September/October 2010
SPOTLIGHT EXHIBITION
Lezley Saar’s Autist’s Fables at Merry Karnowsky gallery
Lezley Saar’s Autist’s Fables is a moving and enchanting exhibition at Merry Karnowsky gallery. Saar, the mother of an autistic daughter, has a compelling story to tell. Saar weaves her personal story through this tale of a young girl named Geneviève. She translates Geneviève’s plight in a sequestered world through fantastical characters and poignant vignettes. The story unfolds in chronological order from the time the beautiful baby girl lost her words, to acceptance of the diagnosis, through the child’s difficult and isolated world filled with imaginary friends.
“They’re Here, Get Used to It” — the first work you encounter upon entering the gallery--serves as a powerful prelude. The title underscores Saar’s main message: we need to accept autistic people as they are. Autist’s Fables deploys wondrous figures reminiscent of Gothic fairy tales and 19th century animal illustrations. Saar’s meticulously hand-painted whimsical creatures are collaged with circular photographs adding another dimension to the fables. Wonderful dioramas filled with dolls and miniature objects are encased in vintage wood-framed vitrines. The rear room of the gallery is lined with digital photographs of details from the vignettes placed in antique frames. These serve as counterpoint to a film of the fables, Le Mystère de Geneviève, screening on an opposite wall. The French narration of the film sweetens and softens the story in a gentle and romanticized manner.
Saar is adept at lacing the personal into the universal through the guise of fables. Her carefully crafted tableaux reveal the artist’s skill. She has gently brought the viewer into the very intimate and real world of an autistic young girl through magical imagery, yet still keeps us at a distance from the reality. 9/7-10/2/10.
CURRENTLY ON VIEW:
An exhibition of new work by Nancy Jackson at Rosamund Felsen Gallery includes large-scale mobiles that hang from the ceiling as well as drawings, paintings, and sculpture. See L.A. Times review: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/09/art-review-nancy-jackson-at-rosamund-felsen.html. Thru 10/9/10.
Luis De Jesus gallery is exhibiting Recreational Systems, a series of abstract paintings by Heather Gwen Martin. Martin, who has been a colorist for DC comics, brings that color sensibility to the series. Her abstract work is influenced by popular culture, particularly comics and television. Thru 10/16/10.
Don’t miss seeing the exquisite paintings by the late Joan Mitchell, an important second-generation abstract expressionist artist. This exhibit is now on view at Manny Silverman gallery. For more about this important 20th c. modernist, go to: www.joanmitchellfoundation.org. Thru 10/16/10.
Lora Schlessinger gallery is featuring new paintings by Cindy Kane. Cover to Cover is a series of acrylic paintings in which the artist meticulously recreates magazine covers such as those of The New Yorker and Art in America. Kane decides however what images should grace these covers through subtle gestures of appropriation. Thru 10/16/10.
Project Series 41: Ginny Bishton is on view at the Pomona College Museum of Art in Claremont. Bishton creates photo collages, which are comprised of minimalist, grid based pen and ink drawings and photographs of vibrant vegetable and fruit soups. A catalogue accompanies the exhibition with an essay by critic and curator Sonia Campagnola. Thru 10/17/10.
Los Angeles based artist Mimi Lauter is exhibiting at Marc Selwyn Fine Art. Inspired by biblical stories and Russian folklore, Lauter layers oil paint, pastel and colored pencil resulting in abstract images that are exquisitely textured and tapestry-like. Thru 10/23/10.
Mixed media sculptures by Michelle Segre fill the space at Daniel Weinberg Gallery. Segre assembles wire, rocks, papier-mâché, armatures and recycled materials from past creations into magnificent sculptural forms. Thru 10/23/10.
Melissa Manfull: Pattern Constraints is a series of amazing drawings on view at Taylor de Cordoba gallery. Thru 10/23/10.
Thickening the Plot is a group exhibition curated by John O’Brien at the Angels Gate Cultural Center in San Pedro. Among the featured artists are Ruth Ann Anderson, Holly Boruck, Cusien Chang, Jill D’Agnenica, Libby Gerber, Margaret Lazzari, Jessica Newman-Skrentny, Carolie Parker, Karen Reitzel, Rozene Rockwell, Sharon Suhovy, Noel Korten, Jim Morphesis, Cielo Pessione, Stanton Hunter. This exhibition is all about garden plots and features a labyrinth designed and built by Ruth Ann Anderson and Jill D’Agnenica that is based on an ancient pagan model. Thru 10/24/10.
