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PICKED RAW PEELED Archived 2008-2009 We encourage writers to develop their voice while writing about visual arts events in the San Diego County. We intend to avoid art speak so the average reader can understand the text without a masters degree in art history. Louisa Garcia, Sheena Ghanbari and Katherine Sweetman are reporting on the Picked RAW events. Our thanks to Ann White for her brilliant proofing and to Karla Duarte, Ana Laura Zúñiga and Felipe Zúñiga for occasional translations... See Picked RAW picks Read other art reviews at: Art As Authority on SDVAN , Sezio,and if you hear of other sites, let us know! Interested in wrting yourself? We would love to hear from you. Sheena Ghanbari: Fringe Theories: Ideas that Depart Significantly from the Prevailing or Orthodox Views at Agitprop Space, 2009 Fringe Theories: Ideas that Depart Significantly from the Prevailing or Orthodox Views is showing at Agitprop Space from December 12 – January 9. There will be an opening reception on Saturday, December 12, 6-9 pm. For more information please contact David White. The title did not disappoint; there was nothing safe or expected about “ Fringe Theories: Ideas that Depart Significantly from the Prevailing or Orthodox Views .” The most recent exhibition at Agitprop Space features five artists that work in varied mediums, but all create art that challenges popular beliefs. UC San Diego Master of Fine Arts Alumnus and exhibit curator, Katherine Sweetman, brings the spotlight onto the work of Tony Allard, DJ Brejle, Keith Engeron, Noah Doely, and Mark Van Stone from Dec 12 to January 9. Agitprop Space is a small gallery in North Park that skirts between being a contemporary art space and an artist studio. In the case of Fringe Theories the exposed ceilings and unfinished appearance of the space complemented the raw aesthetic of the exhibition and the viewer was able to get an intimate portrayal of the works on display. Some show highlights included the sometimes monstrous but memorable sculptures by DJ Brejle. There was one in particular called Shining Beacon of Gloriousness that was an amalgamation of found objects welded together in the shape of a leg with a skull on the top. The piece itself looked like it was full of contradictions; it was morbid, but had finesse, spontaneous while appearing immaculate. I also enjoyed the antiquated portraiture by Noah Doely; I had seen his work once before and was intrigued by his process. Doely creates an elaborate fabricated setting and then captures the scene using antiquated photographic methods. For example, in his Untitled sepia toned photograph there are three men looking at what appears to be a washed up sea monster, and while we know that the event of the photograph is fictitious, the piece looks like it is reflecting a historical truth. Another stand out piece was a politically loaded installation by Tony Allard titled Drawing in the Media Stream. The artwork was sculptural and collage-like; it compiled key events from the media and paired it with drawings, cardboard cutouts, and homemade surveillance cameras. It is an expansive work that felt like it was a continuation of the gallery space. I would recommend seeing the exhibit simply because it would be a break from the norm. Some pieces are easier to comprehend than others, but the challenging elements of the exhibit are what force the viewer to push beyond his or her comfort zone. Sheena Ghanbari is currently the Program Promotion Manager of UCSD’s Visual Arts Department. She has a Masters in Arts Management from the Heinz College of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and has completed her undergraduate studies in visual arts and communications at UCSD. In her spare time she enjoys writing, swimming, and painting. Eileen Myles is a Legend by Katherine SweetmanVisiting Artist Lecture Series Presents: Eileen Myles is presented by Visual Arts Facility Performance Space at UCSD Campus, 9500 Gilman Dr. on Dec 1st, 6:30 p.m. For more information contact Sheena Ghanbari. Eileen Myles is a legend. She's THE contemporary, post-punk poet and writer that all aspiring, hipster poets and authors seem to want to emulate. She’s known as "the rock star of modern poetry,” but she’s more than just a writer, she’s also a performer, she’s a tough New Yorker, and she’s even a one-time presidential candidate (it’s true!). Myles is especially legendary at UCSD where she taught from 2002 to 2007 and now holds the prestigious title of Professor Emeritus. She also was either very instrumental in, or maybe single-handedly responsible for, creating the MFA in writing program (depending on whom you talk to). She still has a house here in San Diego although being a legendary poet-rock star involves travel, and it seems most of her time is probably spent in the cultural capitals of the United States (New York and Los Angeles) or perhaps traveling the world and visiting all those super-posh, hip, countries like … Iceland. She's traveling now, and from what I understand, she’s on a book tour around the states and parts of Canada promoting her novel titled The Importance of Being Iceland. It’s a thick, turquoise paperback book that I’ve yet to get my hands on (the UCSD bookstore is sold out of them). I arrived early to her talk, which was held at the Visual Arts Facility Performance Space on the UCSD campus. The black-box auditorium was packed, and as the introductions started more and more people swelled into the theater. They lined the walls, sat on the floors, and blocked the fire-exits. Myles received not one, two or even three but FOUR introductions by grad students and professors from both the Literature Department and the Visual Arts Department. The best introduction was given by another author and the former chair of the Visual Arts Department, Lesley Stern, in which she referred to Myles as a “rogue elephant” who made her own path. Indeed, the evening was a completely non-traditional book tour or poetry reading, but Myles’ presentation was great fun. It included a PowerPoint presentation, some poetry, impromptu readings from the audience, videos, jokes, and informal chat, all of which melded into a kind of warm, friendly, playful arrangement and theatrical experience. Everyone was happy, grinning, and listening intently to the witty, unexpected, street-vernacular and prose of the legendary Eileen Myles. Katherine Sweetman is an artist, educator, curator, and freelance writer for San Diego City Beat and the San Diego Visual Arts Network. She has an MFA in Visual Arts from UCSD and a B.A. from Cal-State San Marcos. She is also the Director of Lui Velazquez, an alternative art space and gallery in Colonia Federal, Tijuana Bronowski Art and Science Forum: Seth Lerer by Sheena Ghanbari The Bronowski Art & Science Forum proudly presents Seth Lerer, UCSD's Dean of Arts and Humanities, at the Burnham Institute Thursday November 5, 6:30 pm. For more information please contact Ron Newby. “…What makes people people is their ability to create and appreciate aesthetic objects.” Seth Lerer opened his presentation, “Literacy and the Child’s Imagination,” with a fitting quote from the late Jacob Bronowski . He set the tone for his eloquent and thought provoking talk that examined children’s literature as a reflection of the social climate. Seth Lerer is the UC San Diego Dean of Arts and Humanities and Distinguished Professor of Literature. He has written ten books and has a background in medieval and Renaissance studies, comparative philology, the history of scholarship, and children's literature. On Thursday, November 5, he was the speaker for the Bronowski Art & Science Forum—a monthly lecture and discourse that showcases exemplary leaders in both the arts and sciences. Lerer was an engaging and lively speaker. It was apparent by the intensity and tone of his voice that he is passionate about the subject matter. He pulled memorable pieces from iconic children’s books like The Little Prince, Stuart Little, and Cat in the Hat to see how they can affect a child’s creativity and imagination. He referred to a classic drawing in the The Little Prince that initially looks like a hat, but the Little Prince insists that the drawing is of a snake that has just swallowed an elephant; Lerer deems the hat as safe and predictable while the snake is threatening and out of the box. Children’s books would generally be classified as “hats” if they provide structure and instill morals—one such book is E.B. White’s Stuart Little. Lerer perceptively pointed out that White is also the co-author of a widely used book for writing composition, Elements of Style. He linked the “plain, orderly, and sincere” style highlighted in Elements of Style to Puritan American ideals. In the same way, Stuart Little is uplifting and imaginative within the confines of a traditional children’s story. Lerer reaches a pivotal point when he shifts from talking about stark puritan values to coloring outside of the lines. He uses Dr. Seuss’s Cat in the Hat to show writing that encourages the child’s imagination to be limitless and cites this children’s book to be a revolutionary (snake-like) piece of writing that contributed to the collective mentality of the late 1960’s. The ideas presented in the talk were unexpected and interesting. I very much enjoyed the discussion and look forward to the next forum on December 3, “The Uncanny and Visual Culture,” featuring UC San Diego Visual Arts professor John Welchman. Sheena Ghanbari is currently the Program Promotion Manager of UCSD’s Visual Arts Department. She has a Masters in Arts Management from the Heinz College of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and has completed her undergraduate studies in visual arts and communications at UCSD. In her spare time she enjoys writing, swimming, and painting. The La Jolla Art & Wine Festival: Investing in the Arts and Our Schools by Sheena GhanbariThe La Jolla Art & Wine Festival took place in the village of La Jolla on Upper Girard Avenue, October 10-11 from 9am to 5 pm. For more information please visit the website or contact info@lajollaartandwinefestival.com or 858-454-1699. Just five months ago I was introduced to community advocate and founder of the La Jolla Open Aire Market, Sherry Ahern. She welcomed me into her home with open arms and passionately described her idea for bringing an art festival to the heart of La Jolla and revisiting the region’s artist colony roots. She spoke about the historical significance of La Jolla as a retreat for artists , but unfortunately t here had not been an art festival in the village for about 10 years. After this meeting I joined Ahern, and what eventually grew to be 44 volunteer committee members, to bring the idea of the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival to fruition. We embarked on an ambitious project to say the least. In its first year the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival had 162 juried artists, 14 of whom were emerging artist scholarship recipients. The event featured an eclectic range of artistic styles and mediums. Michael Hall utilized music and the ocean as an inspiration. His paintings used vibrant colors and thick expressive applications of acrylic paint; the texture created an overall feeling of spontaneity and movement. Maite Benito Agahnia was another artist who used color and texture in innovative ways. While most of her abstract paintings are very playful and stray way from using recognizable forms, every finished product still has a level of sophistication. There was also an array of participating jewelry artists, and one that caught my eye was Joseph Gatto; he managed to manipulate the design while maintaining the integrity of the stones. There was something beautifully rustic and raw about the jewelry on display. In addition to showcasing a great deal of talent and featuring lively activities throughout the weekend the event also has a charitable undertone. All of the profits from the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival are donated to the three public elementary schools in La Jolla. The dire state of the economy and the San Diego Unified School District inspired Ahern to create an event that benefits the community while supporting artists and the arts in San Diego; Ahern describes the festival as a “win-win.” While there is ample room for improvement and refinement of the event it was a wonderful community effort and we are ecstatic with the outcome of the first year. Over 20,000 people visited the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival and if possible Ahern forecasts that the event will be “even bigger next year.” Addendum: Suzanne Wright: Memories of the Future Sheena Ghanbari is currently the Program Promotion Manager of UCSD’s Visual Arts Department. She has a Masters in Arts Management from the Heinz College of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and has completed her undergraduate studies in visual arts and communications at UCSD. In her spare time she enjoys writing, swimming, and painting. Beloved Daughters: Photographs by Fazal Sheikh by Louisa Garcia Take a trip to check out Beloved Daughters: Photographs by Fazal Sheikh. This provocative exhibition is showing at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. Exhibition runs Oct 10, 2009 to Jan 30, 2010. Opening days Tues-Sun 10am-5pm. For more info: Lauren Turner 619.238.7559 Dear Daniel, I have seen the Ladli, The Beloved Daughters, the faces of life, of light, of hope. I have walked the halls of the Museum of Photographic Arts, in my own quiet way, absorbing the black and white images of my sisters. I see Pramila Satar (Lover) a widow drenched in sadness, a shawl covering her pain, eyes that glow with ingenuous hope, skin wrinkled with memory. I see Lakshmi (The Goddess of Wealth) young in spirit, a fear of marriage as she questions love. Is it a husband that sets his wife on fire, is it an aborted girl child never given a chance at life, or is it a tortured woman, bound and hidden away from the light? In the silence, people all around me, staring at the faces, beautiful children like Krishna, with her nose piercing and her strong jaw or KumKum, eyes wide with wonder as she still believes in what may be. I wonder what life is like for the women and children you come across, their faces veiled, smart, amazing, strong women held down by the hands of the men who claim to love them. Can you feel the energy in the air as they slowly rise up, as they start to believe in their own self worth? I sat in the middle of the room, memorizing the smiles, the scars, the stories of lives lived, framed and placed on walls that hold them up, give life to the stories. I wanted to gather the framed children in my arms and tell them that everything was going to be okay, but I couldn’t because I don’t know that it will. The widows in Fazal Sheik’s photos live in Vrindavan where they worship Krishna who prepares them for a better life next time around. Daniel, what about this time, what about this life? I find that I no longer take the life that I have for granted. I realize that I am changed because of my time spent with these images. That these woman and children are me and I am them and we share one heart. When you come home next month perhaps you can come with me, to see, to read the stories of my sisters. Perhaps you will understand. Love Always, Louisa Garcia is a Rehabilitation Specialist by day, Writer by night who lives in Carlsbad, CA with her loving husband David. In her spare time, she loves to read, do Bikram Yoga, hang out with her fabulous friends and relax on the beach with her new husband Tijuana/San Diego Cooperation and Confrontation at the Interface Tijuana/San Diego: Cooperation and Confrontation at the Interface opens on Oct 15 from 5 to 7 with a panel of artists preceeding at 4 pm at the UCSD/Calit2 Gallery at Atkinson Hall on the UCSD La Jolla campus. For more info: Trish Stone "The Media Womb?" Why, that sounds amazing. As a self-proclaimed "media artist,” I imagined that maybe this was where I had come from... or at least I thought I should check it out. I had received an invitation to the gallery@calit2 on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. There, I would be able to see this Media Womb firsthand. I discovered the show included not only the project called Media Womb, but three other installations as well. The pieces in the show, collectively titled “Tijuana/San Diego Cooperation and Confrontation at the Interface,” seemed to have only one thing in common -- Tijuana. If you don’t know the gallery space called gallery@calit2, let me tell you about it. It’s a fairly small room located in a building on the UCSD campus called Atkinson Hall, although the installations typically overflow out into the hallway and surrounding areas. Atkinson Hall, opened in late 2008, is a multi-million dollar extravaganza of a building known as the “high-tech research home for the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology.” Scientists, engineers, corporate businessmen, and government officials can be found wandering the halls of this bizarre research center. It is a strange, and yet kind of exciting, place to have an art gallery. Imagine this ultra-clean, high-tech building. Attached to the white, grey, metallic architecture is a white cube gallery space complete with one engineering undergrad-student working as a gallery sitter. Everything is perfect: right angles, white walls, and then there is this spider web of mismatched, aging speakers. AV wires surround a table with some small, outdated, TV equipment. Wires run everywhere. Everything is messy, organic, loose, open, mismatched, and everything is “ Tijuana.” This piece was called 24 Speakers, 24 Sources by José Ignacio López Ramírez-Gastón. It was wonderful, for me, to imagine the people who work in this building coming across this piece. The text on the wall notes that all speakers were “smuggled” into the country after being purchased on the TJ streets. And the Media Womb? The Media Womb is brilliant. It is a great piece that involves infrared sensors that read your body’s position and give you a myriad of sounds depending on your proximity to the sensors. It’s an interactive installation that you actually climb into and effect. The piece is everything that you would want to be included in a gallery at Atkinson Hall. It was not created for this space (this gallery, this building etc), but it fits in perfectly -- too perfectly. I enjoyed 24 Speakers, 24 Sources precisely because it doesn’t “work” with the space. I want engineering and computer science students to get shaken up a bit by the art they have forced upon them as they enter their building. I want government officials (who are looking to purchase high technology innovations) to be alarmed by the works they happen across. And I want the art in that particular gallery not to conform to the clean, organized standards of the institution that holds it (but hopefully doesn’t control it). The show is definitely worth the trip, see this link for directions. Katherine Sweetman is an artist, educator, curator, and freelance writer for San Diego City Beat and the San Diego Visual Arts Network. She has an MFA in Visual Arts from UCSD and a B.A. from Cal-State