Omag Vol. 8 2010
365 Blog Mentioning
FEEDING THE SPIRIT MONKEY
by Sandra Vista
ArtSlant, 7/14/09
Tales of the Flesh are tales about the spirit and flesh. Does an unrequited love of the spirit live in the hearts of these five artists? Whether it does or not, mutiny is not an option. They're in it for the long haul. Their personal battles pulsate in their work.
Liz Young's family portraits are a host of small scale paintings of her family and herself at various ages. The portraits are exhibited in the gallery the way they might be found in her grandmother's living room. The wonderment of these portraits begins with Liz's blood as her painting medium. Blood as an art medium has been used since the caveman began drawing in his cave. Human blood in rituals is a shortcut for making contact with the spirit world. Liz's creative riturals address the profound intimacy and connections she has with her family. Liz's portraits at various ages indicate how time overlaps in familial situations. In one portrait she is a little girl, in another she looks more like grandma.
A couple of feet away from Young's work are Arne Svenson's death mask gelatin prints. Svenson wrote that these masks are "fornesic facial reconstructions" of unidentified corpses that he discovered while at the Mutter Museum (a medical museum) in Philadelphia. While anonymous, the individual spirit of each subject is omnipresent in each photograph.
Time altered mythologies poured into gesture, multiple textures, and frothing sensuality, are how Aaron Sheppard keeps the spirit alive. His statement speaks about his personal taboos-the two paintings in the exhibit are a testament to his experimentation with erotic shapeshifting. A-Symmetry 2009 (100"x66"x42") is one of Sheppard's mix-media paintings that is reminiscent of Robert Rauschenberg's Monogram 1959. Two mammoth tusks, that he designed, protrude from the board. They appear to be pulling in innocent bystanders into the turbulent scene that combines images of the creation of the world with a contemporary Birth of Venus-woman in the foreground.
Between Sheppard's substantial paintings are Kaitlynn Redell's three paper cut pieces derived from movie posters of Bruce Lee. While he was alive Bruce Lee was considered to be super-human and a living icon. In death his legend and his spirit continues through his films and devotion of people worldwide. Redell's kinship to Bruce Lee is ancestral and creative. Being third generation Chinese on her mother's side, Redell has experienced first hand the perception of Western Culture on Eastern culture. Her introduction of the traditional craft of paper cutting is transformed into three mosaic poems that are linked with Bruce Lee's martial arts postures. Also, as seen in Eggroll Master 2009, the super-imposed cut figures, encompassing the original poster, appear to be spirit guides and protectors for the phoenix-like Bruce Lee.
Carole Caroompas'-Before and After Frankenstein: The Woman Who Knew Too Much: The Couple Who Had No Umbilicus, l994, and Hester and Zorro: In Quest of a New World: A Living Hieroglyphic, 1995-96, lament the importance of keeping love in motion. Before and After Frankenstein...describes creating the perfect mate. Hester and Zorro...strongly reminded me of The Marriage of Giovanni Arnolfini, and the painting's representation of a marriage certificate. Caroompas confirmed that the female figure was taken from an unknown mid-fifteenth century Rhenish painter called The Witchcraft of Love. She's Giovanni's wife without her clothes. In the painting, she is practicing magic-perhaps a love potion for the man at the door. In Caroompas' painting she seemily walks out of the canvas. The multi-cryptic painting gives the maiden-witch tattoos from various cultures such as images from Posada's Mexico. The gallaxy-stained canvas is layered with a spider web design the keeps the figures and their hieroglypich wish a reality. There is also a humorous border of Halloween witches brewing up their brew.
The commonality of these five artists is determined by their individualized focus on conveying their personal messages-whether it is with their life's blood, photographs of corpses, contemporary and mythical iconography and extenuating circumstances.
ArtSlant, 7/14/09
Tales of the Flesh are tales about the spirit and flesh. Does an unrequited love of the spirit live in the hearts of these five artists? Whether it does or not, mutiny is not an option. They're in it for the long haul. Their personal battles pulsate in their work.
Liz Young's family portraits are a host of small scale paintings of her family and herself at various ages. The portraits are exhibited in the gallery the way they might be found in her grandmother's living room. The wonderment of these portraits begins with Liz's blood as her painting medium. Blood as an art medium has been used since the caveman began drawing in his cave. Human blood in rituals is a shortcut for making contact with the spirit world. Liz's creative riturals address the profound intimacy and connections she has with her family. Liz's portraits at various ages indicate how time overlaps in familial situations. In one portrait she is a little girl, in another she looks more like grandma.
A couple of feet away from Young's work are Arne Svenson's death mask gelatin prints. Svenson wrote that these masks are "fornesic facial reconstructions" of unidentified corpses that he discovered while at the Mutter Museum (a medical museum) in Philadelphia. While anonymous, the individual spirit of each subject is omnipresent in each photograph.
