Richstone Family Center “Endless Summer” Event

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Richstone Family Center’s second annual Endless Summer Beach Party was held on a private beach at the Redondo/Hermosa Beach line on Saturday, a sold-out event designed to thank supporters, raise money for the prevention and treatment of child abuse and trauma, and simply serve up a great evening. Richstone Family Center oversees programs including counseling, home visits, case management, and early childhood education, and an after-school enrichment program.

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Smooth jazz by the sea.

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The crowd ate, drank, and made merry.

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Bruschetta from Charlie’s.

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Ceviche and oyster shooters from Bluewater Grill.

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Extraordinary desserts from Petros.

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The lovely ladies of Lido serving vodka pasta sauce.

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Richstone "Endless Summer" beach bash and fundraiser - photos by Jack Burke
Richstone “Endless Summer” beach bash and fundraiser – photos by Jack Burke

Attendees enjoyed supporting a great cause as well as dining, cocktails, and dancing to live music. Jazz filled the air as food was served up from individual restaurant booths. From a rich vodka sauce pasta provided by Lido Restaurant to ceviche and oyster shooters offered at a Bluewater Grill booth, offerings were delicious and refined. Drinks were provided by Ole Smoky Moonshine and craft brews from Land Shark Brewery.

If you didn’t attend, it’s never too late to donate – and plan for next year.

  • Genie Davis, photos by Jack Burke

 

Gallery H at Phantom Galleries

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“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
Transformations – Peggy Sivert at Gallery H of the Phantom Galleries, Hawthorne – all photos by Jack Burke

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“Horses represent the spiritual, the next realm,” Sivert says. “It was not a strong conscious association for me.”

 

 

 

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  • Genie Davis, all photos by Jack Burke

GLAMFA – Graduate Student Curated Art

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GLAMFA artists 2015 - all photos by Jack Burke
GLAMFA artists 2015 – all photos by Jack Burke

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.

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Artist Lan Duong

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The central courtyard between galleries showcases artist Lena Wolek’s “Big Pants”

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Works by Logan Bell; Christina Mesiti

 

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Artist Yael Nov

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Artist Stacy Wendt

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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.

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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.

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The bat’s silver bar is mirrored inside glass.

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Krakowski on “first.”

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Work at the MFA program’s Ceramic Labs

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  • Genie Davis; all photos: Jack Burke

The Art You Missed: A Look Back at the Unique Work of Betsebee Romero: “After and Again”

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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.

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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
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.

Photo by Jack Burke
Photo by Jack Burke
  • Genie Davis; all photos by Jack Burke