San Marcos. She is also the Director of Lui Velazquez, an alternative art space and gallery in Colonia Federal, Tijuana Sebastian Blanck at Scott White Contemporary Art by Sheena Ghanbari Scott White Contemporary Art is pleased to present an exhibition of new paintings by New York based artist, Sebastian Blanck. The exhibit runs from September 11 – November 7, 2009, with an opening reception on Friday, September 11 from 6pm-8pm. Gallery Hours are Tuesday - Friday 9:00am-5:00pm, Saturday 11:00am - 5:00pm, or by appointment. For more information please contact Kathleen Crain. Scott White Contemporary Art in Little Italy serves as an ideal canvas for showing art. The gallery is in a great spot and has a fresh look and feel—high ceilings, white walls, and clean lines. The gallery is showing the work of New York based contemporary artist, Sebastian Blanck, an established artist and musician. In his new body of work, West Shore Drive , Blanck experiments with a new painting technique using gouache paints instead of oils. Each shape in the painting is created on cut out paper, ripped into tiny pieces, and then reconfigured on stretch paper. The overall collage looks like a meticulous puzzle. The effect is subtle and beautiful. After viewing the exhibit I learned that Blanck used his family and friends as subject matter for this collection. This made perfect sense because all of the pieces had a very personal quality. In his painting Becky he depicts a lady playing the piano while casually looking away. In Isca & Freddy he portrays his wife, Isca, and their cat comfortably sitting on a sofa. Isca in the Studio shows his wife pulling her hair back while standing by one of her pieces in the studio. The subjects in Blanck’s paintings looked natural and not posed. The small scale of the paintings was another notable quality for the whole show. The intricate collage details are almost indiscernible from a distance. This draws the viewers in to take a closer look. Once there, it becomes evident that the painted pieces have been shredded up and reconfigured to perfectly create the form. The exhibit felt intimate despite the vast amount of negative space with the long white walls. Blanck’s exhibit is relatable and charming. I would recommend this show to avid contemporary art lovers and novice art viewers alike. Addendum: In addition to viewing the Sebastian Blanck exhibit at Scott White, I was able to attend Beyond the Border International Contemporary Art Fair at The Grand Del Mar. This was unlike anything I had ever viewed in San Diego. The fair curated local, national, international artists, galleries, and arts organizations into a high-end exhibition. There was a great range of work on display; viewers were given a taste of everything from oil paintings from Zen Collection in Vietnam and dance photography from the Minerva Tapia Dance group from the San Diego and Tijuana border. Sheena Ghanbari is currently the Program Promotion Manager of UCSD’s Visual Arts Department. She has a Masters in Arts Management from the Heinz College of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and has completed her undergraduate studies in visual arts and communications at UCSD. In her spare time she enjoys writing, swimming, and painting. Camaflogged at Art Walk at the Embarcadero by Louisa GarciaCome out and enjoy the sun at the fall ArtWalk at the Embarcadero Marina Park North. The ArtWalk on the Bay exhibition runs September 12 - September 13. Opening Hours - 10am - 5pm. For more info contact Sandi Cottrell 619.615.1090 Dear Daniel, I step into the midday sunlight, squinting as the water reflects off the sky. The air dances in all directions. There is art in the air. Beside me a tiny hand attaches itself to mine. My niece, Lauren, eyes wide as saucers, skips alongside me, her white sandals click-clacking on the sidewalk. It takes all her energy not to break free, to touch the thick canvases bathed in colors. “ArtWalk is yummy,” she tells me as she touches the bumpy surface of Robert Hohn’s Fruity Pebbles painting. It is the one tent that allows her to touch. She is mesmerized. Lauren pulls me from tent to tent, zig-zagging through people as they too stroll through the art. She asks hundreds of questions. Questions only a child would think to ask. At Gregory Reade’s tent she stares at his piece, Head Above Water, and she asks me, her voice like tinkling piano keys, “Is he really drowning?” I assure her he is not, but the fear that was there is only slightly assuaged by my reassurances. At Anthony Santos’ tent she asks me if music really comes out in color. How could I say no when right in front of us Miles Davis is blowing bright blue and green music notes out of his trumpet? Together we visit the man with the collection of parrots. Lauren holds a beautiful green parrot with emerald feathers, his name is Colada. She almost pees her pants when Lola, a small red parrot with a big mouth makes herself at home on top of my head. “Now you’re a piece of art Auntie,” Lauren giggles while Colada comfortably gnaws at her fingers. At this I stand like a statue allowing the crowd to watch me, to absorb me. It feels good. Lauren loves the KidsWalk most of all. She flits around like a hyper butterfly, making buttons with colored beads, paper bag hats that are too big and prevent her from seeing properly, and music on small drums in a circle with about 15 other kids who are not aware that they are the performance art piece of ArtWalk. She makes you a paper mask. It is green with brown leaves all around the edges. She tells me it is ‘Camaflogged’ and it will keep you safe while you are away. I promise to send it right away, crossing my fingers and hoping to die just as she instructs me to do. The day is ending and we are both so very tired. Our eyelids rest at half mast as images and moments from the day rest comfortably in our memories. I carry Lauren to my car where I buckle her in and kiss her on the cheek. She looks up at me, sleep tickling at her eyes. “That was a good walk Auntie.” Her eyelids lower, your mask resting safely on her lap. Hope you like your ‘Camaflogged’ Love, Louisa Garcia is a Rehabilitation Specialist by day, Writer by night who lives in Carlsbad, CA with her loving husband David. In her spare time, she loves to read, do Bikram Yoga, hang out with her fabulous friends and relax on the beach with her new husband. A Reason To Collect: Healing Waters by Georgia Hoopes Healing Waters is an Arts for Healing Project featuring works by Gerrit Greve and Robin Przybysz with a reception on Saturday. August 15, 2009 at 7 pm at the L Street Gallery . A silent auction of local teens’ art will be held to benefit Family Health Services and Arts (Art a Reason To Survive). For more info: Amber Coles 619.906.4566 I chose to attend this event not only because I love the downtown L. Street Gallery venue but the thought of Healing Waters made me anticipate the sensual sights and sounds of healing water, whether it was ocean blue surf, gentle sun showers, babbling brooks, or evaporating mineral hot springs. This was an exhibition and a silent auction with proceeds (over $7,000) going to Family Health Centers of San Diego and (ARTS) A Reason To Survive. The art works included student creations as well as paintings by Gerrit Greve and sculptural gourd vessels by Robin Przybysz. I think I’ll rename it ARTC, A Reason To Collect. Gerrit Greve is founder of Arts for Healing and coordinator of “Art with a Heart”: A Project with Scripps Hospital Encinitas The Arts for Healing Program. His paintings create a symphony of musical color notes that allow the viewer a meditative moment, a sense of great joy, or a journey down the river of one of life’s many challenges, but most importantly for this event his art inspired the kids to create their art for healing. Robin Przybysz is an art teacher at Santa Fe Christian Schools, one of the schools in the Arts for Healing Program. Her background encompasses both fine arts and art education. Her works for this show have meditative qualities of mercurial lightness due to shapes of the hollow gourds which seem to float in their supports and displays, sometimes taking us to a final destination but often, as in meditation, going off on tangents before coming back to continue the journey toward resolution. At the pre-auction reception I got to hear the testimonial of six year old Betzabeth Avalos, one of the patients helped by Dr.Newel of Family Health Centers of San Diego, a private nonprofit community clinic organization dedicated to providing affordable services to the medically underserved throughout San Diego County. I also enjoyed reconnecting with Matt D’Arrigo, founder of (ARTS) A Reason To Survive. In 2007 he opened the Pat D’Arrigo ARTS Center at NTC Promenade in Point Loma, offering a wide variety of in-house programs as well as partnering with numerous organizations throughout the San Diego community to address the needs of children and teens as they face challenges of adversity. The idea of art for healing has meaning for me not only as an artist but personally. I have used art healing techniques to find symbols that have helped me begin my own psychic healing. In the past I donated a painting to D’Arrigo’s (ARTS) auction fundraiser and in this latest event I purchased two student works, “Agua” by Marly Reese and “Koi” by Joei P. It was wonderful to receive not only the healing from the works but also to contribute to a cause in which I believe so totally. Hey, look at me. I’m an art collector. Georgia Hoopes is a member of the Point Loma Artists and the San Diego Watercolor Society's Vice President, International Exhibition. Georgia enjoys the fusion of Eastern and Western art traditions to create paintings of representational subject matter in a variety of water soluble mediums. Salon, Style, Paintings by Sheena Ghanbari: Travis Parker will exclusively feature the newest collection by Eric Wixon. The exhibit runs from August 7-October 31 with an opening reception on Friday, August 7 from 6pm-9pm. For more info: Lauren Breckenridge. It’s always great to see art integrated in unexpected ways. At Travis Parker Salon in downtown La Jolla they have made it part of their mission to provide a stimulating sensory experience for their clients. Some initiatives include featuring new artists every two months and live music on the weekends. This month they are exhibiting artwork by Eric Wixon, a local artist with an eclectic background. The first piece that I saw when I entered the salon was a bold painting that integrated the Travis Parker signature “T” logo. I soon found out that all of the exhibiting artists create a piece for the salon that includes their logo. This idea is marketing genius! What could be better than having artists regularly contribute towards the branding of a business; it appears to be a harmonious marriage between an artist’s creativity and a thoughtful marketing tactic. I am curious as to how an exhibit of all of the artists’ logos pieces would function? Eric Wixon presented fifteen canvases in his exhibit throughout the salon. His paintings had an interesting mix of urban street style, biomorphic shapes, and multicultural portraiture. I was drawn to his tightly cropped 18 inch by 24 inch pieces like “Of Mongolia” and “Of India” that presented beautifully rendered faces with an unexpected unfinished quality. These intimate paintings were simple but had something slightly askew. Another piece that caught my attention was “Anything to Make a Living”; it effectively integrated text, texture, and paint drips over a subtle figure drawing of a woman lying down. The various elements of the painting worked harmoniously to create a multidimensional piece. Overall, the Eric Wixon exhibit was cohesive and contributed to the stylish and contemporary ambiance of the salon—Travis Parker Salon managed to create a luxurious setting without being stuffy. The importance of aesthetics cannot be underestimated in the beauty business. I would definitely consider this venue for my next hair appointment. Sheena Ghanbari is currently the Program Promotion Manager of UCSD’s Visual Arts Department. She has a Masters in Arts Management from the Heinz College of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and has completed her undergraduate studies in visual arts and communications at UCSD. In her spare time she enjoys writing, swimming, and painting. Sonabai: Another Way of Seeing by Sheena Ghanbari Sonabai Rajawar - Visionary Artist is showing at The Mingei in Balboa Park. The exhibition runs from July 26 to September 5. The museum hours are Tuesday-Sunday from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. For more info please contact Martha Ehringer I could not imagine what it would feel like to live in total isolation for fifteen years; so much of our lives is shaped by interactions with others. Sonabai Rajawar was forced into such an existence by her husband, and during the fifteen years when she only saw her husband and son she created fantastical artwork in her home. The Mingei International Museum shares her story in the exhibit Sonabai: Another Way of Seeing, guest curated by Dr. Stephen Huyler. After Sonabai’s time in isolation people in her village were drawn to the beautiful things that she created. When I first walked through the exhibition it felt as if I had entered a home. The outer walls of the space are covered with vibrant photographs from Sonabai’s village and as I began to walk through the show it immediately transformed into a welcoming interior space. Each passage was adorned with images, original wall pieces, and sculptures that had a playful energy. To my surprise the pieces created by Sonabai and her family did not reflect solitude or sadness. One of the most visually exciting parts of the exhibit was a room that presented large-scale translucent images. Pictures of ceremonial rituals from Sonabai’s village in Central India were layered throughout the space; the gauzy texture of the images allowed the viewer to scan the room and take in an array of scenes in one glimpse. I had never seen this technique of photography on sheer fabrics; it complemented the lively nature of the imagery and created a sense of motion and lightness in each piece. This exhibit really came alive as a result of thoughtful curation and complementary educational elements. All of the wall descriptions and videos that were integrated into the show clearly served a purpose. By allowing the viewer to read the explanation, see the process, and the finished product, I left the exhibit with a higher level of understanding and appreciation for the work on display. Excessive educational integrations can sometimes water down the complexity of artwork, but in this case it actually created a richer experience. I learned that Sonabai began her artistic practice by taking clay that built up on the side of a well to create toys for her son. She literally developed her own “visual vocabulary” in creating her unprecedented style of sculptural mud walls. Sonabai was a self-taught artist “transforming a less than ideal circumstance” while inadvertently influencing how people in her village decorate their homes. I left the exhibit feeling appreciative that I was able to peek through a window that showcased another way of life. Sheena Ghanbari is currently the Program Promotion Manager of UCSD’s Visual Arts Department. She has a Masters in Arts Management from the Heinz College of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and has completed her undergraduate studies in visual arts and communications at UCSD. In her spare time she enjoys writing, swimming, and painting. Little and Large Wow by Georgia HoopesLittle & Large Launch Party, Wed. July 8, from 7 to 9 pm at the Siren Pool and Lounge, Level 4 of the Sè Hotel in downtown San Diego (1047 5th Avenue at Broadway, SD 92101). SDVAN will be hosting a catwalk show extended over the swimming pool on the fourth floor featuring some of their jewelry. Our MC is Philly Joe Swendoza with model Ally Bling Bling from ArtRocks! There will be an opportunity for guests to perform and take away their own Flip Book. The Sè Hotel is arranging for after party entertainment starting at 9 pm. We are delighted that Eco-friendly cocktails will be served courtesy of VeeV during the VIP part of this evening and are grateful for their support. I can’t imagine a more exciting atmosphere than the one alive with synergies of artists in fashion. The beautiful young bodies of the models became part of the art they were wearing. It was an unforgettable performance at the Sè Hotel’s pool level where the venue added to the atmosphere of glamour with its open balcony pool high up on the 4 th level, surrounded by other tall buildings whose smooth surfaces were utilized as projection screens for images of the sculpted creations in the show. This show was a once in a lifetime experience for me because I wasn’t just attending as an observer. I was in charge of the jewelry inventory exchange from artists to models. Already on sensory overload, I felt like ‘Ugly Betty’ when I was recruited to model one of the necklaces in the show. Wow! To me this was the perfect ending to a perfect art show! Georgia Hoopes is a member of the Point Loma Artists and the San Diego Watercolor Society's Vice President, International Exhibition. Georgia enjoys the fusion of Eastern and Western art traditions to create paintings of representational subject matter in a variety of water soluble mediums. Nightmares & Dreamscapes by Louisa Garcia Nightmares & Dreamscapes: A Group Art Show is creeping up on the Thumbprint Gallery in North Park. The exhibition runs from July 5 to July 24. Opening Days: Mon-Sat 2pm - 6pm or by appointment. For more info: Johnny Tran 858.354.6294 Dear Daniel, You have stopped writing and I have no way of finding out why. Am I sleepwalking through life or wake walking through sleep? Are you real? I step into the Thumbprint Gallery in North Park. It is so hot outside, my skin is melting off. Inside the space is large, unexpected, makes me feel small, alone. My skin barely hangs on. The show I planned on seeing, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, has been condensed to make room for more art, for more pain, more joy, more color, more life. It rests on the north wall, piece upon piece, like layers of a nightmare, no names, no titles, only images that suck you in, that make you question what is real and what perhaps real wants to be. There is a woman tree with brown bark hair that swirls like burnt whipped cream atop her head. Out of her eyeball escapes a red ribbon grasping a winged egg, releasing life perhaps or pulling it in? To the left and slightly below, a white backdrop reveals two skeletons intertwined, like dead lovers revealed through an x-ray. I am hesitant to stare at it for too long, afraid that it is me and you naked, without life. I step back away from the nightmares, from the dreamscapes; they stare at me - the white skull with the pulled red flesh and the two monkeys, one of them is laughing at me, mocking me. These monkeys share a wall with a soft pink face, serene, and below that a pale green yelp, a rainbow of pastels pulling my vision out of focus. I close my eyes and enjoy the darkness for a moment until I realize that the images are printed