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< Back Holding On Bozigian Gallery and Lobby Atrium Nike Schroeder Nike Schroeder is a Los Angeles based, German born contemporary artist whose work explores process and materiality. Her unique approach to working with textiles, acrylic paint, and ceramic blurs the lines between craft, painting, and sculpture. Integrating mixed media such as porcelain, thread, and fabric, Schroeder utilizes rich symbolism to weave narratives about gender and identity. Shroeder’s most recent body of work explores womanhood, using references to the female body to examine themes of motherhood, sensuality, and power. She employs imagery of disembodied female breasts to speak to the objectification of women’s bodies while simultaneously highlighting their ability to nurture and provide. Her use of materials that are traditionally associated with femininity playfully questions the imposed binaries of high art and craft providing additional layers of meaning to her work. Previous Next

< Back Matjames Metson Featured Structure Artist Employing skillful assemblage and woodworking techniques, Matjames Metson incorporates found antique objects into elaborate mixed-media sculptures using only paint, glue, and matchsticks from the present era. The re-purposing of discarded and forgotten objects is essential to Metson's work; he spends a great deal of time seeking out items from abandoned buildings, estate sales, and friends' garages, among other places where one might find momentos and personal items. For Metson, each object has an assumed history — a resonance of an unknown past — which triggers an inherent emotional response in the viewer. As a survivor of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina disaster, which displaced more than a million people from the Gulf Coast, Metson is driven by the concept of survival in addition to his obsession with hoarding forgotten objects. The hurricane destroyed his artwork, community, possessions, and livelihood, forcing him to relocate to Los Angeles with only his two dogs and the clothes on his back. The relics used in his artwork are assembled together in a way that reflects Metson's existential need to pick up the pieces of his life and create a new structure for his future while remembering and honoring the past. In Tower, Metson utilizes and modifies myriad antique objects including time-worn rulers, pocket knives, keys, fountain pen nibs, printed ephemera, and children's toys. The wooden materials used to construct the architectural elements of the piece were sourced from vintage furniture, doors, and cigar boxes. Incorporated into the assemblage are Metson's signature motifs (wasps, eyes, skulls, rabbits) and phrases (such as "HARD WORK" and "HEAT KING"). At the top of the structure is a hand-carved golden wasp, a sample of the symbolism used by Metson, and an exemplification of his explorations in craftsmanship. The sculpture also features a crank-operated kaleidoscope displaying an array of vintage photographs. Matjames Metson is a self-taught artist, carpenter, and architect known for his assemblage sculptures and his illustrative work. He has completed several graphic novels including Survivor's Guild, an autobiographical account of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. His work has been shown at Coagula Curatorial gallery, the Fowler Museum, and the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, among others. He was born in Charlotteville, New York and currently lives and creates in Los Angeles, California. Previous Next

< Back Osceola Refetoff Osceola Refetoff is a Canadian American visual artist and photojournalist renowned for his experimental use of infrared and pinhole photography to explore humanity's connection to the physical world. His work blends photojournalism and fine art, producing hyper-realistic yet surreal images. Osceola Refetoff is a Canadian American visual artist and photojournalist known for his experimental and innovative use of infrared and pinhole photography to document humanity’s ongoing relationship to the physical world. Across parallel careers in photojournalism and fine art, his diverse series are characterized by a hyper-realistic yet nuanced clarity, often yielding surreal, even dreamlike images. A graduate of New York University’s Master of Fine Arts Film Program, Refetoff’s motion picture background informs a distinctly cinematic approach to constructing engaging visual narratives that explore both time and space. Key to this practice is the artist’s old-school commitment to capturing his scenes “in-camera,” using archaic lens filters and handmade pinhole attachments that do not alter reality but instead offer new ways to see it. This foundationally realist approach combined with the magic of historical and alternative photographic processes yields a prismatic array of images that transform the external world into something both unchanged and extraordinary. Previous Next

