“Transformations,” Peggy Sivert’s solo show at Gallery H of Phantom Galleries Los Angeles is a vivid exhibition of Sivert’s moving and intimate work. Running until September 26th, the opening Saturday night included a performance by the artist, who transformed her own constantly worked and reworked pieces live, cutting and tearing several canvases to the rumble of primitive music and mention of both God and Satan. Sivert explains “This exhibit, and my performance, represent a long, challenging struggle of painting to complete this solo show. It pushed me to finish a body of work that has been going on for fifteen years. With the performance, I was able to go beyond the paintings. It was a closure leading toward clarity.” Sivert says she’s looking forward to creating “new work that will come from a clear place.”
Transformations – Peggy Sivert at Gallery H of the Phantom Galleries, Hawthorne – all photos by Jack Burke
“Horses represent the spiritual, the next realm,” Sivert says. “It was not a strong conscious association for me.”
Once upon a time, eleven years ago, students at California State University Long Beach were left out of MFA student exhibitions – Long Beach itself being left by the wayside. So, according to artist and coordinator Kimberly Morris, “We built our own sandbox and now everyone plays in it.” Today, the Greater Los Angeles MFA survey exhibition is a powerhouse of art curated by CSULB grad students, and drawing submissions from as far away as Santa Barbara, Las Vegas, and San Diego. Combined with the opening panel, reception, and exhibition held this past Sunday afternoon, students’ open studios were offered for the art-browsing. Different this year, according to Morris, was that “members of our panel also have their own work on exhibit this year.” Art being a visual medium, let the pictures that follow tell the story – and do go see this exhibit, running through September 3rd on the CSULB campus at the Fine Arts building. What are you waiting for? Jump on the 405 or the 710! Parking, like the exhibit itself, is free.
Artist Lan Duong
The central courtyard between galleries showcases artist Lena Wolek’s “Big Pants”
Works by Logan Bell; Christina Mesiti
Artist Yael Nov
Artist Stacy Wendt
Lena Wolek is just commencing her second week in the MFA program. The artist moved here from Siberia fourteen years ago. These ceramic suitcases work as drums; Wolek demonstrates the music they make.
Artist Manny Krakowski has a background in glass blowing. This project is called “Salt Ball,” and is a monument to performance art Krakowski performed on the Bonneville Salt Flats. The exhibit includes a three-channel video documenting the ball game on the flats.
All Photos by Jack Burke
One of the most startling and beautiful installation art pieces of recent years was on display at Hollywood Forever Cemetery earlier this summer, inside the art deco-era Masonic Lodge. The site-specific public art installation was created by Mexican contemporary artist Betsabee Romero. Internationally renowned for her fascinating installations, this piece was inspired by both pre-Columbian images and pop culture. Curated by Sylvia Chivaratanod, After and Again – Skull of a Thousand Faces is rooted in poetry, and serves as a platform for artistic textiles and design.
Stunning periwinkle blue and soft gold lighting surrounded the Masonic Hall’s main room, where the walls streamed red and gold banners, delicate white Pima cotton embroidered garments were hung on winged copper hangars, and giant tires served as frames for transparent, glowing skulls. Lit paper balloons soared above the floor in this beautiful merging of textile design and sculpture.
The art of Betsebee Romero – all photos – Jack Burke
The copper wings were crafted by Ernesto Bonilla. Romero created a visceral, moving poem that defines the scope of the exhibit, “Death Flies.” In the piece, she writes “Besides the embroidery and the garments keeping them company…the wings with handcrafted copper feathers..delicately open to honor and uphold the textiles…the hands that spend hours drawing lines, faces, patterns of silk…skulls that are illuminated by imprinted flowers.”
The art of Betsebee Romero – all photos – Jack Burke
In conjunction with the installation, Romero has available 200 numbered copies of a limited edition signed and numbered box, containing a Pima cotton garment, copper wing sculpture, and a hand-printed photograph of the artist.
This magical installation piece worked both as a celebration of textile-driven art, and as a moving tribute to life and death, or as Romero writes, “the fragile beauty of impermanence.” It offers a fascinating and insightful exploration of the processes, materials, and creation of art itself. To see more of Romero’s work, visit LACMA and MOCA, where several of her creations are a part of both museums’ permanent collections.
Sedona is an artful town. From sidewalk and parking lot statues, to galleries packed with local art, to the art that’s painted by nature in the sunset skies, the beautiful red rocks, and the cusp of a crescent moon.
Tlaquepaque is a graceful, tree shaded Spanish-colonial shopping plaza. Beneath shady trees on winding paths there are over forty shops and galleries. Also on site is the Oak Creek Brewery, which makes a relaxing spot to – pardon the phrase – enjoy the artof a micro-brew IPA.
With summer’s heat intense by day, strolling these graceful paths at night can be just the thing. The Renee Taylor Gallery was open late, and featured a number of gorgeous, landscape-evocative pieces.
Sculptures, particularly metal sculptures, are everywhere in Sedona: from bronze statues of skateboarders near a roadside to shimmering crystal laden wire trees in parking lots. Animal figures are especially prevalent.
And what about art painted by nature’s hand? At Airport Mesa, sunset viewing is a celebration that illuminates red rock monuments throughout the valley. At Crescent Moon Red Rock Crossing a view of the famous – and challenging to climb – Cathedral Rock is the lure; for an all encompassing view and the reflection of the sunset as it paints the sky, the Vista Point trail in Boynton Canyon is the perfect Western landscape. Architectural art? Try The Chapel of the Holy Cross, built into a red rock cliff as if it had sprung there. It too is a work of art, inspired and commissioned by local sculptor Marguerite Brunswig Staude.
