Artist and Gallerist Joanna Garel Moves On – Genie Davis
Artist and gallerist Joanna Garel has brought her own unique art vision to Manhattan Beach for the last two years through her eponymous Garel Gallery. Now, she’s moving on to explore new ways of expressing her love of art and art creation.
She relates that several years before establishing her gallery, she saw a contemporary art “void that needed to be filled in the South Bay.” Having begun her foray into the arts as a collector, she wondered at the lack of fine art galleries in the eclectic beach towns just south of the airport, and decided to do a long pop-up to prove that a contemporary gallery would be viable in the area.
That pop up turned into her several-years-long gallery commitment and a desire to embrace her own artistic heritage by bringing “more diversity and championing under-represented artists, and to bring more Filipino artists to the forefront of my programming. The mission was to educate through experiential exposure.”
She plans to split her time between the Los Angeles area and the Philippines. “The main driver is for me to spend more time with my mother by building a house in Dalaguete, Philippines. My natural instinct, of course, was to build an art community within the area and in the process of sharing this idea, many of my artists expressed an interest in an art residency. And of course I thought this would be a natural extension to continue my connections.”
She sees herself as having an online gallery, an artists residency, and a pop up in the Philippines, as well as her podcast, which she is calling Art B*#tch. She is also looking forward to taking on curatorial projects and collaborations when she’s in the LA area, such as curating a show with Hamilton Selway Fine Art in West Hollywood later this year, and hosting art salons at various artists home studios. Hamilton Selway is well known for offering collectible works by Andy Warhol.
As to her own work as an artist, that too will continue. She relates that in the past she “tended to play it safe. And now I am being more bold with colors and especially texture. Right now I have been working with wood sheets cut out to create more texture and layering while keeping within my Southern California landscapes as the subject.”
As to her exuberant exhibitions at Garel Gallery in the past two years, when asked her favorite, she demurs. “It’s like picking a favorite child,” she explains. However she admits to “special love for the group shows at the gallery,” especially her exhibition featuring Filipino artists, Not Your Regular Chicken Adobo, and a solo exhibition by artist Kiley Ames, Chasing Sleep. Throughout her Manhattan Beach gallery years she served as her own curator, with the only exceptions being a group exhibition curated by Robin Jack Sarner, The Other Side: Art, Recovery, and the Human Condition last August, and myself with the recent First Foot: Landscapes for a New Year group show.
She describes her overall experience as a gallerist and curator as “one of the most fulfilling and exhilarating experiences. I truly found my calling in championing the works of under represented artists. It’s a win-win for everyone – I’m happy, the artist is happy, and the collector is happy. Art is a natural mood enhancer, and I met the most inspiring people with a common passion for creativity,” she says.
To conclude her years at Garel Gallery, she will be holding a disco party along with a performance art experience as her closing. See Ya Later Aligator will take place Saturday February 28th from 6-8 p.m.
Genie Davis; photos provided by the gallery and by Genie Davis