1. Born Florence Leontine Lowe, "Pancho Barnes" broke Amelia Earhart’s speed record during the 1930 Women’s Air Derby. She worked as a Hollywood stunt pilot in the early 1930s, and purchased 180-acres of barren land adjacent to Rogers Dry Lake bed and Muroc Army Airfield (later known as EAFB) in 1935. It was here she established Happy Bottom Riding Club, where her hospitality towards the airmen at Muroc eventually lead to her becoming referred to as the “Mother of Edwards Air Force Base.” 2. William John “Pete” Knight, who holds world record for flight speed in a winged vehicle, graduated from the Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot at EAFB in 1958. After more than sixteen flights in the X-15A-2, Knight became one of five people to earn astronaut wings by flying an airplane into space. 3. Jacqueline "Jackie" Cochran owner of Jacqueline Cochran Cosmetics, who became a world-class competitive pilot, was the woman to break the sound barrier, she flew a Northup T-38 with Chuck Yeager flying beside her. She also designed the first oxygen mask. 4. Chuck Yeager became a pilot in 1942 during WWII though he had originally joined as an aircraft mechanic. On several occasions he was stationed at Edwards Air Force Base. While at Edwards, he broke the sound barrier by traveling faster than the speed of sound in a Bell X-1 named "Glamorous Glennis" after his wife. •Pancho Barnes •William J. "Pete" Knight •Lt. Col. Jacqueline Cochran •Air Force test pilot Chuck Yeager posing in front of his Bell X-1 1/1 1. Pancho Barnes, c. 1930s Photographic Print 2012.999.49.02 MOAH Permanent Collection Gift of Edwards Air Force Base (AFFTC-HO) 2. William J. "Pete" Knight, c. 1960s Photographic Print 2012.999.55.01 MOAH Permanent Collection 3. Lt. Col. Jacqueline Cochran, c. 1939 Photographic Print 2012.999.51.01 MOAH Permanent Collection Gift of Edwards Air Force Base (AFFTC-HO) 4. Air Force test pilot Chuck Yeager posing in front of his Bell X-1, 1947 Photographic Print 2012.999.52.01 MOAH Permanent Collection Gift of Edwards Air Force Base (AFFTC-HO) 1. Born Florence Leontine Lowe, "Pancho Barnes" broke Amelia Earhart’s speed record during the 1930 Women’s Air Derby. She worked as a Hollywood stunt pilot in the early 1930s, and purchased 180-acres of barren land adjacent to Rogers Dry Lake bed and Muroc Army Airfield (later known as EAFB) in 1935. It was here she established Happy Bottom Riding Club, where her hospitality towards the airmen at Muroc eventually lead to her becoming referred to as the “Mother of Edwards Air Force Base.” 2. William John “Pete” Knight, who holds world record for flight speed in a winged vehicle, graduated from the Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot at EAFB in 1958. After more than sixteen flights in the X-15A-2, Knight became one of five people to earn astronaut wings by flying an airplane into space. 3. Jacqueline "Jackie" Cochran owner of Jacqueline Cochran Cosmetics, who became a world-class competitive pilot, was the woman to break the sound barrier, she flew a Northup T-38 with Chuck Yeager flying beside her. She also designed the first oxygen mask. 4. Chuck Yeager became a pilot in 1942 during WWII though he had originally joined as an aircraft mechanic. On several occasions he was stationed at Edwards Air Force Base. While at Edwards, he broke the sound barrier by traveling faster than the speed of sound in a Bell X-1 named "Glamorous Glennis" after his wife.

< Back Naida Osline Naida Osline is a photographer and filmmaker whose work merges conceptual and documentary practices. Balancing studio control with the unpredictability of public spaces, her imagery blurs the organic and synthetic, creating thought-provoking visuals. Since 2009, Osline has explored psychoactive plants in a long-term project examining their connections to creativity, morality, economics, legality, addiction, and spirituality. Naida Osline is a photographer and filmmaker whose work blends conceptual and documentary practices. Working with a non-linear approach, she often develops multiple projects simultaneously, allowing them to overlap and inform each other. Her working environment includes the controlled setting of the studio as well as the unpredictable conditions of public spaces. Osline’s photographic practice blurs the line between the organic and synthetic, creating imagery that is both captivating and thought-provoking. Since 2009, Osline has been developing a long-term project centered on growing, documenting, and altering psychoactive plants. This project examines these plants' complex relationship with human creativity, morality, economics, legality, addiction, and spirituality. The subject matter has manifested into different bodies of work that invites viewers to rethink their perspectives on these plants and to reflect on the lasting significance they have had, and continue to have, on human history and culture. Previous Next