on the inside of my eyelids. I can’t escape. When I open them I see lime green, I see a white hand with electric energy emanating from its fingertips, producing white leaves. This particular dream feels organic, alive. I can almost taste the electric earth. The heat produces dots before my eyes and I must sit down. I see you in the pieces, in nightmares and dreamscapes, and I imagine what you must see when you close your eyes at night. I sit for a while. I stare at my favorite piece. I am told the artist is David Gough and I decide he must be dreamliving through life. Images from his piece slide through my memory as I head out into the light: the angel woman in the corner with the tied up crimson wings, the jar filled with one lone blue butterfly, the urge it gives me to scream, to break free. I am sending this letter in my sleep, tucked tight under my pillow in hope that you will read it in the dark. Dreaming of you, Louisa Garcia is a Rehabilitation Specialist by day, Writer by night who lives in Carlsbad, CA with her loving husband David. In her spare time, she loves to read, do Bikram Yoga, hang out with her fabulous friends and relax on the beach with her new husband. Talking to Myself: A conversation with Brian Dick - Patricia Frischer 2009 SD Art Prize Talking to Myself: A conversation with Brian Dick held on Thurs. June 25, 6 pm in conjunction with Discombobulated : Kim MacConnel and emerging artist Brian Dick until July 2. L Street Gallery 628 L Street, SD, 92101 at the Omni Hotel. Info: Patricia Frischer 760.943.0148 Recently we were able to hear Brian Dick speak about his work at the L Street Gallery. Dick started with an explanation of the relationship between his art and that of the established artist Kim MacConnel who shares this show as recipients of the 2009 SD Art Prize. MacConnel’s work contains collaged piece of flotsam collected on our local beaches and made into clown related sculptures. But it is the way that MacConnel assembled the components in a dance of glue gun and instinct that attracted Dick. He sees both of them as performance artists for this show. A previous work by MacConnel gave Dick a moment of clarity about the justified use of objects. He struggled with this as one of his influences was Allan Kaprow whose happening are, of course, purposely ephemeral. For photographs in this show, Dick spent time mimicking the expressions of celebrities. The product is a portrait of Dick, however, not a self portrait. What we learned at this walk through, was that the photos were taken at Wal-Mart with the assistance/collaboration of two employees. He has also mimicked knick knacks with a variety of smiling, frowning, surprised expressions which are on view so you can compare and marvel at his success. In fact, it is hard not to imagine trying to imitate the experience yourself. Brian Dick admires the conceptual artist David Ireland who believed that the audience reaction does not have to be heavy or reverent. A legitimate reaction to the work could be laughter. Dick explains that his work is not serious, but he is serious about making it. His final story of the night was one of three men who constructed a book and sailed it across a stream. When ask what to do with the boat, the first said, dismantle it and leave no trace in the environment. The second said, carry the boat to the next needed destination. The third said leave it for the next travelers to go back across the stream. Brian Dick would get in the boat, his metaphor for art, and simply sail down the stream. Patricia Frischer is a founder and the coordinator of the San Diego Visual Arts Network, which funds the SD Art Prize , directory and events calendar and SmART Collector features. Frischer has taken on the roles of gallerist, curator, writer, teacher, website coordinator and artist. Her many metamorphoses make her difficult to fit into any of the usual art world categories. She is author of The Artist and the Art of Marketing has lectured extensively on marketing for artists. She is a trainer of artists’ agents, art dealers, consultant and collectors. Visit ArtPro for more information on these services Her own artwork has been shown internationally. Measured Resistance - Sheena Ghanbari May-ling Martinez: Measured Resistance at Seminal Projects. June 26 (Recepiton 6 -8) to Aug 1. The gallery hours are from 11am - 6pm, Tuesday - Saturday and by appointment, for more information please contact Luis De Jesus. The buzzing was mesmerizing. The first thing I noticed when I stepped into the gallery was what sounded like a swarm of bees blanketing the gallery. As I walked around the space the sound seemed less like something from nature and more like the constant hum of a factory. The noise was coming from a large scale piece comprised of several fans blowing into what resembled a parachute. This installation took up the entire back room of the gallery. May-Ling Martinez debuts her solo exhibit Measured Resistance at Luis De Jesus Seminal Projects. The exhibit is comprised of sculptural works, found objects, mixed media drawings and paintings that make satirical references to structure and order. Martinez uses restraint to create a subtle commentary on the heartless and mindless nature of instructions, manuals, and robotic processes. Her work is decidedly poetic and well connected. It is apparent that there are larger conceptual messages woven throughout the exhibit, but I found myself more drawn to the artist’s unexpectedly beautiful delivery. One piece that stood out from the others stylistically is “Friction.” At first glance I could not tell exactly what the central drawing was or what media were used to achieve the effect. It looked like an embellished black border of ornate patterns with a fluid line drawing of a hand holding a foreign object. It was aesthetically stunning. I was surprised to discover that black nail polish and black glitter were some of the media used to create the painting. While this work did not fit as neatly with the theme of the collection it was a great stand out piece. Another example of thoughtful execution is apparent in the first object that the viewer sees upon entering the gallery. “Learning Device” is a small delicate wood sculpture of a person hanging on a parachute. The use of graph paper and what almost looked like a school desk could have made this sculpture look childish, but Martinez uses a level of finesse that transforms mundane everyday objects into refined pieces of art. I found the show to be memorable. The exhibit was well edited; it was void of color and erred on the side of simplicity—as a result the viewer is drawn close into each piece to capture the details. I would recommend visiting Seminal Projects in Little Italy to see Measured Resistance; the space is small and inviting and the artwork is intriguing and well developed. On my way out of the exhibit I barely even noticed the once overwhelming humming. Sheena Ghanbari is currently the Program Promotion Manager of UCSD’s Visual Arts Department. She has a Masters in Arts Management from the Heinz College of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and has completed her undergraduate studies in visual arts and communications at UCSD. In her spare time she enjoys writing, swimming, and painting. Little & Large: Jewelry & Sculpture at Bonita Museum with a Reception June 20, 4-6 pm (4355 Bonita Road,l Bonita 91902) is the first of the Little & Large venues in this huge promotion of 41 galleries and over 90 artists. Their show runs from June 20 – July 31 More info: Vicky DeLong 619.267.5141 Dear Daniel, I have returned and you have not. I am the heart at the end of Jeff Steorts’ “Small Heart.” You are the time that has stopped inside, the ticking clock that no longer ticks, that exists without sound. Each piece I look at represents you and me, little and large, a fit that makes sense only if you force it too. I am the woman in Larry Steorts’ “St. Clair of Clockworks,” you are the empty space in the house, the quiet voice of the wood as it breathes, as it tries to exist. I am watching over you from my gold frame, with my hands clasped in prayer, waiting. I am Susan Osborn’s “Harlequin.” Every inch of my body is recycled, extension cord legs, arms that once belonged to inanimate objects, bendable, expendable. I am wearing button earrings and mousetrap rings: red, blue, and green for my right hand, one green diver for the left. If I hold him underwater will he stop breathing? Will I remember to let him up? I am trying to see your face, what you look like. You have become wood and metal, dirt and sky, everything little and large. Each breath I take is shallow. I am running inside Denise Bonaimo’s “Games People Play”; searching. First on Park Place, where the view is blocked by circumstance, then the Railroad appears. I try to move, it runs over me, chopping me into pieces, pieces that when put back together feel uncomfortable, almost ridiculous. My compass is spinning as I stand still in the corner of the room. It is searching for the answer to your question, but it won’t stop while you are so far away. I am upstairs in Larry Steorts’ “Victorian Dreams” house, kneeling in front of the tiny art pieces; they speak to me when I am alone. How strange, when I open my mouth, no sound comes out. I send this letter, this little piece of who I am, of how I feel. I will continue to write, because you are part of me, even as I melt in and out of time and space. I am not saying no and I am not saying yes, because I don’t understand the question. I am not ready to understand. With a Recycled Heart, Louisa Garcia is a Rehabilitation Specialist by day, Writer by night who lives in Carlsbad, CA with her loving husband David. In her spare time, she loves to read, do Bikram Yoga, hang out with her fabulous friends and relax on the beach with her new husband. Katherine Sweetman: Homing In - An Exhibition of 50 San Diego Artists Homing In: 50 SD Artists at Quint Contemporary Art ( 7739 Drury Lane, La Jolla, 92017) features all local artists of all ages working in almost all mediums with work under 24 inches curated by Ben Strauss-Malcolm. Reception Fri. May 29, 6 – 8 pm and showing until July 11. More info: 858.454.3409 At first I thought "Homing In" was a pun on "Honing In".It seems a clever title, I thought, for a show that brought fifty local artists "home" to show (relatively) small and (hopefully) marketable works. The title also seems relevant to the military history of this area. It suggests that the Quint Gallery created an algorithm to logically locate and show 50 of the best local artists. And indeed, I think this is a fine show of diverse, nice-sized works that people really should go and buy. That is, unavoidably, the unstated, but overarching goal of a show like this-- to sell things. The works are very reasonably priced, and there's something for everyone; from intricate pencil drawings and abstract, hanging sculptures to black and white photography and landscape paintings. So, let me reflect for a moment on my personal favorites. Adam Belt's simple and beautiful watercolor, "VLA Radio Telescope", is probably one of the most elegant pieces in this exhibition, and since this show is so intricately linked to marketability, I might as well mention that it’s priced at only $500. If I had a steady paycheck, I would have bought it on the spot. A "VLA (Very Large Array) Radio Telescope" is one of those huge, white dishes that sit in the desert in New Mexico, pointed at the sky. They look like huge satellite dishes and are used for things like observing other galaxies. The painting shows a splash of blue watercolor on a white background, and coming out of this vast whiteness is one of these Radio Telescopes, its silhouette created by the blue paint. There is something striking about the image. It points the viewer suggestively upward toward unknown stars. The intricate contour of the Telescope's outline against the organic splotch of paint that bleeds out around it highlights the choice to use wild watercolors to paint such a severe, mechanical subject. Chris Reilly's "Nameless” is another beautiful piece that I probably wouldn't have spent much time with until I noticed that the symmetrical patterns growing out of it were in the form of cockroaches. This gouache and mixed media piece had an effect on people. I watched them move about the gallery, quickly going from work to work, and then pausing in front of this one. They would tilt their heads; move in closer to the work, squint, and try to make out the squiggly images in the piece. The cockroaches encircled worm-like fingers or naked legs that formed a kind of sea of spaghetti. Floating in the sea was a Buddha figurine. A quick poll of the two people I had brought to the gallery revealed that this was the favorite piece of both, and a strong runner up for me. There were lots of other interesting works. Vicki Walsh's "Fear" painting is one of the most stunning and memorable from the show. It's the face of a woman screaming, and the painter's craft is spectacular. Iana Quesnell's amazingly detailed pencil drawings are always fascinating. For this show’s piece she inserted herself into a popular Tijuana tourist landscape. In the drawing she sits on the back of a "Tijuana Zebra" and the backdrop from the attraction comes alive behind her. Louis Hock's " American Desert" is noteworthy not only because it was the only video work, but because of the video's presence. The non-narrative, looping, pastoral portrayal of the American desert as rendered in many Hollywood films has been appropriated by Hock, remixed, and the main characters removed from the shots. In closing, it turns out "homing in" is the correct use of that term. "Honing" (what I have been improperly using for years) relates to sharpening; for example honing a knife or honing one's skills. "Homing in" refers to a trajectory. A missile can be said to be homing in on the target. And in this case, was the target the audience? Was the target one of the most marketable local artists? Either way, the show is worth a visit. Bring your checkbook. "Homing In: An Exhibition of 50 San Diego Artists” closes July 11th. Katherine Sweetman is an artist, educator, curator, and freelance writer for San Diego City Beat and the San Diego Visual Arts Network. She has an MFA in Visual Arts from UCSD and a B.A. from Cal-State San Marcos. She is also the Director of Lui Velazquez, an alternative art space and gallery in Colonia Federal, Tijuana Georgia Hoopes : Jo Whaley: Theater of Insects Jo Whaley: Theater of Insects at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park. Come see this show by a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Award. The show opened at the National Academy of Sciendes, Washington, D.C. in the fall of 2008 and is here at MoPA from 5-16-2009 to 9-13-2009. Contact Lauren Turner 619-238-7559 for museum hours and details. This is the best show I’ve seen this year. I absolutely loved it! I told a friend I was off to a show about insects and she couldn’t imagine how insects would make a pleasant subject for art. I must confess, I didn’t know what to expect either. The first thing I see is a glass display case with a huge old reference book from 1658, opened to a section titled "Theater of Insects” and by Tho. Mouffet, Doctor in Phyfick. Apparently, the Department of Entomology at the San Diego Natural History Museum contributed this display along with a selection of insect cases and glassed archaeology trays as props which I feel made the show quite theatrical and even more interesting. Artist Jo Waley transforms insects from creepy crawling things into stars of the show. The vibrantly colored things of beauty, often butterflies, are magnified larger than life and are set against backgrounds of old decaying things such as pieces of rusty metal, oxidized glass and peeling paint or old paper items like Victorian era photographs and book illustrations that have yellowed or have been attacked by micro organisms. A photograph is mounted in a case-like frame that brings to mind a display case for a collection of insect specimens. Each insect within the photograph is titled with their scientific name. On the first wall between four very large chromogenic prints hangs a poster showing Waley in her studio, constructing a miniature stage. The poster explains how the artist uses no digital enhancements to create her photos. It quotes her saying, “ I make photos of narrative fiction." It goes on to explain that early in her career, Waley was a scenic artist for the San Francisco Opera and other Bay Area theatrical companies where she learned set design and how to use color and lighting to create a mood. On the next wall above the large chromogenic and smaller archival pigment photographs is this quote by Julia Margaret Cameron ( 1815-1879), "I longed to arrest all the beauty that came before me and at length the longing has been satisfied." The Victorian era British photographer’s explicit goal was to secure the status of high art for photography. I’m not sure if the quotes by Cameron are solely the idea of Whaley, but I hear a poetic dialogue as I move through the wonderful play. This exceptional exhibit invites me to engage with the actors—in this case, insects—allowing me to see their beauty in unexpected ways. Georgia Hoopes isa member of the Point Loma Artists and is the San Diego Watercolor Society's Vice President, International Exhibition. Georgia enjoys the fusion of Eastern and Western art traditions to create paintings of representational subject matter in a variety of water soluble mediums. Still+Life at Susan Street Fine Art Gallery (415 South Cedros Ave. Suite 160, Solano Beach 92075) captivates the viewer with paintings by Frank Domiano, Page Laughlin, Stephen Dinsmore, Tom Seghi; sculptures by David Kimball Anderson and Joel Urruty. Reception Thurs. May 21, from 6-9 pm, in conjunction with Third Thursday Gallery Night on Cedros, and showing until July 12. More info: 858.793.4442 It was my first time exploring the Third Thursday Gallery Night on Cedros in Solana Beach and I found the atmosphere to be inviting and friendly to art lovers of all ages. The gallery doors were open, wine and snacks were offered inside, and live music was playing on the street. One of the highlights on my walk down Cedros Avenue was STILL + LIFE at Susan Street Fine Arts Gallery . The clever play on words in the title of the newest exhibit at Susan Street Fine Arts Gallery is telling of the overall look and feel of the show. STILL + LIFE gives a modern twist to stagnant traditional paintings of fruit bowls and interiors and features works by six contemporary artists that succeed in giving life to inanimate objects. In my first go around the gallery, I soaked up the rich colors and textures of the exhibit without really dissecting each piece; but instead, taking in the beauty of the artwork. As I wandered the space a few more times, I observed the varied approach that artists took in creating a still life—perfectly flat, clean lines, architectural, illusionist, painterly, emotional, etc. The progression of painting and sculptural style highlighted the depth of work on display. Frank Domiano’s luminescent paintings are somewhat comical still life scenes that were executed in a stark and flawless manner. In “Keep