Sages Marks a Grand Return for MOAH

The word Sages connotes great experience and wisdom. A sage herself, Betty Brown beautifully curated this exhibition along with MOAH’s Robert Benitez.  As the main reopening exhibition for the Museum of Art and History in Lancaster after its year-long closure, the 19-artist show makes a perfect tour de force of beautifully created “wise” art. Along with their consummate skill as art creators, the artists featured in the exhibition have taught and mentored others, influencing and nurturing a new generation of emerging artists. In short, their commitment to community dovetails that of MOAH’s own.

All Southern Californians, the artists exhibiting include: Judy Baca, Bruce Everett, Suvan Geer, Gilah Yelin Hirsch, Connie Jenkins, Ulysses Jenkins, Sant Khalsa, Suzanne Lacy, Andrée Mahoney, Jim Morphesis, Catherine Ruane, Ruth Weisberg, John M. White, Kay Yee, and Hiroko Yoshimoto. Additionally, presenting artist solo exhibitions include Joanne Julian, Alexander Kritselis, Gerri McMillin, and Tom McMillin.

The works are laid out graciously and with space around them, allowing each artist’s work or group of works, to breathe and be seen and savored.

From the triumphant runner in Judy Baca’s big mural “Hitting the Wall,” which jubilantly greets visitors to the museum from both gallery levels, to the exquisite span of delicate leaves in Catherine Ruane’s glorious graphite “Witness Tree,” and Bruce Everett’s dazzlingly detailed quintessentially California landscape, there is a wide mix of work and artistic wonder here. Sant Khalsa’s light-filled sculptural work is mysterious, recalling an orb from another dimension or plucked from the sea. Ruth Weisberg creates a figurative, fascinating narrative that pulls the viewer into the unfolding of its story. Ulysses Jenkins’ video work shapes a vibrating musical call to action. Andree Mahoney’s work is pure Zen bliss.  John M. White’s lustrous work spills abstract flora and fauna.

Each piece is honestly a perfect artwork, a portal to the precision and profundity of excellence in art, work that excites and enligtens.

Along with the compelling group show, museum visitors can enjoy four small solo shows of Sages artists, including Joanne Julian’s work in “Starry Skies,” which gives viewers a sense of magic and wonder in varied landscapes that ache with longing. Gerri McMillin’s delicate hanging sculptural work in “Mystery Beneath” evokes Moroccan nights and the work of celestial looms. Tom McMillin’s clay wall sculptures in “The Way of Clay” is as brown and beckoning as earth. Alexander Kritsilis “Travels in Blocks of Time, Spooky Actions at a Distance,” taken from his series Descendent Dialogues is excitingly immersive in its storytelling.

Besides presenting the continuing living legacies of these artists, MOAH also honors departed art sages with Sages in Memoriam.  Serving as an elegy to these masters, this is also a varied and lovely mix of work by artists Craig Antrim, Bob Bassler, Hans Burkhardt, Carole Caroompas, Bee Colman, Dave Elder, Rachel Rosenthal, June Wayne, Roland Reiss, and Charles W. White on display in a smaller downstairs gallery.

Joining the three fine separate groupings of works curated by Brown, the museum also features strong solo work in Marsia Alexander-Clarke: Llamando, a gorgeous, vibrant, and dream-like video work that reflects both nature and aspects of cultural transition; and the reclamation of embroidered work far beyond domestic craft applications in Orly Cogan’s rich Threads of Entanglement. Cogan uses vintage fabric as a backdrop for highly of-the-moment art.

Combined, the museum’s reopening exhibitions reflect the inclusive, varied exhibitions that are MOAH, and mark a terrific welcome-back for the museum. Brown’s compassionate quest for and support of the best in at is sage indeed. The museum is open Tuesday-Saturday, and these opening exhibitions are up until August 20^th. Make the drive!

• Genie Davis; photos: Genie Davis and provided by MOAH