lights, doorways, carpets and floor patterns has added to the development of these images. In this ‘Corridor Series’, Kahn sets up a formal composition strictly adhered to in all the images. This use of formal composition is also evident in the work of Grant Mudford. His outdoor anonymous black and white urban landscapes of buildings find identity and personal meaning by drawing attention to a connection to patterns in architectural forms, adjacent greenery and sometimes names or words on buildings. ‘Drawn to Light’ brings together three California photographers who investigate the psychology of ‘place’ and our relationship to it.

What Remains: Debris and Detritus in Fine Art at SDAI

By Patricia Frischer, coordinator, San Diego Visual Arts Network

What Remains: Debris and Detritus in Fine Art

Sat May 30  to July12

San Diego Art Institute - 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park, House of Charm, SD 92101

More info: Marina Grize  619.236.0011

The San Diego Art Institute goes from strength to strength. This very popular show (they were lined up around the block to get in at the opening night) takes a very popular theme of up-cycling and shines because of the quality of the works in the show. You are greeted by a new snazzy sign at the entrance to this Balboa Park institution which managed to re-invent itself under the directorship of Ginger Porcella. Space 1439 refers to the newly cleaned up and elegant shop at the top of SDAI which everyone can enter for free. It gives you a clear view of the some of the art below. For a $5 public entrance fee this is one of the bargains of the park and we would encourage many of you to buy membership and attend often for free. 

View over the balcony of the stairs where some of the student art for this show is on display

Jaime Ruis Ortez - this works sparkles with industrial gold foil leftovers.

Meegan Nolan gives us a "Wedding present for a barely living artist" which appears to be the most beautifully rusted and sanded car door revealing layers of aged patina.

Becky Guttin has several works on display but this hand rake with melted glass caught my eyes most

Jason Sherry never fails to deliver. This is American Gothic II

A Madonna by c. martino looks like a cross between a religious roadside alter and a Michelin Ad.

This charming little jellyfish like prisoners in a series of pastel colored water look like labatory specimans. Rachael Marie McDaniel Erwin shows a series of enticing shelves and you can take one home in the aforementioned shop.

detail

One of the SDAI artist in residence is Mathew Mahoney and this pieta was beautifully lit. We are excited to see the video documentation of this body of work by his brother.

Jashua Karause steals the show with this wall of discarded book jackets. Is it is a sculpure, low relief or mural? We don't care but it is ART.

Coquest | Control | Confinement: de la Torres brothers and Belize Iristay

By Patricia Frischer, coordinator, San Diego Visual Arts Network

 Ship in the Woods 1660 Lugano Lane, Del Mar 92014

More info: Lianne Mueller 619-218-2737

This wonderful gallery is hitting its stride with a fabulous installation/exhibition by Einar and Jamex de la Torres and Belize Iristay. The ship is upping anchor in August but this show is not to be missed and the  S.O.S. Benefit Auction, Saturday June 27th from 6:00pm - 11:00pm is a call for help to keep the boat afloat.   Do yourself a favor and see this show and the home in Del Mar before this era is over. 

Belize Iristay was covered in black from head to foot when we arrived with just a slit for the eyes. This was part of the documentation as several of us adorned ourselves similarly. Adorned might not be the right word, as you immediately lost all sense of identity. You became a walking anonymous thing instead of a person. My friends did not recognize me until I talked to them and even the look in their eyes was alien as if I was an intruder.

Beliz Iristay shows a continuation of the video installation at Valencia Gallery for the New Contemporaries exhibition with these ceramic lip inspired works.

Belize Iristay

detail

Belize Iristay

Belize Iristay

This and the images below are by the de la Torres brothers. There were individual works and every where you looked as well as installations in alcoves and in one whole room.

detail

The largest installation was an entire room, floor, ceiling and walls completely covered with images.

 This is work you need to see in person...photos don't even begin to touch the effect. So don't hesitate. Go soon or you will miss this extravagance of art.

Get As Close As You Want at Playful Interactions Exhibition, SDSU Downtown Gallery, San Diego