it Clean,” Domiano replicates an iconic nude painting, strategically hanging behind a row of bathroom cleaning products. He references old world techniques and artwork in a fresh way. On the other end of the visual spectrum, Page Laughlin creates busy and decorative environments in her paintings that look like they are inspired by pattern and repetition. “Running White Woman”, ironically, portrays a backdrop full of life and movement, while the figure in the foreground is still and statuesque. The most literal juxtaposition of life versus still is seen in Tom Seghi’s piece “Brush with Brush” with what appears to be two brushes side by side at first glance. One of the brushes is physically attached to the painting while the other is painted; both brushes are hanging on the painting by a (real, not painted) wire. This exhibit showcases the work of living artists with distinct and established practices that cohesively create a new point of view on the classic still life. STILL + LIFE was pieced together with a bold sense of color and shape and a light sense of humor. Sheena Ghanbari is currently the Program Promotion Manager of UCSD’s Visual Arts Department. She has a Masters in Arts Management from the Heinz College of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and has completed her undergraduate studies in visual arts and communications at UCSD. In her spare time she enjoys writing, swimming, and painting. Georgia Hoopes: Lux at Night with Victoria Adams Lux at Night at the Lux Art Institute featuring artist Victoria Adams with music by jazz singer Steph Johnson. On Wed April 15 from 7-9 pm enjoy this free evening of art, wine and music. Please note: 21 and over event with suggested donation of $5. More info: Grace Madamba 760.436.6611. The art reception at the LUX ART INSTITUTE blew me away. I didn't know there was a facility like this on the edge of a nature preserve north of San Elijo Lagoon. My husband, Ed, and I arrived early and a crowd already filled the large vaulted gallery space. The jazz singer Steph Johnson was taking a short break and I chatted with her and her accompanist. When the music resumed the sound almost faded into the hard concrete walls of the building, however, the large oil paintings of artist in residence, Victoria Adams, fit the space perfectly. Although the paintings were of traditional landscapes, they all looked as if a storm was brewing or just ending. Mother Nature was putting on a show. In fact part of her preparation for a new painting is to check the weather reports for the day and go outside with her camera to catch the cloud formations. While in residency at the LUX she documented her process shown in the slide show playing on a television mounted high on the wall with the exhibit. There are also newspaper clippings and sketches that give clues to the steps in her creative process from the beginning inspiration to final painting. If you haven’t been to the LUX this is a great time to go and see the building designed by Chilean architect Renzo Zecchetto. It won the Grand Orchid in 2008. You’ll get to see seven of Victoria Adams paintings on loan from private collections and courtesy of Gail Severn Gallery. Plus you'll see By The Sea, an image of our very own area coast line. The exhibition continues through May 20, 2009. Georgia Hoopes is a member of the Point Loma Artists and the San Diego Watercolor Society's Vice President, International Exhibition. Georgia enjoys the fusion of Eastern and Western art traditions to create paintings of representational subject matter in a variety of water soluble mediums. Sheena Ghanbari: Where Your Nose Can Take You… Fragrance Forum is held at the Oceanside Museum of Art on Thursday, April 30 from 7 to 9 pm. Artist Brian Goeltzenleuchter, fragrance expert Jan Moran, art critic Richard Gleaves, and psychologist Dr. David Peterzell will be included in a dynamic discussion about the power of olfaction and the Institutional Wellbeing project. $5 but free for OMA members. For more information call Danielle Susalla 760.435.3720 Isn’t it strange how a distinct aroma can take you back to a specific moment in time? Smells are powerful and memorable and, as conceptual artist Brian Goeltzenleuchter would say, they have the ability to “brand an environment.” At the Oceanside Museum of Art’s (OMA) “Frangance Forum” Artist Brian Goeltzenleuchter, fragrance expert Jan Moran, art critic Richard Gleaves, and psychologist Dr. David Peterzell contextualized the museum’s Institutional Wellbeing exhibit while engaging in higher level discussions about olfaction and the use of smell in a visually dominant arts world. Goeltzenleuchter kicked off the discussion by giving the audience some insight into the creation of the institutional scent for OMA. He used a methodical strategy to create a scent that would “optimize” the performance of the board and staff at the museum. Having explored the exhibit prior to the panel discussion, I found the display to be a playful series of commentary on the commodification of art. As the artist intended, the centerpiece scent was difficult to verbalize. Not sweet or pungent but lingering somewhere in between. The unique subject matter of the exhibit lent itself to an interesting technical discussion about the process of creating perfume and analysis of a human’s response through the olfactory system. The forum took its peak when artist and critic Richard Gleaves transported the practical knowledge about fragrance production and the psychology of smell into the unconventional and sometimes bizarre world of conceptual art. Gleaves cited the emergence of perfume in conceptual art in Belle Haleine eau de Voilette ( Beautiful Breath: Veil Water) by Marcel Duchamp in 1921. This piece is a readymade of a perfume bottle with a slightly altered label. Gleaves continued his discourse with art and scent by telling a story about one of his art projects. He went to the grocery store with a colleague with the intent to buy spreadable foods to paint their bodies. After collecting a varied assortment of things like ketchup, mustard, peanut butter, and much much more they went to Gleaves’ apartment and covered themselves with the produce. After what the artist anticipated was the end of this project, he went to shower off the strange amalgamation that covered his body. What happened when he stepped in the shower was an unexpected reaction to the overbearing mix of scents. It nearly caused him to pass out. “There are things that you can do with your nose that will take you places that you have never gone.” I left the forum more aware of the scents around me and wondering how else smell can complement a visual experience. Sheena Ghanbari is currently the Program Promotion Manager of UCSD’s Visual Arts Department. She has a Masters in Arts Management from the Heinz College of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and has completed her undergraduate studies in visual arts and communications at UCSD. In her spare time she enjoys writing, swimming, and painting. Katherine Sweetman: Gabriel Figueroa: Cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa on display at El Cubo at The CECUT, (Paseo de los Héroes No. 9350, Zona Urbana Río in Tijuana) from March 7 to May 31. Figueroa is a world-class cinematographer who worked both in Mexican cinema and Hollywood. He filmed more than 200 movies, including Los Olvidados (directed by Luis Buñuel), and The Night of the Iguana (directed by John Huston). For more info: Felipe Zuñiga +52 (55) 5273 4 Gabriel Figueroa: Cinematographer is a traveling exhibition that concentrates on the life and career of this legendary Mexican artist, Gabriel Figueroa, and “The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema.” During this period, roughly from 1935 to 1960, the movie industry in Mexico captured worldwide attention and enjoyed its greatest commercial success. This exhibit is the most comprehensive overview of Figueroa’s work ever collected for public viewing. It was first presented in Mexico City at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, then in Monterrey at the Parque Fundidora, and now it is at its third iteration for the Centro Cultural Tijuana (CECUT). Not only does the show include his photography, films, film stills, and books, but it puts Figueroa's work in a historical context by linking it to topics, methods, trends, politics, and a network of creative relationships between Figueroa and Diego Rivera, Sergei Eisenstein, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Jose Clemente Orozco, Luis Buñuel, John Huston, Howard Hawks, and others. In the United States, Gabriel Figueroa is most well known for his cinematography in Hollywood films like The Night of the Iguana (1964) starring Ava Gardner and Richard Burton, or the original Fugitive (1947) starring Henry Fonda. However, in Mexico Figueroa is known for his work in the Mexican film industry and his work on pictures like Allá En El Rancho Grande (1936), one of the first major box office hits for Mexican cinema, and a film that helped propel many of the common Mexican stereotypes into popular culture. Allá En El Rancho Grande , and other Figueroa films that followed, helped establish the genre of the comedia ranchera, which can be thought of as a musical Mexican counterpart to the genre of the Western in the United States. Characters in the comedias rancheras sang, wore giant moustaches, sombreros, and pistols, or embroidered dresses, light skin and false eyelashes as they danced around cactus and agaves on the open plain. These films brought a version of Mexico to national and international audiences and their influence has left a permanent impression on all of us. The layout of this exhibition is flawless. As one enters the first floor of El Cubo (“The Cube,” a relatively new three-story addition to the CECUT that houses this exhibit), the first thing you see is a large, beautiful projection incorporating memorable moments from Figueroa’s cinematography. These bits of films show moments that exemplify Figueroa’s signature style, his unique framing, meticulously constructed compositions, Dutch angles, and low horizon lines that accent the sky and clouds. The exhibition includes photography, flat screen monitors, texts, and even paintings that are seamlessly integrated into a loose historical timeline. On the second floor the historical photography continues, along with a lounge containing books on Figueroa (English and Spanish) and film stills that have been made into large prints. Perhaps most astonishing of all are the six red viewing rooms on this floor. The entire exhibition was created with the help of Fundacion Televisa (Television Foundation), and each of the six screening rooms shows a montage based on a theme, for example “love” or “comedy,” made of film clips and television excerpts that look as if they were each directly influenced by Figueroa’s work. On the third floor of El Cubo is a related exhibition titled: Aesthetic Affinities: The Art of Modern Mexico. This show takes the relationships between Figueroa’s work and the historical contexts and environments one step further. It slides away from Figueroa and into the paintings, photography, and drawings of Modern Mexico. Note: The majority of this exhibition is in Spanish however there are limited captions and translations into English at the beginning of each section. Katherine Sweetman is an artist, educator, curator, and freelance writer for San Diego City Beat and the San Diego Visual Arts Network. She has an MFA in Visual Arts from UCSD and a B.A. from Cal-State San Marcos. She is also the Director of Lui Velazquez, an alternative art space and gallery in Colonia Federal, Tijuana Sheena Ghanbari: Open Studios, Open Forum UCSD Open Studios, 2009 on Sat. April 4 from 2 -8 pm is your chance to see 50 MFA candidates at the Visual Arts Facility, UCSD Main Campus Visual Art. This is our new crop of young talent so see if you can spot the future stars as they invite you into their studios to engage in their creative processes. Free entrance and parking at the Gilman Parking Structure. More info: Sheena Ghanbari 858-822-7755 The interdisciplinary underpinning of UC San Diego’s Visual Arts Department sang true at this year’s Open Studios. In one day I saw a mobile cactus, wire wrapped stilettos, layered and stunning decorative studies, beautifully grotesque puffy paint organisms, and a love story with clowns—and this just skims the surface of the work on display by the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) candidates from all three years of UC San Diego’s graduate program. If there is a common thread that weaves together the program’s participating artists it is conceptual depth of their practices. The event included ongoing film screenings, a group exhibition, a PhD candidate symposium, calit2 studio exhibits, and 44 open studios all coinciding at the university’s Visual Arts Facility. As I was wandering through the studios I couldn’t help but appreciate the varying creative choices that the program’s artists had made in the process of presenting their work and essentially in acting as their own curators. Some studios presented a sequential view of studies that told a story, some studios were transformed into gallery spaces that highlighted the works of an artist’s practice, and other spaces looked like an instillation piece that the artist was submerged in. You could really get a sense of the person behind the artwork by stepping into their studio. While the event was riddled with exciting and groundbreaking art and research, I found that the most valuable and unique feature of Open Studios was having the artists on site to discuss and contextualize their work. I now have a completely different admiration for second year artist Tim Schwartz’s piece Command Center, 2008. I had viewed the work in a past exhibit and was drawn to the antiquated finish of this organic sculptural form that made clear political statements through wavering dials that contain loaded words like “War,” “Insurgents,” and “Terror.” It was not until after speaking with the artist that I realized the piece actually tracked and organized the content of New York Times articles from 1851 to 2008 and the dials on the four-minute sculptural installation showed the concentration of each word year by year. Wow. His artwork has more layers than I initially comprehended. Not all of the artists’ work on display was easy to understand, but that was what I found so great and interesting: the complexities. The informal nature of Open Studios created a comfortable environment that removed the sometimes intimidating barriers to the artists/curators of an event; as participating artist Claire Zitzow stated, the event “forces us to remove our ‘blinders’ and have conversations with the public.” In turn, these conversations with the public are critical steps in developing a living and breathing art practice that is relevant and integrated into the community. Sheena Ghanbari is currently the Program Promotion Manager of UCSD’s Visual Arts Department. She has a Masters in Arts Management from the Heinz College of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and has completed her undergraduate studies in visual arts and communications at UCSD. In her spare time she enjoys writing, swimming, and painting.50th International Juried Award Exhibition by Georgia Hoopes The 50 th International Exhibition at the San Diego Art Institute received entries from all around the world. The hallmark 50 th anniversary exhibition of 84 works was juried by Julia Marciari Alexander, PhD, and runs from March 21 to May 10, 2009 at the House of Charm gallery in Balboa Park. I am keen to expose friends and family to the fine arts whether they want it or not. After wearing out my husband Ed, I decided to give him a rest and take my eight-year-old grandson, Adrian, to see the show. As I reflect on the experience, I realize how much alike Ed and Adrian are. They are both engineers and science buffs at heart with little interest in fine art. As soon as we arrived, Adrian sat down at the table with pamphlets and membership forms where he began greeting all visitors who thought he worked at the gallery. Meanwhile, I walked around enjoying the show and taking notes of works that impressed me. I recognized several local artists such as Jackie Myers, Marion Mettler, Elena Lomakin and Jeff Yeomans. I was also familiar with the San Francisco artist, Daniel Ochoa, whose piece, “Mateo,” won the Grand Award. There were a few sculptures in the show and my favorite was “Haywire” by Camey McGilvary of Pacific Palisades, California. McGilvary's play on words captured my imagination. For me the sculpture was the topographic model of an exploded brain, tentatively held together with bits of baling wire. The topography no longer having controlled parallel contour lines was instead disconnected and jagged, giving me the feeling that the very origin of the word 'haywire' had to be this sculpture. The work probably has more meaning for me than most in more ways than one. Even the colors had the organic light greens and straw golds of the prairie hay we grew in the Midwest where I was born. Adrian was encouraged by a gallery visitor to walk around viewing the art and I was happy someone was able to engage him. Although I didn't overhear what was said, I noticed what seemed to be a lively conversation between them as they walked from painting to painting. In fact, Adrian made a much better gallery companion that Ed. He was very patient, allowing me all the time I wanted to study each piece without complaint and only aroused the attention of the gallery attendant briefly by playing the piano. I guess the comparison of Ed and Adrian stops here though. It isn’t fair to compare the behavior of an eight-year-old to that of a sixty-four-year-old. Georgia Hoopes is a member of the Point Loma Artists and the San Diego Watercolor Society's Vice President, International Exhibition. Georgia enjoys the fusion of Eastern and Western art traditions to create paintings of representational subject matter in a variety of water soluble mediums. Made in America - Louisa Garcia Take a trip to the Oceanside Museum of Art to experience the "Commesso: Made in America - Gemstone Fine Art." exhibit. Exhibition Mar 2 to May 1. Opening days Tues-Sat 10am - 4pm, Sun 1pm-4pm, Closed Mondays and Major Holidays. For more info: Danielle Susalla 760.435.3720 Dear Daniel, When I was a little girl I used to take the quartz rocks that lounged in our front yard and smash them against one another. I was fascinated by what I found in the shattered remains. Inside the gray, jagged shell, pale pinks, smooth ivories and shining silvers sparkled up at me. I felt like I had discovered a secret treasure that only I knew about. I always thought that the quartz reminded me of southwestern sunsets, the ones on dusty days, where the clouds look like cotton candy passing overhead. I read that the dust storms in Iraq are devastating, so I can only imagine how full of color the sunsets are. How odd that something so horrible can bring about something so beautiful. Can you imagine taking those broken pieces of quartz, hand cutting them and placing them into detailed mosaic paintings? Daniel, I saw my pink quartz sky. An artist named Conrad Grundke created a mosaic called “Rural Delivery.” The simple snow scene revealed a red barn house and a pink quartz sky. This man hand cut every stone in the mosaic, creating a landscape of color and texture like nothing I have ever seen. Grundke had another piece called “Grist Mill.” The water in this mosaic appeared to be alive. It danced and moved, playing with the moss covered rocks below. The whole exhibit got me thinking. I know you will be coming home soon and, well, I’m a little nervous. In your last few letters you’ve seemed a little distant. What’s all that stuff about not really knowing each other anymore? It’s only been six months. Daniel, you and I are like the stones in the mosaics. You’re like the pietre dure or the hard stone and I am the pietre tenere, the soft stone. You’re stubborn and hard to crack, and me, well I just go with the flow and sometimes I break with just a little touch. Put us together and you have a wonderful, colorful piece of art. I wish you could see the exhibit but I think it will be over by the time you get home. You would see the midnight blues in Dennis Paul Batt’s piece “ Arctic Past ” and the cracked red sun of his “Desert Scene.” You would see that two very different stones can come together to make something unique. In William Grundke’s “Tranquility,” a man chops wood in front of his home while his little girl plays in the grass. It is a classic scene with so much detail: lush green trees, ducks frolicking, the sky, watching from above. Daniel, don’t forget the future we have planned together, our tranquility, our mosaic. What you have seen and experienced may have changed you, it may have broken the pietre dure of who you are, but I know you too well to let you stay that way. I love you dearly. P.S. Louisa Garcia is a Rehabilitation Specialist by day, Writer by night who lives in Carlsbad, CA with her loving fiancé David. In her spare time, she loves to read, do Bikram Yoga, hang out with her fabulous friends and relax on the beach with her future husband.