Time altered mythologies poured into gesture, multiple textures, and frothing sensuality, are how Aaron Sheppard keeps the spirit alive. His statement speaks about his personal taboos-the two paintings in the exhibit are a testament to his experimentation with erotic shapeshifting. A-Symmetry 2009 (100"x66"x42") is one of Sheppard's mix-media paintings that is reminiscent of Robert Rauschenberg's Monogram 1959. Two mammoth tusks, that he designed, protrude from the board. They appear to be pulling in innocent bystanders into the turbulent scene that combines images of the creation of the world with a contemporary Birth of Venus-woman in the foreground.
Between Sheppard's substantial paintings are Kaitlynn Redell's three paper cut pieces derived from movie posters of Bruce Lee. While he was alive Bruce Lee was considered to be super-human and a living icon. In death his legend and his spirit continues through his films and devotion of people worldwide. Redell's kinship to Bruce Lee is ancestral and creative. Being third generation Chinese on her mother's side, Redell has experienced first hand the perception of Western Culture on Eastern culture. Her introduction of the traditional craft of paper cutting is transformed into three mosaic poems that are linked with Bruce Lee's martial arts postures. Also, as seen in Eggroll Master 2009, the super-imposed cut figures, encompassing the original poster, appear to be spirit guides and protectors for the phoenix-like Bruce Lee.
Carole Caroompas'-Before and After Frankenstein: The Woman Who Knew Too Much: The Couple Who Had No Umbilicus, l994, and Hester and Zorro: In Quest of a New World: A Living Hieroglyphic, 1995-96, lament the importance of keeping love in motion. Before and After Frankenstein...describes creating the perfect mate. Hester and Zorro...strongly reminded me of The Marriage of Giovanni Arnolfini, and the painting's representation of a marriage certificate. Caroompas confirmed that the female figure was taken from an unknown mid-fifteenth century Rhenish painter called The Witchcraft of Love. She's Giovanni's wife without her clothes. In the painting, she is practicing magic-perhaps a love potion for the man at the door. In Caroompas' painting she seemily walks out of the canvas. The multi-cryptic painting gives the maiden-witch tattoos from various cultures such as images from Posada's Mexico. The gallaxy-stained canvas is layered with a spider web design the keeps the figures and their hieroglypich wish a reality. There is also a humorous border of Halloween witches brewing up their brew.
The commonality of these five artists is determined by their individualized focus on conveying their personal messages-whether it is with their life's blood, photographs of corpses, contemporary and mythical iconography and extenuating circumstances.
PRESS RELEASE FOR SMALL (THOUGH YOUR HEART IS BREAKING)
Gallery 1927 presents Small (though your heart is breaking)
Gallery 1927 presents Small (though your heart is breaking), a group show featuring work from seventeen artists and designers. Small opens for viewing Monday, July 6th with an opening reception on Thursday, July 9th 6-9 pm. It will remain on view through August 7th.
Each artist will display a piece that is limited in size to a 4” cube or smaller. This limitation creates an opportunity to observe how different artists approach the same specification. For the gallery, the miniature dimensions of the work inside the display cases will challenge the feeling that the size of the work match the size of the space. Additionally the idea of a size limitation references the idea of a recession, addresses creating work in a small work space, and allows small work to be powerful and engaging opposed to the strength often attributed to larger work.
Gallery 1927 is located in between Flower and Figueroa on 7th street in Downtown Los Angeles in the Historic Fine Arts Building (811 West 7th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017). Gallery 1927 is open 7 days a week, 9am-7pm or by appointment. Gallery 1927 is accessible by the Metro and there is ample parking lots and metered parking. For more information please refer to gallery1927.com. Gallery 1927 is part of the Downtown Art Walk.
Los Angeles based food company Pop-Up will be debuting their saleables in addition to the standard fare. Be one of the first to enjoy their skewered treats. Please visit www.uppopspopup.com for more information.
Featured Artists:
Audrey Chan
Vanessa Chow
Ashley Coon
Kristin Crammermeyer
Greg Curtis
Rashell George
Rebecca Gottesman
Joshua Howell
Jason Kunke
Kelli Manthei
James Melinat
Casey Mixter
Suzanne Oshinksy
Nate Page
Dharmesh Patel
Kaitlynn Redell
Anna Skarbek
Gallery 1927 presents Small (though your heart is breaking), a group show featuring work from seventeen artists and designers. Small opens for viewing Monday, July 6th with an opening reception on Thursday, July 9th 6-9 pm. It will remain on view through August 7th.
Each artist will display a piece that is limited in size to a 4” cube or smaller. This limitation creates an opportunity to observe how different artists approach the same specification. For the gallery, the miniature dimensions of the work inside the display cases will challenge the feeling that the size of the work match the size of the space. Additionally the idea of a size limitation references the idea of a recession, addresses creating work in a small work space, and allows small work to be powerful and engaging opposed to the strength often attributed to larger work.