Playful Interactions

Dave Ghilarducci, Rizzhel Mae Javier, Margaret Noble

San Diego State University Downtown Gallery  on view through June 15

Article by Cathy Breslaw

www.cathybreslaw.com

Dave Ghilarducci     Proverb Generator     2014

 For those of us who have set off alarms in museums for getting ‘too close’ to the art, or have been admonished by security guards for the same, this show is for YOU. Playful Interactions is an interactive, hands on exhibition of the art of Dave Ghilarducci, Rizzhel Mae Javier, and Margaret Noble. While playful and fun for viewers/participators, there are also underlying deeper ideas at the basis of these art pieces – these artists’ works deal with the subjects of identity, self reflection, human relationships, and memory.  Largely conceptual in their focus, these art pieces are created with a mixture of digital and analog processes. Dave Ghilarducci combines engineered technology and craft linked with humor and commentary on our culture. “I Don’t Feel Like I’m Getting Anywhere, (worker)” is a single lever acrylic circular mechanized system of angled trays where tiny metal balls run through, and the direction is controlled by the ‘player’. If the title is any indication of the piece’s meaning, Ghilarducci is referring to the world of work, and the inevitable questions about the direction we may be taking -  as if we are “spinning our wheels”. The work is couched in humor and cynicism. Rizzhel Mae Javier exhibits pieces from her series Move(meant) – black and white photographic analog works that are interactive.  These art pieces are based on  Javier’s personal relationships, having to do with private thoughts and memories. Javier’s work “The Hand” is one of a group of self directed circular photographic flip books, reminiscent of 19^th century animation devices. “We and Me” is a conceptual piece housed in old-school metal index card boxes where comments on relationships come in the form of individual black and white photos, carefully catalogued under such category titles as ‘we changed’, ‘before’ and ‘after’. Here again the flip-book optical technique is cleverly employed to describe memories about an important relationship. Margaret Noble uses found objects, newly created wood objects and sound to activate the viewer’s senses in accessing memories and perception. “Head in the Sand” is a large warm-toned light-hued wood box on legs constructed with a large enough hole on top for viewers to place their entire head inside. Once our head is inside the box, we see an all-black interior, where pure sounds are activated – there is an eeriness to the sounds and darkness, yet a comforting feeling suggesting it as a familiar place to go when we want to hide from the world. “I Long to Be Free of Longing” is another interactive conceptual work created out of a found well-worn brief case. It is presented wide-open and inside there are a number of individual evenly sized small boxes with tops. Boxes are wrapped in fabric and tiny metal clasps invite viewers to lift each separate top. We sense a strong curiosity to find out what is inside each one. Lifting each top activates unique and separate sounds from the next. We are both confused and motivated to comb  our memories for reference points for these sounds and their meaning. This exhibition is not a five minute walk through – spending time with these interactive works by three San Diego artists is a rewarding, self reflective and fun experience.

Chinese Brush Painter, Pan Gongkai's Exhibition Four Nobles, at San Diego Museum of Fine Art

Pan Gongkai    artist in his studio      2015

Four Nobles

Pan Gongkai

San Diego Museum of Fine Art - on view through February 1, 2016

Article by Cathy Breslaw

www.cathybreslaw.com

Chinese artist Pan Gongkai follows in the footsteps of his father and celebrated Chinese painter, Pan Tianshou.  Though Tianshou suffered persecution during the Cultural Revolution(1966-1976), he went on to create a large body of work in the tradition of brush and ink painting, influencing his son. 

Pan Gongkai’s Noble Virtues  depicts “the four gentlemen”(si junzi): plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums.  Gongkai’s fifteen meter scroll of ink on rice paper  was hand carried in sections and then framed as one long narrow work, elegantly displayed on the wall of Gallery 15, a public area adjacent to Panama 66 and the May S. Marcy Sculpture Court.  The scroll which reads right to left, represents the four seasons – the resilience of plum blossoms in winter, the delicate elegance of springtime orchids, the strength and flexibility of bamboo in summer, and the chrysanthemums defiantly blooming in autumn under the approaching winter chill. 

The five paintings of ink on rice paper on the opposite wall named as a series –  Lotus Pond, depicts beautiful lotuses, which can lie dormant for many years prior to blossoming, emerging from murky waters, representing the resistance and purity of the soul. The immediate take on these works may be one of “just another display of Chinese brush painting”, however, at closer inspection the work exposes the artist’s deliberate, well-honed and confident line-making, a direct expressiveness of personal emotion, and a spontaneous feel - all reminiscent of  western abstract expressionist painters. We can picture Gongkai in his studio creating hundreds if not thousands of these kinds of paintings carefully narrowing down the selection to those that most closely meet his standards, thoughts and emotions about his subject matter and his relationship to it. 

There is a particular beauty, strength and simplicity to the work of this artist whose commitment to the years of a  disciplined art practice of using only brush, ink, and rice paper can make.  Gongkai comments that sadly, his kind of work may be lost on the current younger generations of Chinese because they are not being taught brush painting and will not have an appreciation of it.  It is for this reason that Gongkai strongly believes in a co-existence and continuing of traditions and methods across countries of the globe rather than a climate of integrated multi-culturalism.  Either way, the poetry and essence of Gongkai’s work speaks loudly, yet quietly of the unique traditions of his culture.