Although Katherine Sweetman has no report this month, we re happy to give links to the last four stories that she wrote for City Beat. Knock yourself out: SD Art Prize: New Contemporaries II by Georgia Hoopes SD Art Prize: New Contemporaries II of Emerging Artists nominated for the SD Art Prize 2009 is starting Thurs, Feb 19, 2009 and runs until Sat. March 21, 2009. Presented by the San Diego Visual Arts Network and Noel-Baza Gallery the public opening is Kettner Night, Fri, March 13, 6 to 9 pm at 2165 India Street,SD, 92101 More Info: Patricia Frischer 760.943.0148 or noel-baza@cox.net 619.876.4160. Once again the San Diego Visual Arts Network is sponsoring an exhibition to focus attention on the wide range of quality artwork being created in the region. The New Contemporaries II is a group of thirteen artists nominated in the emerging category of the San Diego Art Prize by artists and arts professionals, collectors and past recipients of the prize. Congratulations to Tom Noel and Larry Baza of the Noel-Baza Art Gallery for hosting the exhibition of this year’s nominees and to Tom for his cohesive use of the gallery space. As I approach the entrance, movement to the right catches my eye, drawing me into the gallery. It’s David Adley’s horse respirator pump attached to a football, pin cushioned with screws and looking very much like a porcupine. It breathes and waddles on its pedestal as the pump rhythmically sucks the air out between pauses. Adley’s work shares this small corner space with Gustabo Velasquez’s rough yet, for me, spiritual wall hangings. The space to the left is large enough to show the work of four nominees: 1) Yuransky, a large single panel of an oil on canvas triptych mounted on an easel; 2) Matt Stallings’ acrylic on wood paintings of figures from American pop culture and animation; 3) Oscar Pimienta’s multimedia commentary that includes sculptures, audio video and photography; and 4) Tara Smith’s paintings that are amazing for what isn’t there because of her skillful use of negative space. Around the corner a very small quiet space houses a series of small yet elegant drawings, ink on polymer with aluminum on paper by K.V. Tomney. Next to these, Marisol Rendon’s work, also monochromatic, effectively elevates the common household refrigerator by entombing its likeness within wrought iron gates reminiscent of old Spanish Mission grave sites. As I enter the next room I am greeted with a big “Fuck Off” acrylic on canvas painting by Daniel Ruanova. This is the room where strong works can raise a ruckus without overpowering one another. I see Michele Guieu’s large acrylic and mixed media on canvas, Tania Alcala’s even larger acrylic on panel with acrylic coating, and Jen Trute’s Conceptual Realism (Low Brow genre) oil paintings on canvas. In the midst of this rave party I notice a row of small, square, acrylic on canvas paintings, painstakingly drawn with dots that seem to have a pattern. I know something is supposed to be there. Finally I give up, and, as I start to say my goodbyes, I glance up at the wall again but this time I connect the dots and see the subtle images by Keikichi Honna, defused as if by some kind of night vision. At that moment I feel that I completely get it and am really glad to see this incredible show. Georgia Hoopes is a member of the Point Loma Artists and the San Diego Watercolor Society's Vice President, International Exhibition. Georgia enjoys the fusion of Eastern and Western art traditions to create paintings of representational subject matter in a variety of water soluble mediums. Paper Doll Kids by Louisa Garcia
"Postcards and Paper Dolls" - Come take a trip down the rabbit hole and see Susan Snyder's new exhibit at the Andrews Gallery in Encinitas. Opening reception Sat Feb 7 at 7pm. Exhibition Feb 7 to Feb 28. Open 7 days a week. Call ahead for hours. For more info: Drew Snyder 760.230.2680. Dear Daniel, Did you know that there is an art gallery just off Leucadia on the 101? It’s right by that restaurant we like that has the giant parrot on the sign? Remember, you tried to eat that whole bowl of salsa in one minute and you almost threw up on the table? Good times . So this gallery by the parrot restaurant is called the Andrews Gallery. It’s small with crisp white walls and large windows that call the light in. The gallery doubles as a studio for a n owner/artist named Drew. I went on Saturday afternoon, a little before sunset. I was the only one in the gallery besides Drew, so I walked alone through the small bright space, spending time with each piece. The exhibit was called “Postcards and Paper Dolls” by an artist named Susan Snyder. When I picked this exhibit I was thinking of the postcards you have been sending me. I have placed them all along my mirror in the bathroom - subdued desert landscapes, ancient buildings crumbling with age; they are like small snapshots of your life that so far your letters have yet to show me. Susan’s paintings were the opposite of your postcards. Instead of earthy greens and dried pink sunsets she uses bright vibrant colors, rich ocean blues, flower petal yellows and thick loving reds. She isn’t stingy with her brush, splattering these colors across her canvas, laying them out in heavy blocks that are broken apart by pieces of old postcards and cutouts of rosy cheeked little girls. My favorite part of her show was the paintings with the paper dolls pasted into them. Pieces like ”Little Pink Dress” and ”Glamour Girl on Sunset” made me feel like a kid. You probably never played with paper dolls when you were little. Or maybe you did (did they have GI Joe paper dolls?). Something about them made me feel that I have yet to destroy my imagination with the despair of adulthood. Okay, so that last line sounded a bit depressing. Being an adult isn’t that bad, I guess. What do you think? In my next batch of goodies I will send you a few pictures of Susan’s work; I’m sure the colors will brighten up your tent, that is, if you actually sleep in a tent. I am counting the days until you will be home again and then I will drag you along to exhibit after exhibit and we will be like paper doll kids with rosy cheeks and not a care in the world. Love ya, Louisa Garcia is a Rehabilitation Specialist by day, Writer by night who lives in Carlsbad, CA with her loving fiancé David. In her spare time, she loves to read, do Bikram Yoga, hang out with her fabulous friends and relax on the beach with her future husband. Deportation Nation: Visual Migrations by Katherine Sweetman Deportation Nation: History Repeats presented by SD Ethnic Studies, Calaca Press and the Red CalacArts Collective at the Centro Cultural de la Raza 2125 Park Blvd, SD, 92101 Show continues until March 8, 2009. For more info: Brent E. Beltran 619.920.1713 Imagine a fancy gallery reception. Everyone is wearing black clothing, the stench of perfume and cologne is all you can smell, and everyone around you seems to hold their heads so their noses are turned slightly up. They say things like, "Oh darling, are you really wearing flip-flops? Flip-flops are so passé .” You've attended art events like this? Now imagine the polar opposite of that gallery reception. How would that scenario look? I think that it might be something like the opening of the “Visual Migrations” show at the Centro Cultural de la Raza ("The Centro") on the evening of Saturday the 31st of January. From the moment I walked in, I knew this was not a stuffy gallery opening. The atmosphere was amazing. The people were friendly, and children were allowed (and even encouraged!) to attend the opening and enjoy themselves. The audience engaged with the artwork and even interacted with the curator and the artists. The artists were humble and friendly, and when I complimented them on the work they thanked me genuine handshakes and smiles. The warmth and family-friendly atmosphere of the opening was very moving, especially considering the theme of the event, which was Deportation in the US. The full title of the event was actually “Deportation Nation: Visual Migrations,” the first in a series of events collectively called “Deportation Nation, History Repeats” sponsored by Centro Cultural de la Raza, SD Central Library, USD AChA and USD MEChA and organized by USD Ethnic Studies, Calaca Press and the Red CalacArts Collective. The art opening, “Visual Migrations,” preceded “Cinematic Migrations” (Feb 5 th), “Spoken Migrations” (Feb 6 th), and “Musical Migrations”(Feb 7 th). The evening began with the opening of the gallery. An amazing exhibition of paintings, drawings, and collage works all centered around the theme of deportation and migration. Curated by Cal A.Vera (aka Brent Beltrán) and very well arranged, it included some extremely memorable, beautiful, and powerful pieces. The painting that stole the show was Una Alma Dividida by artist Gerardo Quetzal Garcia from San Antonio, Texas, who is also a professional tattoo artist. The large painting depicts a young boy with a large open wound on his chest. He holds a bloody human heart in his hands, and he sits on a kind of map-like image of the United States, while he hands over his bleeding heart southward toward Mexico. The painting’s image was still resonating in my mind when the panel talk began. On the theater-side of the building, both artists and activists spoke about the issue, statistics, problems, and possibilities of deportation occurring in the United States. The panel included Justin Akers Chacon, Pedro Rios, Celeste de Luna, and John Halaka -- two artists from the exhibition and two local activists. Justin Akers Chacon opened with a startling statistic: 34,900 individuals were deported in 2008. That is, 34,900 mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and children were forcefully deported from this country. The panelist’s stories and testimonies of their work (both activist work and artistic work) were beautiful, heartbreaking, and educational. This was not a snooty gallery opening. This was not a typical gallery opening. This was a very moving and engaging evening at The Centro Cultural de la Raza. Katherine Sweetman is an artist, educator, curator, and freelance writer for San Diego City Beat and the San Diego Visual Arts Network. She has an MFA in Visual Arts from UCSD and a B.A. from Cal-State San Marcos. She is also the Director of Lui Velazquez, an alternative art space and gallery in Colonia Federal, Tijuana Amy Preci: Black and White, Heart and Soul Icons of the 50's and 60's: Images by Leigh Wiener will take center stage at the Ordover Gallery in Solana Beach. Rediscover the faces that defined a generation, captured through the candid lens of a celebrated photojournalist. Opening reception Jan 17 from 5-8, Exhibition Jan 17 to April 12. For more info: Abe Ordover 858.720.1121 Her silky alto voice was one that charmed generations of movie-goers. Children recognize her youthful, doll face and the enchanted land over the rainbow that she made famous. This portrait, however, hanging high on the wall of the Ordover Gallery, is a new face altogether. A mature Judy Garland is clad in black, standing in stiletto heels, her arms to the side, her mouth wide open, mid-note. Her body is small, vulnerable, and her posture speaks of angst and heartache. I imagine the soulful melody that belts forth from her system, echoing off the white expanse that frames her. I consider which pieces in Leigh Weiner’s cascade of black and white photos are staged versus candid, but it doesn’t seem to matter. His subjects were, after all, individuals who were constantly in the limelight, and whose identities were perhaps always in flux. Even in their deliberate poses, however, an essence radiates through the shades of gray. Grace Kelly’s profile emits classic elegance, personified in the perfect wave of her hair and the synchronized arch of her eyebrow. Her skin appears porcelain, except for the one hair-thin wrinkle around the corner of her mouth, a magnificent, untouched flaw, which seems to protest against the modern air-brushed concept of beauty. The light catches on a single pearl earring, hovering above the shadows of her jaw line like a glistening teardrop. Its simple charm reflects the fashion of the era. Two steps away, drama of a different kind unfolds. President John F. Kennedy holds two fingers to his lips. His eyes crinkle, sharp lines fanning out at the corners, as neatly defined as the lines through his combed coiffure. The weight of the world is almost tangible, squarely placed on his slumped shoulders, penetrating his pores. This photograph is titled “Self-Trust, The Essence,” but every crease of his face seems to denote worry and doubt. It reminds me that our leaders, whom we often elevate to superhero status, possess the same human frailty as our own. In the photo titled “The Brothers Kennedy,” Leigh’s camera peeks through the doorway of a private room; President Kennedy is seated in a thoughtful posture, his brother is standing against a window with the curtains drawn. A silver tea kettle rests on the desk between them, quiet, unassuming, absorbing the heavy air and the secrets it carries. On the adjacent wall, the camera allows us to look over the shoulders of a few iconic jazz musicians. “Billie in Berlin” is lighting a cigarette, the nape of her neck exposed, a cluster of jewels draped luxuriously around it. From the left corner a disembodied hand holds out a match. “In Steinway for Duke,” the camera is angled behind the composer who’s staring out over the piano, his elbows propped on top in a “take five” position. I feel as though I’ve interrupted a rehearsal, noting Mr. Ellington’s casual garb and his reflective demeanor, the musical phrases perhaps repeating over in his head. Amy Preci works as a proofreader for RealAge, a health media company. She is a UCSD alumnus and has lived in San Diego, CA for 8 years. She enjoys spending her free time practicing piano scales, conjugating french verbs, writing poems, and becoming lost in idle fantasy. Lousia Garcia: Dear Unfolding Love Metal Sculpture Exhibit - Come hang out at North County's Premiere Gallery 204 in Vista, CA and see Charles Bronson's unique Copper Sculpture, featuring new work 2009 and Heavy Metal Artist Elon Ebanks. Opening reception Sat Jan 10 from 5:30am-8:30pm. Exhibition Jan 10 to Jan 30. Opening days Wed-Sun 12pm-6pm. For more info: Susan Roncone 760-305-8ART Dear Unfolding Love, Do you like my greeting? It’s actually the title of a sculpture piece I saw at Gallery 204 in Vista. Sitting on a large silver pedestal it drew me in immediately. By the artist Elon Ebanks and made of deep liquid black, it looked as if drops of streaming metal slipped from the sky and fell into shape. Is this our love? Are we unfolding into something solid, unbreakable? I hope so. I’m glad you finally got a chance to write. I understand that you have a lot on your plate right now. Okay, maybe I don’t understand but I’m trying too. You and me - well, we’re like a sculpture. We weave in and out of one another, taking different shapes, trying on different colors, never making complete sense but at the same time seeming to fit just right. Sunday, when I went to the Gallery 204 the first things I noticed were all the bright copper sculptures on the walls. One in particular caught my eye, “California Dreams” by Charles Bronson. It was a large sculpture with intricate circles moving together along the wall. It reminded me of California summers, when the sunrise and the sunset appear to become one. All the other pieces like “California Dreams” reminded me of you and me, walking along the boardwalk hand in hand, flip flops dancing. The last time I went to the beach was the weekend before you left. Remember, we took that beat up red Frisbee and played until our legs felt like jell-o. Elon Ebanks, the man who made “Unfolding Love”, also had about a dozen other pieces in the gallery. They all reminded me of that day at the beach, of jell-o legs and last kisses. One piece was actually called “Kiss”. It was two separate sculptures, one a deep red, the other a rich earthy brown. The two pieces were kissing from across the pedestal, intertwining across an invisible space that didn’t seem to exist. They were a physical representation of us, of our love, of how we can be so far away and yet so close. I stayed at Gallery 204 for over an hour. I went from piece to piece, making several loops around the room, trying to figure out why it was that I liked the work of Elon Ebanks more than that of Charles Bronson. Something about the twisted thick confusion of Ebanks work really affected me. Ebanks said, “Everything in nature is in rhythm, flowing – nothing is out of proportion.” His work made sense to me, flowed in perfect proportion to the simple emotions, experiences of life, like “Love”, “Sex”, and “Milk”; all titles from his collection. Charles Bronson’s work flowed and had a rhythm, but felt out of proportion to me. Pieces like “Forever” and “Rush Hour in Leucadia” with their hard painted flowers and copper fish, pretending to be alive, failing miserably. Although his work stirred up memories of you and me, it lost its effect after the first viewing. It didn’t feel like nature in all it’s rhythmic, flowing glory; instead it made me want to look away, to search for something real. I guess that is why I went out