Your Myth Here < Back Previous Douglas Tausik Ryder Your Myth Here Douglas Tausik Ryder has always had the desire to push the creative boundaries of sculptural art through technology. Inspired by innovation, the artist combines the conventional form of woodworking and contemporary technology, bringing a 21st century conversation to traditional wood working and sculptural practices. Utilizing mass production and 3D modeling, Tausik Ryder transcends the limits of the hand-tool oriented medium and creates his sculptures through an industrial CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machine tool. Each individual piece is created with the digital cutting tool and is refined and assembled by hand. Through technology-assisted art, Tausik Ryder challenges the ways in which artists can interact with conventionally analog processes while bringing forth conversations concerning mass media, automation, and artificial intelligence. Next

Gabriela Valiente < Back Reborn, Here By Gabriela Valiente Light miniature leaves sprout out of the ground, as one is fallen in the sea of dust and another is swept in dismay, the wind blowing and hushing planting the seed, in a land far away In the darkness of the tainted sky with flashes of white of distant stars that shine at night, may I not be reborn and rejoice in my own delight? In the light of a new day, of a new sun, of the new morning air, like the dew on my leaves which tranquilize me with a light glare. Will I not rejoice in my own fight? I grow and grow in this desert of land, find the skittles and sudden stops of rustling animals in the dry grass, and there I stand, tall and mighty as a trunk that surpasses the storm, so rare and so bold. When the dry season comes, the air becomes an acid that burns down my walls, leaving me weak and wilted. My interior rejoices as the warmth of the water particles surge within me, in the echoes of my stem. Should I not rejoice for the season that brings me mellowie air? All around me, the vast land, glistens like the sunlight on ripened grain, or like the moonlight night reflecting its glow over the horizon of the waters, or like the crystal gleams on snow. I too, glow, with an olive-drab colour, like the multiple feathers of greenie highlights of the birds picking at the dust, The dust picks back with the dry taste of dirt, in cases Picking at small ants coming out of their small homes. The more I live through the seasons, the more I appreciate this nature, Will I not rejoice in the death of my life? Will I not be again reborn into tiny sprouts each time more and more? Thankful I am to nature, Thankfully I live in this far away land. Previous Next

2012 < View Public Art Projects Pete Knight Mural 2012 Permanent Art Project The William “Pete” Knight mural was created by local artist Geo-May and commissioned by the City of Lancaster as part of the Aerospace Walk on Lancaster Blvd. It commemorates the accomplishments of Edwards Air Force Base stationed aeronautical engineer, test pilot, combat pilot, and astronaut whom holds the world’s speed record for flight in a winged aircraft. He was one of four Air Force pilots selected to pilot the Dyna Soar (X-20) aircraft in the first Air Force space program. He was also one of eight X-15 pilots to earn his astronaut wings by flying an airplane in space 280,000 feet. Knight later became Palmdale’s first elected mayor and served on the State Senate.

Up Golden Hour: Images from the Museum of Art & History's permanent collection Various Artists Golden Hour: Images from the Museum of Art & History's Permanent Collection features photographs from the Museum Project, a philanthropic group of artists known for their pioneering of experimental techniques and unique styles. Conceptualized by Robert von Sternberg, the group sought to give back to museums and other institutions that supported contemporary and developing photographers throughout the years. Along with like-minded artists such Darryl Curran, Sheila Pinkel and Nancy Webber, the artists of the Museum Project donated nearly 4,000 prints to the permanent collections of over 100 institutions and museums throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France and Australia. These photographs are excellent examples of the wide range of processes, concepts and themes that Californian photographers explore. Other non-Museum Project artists that will be on display from the permanent collection are Osceola Refetoff, Naida Osline, and Thomas McGovern. January 23 – May 9, 2021 Back to list