Gallery 1927 is located in between Flower and Figueroa on 7th street in Downtown Los Angeles in the Historic Fine Arts Building (811 West 7th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017). Gallery 1927 is open 7 days a week, 9am-7pm or by appointment. Gallery 1927 is accessible by the Metro and there is ample parking lots and metered parking. For more information please refer to gallery1927.com. Gallery 1927 is part of the Downtown Art Walk.
Los Angeles based food company Pop-Up will be debuting their saleables in addition to the standard fare. Be one of the first to enjoy their skewered treats. Please visit www.uppopspopup.com for more information.
Featured Artists:
Audrey Chan
Vanessa Chow
Ashley Coon
Kristin Crammermeyer
Greg Curtis
Rashell George
Rebecca Gottesman
Joshua Howell
Jason Kunke
Kelli Manthei
James Melinat
Casey Mixter
Suzanne Oshinksy
Nate Page
Dharmesh Patel
Kaitlynn Redell
Anna Skarbek
PRESS RELEASE FOR TALES OF THE FLESH
Tales of the Flesh
Carole Caroompas
Kaitlynn Redell
Aaron Sheppard
Arne Svenson
Liz Young
June 13 – July 18, 2009
Opening reception :
Saturday, June 13th 5-8pm
Western Project is proud to present Tales of the Flesh, a group exhibition examining the human figure as a narrative source. Each of these five artists work with the figure/body as an origin of story telling for political, social, historical and/or erotic purposes. Carole Caroompas has used the figure for thirty years to examine issues of power and gender between men and women. Her series, Before and After Frankenstein: The Woman Who Knew Too Much, reworks our assumptions of relationships and myths in ribald and collaged imagery. Her use of the figure is theatrical, incisive and verges on the taboo. Newcomer Kaitlynn Redell cuts and reassembles rock and movie posters to illuminate our notions of ‘the exotic’ and its racist implications in inherent in Western Pop culture. Redell’s constructions are unabashedly aesthetic and covertly seduce the viewer with tales of hubris and glamour. Arne Svenson’s forensic sculpture Portraits are both haunting and alluring. His subject is the dead and forgotten, and his images are strangely elegant reminders of the unfinished stories of real lives. Also included, Svenson’s book of mismatched eyes is a slightly lighter kind of provocation; large color images floating in a text-less format. The cliché: the eyes are the windows of the soul, is charred with the artist’s new kind of taxidermy. Liz Young’s standing wood-grained male sculpture and small blood painted portraits are interpretations of family intimacy and history. Adept with materials, Young makes each work a loaded narrative, unveiled and raw. Aaron Sheppard’s elaborate paintings dredge Eros from the ether; monuments of erotic iconography, untamed and obsessive. His female imagery is Dionysian and fantastic, recalling William Blake’s dark and swirling watercolors, but huge in scale. Both Young and Sheppard navigate a territory personal and untamed.
Together these artists revel in the tradition of telling tales of what it is to be human in the 21st century.
For further information and images, please contact the gallery at 310-838-0609 or cliff@western-project.com or erin@western-project.com
Carole Caroompas
Kaitlynn Redell
Aaron Sheppard
Arne Svenson
Liz Young
June 13 – July 18, 2009
Opening reception :
Saturday, June 13th 5-8pm
Western Project is proud to present Tales of the Flesh, a group exhibition examining the human figure as a narrative source. Each of these five artists work with the figure/body as an origin of story telling for political, social, historical and/or erotic purposes. Carole Caroompas has used the figure for thirty years to examine issues of power and gender between men and women. Her series, Before and After Frankenstein: The Woman Who Knew Too Much, reworks our assumptions of relationships and myths in ribald and collaged imagery. Her use of the figure is theatrical, incisive and verges on the taboo. Newcomer Kaitlynn Redell cuts and reassembles rock and movie posters to illuminate our notions of ‘the exotic’ and its racist implications in inherent in Western Pop culture. Redell’s constructions are unabashedly aesthetic and covertly seduce the viewer with tales of hubris and glamour. Arne Svenson’s forensic sculpture Portraits are both haunting and alluring. His subject is the dead and forgotten, and his images are strangely elegant reminders of the unfinished stories of real lives. Also included, Svenson’s book of mismatched eyes is a slightly lighter kind of provocation; large color images floating in a text-less format. The cliché: the eyes are the windows of the soul, is charred with the artist’s new kind of taxidermy. Liz Young’s standing wood-grained male sculpture and small blood painted portraits are interpretations of family intimacy and history. Adept with materials, Young makes each work a loaded narrative, unveiled and raw. Aaron Sheppard’s elaborate paintings dredge Eros from the ether; monuments of erotic iconography, untamed and obsessive. His female imagery is Dionysian and fantastic, recalling William Blake’s dark and swirling watercolors, but huge in scale. Both Young and Sheppard navigate a territory personal and untamed.
Together these artists revel in the tradition of telling tales of what it is to be human in the 21st century.
For further information and images, please contact the gallery at 310-838-0609 or cliff@western-project.com or erin@western-project.com