a bought a companion for my fish Lennon and named it, you guessed it, Yoko Ono. Love, Louisa Garcia is a Rehabilitation Specialist by day, Writer by night who lives in Carlsbad, CA with her loving fiancé David. In her spare time, she loves to read, do Bikram Yoga, hang out with her fabulous friends and relax on the beach with her future husband. Georgia Hoopes: A Holiday Show In Second Life A Show In Second Life by the Point Loma Artists, featuring artists Bette Decker and Georgia Hoopes. The exhibition will be in the 3D world of Second Life at the Chupacabra Gallery from January 16 to February 28, 2009. Admission to the gallery and the reception is free. For more information contact Georgia Hoopes at 619-224-3742. A Holiday Show In Second Life (SL) by Point Loma artists Bette Decker and Georgia Hoopes (yes, that’s me), held its opening artists’ reception at The Ballon d’Art Gallery on Friday, January 16 at 12 pm with several members of Le Jardin des Artistes Sans Lindens. This artists’ group, founded by Romane Jacobus from France, is more than a year old and its aim is to provide real life artists in SL a venue for exhibition and sales with no fees or commissions. Because everyone in the group spoke French and I spoke only English there were communications issues that were easily solved by wearing a language translator available to all SL residents for free. However, the French time-zone is nine hours later than Pacific Standard time and miscommunications caused minor delays and changes in the scheduling of the event. When curator Nathalie Chairman and I finally understood each other, she invited me to show three of my paintings in the main Garden Gallery, which has greater visibility and thus boosted sales. The non-commercial Chupacabra Gallery, where I’d been doing installations for months before, was suddenly unavailable for this show and I had to scramble to locate another gallery space. This caused a one month delay in the exhibition opening but, In the long run, this problem turned out to be an opportunity. I was contacted by an old friend who gave me a tour of a new arts and culture project that also allowed for commercial opportunities. The Ballon d’Art Gallery is free to artist members who want to show and sell their work. Additionally, I received a Linden Grant through the Second Life Business Association as a direct result of the exhibition. As you can see, the rewards and obstacles of a Second Life art show are much the same as a “real life” art show. Another issue for the SL show is public accessibility because all attendees must set up an account and create an avatar. Bette Decker did not have the SL on line virtual world account needed to attend the reception in SL, but she enjoyed watching from my home computer while I toured the show with my avatar. Basic SL accounts and everything you need to create your avatar are free, however there are minimum computer hardware requirements and the better your graphics card and faster your internet connection, the better your SL experience is going to be. Certainly these are obstacles worth overcoming because where else can artists from all over the world who speak different languages get together to share resources and ideas with one another and their patrons. Virtual worlds such as Second Life offer the perfect environment for artists to simply show their “real life” work or to create a totally new and different world limited only by their imagination. Georgia Hoopes is a member of the Point Loma Artists and the San Diego Watercolor Society's Vice President, International Exhibition. Georgia enjoys the fusion of Eastern and Western art traditions to create paintings of representational subject matter in a variety of water soluble mediums. Katherine Sweetman: Christmas at La Casa del Túnel Miniatures Show presented by COFAC at La Casa del Tunel on Dec 20th, opening at 6pm will feature miniatures by artists from L.A. San Diego and Tijuana. This exhibition is part of the permanent collection and they will be for sale at "low prices". Also, a party, a Posada traditional style with tamales, Champurrado (corn and chocolate drink) and a conference about the tradition of Christmas in Mexico will be held that evening. Christmas at La Casa del Túnel It was just after dusk on December 20th in the neighborhood of Tijuana called Colonia Federal. As we wandered down the darkened streets away from the traffic and crowds of the border crossing toward La Casa del Túnel Arts Center, we began to hear music. Rounding the corner ahead of us, a candle-lit procession appeared and as they came closer we saw that this peculiar procession was led by a “ Tijuana zebra” (a donkey painted like a zebra from the tourist area of Avenida Revolución). Riding the striped donkey was a young girl wearing a white dress and head covering, and behind the girl were approximately 35 people walking slowly and carrying candles. A handful of musicians walked with them and played the traditional “son jarocho” music from Veracruz. The group paused to serenade a house that was covered with Christmas lights. If the neighborhood homes had Christmas lights or Christmas trees in the windows, they were serenaded by this magical (and seemingly out of place) procession. Colonia Federal is the neighborhood in Tijuana that’s pressed right up against the San Ysidro boundary of the US/Mexico border. The neighbors here are generally very friendly; some of them are US citizens, some enjoy the short distance to the border because they commute to the US to work, and some are locals with little relationship to the other side of the border. At night the streets are typically empty, so a large group of candle-carrying, donkey-following, Christmas-carolers was quite a spectacle. Due to its proximity to the border crossing (and the authorities at the crossing area) this neighborhood is rather safe. The kind of illegal activities that occur here are things like … tunnels. In 2004, a 150-foot long smugglers' tunnel was discovered by authorities under a curious boat-like building in Colonia Federal. Then in 2008, in a kind of beautiful, poetic gesture, COFAC (Consejo Fronterizo de Arte y Cultura/Border Council of Arts and Culture), led by two of its members, Luis Ituarte and Gerda Govine, bought this building, turned it into an art center, and named it La Casa del Túnel (The Tunnel House). With only bad news coming out of Tijuana these days, it’s difficult to imagine a thriving art center there, but that’s just what COFAC has done. Since the Art Center’s inception in September of this year, they have already held three major art exhibitions, and they have dramatic plans for the future. Across the street from La Casa del Túnel is a hotel, which used to be inhabited by those waiting to cross the border in the narco tunnel. Today, COFAC has plans to turn the hotel into housing for their international artists in residency program. Katherine Sweetman is an artist, educator, curator, and freelance writer for San Diego City Beat and the San Diego Visual Arts Network. She has an MFA in Visual Arts from UCSD and a B.A. from Cal-State San Marcos. She is also the Director of Lui Velazquez, an alternative art space and gallery in Colonia Federal, Tijuana Katherine Sweetman: Navidad en Colonia Federal a la Casa del Túnel Era el momento justo antes del anochecer del 20 de Diciembre en la colonia Federal de Tijuana. Vagábamos por las calles oscurecidas lejos del tráfico y las multitudes del cruce de la frontera, hacia el Centro de Arte “La Casa del Túnel”. Al dar la vuelta a la esquina, apareció una procesión iluminada con la luz de las velas. Conforme se acercaron, vimos que esta peculiar procesión estaba dirigida por una “cebra de Tijuana” (un burro pintado como una cebra proveniente del área turística de Avenida Revolución).Sobre el burro rayado, estaba montada una chica en un vestido blanco con un velo y detrás de ella había aproximadamente 35 personas caminado lentamente y llevando velas. Un grupo de músicos caminaban junto a ellos y tocaban el tradicional “son jarocho”, del estado de Veracruz. El grupo hizo una pausa para dar una serenata frente a una casa cubierta con luces navideñas. Si las casas de la colonia tenían luces de navidad o árboles de navidad en las ventanas, recibían una serenata de esta mágica (y aparentemente fuera de lugar) procesión. La Colonia Federal es la colonia de Tijuana que se encuentra pegada en el límite de San Isidro en la frontera México/E.U. Los vecinos generalmente son muy amigables. Algunos de ellos son ciudadanos norteamericanos que disfrutan estar cerca de la frontera porque viajan todos los días a los E.U. para trabajar y otros son habitantes locales que tienen poca relación con el otro lado de la frontera. En la noche, las calles generalmente están vacías, por lo que un grupo numeroso de personas cantando villancicos, llevando velas encendidas y siguiendo a un burro, son un espectáculo notable. Debido a la proximidad con el cruce de la frontera, esta colonia es bastante segura. Las actividades ilegales que ocurren en este vecindario son más bien algo como… túneles. En 2004, las autoridades descubrieron un narco túnel de 45.80 metros debajo de un curioso edificio en forma de barco en la Colonia Federal. Después, en 2008, en una clase de hermoso gesto poético, el COFAC (Consejo Fronterizo de Arte y Cultura) a través de dos de sus miembros, Luis Ituarte y Gerda Govine, compró este edificio y lo convirtió en un centro de arte que llamaron La Casa del Túnel. En una época donde solo se escuchan malas noticias provenientes de Tijuana, es difícil imaginar un floreciente centro de arte ahí, pero eso es justo lo que ha hecho la COFAC. Desde el inicio del Centro de Arte en septiembre del año pasado, ya han tenido lugar tres importantes exposiciones, y además se tienen planes espectaculares para el futuro. Enfrente de La Casa del Túnel hay un hotel que solía ser habitado por aquellos que esperaban cruzar la frontera por el narco túnel. Hoy, la COFAC planea convertir el hotel en alojamiento para sus artistas internacionales en programas de residencia. El narco túnel ha sido rellenado con cinco toneladas de concreto y las actividades ilícitas que tenían lugar allí., han sido reemplazadas con exposiciones de arte, paneles y pláticas académicos además de fiestas y reuniones comunitarias, como la procesión de la Colonia Federal que llenó las calles la noche del 20 de Diciembre. Después de la procesión, la comida tradicional mexicana para la ocasión, la narración de historias y romper una piñata, la galería abrió sus puertas y reveló una muestra de pequeños (en escala) trabajos realizados por artistas de Los Angeles, San Diego y Tijuana. La recepción de la muestra se realizó en la galería y sobre el techo de La Casa del Túnel en donde los visitantes fueron agasajados con vino, asombrosas vistas de la valla fronteriza, las luces de la ciudad y el ambiente festivo.Louisa Garcia: Please Write. Please Time to get up and move your body, right over to Art of Framing to see Brett Barrett's new work; Painting and Kinetics, An Ecclectric Body of New. Opening reception Sat Dec 6 from 6-10pm. Exhibition Dec 6 to Dec 31. Opening days Mon-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat 10am-4pm. For more info: Blythe Goodwin 619.563.9770. Daniel, Notice I didn’t put dear or dearest or another form of endearment before your name. Why? Well I can only assume that your last letter was supposed to be funny. I’m not laughing. This isn’t a joke, Daniel, so please stop and just be you. Please. I’m going to pretend that your letter never arrived. You really would have loved the art exhibit I went to see this weekend. It was in North Park at a place called, “Art of Framing”. The artist is a man named Bret Barrett and he calls his work ‘Kinetic Realism’. I looked it up and part of the definition said it was art meant to be moved by an internal mechanism or external stimulus, as light or air. Perhaps you and are kinetic realism, and instead of light, the darkness is moving us, or moving you, away. Anyway, I think you would have liked Brett’s work because it appears that perhaps he is the love child of Jim Henson and Guillermo del Toro. Most of his art was moving. There was a piece called “Goose Step”, the base of the piece was a long brown claw that extended up to meet a mechanized dancing body. Long horn like eyes watched me as I watched it, enticing me, to do what, I don’t know. I made my way from piece to piece. There were paintings with moving eyes, my least favorite a pink bunny with an axe that stared me down. There were other mechanized pieces and some paintings that appeared to be simple, but upon close inspection were much more: “Dust Bunny” was actually dusting. “Power Ducker” had a motor pushing it through the water. Marilyn Monroe smiled back from a painting called, “Bombshell”, complete with bomb shaped breasts, tank like glasses and a mushroom cloud bursting from her head, imitating her blond bob. I stepped back and then forward, taking in the colors the shapes, the distorted but totally clear view of what I often think but rarely do understand. I was a bit scared, of the eyes of the movement of the strange bird in the window, tight rope walking through my reality. I felt like they didn’t belong or maybe it was that they did and I didn’t. The owner said that if I stayed long enough I might get to meet the artist. I walked through again, waiting. This time I noticed the “Abstractimals”. Tiny animal like creatures made of beads, bolts, marbles, bits of wood. They were delicate and marvelous at once. My favorite was round and wooden with silver eyes and long glass arms. I wanted to take him home with me, but I didn’t because really I just wanted you to take back what you said, to make everything make sense. Rebecca Louisa Garcia is a Rehabilitation Specialist by day, Writer by night who lives in Carlsbad, CA with her loving fiancé David. In her spare time, she loves to read, do Bikram Yoga, hang out with her fabulous friends and relax on the beach with her future husband. Georgia Hoopes - No Need for Earplugs Sight & Sound by Walk the Walk Presents performances from rock bands Jamuel Saxon and Tropical Depression, comedian Rob Deez, dancer Jillian Chu, and percussionist Angela Patua. Exhibitions, discounts, free tastings from House of Blues, Visual Stimulus events, and several North Park businesses on November 22, 2008 at 7pm. Complimentary beverage with $5 admission. Please contact Jon Block at 619-846-7180 or Alan Rosen 619-846-7185. Going on an art event date with Ed is still fun even after twenty plus years. Halfway through dinner I mentioned the performances from rock bands Jamuel Saxon and Tropical Depression and realized I’d forgotten to remind him to bring his earplugs. He was so upset that I thought it would turn into a deal breaker. After all, what does hard driving rock and roll have to do with an art event? After paying the check at a great Mexican food restaurant on 30 th Street, we walked toward Ray Street, a couple of blocks away. Outside the galleries, the Jukes Family rock band is setting up on the Ray Street sidewalk drawing a crowd. Inside the Planet Ruth and 4 Walls galleries guests stand or sit and chat in small alcoves. Enjoying the art installation and stopping for a glass of wine before passing through the gallery out the back to another cozy seating area. There, guests could purchase drinks before entering the next gallery where dancer Jillian Chu performs on top of the large drafting table. In the gallery front we find Eclipse Chocolate samples. Of course, I purchase many batches of chocolates packaged in dark brown Chinese takeout food boxes to give as Christmas gifts. DJ Johnny Tran is in the house along side artist and novelist, Sean Dietrich, who works on an unfinished ink painting. Area business have items for sale and stylists from the Lab salon create fantasy up dos on models. Dancers from The Academy of Performing Arts, Jaami Waali, Angel Villalobos, Reva Vergara, John Fitelson, and Steven Elm, are selling tickets to the annual fund raiser VS3. The staging of the event allows for great flow and many options. Being an artist, I enjoy talking to and being around other artists and I can stand as close to the speakers as I want while rocking to the music. My only regret is not stay longer because my date was getting bored, but at least he was happy to not need his earplugs. Georgia Hoopes is a member of the Point Loma Artists and the San Diego Watercolor Society's Vice President, International Exhibition. Georgia enjoys the fusion of Eastern and Western art traditions to create paintings of representational subject matter in a variety of water soluble mediums. On the Road' - New Quilts by Jill Le Croissette Come take a trip down the yellow quilt road to see this show being exhibited at the Carlsbad City Library from Nov 3 - 30. For more info: Jill Le Croissette 760.434.7491 Dear Far Away Love, His name is Lennon; my fish of course. The one I told you about in the last letter. I named him after John Lennon. I was going to name him Max or Rocky or even Lucy, just because I thought it would be funny to have a boy fish with a girl name, but I eventually settled on Lennon. What do you think? This past weekend I went to see another art exhibit. This one was at the Carlsbad City Library, and was a quilt show by a woman named Jill Le Croisette. I went on Saturday. It was hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk, so I welcomed the chance to be indoors, soaking in the AC. It took me a bit to actually find the exhibit. Instead of being located in a gallery the quilts were hanging on the wall behind the circulation desk. All along the back wall, meticulously crafted quilts hung, like a colorful backdrop to the boring tediousness of library circulation. I always think of quilts as large canvases, huge coverings made to keep one warm, protected, a certain amount of love gone into each detailed stitching. These were different. Each one was about the size of a large painting. There were so many colors I didn’t know where to look. One had subdued blues blending into light beige, where sand and water meet. Another was a barrage of deep haunted greens, yellows, browns. None of the pieces had titles so I just imagined what they might be named. There was a burgundy piece, mixed in pinks and reds; I named it ‘Sweet Wine’. One looked like all the colors in the sky had melded into one; this one was ‘Geometric Sky’. It was a beautiful exhibit, made difficult to appreciate by its presentation. People at the desk kept asking me if I needed help as I stood and absorbed the beauty of the quilts. I also wanted to look up close, to see the detail, the different designs hidden in the material that could only be observed by a closer inspection. I know that it would have gotten me in trouble, but I wanted to touch them, to feel their softness, to rest my cheek on the delicate pinks and the vibrant yellows. I wanted more. I am not sure what kind of exhibit I will be visiting next month. The holidays are fast approaching and I am so sad that you won’t be here. I am flying home to visit my parents and my brothers. Sam says you should just AWOL and come chill with us and my mom says to tell you hello. She also says to make sure to wash your hands often and to be polite, she drives