Spanish-born artist Ester Partegas’ work touches on the imagery we are bombarded with in the mass media. The exhibition Less World at Christopher Grimes Gallery includes images comprised of broken collages and torn images reminding us of the fragmentary nature of visual culture. Thru 10/30/10.
Paintings by Mary Addison Hackett, Fluid: Elusive Chapters from the Passage of Time are exhibited at Kristi Engle Gallery. The works are divided into 2 volumes: Volume 1: The Lost Months and Volume 2: Pools and Flowers, in which the artist examines “meaning through language and language through process.” Thru 10/31/10.
Drawing Beneath the Surface: The Art of Valerie L. Winslow demonstrates the relationship between art and science. On view at CSU Northridge Art Gallery are drawings from Winslow’s Classic Human Anatomy - The Artist's Guide to Form, Function and Movement, as well as paintings, bas-relief assemblages and sketches. The show is curated by CSUN Professor Joy Von Wolffersdorf. Thru 10/9/10.
In the Courtyard at One Colorado is a temporary installation by Lynn Aldrich. Three Founts was inspired by Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, a favorite hymn of the Salvation Army, which held its first local meeting here in 1888. Aldrich hopes “the people of Pasadena will consider the fountain a ‘blessing’ - a site to slow down and take a break.” Thru 11/7/10. www.armoryarts.org
Beyond the Camera features photographic work by Susan Berkowitz, Marcie Kaufman, Tamar Lando and Sammy Silberstein at American Jewish University’s Platt and Borstein Galleries through 11/21.
OPENING ON SATURDAY 9/11:
Lezley Saar’s work is on exhibit at Merry Karnowsky Gallery. Opening 9/11. Runs 9/7-10/2/10.
The project room at Steve Turner Contemporary features Sweet Toxicity, new gestural paintings by Ana Rodriguez inspired by the aromas of refineries, bakeries or factories in the artist’s hometown of Maywood, CA combined with imagery from the Tales of the Arabian Nights. Opens 9/11thru 10/9/10.
Acme Gallery on Wilshire presents mixed media sculptural work by Carlee Fernandez in The World According to Xavier and paintings by Sasha Pierce in Shades of Time that look as if they were produced on a loom. 9/11/-10/9/10.
The Deborah Aschheim: Nostalgia for the Future at Edward Cella Art/Architecture features drawings and architectural installations of eccentric modernist SoCal landmarks that “embody a discourse about memory, place, and the unfulfilled promises of our future.” Opens 9/11 thru 10/23/10.
Kim Abeles: Art and Activism at LMU’s Laband Gallery features works from many series including the Biographical Portraits, Smog Collector and her current Pearls of Wisdom: End the Violence collaboration with A Window Between Worlds. Together they demonstrate how her aesthetics and activism meld into a brilliant oeuvre. The exhibition runs concurrent with the Imagining Equality: Women’s Art & Activism Bellarmine Forum at Loyola Marymount University in October. Opens 9/11 (4-6pm) thru -11/21.
ADDITIONAL OPENINGS SEPTEMBER EXHIBITIONS:
Alexandra Grant at Honor Fraser gallery opens 9/18 thru 10/23/10.
Melissa Manfull: New Work is an exhibition at Taylor de Cordoba in Culver City. 9/13-10/23/10.
Photographic work by Rebecca Bollinger will be exhibited at Walter Maciel Gallery in Culver City. 9/18-10/23/10.
Contraband features the photographic work by Taryn Simon at Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills. 9/22-11/6/10.
IN THE MUSEUMS:
Catherine Opie: Figure and Landscape continues at LACMA. Thru 10/16/10.
The Hammer Museum exhibits Eva Hesse Spectres 1960 19 rarely seen semi-representational oil paintings by legendary artist, Eva Hesse. Lauded for their “haunted interiority and attempt to embody emotional states in abstract form.” Those familiar with Hesse’s sculptural work will be intrigued by this exhibition. Runs 9/ 25 through 1/2/10 with Curator’s walk-through on 9/26.
The Hammer Contemporary Collection features 42 significant additions including Kara Walker’s 20-part painting installation, Every Painting Is a Dead Nigger Waiting to Be Born (2009). Thru 1/30/11.
