Boots on the Ground

Running through June 11 at the Mid-City Art House, Boots on the Ground is one eclectic, mesmerizing show. If you missed the opening May 21, there will be an artist’s talk this Saturday the 4th, an open panel discussion in collaboration with Betty Brown’s Art World Conversations series, from 2-4 p.m.

Mid-City Art House is a great space for an exhibition, a front gallery connected to a rear space via an open air patio that served up drinks and snacks plus d.j. at the opening. This is a space to watch, and as curated by Dulce Stein and Tricia Banh, a great home for a show that introduces new artists, promotes mid-career artists, and is all about the forward march of art as experience.

Featured artists include:

Nancy Armitage
Tina Dille
Lorraine Bubar
Eva Polonkai
Jason Bud
Kayla Tange
Loren Philip
Jose Angel Hernandez
Francisco Alvarado
June Edmonds
Christine Rasmussen
Nancy Spiller
Robert Rosemblum
Javier Benitez
Jodi Bonassi
Stephanie Sherwood
Lana Chromium
John Hogan
Kira Vollman
Vanessa Contreras
Rouzanna Berberian
Kenn Raaff
Tamara Tolkin
Carl Shubs
Amber Goldhammer
Mela M
Nicole Fournier
Shizuko Greenblat
Francesca Quintano
Eva Perez

Francisco Alvarado with an image that evokes the work of Matisse. “I’m a prolific painter. I don’t work on a single piece, I create a series based on custom color mixes, doing multiple paintings at a time,” he says.

Below, Art House owners and artists Jake Harwell and Selma Morales Harwell with some of their works. Jake Harwell’s found art sculptures include rawhide wraps. Each piece has a song of motion in it.

Above, Selma Morales Harwell creatures voluptuously shaped sculptures that evoke the Southwest.

Artist Loren Philip, below, has created work that is, according to the artist, a “witness to the mythology of youth, the final piece in a topographical witness series of creating topographical maps from memory.” As vivid as the sea and sky conjoined, this piece.

Below, Robert Rosemblum, well known for creating visually arresting photo montages, abstract, and fine art photography. Here is abstract piece plunges viewers into the sea inside water droplets, each a tiny opal radiating color.

Jodi Bonassi, below, has created another evocative, personal image, a work that allows the viewer to enter into the intimate life of another person in “Girl, Crosslegged.”

Below, Kira Vollman creates an abstract, multi-media sculptural piece, a ladder that leads to intriguing “Ascending Intervals.”

Artist Kenn Raaf, below, says that he works in a constructive and deconstructive fashion. “I build up multiple layers into each piece, then tear them down to abstract the imagery that captures the movement and essence of my subject.”