me crazy. We all miss you so much. Well my far away love, I hope you get this letter and the attached package before Thanksgiving. I made the chocolate chip cookies myself, and I included a pic of me and Lennon. Hope you like it. All My Love, Louisa Garcia is a Rehabilitation Specialist by day, Writer by night who lives in Carlsbad, CA with her loving fiancé David. In her spare time, she loves to read, do Bikram Yoga, hang out with her fabulous friends and relax on the beach with her future husband. Amy Preci - Stitched Narratives Quilt Visions 2008 opens on Nov 9 runs seamlessly until March 1, 2009 at the Oceanside Museum of Art. For more info: Danielle 760.435.3720 My earliest memories are laced with plump red strawberries, raised out of the white cotton of my bedspread. For long, somniferous moments, I would trace my fingers along the threads, noting shapes within shapes, and the pattern on Strawberry Shortcake’s dress. I’d fall asleep comforted, secure, in good company. My remembrances of past dwellings are obscure, marked by the poor exposure of old photos. Joan Shulz must have had a similar idea when she sewed together her quilt, “Promises.” In it, square panels portray the decorative details of antique rooms: vintage perfume bottles, pink roses next to white taper candles, a dusty book on a cherry wood desk. The colors are faded, the texture like paper mâché. Often one finds the quilt as the centerpiece of the bedroom – here lies the inverse. Like a foggy mirror, it reflects its surroundings; or better yet, the secret spaces of an artist’s dreams. Whether it is a reverie, or a walk through the woods, or a recollection of things past, each of the quilts in the museum tells a story. “At a party in the afterlife,” writes Wendeanne Stitt, “a group of jovial spirits realizes they have a common bond: they all know me.” The piece titled “Bonne Nuit” features a festive gathering of Day of the Dead skeletons. Garlands of burnt orange blossoms dance across the top with the words “Bienvenido” in satin blue. The characters, each with distinct personalities, exchange memories of their friend, the quilter, jumping out into the foreground, welcoming all spectators into the celebration. Quieter, more elusive narratives are told elsewhere. I pass by a quilt with a few simple shapes: a giant red ellipse in the center, a section of an orange cone to the right, a yellow rectangle to the left. They remind me of the building blocks I played with in preschool, painted in bold primary colors. As I sat down on a bench, my gaze fell level with a plaque that read, “The Big Red Dog.” What I thought was an odd collection of abstract shapes immediately transforms into the blushing backside of a canine. The ellipse becomes a tail, the cone a lampshade, the front of him hidden behind a yellow doorway. Vertical red, blue, and green stitching adds a playful, crayon texture. Linda Beach’s “Home Before Dark” radiates from a small corner of the museum. Long, thin strips of blue shadow line the pink snow. Slits of yellow are woven into the tree trunks, glints of light from the sunset. The entire quilt is an unusual patchwork of printed fabrics, cut into triangles and trapezoids, and fastened together with a glittery, gold thread. The Alaskan sky sparkles with splashes of blue-purple tie-dye hovering above the mountains. It’s grown silent, and I think I hear footsteps in the snow. The last of the visitors are exiting the museum. I make my way outside; an autumn chill greets me. I can’t wait to get home and crawl under the covers. Walking to my car, I have a peculiar sensation of being followed. I turn around, but the sidewalk is vacant. As I get in and turn on the heater, my eye catches something in the rearview mirror. The wagging tail of a dog disappears around the corner. Amy Preci works as a proofreader for RealAge, a health media company. She is a UCSD alumnus and has lived in San Diego, CA for 8 years. She enjoys spending her free time practicing piano scales, conjugating french verbs, writing poems, and becoming lost in idle fantasy. Katherine Sweetman - I Want to See You in My Clothes Fabian Cerijido and Glenna Jennings at Lui Velazquez with the Department of Visual Arts of UCSD have the pleasure to invite you to celebrate and discuss Glenna Jennings's photographic series Raskolnikov on Nov 8 at 7 pm. For more info: Fabian Cerijido 619.838.7666 I want to see you in my clothes! This statement followed me as I drank the remainder of my Tecate and wandered toward the cojita cheese, dried kiwi fruit, and caramel cookies on the small table in the kitchen area of Lui Velazquez. The statement followed me into the streets of Colonia Federal, the neighborhood of Tijuana that holds the San Ysidro/Tijuana border crossing and the alternative art space, Lui Velazquez. I want to see you in my clothes! These were the closing words to Fabian Cereijido's curatorial essay on the newest work by photographer Glenna Jennings. Fabian curated a number of shows for the offices of the Dean of the Division of Arts and Humanities at the UCSD. Glenna's enigmatic photographic series, titled Raskolnikok, is the latest in this sequence of exhibitions and the subject of a curatorial essay from which he read to the assembled audience at Lui Valazquez. Fabian, also a visual artist, originally hailed from Argentina, but now lives in San Diego where he pursues his doctorate degree in Art History at UCSD. This is where he met Glenna, originally from the San Diego region , who is currently working on her masters degree in Visual Arts with an emphasis on photography. The San Deigo location became important in the narrative of the photographic series she is currently showing. Projected images of cheerleaders danced on the wall behind Fabian as he presented his text and fielded complex questions from the audience, consisting largely of artists and academics. You might recognize the name, Raskolnikok, which is both the title of Glenna's photographic series, and the name of the murderous protagonist from the Dostoevsky novel "Crime and Punishment". Each of Glenna's photographs is accompanied by a fragment of the novel. One image is placed next to the text, "I killed them with an ax and robbed them". But the image paired with this sentence is of a cheerleader, not an ax murderer. The cheerleader appears to be in the process of hiding under a kind of desk while a television that seems to be tuned to a wildlife station shows wide eyed meerkats on the prairie, perhaps hiding from some kind of predator. Glenna was also present at the event and read selected passages from her own text, titled Granite, a novella she is working on that situates the photographs in her series loosely within the framework of the Dostoevsky story. Her novella, a fictional work, stars cheerleaders who have issues, dilemmas and problems that are similar to those of the characters in Crime and Punishment. Glenna was a cheerleader at Granite Hills High School in El Cajon, and in this photographic series she asks her subjects to wear her old uniform while she photographs them. Some of her subjects are woman who fit nicely into the costume, but others are pregnant, and some of the models are even men -- the costume hanging off them, the zipper unable to be fully zipped. The cheerleading uniforms become more and more awkward for the bodies that wear them as the series progresses. The fragments from the book, juxtaposed with the photographs, act as titles and seem to suggest something more sinister is happening within the images; secrets, conspiracy, murder, madness? I want to see you in my clothes! The statement followed me through the line to cross the border back to San Diego. "What are you bringing back from Mexico?" the border patrol agent asks me in as angry voice. "Nothing", I say but I start to laugh. I start to imagine the large man in Glenna's cheerleading uniform. Katherine Sweetman is an artist, educator, curator, and freelance writer for San Diego City Beat and the San Diego Visual Arts Network. She has an MFA in Visual Arts from UCSD and a B.A. from Cal-State San Marcos. She is also the Director of Lui Velazquez, an alternative art space and gallery in Colonia Federal, Tijuana Fabian Cereijido & Glenna Jennings @ Lui Velazquez, Colonia Federal, Tijuana ¡Quiero verte en mi ropa! Esta declaración se quedó prendada en mi mente mientras bebía mi tecate y atacaba el queso cotija, las rodajas de kiwi seco y las galletas de caramelo en la pequeña mesa de cocina en Lui Velazquez. Esta declaración me siguió por la calles de la colonia Federal, por el barrio de Tijuana que se encuentra en las inmediaciones de la frontera de San Ysidro, Tijuana en el que se encuentra ubicado el espacio de alternativo Lui Velazquez. ¡Quiero verte en mi ropa! Estas fueron las palabras de cierre del ensayo curatorial de Fabian Cereijido en torno a la nueva producción de la fotografa Glenna Jennings. Fabian ha curado recientemente una serie de exposiciones en las oficinas de la Dirección de la División para las Artes y las Humanidades de la Universidad de California, San Diego, entre ellas se encuentra la enigmática serie fotográfica titulada Raskolnikok que actualmente se encuentra en exhibicion en estas instalaciones y la cual es el tema del ultimo ensayo curatorial escrito por Cereijido, el cual presentó el pasado sábado ocho de noviembre. Fabian, quien también es un artista visual, nació en Argentina, actualmente vive en San Diego, en donde estudia el doctorado en historia del arte en la Universidad de California campus San Diego (UCSD).Es en la Universidad donde Fabian conoce a Glenna, quien a su vez se encuentra estudiando una maestria en Artes Visuales, con la especializacion en fotografia, tambien para la UCSD. Para Glenna, originaria de San Diego, esta región se ha convertido importante en la narrativa de esta serie fotografica. Cereijido al presentar su su texto sobre la obra fotográfica de Jenings a la audiencia de artistas y academicos reunidos, tuvo en devolucion complejos cuestinonamientos por parte de estos; mientras tanto las imagenes documentales de la artista (porristas) eran proyectadas en la pared. Tu lector, tal ves reconozcas el nombre Raskolnikov, el cual intitula la exhibición de Glenna, y tiene como referente al asesino, personaje principal de la novela Cada una de las fotos esta colocada junto a un fragmento de la novella. En uno de estos fragmentos se lee: "Los asesine con un hacha y los robé". Sin embargo, la imagen con la que esta aparejado el texto, es el de una porrista , no la de un hacha asesina. La porrista pareciera estar en el proceso de ocultarse bajo un escritorio, mientras tanto una television que se encuentra encima de este, se encuentra sintonizada en un canal con imágenes de la"vida animal". Su protagonista parece ocultarse de un predador ficticio. En la velada del sábado, Glenna también leyó pasajes seleccionados de su propio texto, intitulado "Granito", una novelaen la que está trabajando y que sitúa las fotografías en su serie dentro de una especie de marco de la historia de Dostoievski. Su novela, una obra de ficción, nos presenta a estrellas porristas con similitudes con los personajes de Crimen y castigo. Glenna fue una animadora en Granito Hills High School en El Cajon y en esta serie fotográfica, ella le pide a sus modelos/colaboradores que vistan su antiguo uniforme, mientras los fotografías que ellos.Algunos de sus modelos son una mujer que encaja perfectamente en el vestuario, pero algunas otras están embarazadas, y algunos de ellos son incluso los hombres, en esos casos, el traje les guanga, el cierre no puede ser totalmente cerrado. Este uniforme de porrista se torna cada vez mas y más extraño de acuerdo con aquellos que lo llevan puesto. Los fragmentos del libro, presentado junto a las imágenes, en calidad de los títulos para las imágenes parecen indicar que algo más siniestro está ocurriendo dentro de las imágenes; ¿secretos, asesinatos, locura? ¡Quiero verte en mi ropa! La declaración me siguó a través de la línea para cruzar la frontera de regreso a San Diego. "¿Qué es lo que trae de Mexico?"-me preguntó el agente fronterizo con voz enojada. "Nada", le digo, pero empiezo a reír. Y comienzo a imaginar a este hombre corpulento, en el uniforme de porrista de Glenna. Katherine Sweetman es una artista, instructora de arte, curadora y escritora freelance de la Revista San Diego City Beat y del San Diego Visual Arts Network. Sweetman tiene una maestría en bellas artes de la Universidad de California San Diego y es egresada de la universidad del Estado de California, San Marcos. Ellas también es Directora de Lui Velásquez, un espacio galería alternativa en la Colonia Federal de Tijuana. Louisa Garcia - My Fuzzy Bunny 'Fuzzy Dice" - Paintings and Drawings by Irene Abraham is being exhibited in the Community Room of the Encinitas Library. Opening reception Sat Oct 4 from 2-5, Exhibition Oct 4 to Oct 30. For more info: Irene Abraham 760.753.7376 My Fuzzy Bunny, How quickly time passes. I have been sleeping with your letters under my pillow. I read them over and over, they are so funny and I love hearing about the crazy antics of you and your company. Seriously, do you really eat nothing but Oreos and Coca-Cola? My stomach hurts just thinking about it. I recently visited my second art exhibit. It was in the art room of the Encinitas Library, located at the top of a steep hill, with large windows exposing the bright blue of the ocean. The exhibit was titled “Fuzzy Dice.” The artist, Irene Abraham, likes to take maps, puzzles, graphs and so on and then distort them through her own choices and chance occurrences, thus the metaphorical throw of the dice. A few of the pieces, large and demanding, were maps, one on top of another, creating random obscure images. Two pieces, “Linear Proof” and “Quagmire #1,” followed this format and were quite powerful. I followed the maroon, brown and gray lines of thick crayon across the canvas, noting spellbinding intersections and hypnotic shapes. I was especially taken by the piece “You’re the Lucky One,” an acrylic on dura-lens. It looked like dried blood samples, cells lined up for judging. It reminded me so much of the randomness of life. How I only just met you and now you are so far away. How the dice we roll never land quite exactly the way we want them to. I felt very lonely while visiting this exhibit. The room was large and I was alone, except for the art; besides my own breath, the only sound was the humming of the air conditioner. All of the pieces made me feel so different, which I assume, essentially, was the point. I felt as if I was part of the exhibit, a small speck of randomness under the microscope of life. I was beginning to feel anxious, moving from piece to piece. That is until I came upon the north wall. Lined up with little space between them were seven large canvases, each one representing a color of the rainbow. Starting with violet and ending in red, the pieces felt warm and inviting. They didn’t feel random at all, and together they were visually stimulating, the artist using thick brush strokes and warm colors. I almost expected them to gather and form an arch over the ocean, peeking in through the west window. Daniel, do you think that life is a random roll of the dice and that we have no control over what happens to us, over where we end up, or, even worse, over whom we end up with? Honestly, I hope not. I will try and send this letter before the weekend. I wish it didn’t take so long to get to you. If I get a chance I will send you some Oreos, but don’t blame me if you get sick of them. Love Always, p.s. I forgot to tell you I finally got a fish. A deep burgundy colored Beta. I haven’t named him yet. Any thoughts? Louisa Garcia is a Rehabilitation Specialist by day, Writer by night who lives in Carlsbad, CA with her loving fiancé David. In her spare time, she loves to read, do Bikram Yoga, hang out with her fabulous friends and relax on the beach with her future husband. Amy Preci - Planetary Reflections Unearthing Masterworks : Newly released images by Christopher Burkett will be presented at the Ordover Gallery in Solana Beach. Come experience the beauty and light of natural landscape captured by this internationally renowned photographer. Opening reception Oct 18 from 5-8, Exhibition Oct 9 to Jan 4.. For more info: Abe Ordover 858.720.1121 The Gruyere family lived in a cozy two bedroom flat on the planet Crouton. Mr. Gruyere, a galaxy-trotting salesman, had recently acquired a taste for fine art. Upon his most recent visit to a relatively unknown planet off the Milky Way, he picked up a one-of-a-kind photograph taken by a renowned artist, Christopher Burkett. He decided to give it to his son, Walnut, who had a fervid fascination with foreign worlds. “Aw, cool, totally stellar, Dad,” he said tearing off the wrapping paper. “But wha – what is it?” The large framed print portrayed a pastiche of oval shapes that appeared supple, almost translucent, a pink sheen reflecting off them. “Are they cells?” asked Walnut, “I heard from my teacher that some planets only have single-cell organisms living there.” Mr. Gruyere chuckled. “No, son -- close. They’re called shells. And they’re solid and hollow.” Walnut imagined shoveling his long, green, spindly hands into the pile of shells. He imagined them feeling cold and wet, and rattling at his touch. The longer he stared with his enormous bug eyes, the more colors he could see, barely perceptible yellows and greens. “I think they’re called rainbows,” he said. “Except for that one in the middle,” he pointed to the largest shell with black fringed tips. “It must have gotten burnt in the sun.” Walnut’s dad helped him hang the picture over his bed. “I have another surprise for you.” He pulled out a book titled Resplendent Light and together they flipped through the photographs. Mr. Gruyere was surprised to find that so many splendid combinations of shapes and colors could exist on a planet so small and covered mostly by water. “Look at this one,” pointed Walnut. “It’s called ‘Morning Reflections.’” In it, turquoise lily pads crisscrossed with green, perpendicular wisps. They seemed to pop from the page and hover in midair. “They’re birds!” cried Walnut. “No, Walnut, they’re not flying, they’re floating on clear liquid, and the trees are just a reflection.” “Oh … This must be a really confusing place to live, Dad.” On the next page, dozens of white branches fanned out against an indigo backdrop, like sharp bolts of lightning across the night sky. Walnut traced the tree with the plump pad of his finger. “‘Glowing Winter Aspen,’” he read. “It looks alive,” he commented in awe. “Most of that place is alive,” his father replied, matter-of-factly. Then a voice called from across the flat. “Oh boys! Dinner’s ready!” Mr. Gruyere went to join his wife, Arugula, in the dining sector for an imported beefsteak dinner. Walnut sat behind and thumbed through the remaining chapters of the book, fully entranced by what seemed like optical illusions. He thought this planet might be a home of spirit beings who continually changed their form according to the seasons. “Walnut! Dinner!” “Coming!” he yelled. If Burkett’s nature is not something we all can experience, it will not be because it was too difficult to preserve the places in which it is found, but because the desire waned for lack of belief that it exists. -- James L. Enyeart, photographic scholar and critic. Amy Preci works as a proofreader for RealAge, a health media company. She is a UCSD alumnus and has lived in San Diego, CA for 8 years. She enjoys spending her free time practicing piano scales, conjugating french verbs, writing poems, and becoming lost in idle fantasy. Katherine Sweetman - Tijuana is intense. Entijuanarte08 Free art walk with more than 155 artists held at the Tijuana Cultural Center (Cecut) on Sat/Sun Oct 4/5 Noon – 9 pm More info: Melanie Mendoza 888.492.6733 Tijuana is intense. Cross the border on foot, and you are instantly enveloped in smells, colors, sounds, people of every imaginable class, taxis zipping by, people selling strange and colorful cuisine, and the hustle of the street. If you pause to take all of this in, you look out of place. People cross the border with purpose. The purpose of this visit to Tijuana is Entijuanarte. This is the annual open-air art festival and art fair located in the courtyard of the Centro Cultural Tijuana (CECUT for short). CECUT is the major international art museum and cultural center in Tijuana, complete with Modern and Contemporary Art Museum, Concert Theatre, IMAX Theatre, and a new multi-million dollar addition, “El Cubo”, which opened only recently with an incredible show featuring artists from around the world -- and quite a few from San Diego. But this afternoon we are outside the museum, walking through the 122 tents put on by both national and international artists and art galleries. Major events in Tijuana typically take place over a series of days, and Entijuanarte is no exception. Friday night is glamorous. The participants of the festival and the VIPs of the museum are out in suits and heels. Wine, canapés, and chocolate covered strawberries are served by wait staff in white shirts and black vests. Music, festivities, speeches, and dances are held at the large main stage. Spectacular performances with fire spinners and stilt walkers entertain the high society crowd. Saturday marks the opening of Entijuanarte to the general public. At noon the courtyard starts to fill with people. Most of the artist tents are approximately 8’ x 8’ square, but not for the collective calling themselves “Romper el Hielo” (To Break the Ice). This tent is put on by the Atrio gallery and cultural space in Mexico City, and they have six 8’ x 8’ booths put together to create an immersive gallery experience complete with plaster walls that separate multiple gallery rooms. There are many unique works inside this great tent but two in particular caught my attention: One was a set of solitary resin stairs in the back of the tent by Perla Krauze. The second was a set of paintings by Berta Kolteniuk with an accompanying soundtrack by Dardin Coria -- music inspired by the paintings themselves. This soundscape makes that whole tent come alive and is in distinct contrast to the rest of the sounds and music heard at the event. Although Entijunarte features sculptures, performances, clothing, tapestries, jewelry, etc., most of the works on display are paintings. You can find every kind of painting imaginable from landscapes to still lives to graffiti to urban-themed paintings. There are realist-kinds of paintings, expressionist-kinds of paintings, even paintings by children, but the most intriguing paintings are always the ones that tackle an alternative subject matter. Alfredo Guitirerz (Gutierrez??) shows a series of works from his “Leporino Urbano” or “Urban Hair Lip” series. These works are constructed on linoleum tile panels and are painted and etched to create hauntingly beautiful works featuring images of people with the cleft lip birth defect. Photography is of course also on display at Entijuanarte, and one important photographer from the event is Yuri Manrique. Manrique is a seasoned photographer who also frequently exhibits his work inside museums. At his booth you can find both his political work and his more commercial and accessible portrait work. Sunday is like Saturday, except there are even more people. There are even more performances, more dances, and more amazing types of foods, coffees, sweets, and alcoholic drinks to sample. Local artists and students who couldn’t afford a tent inside the event have set up makeshift booths in front of the courtyard. Everything is bigger and more concentrated on Sunday. It seems as if even the music is a little louder. Yes, Tijuana is intense, and Tijuana is amazing. Katherine Sweetman is an artist, educator, curator, and freelance writer for San Diego City Beat and the San Diego Visual Arts Network. She has an MFA in Visual Arts from UCSD and a B.A. from Cal-State San Marcos. She is also the Director of Lui Velazquez, an alternative art space and gallery in Colonia Federal, Tijuana Translation following by Karla Duarte, Entijuanarte 2008 es un evento que se lleva acabo en la explanada del Centro Cultural Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Info: Melanie Mendoza 888.492.6733 Tijuana es intensa. Una vez que cruzas la frontera a pie te envuelven los aromas, los colores, el ruido, la gente de cualquier estatus económico, los taxis en espera del próximo turista, los puestos de comida en cada esquina y el movimiento deprisa en las calles. Si te detienes a observar se darán cuenta que eres de otro lugar. La gente cruza con un propósito en mente, no se detiene. El propósito de mi viaje fue visitar Entijuanarte. Este es un festival anual al aire libre donde encuentras stands que venden obra en la explanada del Centro Cultural Tijuana (CECUT), ubicado en la Zona Río de la ciudad. El CECUT es un centro de artes y museo que cuenta con un teatro, un IMAX y una nueva sala internacional conocida como “El Cubo”. El Cubo complementa las salas de exposición del CECUT y destaca por su arquitectura de casi 10 millones de dólares y sus dimensiones. El Cubo, cuya sala abrió apenas la semana pasada, cuenta con dos exposiciones, el Proyecto Cívico de artistas regionales (San Diego y Tijuana) y una exposición de viaje Buddha Guanyin: Tesoros de la Compasión. A medio día nos encontrábamos afuera del museo, caminando hacia los 122 stands con obra de artistas de todas partes de México, artistas internacionales y galerías de arte. La mayoría de los eventos de Tijuana tiene un programa, Entijuanarte no es ninguna excepción. El viernes por la noche era glamoroso ya que los participantes y los invitados especiales del museo portaban sus trajes elegantes. Los meseros de camisa blanca y chaleco negro servían vino, canapés y fresas cubiertas de chocolate mientras disfrutabas del evento. También, en el escenario podías presenciar los discursos, las danzas y la música. Los traga fuegos y los zanca saltadores con sus espectáculos entretenían a toda la gente. Entijuanarte se inauguró oficialmente el sábado para el público general. A medio día la explanada se empezaba a llenar de espectadores. La mayoría de los stands de los artistas median 8 x 8 pies cuadrados, pero no para el colectivo Romper el Hielo. El stand lo diseñó Atrio galería y contaba con seis stands de 8 x 8 pies cuadrados para crear una experiencia totalmente de galería con paredes largas y salas. Dos piezas que destacaron fueron la de Perla Krauzs hecha de resina y una pintura de Berta Kolteniuk que la acompañaba una banda sonora de Dardin Coria inspirado por las pinturas de estas dos artistas. El sonido de Coria hacía que el stand sobresaliera haciendo contraste con la música del evento y todo esto lo hacía más interesante. A pesar de que Entijuanarte también promueve la escultura, el performance, la vestimenta, joyería, etc., la mayoría del arte en exposición eran pinturas. Los espectadores podían presenciar desde paisajes y bodegones, hasta trabajo con graffiti y pinturas con temas urbanos. Podías encontrar pinturas desde estilo realismo y expresionismo, como también dibujos de niños, pero las pinturas más interesantes eran las que proponían temas alternativos. Como por ejemplo el artista plástico, Alfredo Gutiérrez muestra una serie de imágenes que se titulan “Leporino Urbano”. Estas imágenes estaban montadas en loza de linóleo, pintadas y con grabados de imágenes de la gente con esta marca de nacimiento. La fotografía también es una disciplina que se puede encontrar en Entijuanarte. Unas de las series importantes en exhibición eran las del fotógrafo de renombre Yuri Manrique. Manrique es un fotógrafo que frecuentemente también exhibe su obra en museos. En su stand presenciabas imágenes de temas políticos y retratos. El domingo fue como el sábado, con la única excepción que este día había más gente. También había más performance, más danzas e increíbles stands de comida, dulces, repostería y muestras de bebidas regionales. Artistas locales y estudiantes que no podían solventar el gasto de un stand construían sus propios stands en las afueras de la explanada. Todo parecía más grande el domingo. También parecía como si la música estuviera a todo volumen y más viva. Efectivamente Tijuana es intensa, Tijuana es maravillosa. Katherine Sweetman es una artista, instructora de arte, curadora y escritora freelance de la Revista San Diego City Beat y del San Diego Visual Arts Network. Sweetman tiene una maestría en bellas artes de la Universidad de California San Diego y es egresada de la universidad del Estado de California, San Marcos. Ellas también es Directora de Lui Velásquez, un espacio galería alternativa en la Colonia Federal de Tijuana. Translación by Karla Duarte. back to the top Georgia Hoopes - Content: Contemporary Subject Matter Raul Guerrero, "Recent Paintings" at the Bronowski Art & Science Forum at the Salk Institute "I magine artists like Picasso or Velazquez applying their techniques and talent to contemporary subject matter." Raul Guerrero The Bronowski Art & Sciences Forum at the Salk Institute hosted Southern California artist Raul Guerrero for a lecture and slide show on September 4, 2008. The venue was science and the audience, intellectuals, artists and friends. This environment can be intimidating to the non-academic layperson such as me, but not for Guerrero. I sat in awe, listening intently but straining to comprehend discussions flowing eloquently from the charming artist, as he described his initial concepts followed by steps in his creative process, which include research, travel, and many preliminary sketches and designs before they all coalesce into major works of art in oil on very large canvases. Born with the multi-cultural influences of the US, Southern California and Mexico and with heritage in Tarahumara and Yaqui Native American, Guerrero “has been an important presence on the Southern California art scene for over three decades, particularly in San Diego and Tijuana,” according to Ron Newby, of the Salk Institute. Toby Camps, former Curator for the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, has used words such as elegant, humor, drama, romance, intrigue, and smoky glamour to describe Guerrero’s painting style. At the same time Camps calls Guerrero a “master draftsman...drawing out history” and Newby says there is a “documentary strain in Guerrero’s work.” After attending the lecture I immediately began to find applications for my own artwork. I’ve been practicing drawing since childhood. Now, I need to devote more effort and forethought to content and perhaps contemporary subject matter. Although I don’t consider myself a conceptual artist, I have something to say and I want to be heard, and hopefully understood. No matter how skillful an artist, years of disorganized and random thought do not a “masterpiece” make. I know what you’re thinking, “What does art have to do with rational thought and analysis?” On the other hand, perhaps the origin of art is the rationalization of the natural world. Georgia Hoopes is a member of the Point Loma Artists and the San Diego Watercolor Society's Vice President, International Exhibition. Georgia enjoys the fusion of Eastern and Western art traditions to create paintings of representational subject matter in a variety of water soluble mediums. Texture Of Light" Photography Exhibition by PhotoArtsGroup at
InnerSpace located inside the new Escondido Municipal Gallery Hello my dearest, it has only been a couple weeks since you left and I already miss you terribly. College isn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I really like my Art Appreciation professor, Rebecca. You would like her. She’s tall with platinum blonde hair and when she laughs she sounds like Eddie Murphy. Anyway, besides a few tests all we have to do is visit a different art show/exhibit once a month. So this past Saturday I went to my first show, Textures of Light. The show was in downtown Escondido, within the Escondido Art Partnership Gallery in a new space curated by the Photo Arts Group called Innerspace; and no, it’s not named after the Dennis Quaid movie (I know that’s what you were thinking). The Textures of Light show was nestled into a corner of the art space, one of many exhibits being shown at the EAP while I was there. A small show, it has only 21 pieces, each one showing how light plays with textures, shapes, and colors. There was ‘Yin Yang’, by Sally Reis Vogt. Her photo depicted small shiny leaves lined up, resting on a rock. The leaves, a bright lime green with candy apple red tips looked like insects, like butterflies resting in the sunlight. In ‘Summer Textures’, by Georgia Ratcliffe, a lone dragonfly rests, its turquoise eyes looking toward the heavens, the reflection of its wing imprinting itself against the thick green leaf. As I walked from photo to photo I began to see images and shapes that had nothing to do with what the original theme of the photo was. In ‘The Valley of Fire Arch’ by, Daniel Marz a desert wall is lit up like a fireball, red lines running up and down like rings on a tree trunk. The rocks jutting out from the wall made the red earth come alive, a fiery wave crashing onto the sand. If you look closely, in the lower left hand corner you will see the figure of a giant red bear, thick jawed, fierce and determined, both scary and beautiful at the same time. There was one particular photo that I stared at for almost half the time. It was titled. ‘Rocks’ by the artist Don Garrett. The longer I gazed at the photo the more the rocks began to resemble human bodies, pushed up tight, one against another. Hunkered in the left foreground was a man deep in thought. In the center, two women rest, their shapely bodies reflecting the sun off their thighs as they attempt to hide in the shadows. I wondered how long they had been there. Sadly, the show will be over before you return. By the way, when will that be? Maybe if you get bored you can look out at the desert and notice the light, I know it likes to play tricks with the sand. In fact after seeing the Textures of Light show I think light is like a tricky child, moving, creating just to keep from getting bored. Please write again soon. I will be waiting for your letter. Love Always, Louisa Garcia is a Rehabilitation Specialist by day, Writer by night who lives in Carlsbad, CA with her loving fiancé David. In her spare time, she loves to read, do Bikram Yoga, hang out with her fabulous friends and relax on the beach with her future husband. Amy Preci - Lights, Chalk, Action! ArtSplash in Carlsbad, 2008 Out of the blue, her face emerges. Only the upper portion so far, and the unmistakable coquettish curve of her eyelashes. Audrey Hepburn makes her entrance onto the sidewalk stage. The painter gently brushes her cheek, like a delicate artifact exhumed from the asphalt; blue and peach chalk dust lifts off into the coastal breeze. Several tan strokes are added for texture; and like magic, an iconic image comes to life. Further down the lane, a similar theme is displayed. The title of a vintage copy of LIFE magazine catches my eye. “Theatre Number,” it reads. And next to it, the bigger-than-life portrait of a woman, made up in fluorescent pastels, lights up the sidewalk, as though some omniscient stage director had cued the sun to throw its spotlight upon her. The words “Theatre Number” chime in my head. After all, this was also a type of performance art. Here they were, these modern day Madonnari (pavement artists), kneeling to scratch, blow, and brush away with their crude tools, to showcase their talent to the public. In a digital age where images are conjured in a click, it’s a rare opportunity to witness the laborious and painstaking process of a working artist. The face of a Tarot card, Il Mago, the Magician, stands against a fiery backdrop of intricate geometric patterns, a testimony to the artist's attention to detail and unwavering patience. She’s been working for the last 7 hours, a tired soldier smeared in rainbow dust. Using a combination of dry and wet chalk, the finished result sparkles like a stained-glass window. Il Mago, representing “mastery of the material world, creative action, and self-discipline,” lives up to his name. Today, everyone can create, and anything is a canvas. Even a big slab of cheese has its day. The sculptress blows a few cheddar crumbs off the nose of her subject, the mayor of Carlsbad. If she slices the tip, it can’t be put back. “The Big Cheese,” as it were, will be most unsatisfied. A robotic voice echoes along the street. “Hello-my-name-is-Russell,” he says, repeatedly. I come upon a crowd of children petting a ten foot hunk of metal, as though it were a purring kitten. “Ah-that-feels-good. I-like-that,” he tells them. Russell the animatronic giraffe is quite a charmer. I imagine after the crowd leaves tonight, and all is quiet, his lava lamp horns will blaze yellow, and green and blue lights will circulate around his cuttlefish skin. His moonlit shadow will follow him down Armada Drive where first, he’ll drop in on the marriage ceremony of Froggo Amphibini and Piggus Porcuccino. He’ll give his pal Kermit a thumbs up as the rings are exchanged. Then he’ll hang out with the Beatles. Paul will convince him to sing a few bars of “Hey Jude.” He’ll give a wink to Ms. Hepburn, who will shyly reciprocate. He’ll poke his head into Bugs’ rabbit hole to introduce himself, “Hello-my-name-is-Russell.” “Meh, what’s up, Doc?” Then he’ll meander his way around to Il Mago, who shows him a new levitation trick. And finally, at the end of his stroll, he’ll come across a long strip of small amateur drawings where he’ll discover a familiar portrait; or rather, an open letter of admiration.
Amy Preci works as a proofreader for RealAge, a health media company. She is a UCSD alumnus and has lived in San Diego, CA for 8 years. She enjoys spending her free time practicing piano scales, conjugating french verbs, writing poems, and becoming lost in idle fantasy. The views put forth on this page on not necessarily those of San Diego Visual Arts Network and SDVAN neither endorses or is responsibly for them. Please contact the writers directly with your comments The reports are chosen from events that are listed on the SDVAN site in approximately the previous 30 days. If you are a writing interested in contributing to Picked RAW Peeled, please note there is no remuneration. SDVAN is a 100% volunteer organization and a non-profit project, but there rae several advantages:
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