Up British Invasion Various Artists Featured Artists: Andrew Hall Caroline PM Jones Colin Gray David Eddington David Hockney Dave Smith Derek Boshier Eleanor Wood Gordon Senior Graham Moore James Scott Jane Callister Jeremy Kidd Jon Measures Kate Savage Max Presneill Nathaniel Mellors Philip Argent Philip Vaughan Rhea O’Neill Roni Stretch Sarah Danays Shiva Aliabadi Siobhan McClure Trevor Norris Andrew Hall Born in Cambridge, England, Andrew Hall is best known for his graphically stunning, abstract photography. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts with honors in graphic design from Exeter College of Art and Design. A successful commercial photographer, Hall has worked with some of London’s top creative agencies and design consultancies. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California, where he founded the School of Light, a darkroom and studio that mentors budding photographers in traditional darkroom practices as well as digital photography. Caroline PM Jones Born in Aldershot, England, Caroline PM Jones is best known for her sculpture, plein air paintings and portraiture. She studied sculpture at The Art Academy of London and is self-taught as a painter. Jones has created works of art all over the world—her paintings, drawings, sculpture and photography are part of collections in Hong Kong, North America, Britain, China, India, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Gibraltar, South Africa, France and Bermuda. She has exhibited in several local museums and galleries, including: Long Beach City College, 29 Palms Museum and the Los Angeles Arts Association. Jones currently resides in Culver City, California. Colin Gray Born in Torbay, Devonshire, Colin Gray is best known for his drawings and sculptural work. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts from Leeds Polytechnic Art Department in the United Kingdom as well as a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Gray has had solo shows in several American cities including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco and has installed public artworks in both Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. Notable accomplishments include the Santa Barbara County Individual Artists Award, as well as a The Pollock Krasner Grant. He taught sculpture for nine years at UCSB’s College of Creative Studies, and currently teaches drawing at Santa Barbara City College’s Center for Lifelong Learning and VITA Art Center in Ventura. Gray currently resides in Ventura, California. David Eddington Born in Bedfordshire, England, David Eddington is best known for his large-scale paintings, rendered in acrylic on linen. He obtained a diploma in mural painting from the Central School in Holborn, London, post-graduate diploma in environmental design from Hornsey College of Art in London, and a master’s degree in the social and political influences in art from the University of Trent in Nottingham. In 2000, the artist relocated to the United States from England. The move coincided with an evolution from figurative, almost photorealistic renderings to a style that is more expressive. Eddington has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally and has lectured extensively at several institutions, including: California State University, Northridge, Louisiana State University, Loyola University, Tulane University, California State University, Long Beach, Plymouth University in Devonshire and Derby University in Derbyshire. He received the British Council Award in 1987 and 1994. Eddington currently resides in Venice, California. David Hockney Born in Bradford, England, David Hockney is, without question, one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century. He is perhaps best known for the body of work he created during his time in Los Angeles in the 1960s and 70s, consisting of iconic paintings of swimming pools and the photo collages he called “joiners”. One of these collages, Pearblossom Highway, features the stretch of Highway 138 that runs through Littlerock at the southeastern edge of the Antelope Valley. “Pearblossom Highway shows a crossroads in a very wide open space, which you only get a sense of in the western United States…I'd had three days of driving and being the passenger. The driver and the passenger see the road in different ways. When you drive you read all the road signs, but when you're the passenger, you don't, you can decide to look where you want. And the picture dealt with that: on the right-hand side of the road it's as if you're the driver, reading traffic signs to tell you what to do and so on, and on the left-hand side it's as if you're a passenger going along the road more slowly, looking all around. So the picture is about driving without the car being in it,” said Hockney of his work. He attended the Bradford College of Art, followed by a two-year period spent working in hospitals to fulfill national service requirements during World War II—Hockney was a conscientious objector to military service—before entering graduate school at the Royal College of Art in London. As a graduate, he experimented with various forms and styles, including Abstract Expressionism. Drawn to California from an early age, Hockney first visited in Los Angeles in 1963, relocating officially in 1964. In a poll of more than 1,000 British artists conducted in 2011, Hockney was voted the most influential British artist of all time. Recently, the artists’ ongoing fascination with technology is a driving force behind his work, as evidenced in the series of iPad paintings he began in 2009. This winter, Taschen will unveil a special SUMO edition book featuring over 450 pieces representative of Hockney’s oeuvre, a project that has been in the making since Taschen first began publishing SUMOs in the late 1990s. An extensive retrospective covering six decades of the artist’s work is set to open at Tate Britain in February 2017, one of the largest exhibitions the museum has ever organized. The retrospective will travel to the Centre Pompidou in Paris following its British inauguration, then to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Today, Hockney actively advocates for arts funding and splits his creative time between homes in London and Malibu, California. Dave Smith Born in Derbyshire England, Dave Smith is best known for his photo-realistic neo-pop paintings. He studied painting at Derby College of Art and Hornsey College of Art before forming the London-based artist’s collective, Electric Colour Company. Primarily serving the vibrant British fashion scene of the late 1960’s, the collective’s first major project was the iconic, Pop-infused Mr. Freedom store at 430 Kings Road in Chelsea. Smith moved to the Bahamas in 1973, ushering in a prolific period of painting in which he showed in a series of 8 solo exhibitions and numerous group shows in Nassau and Miami. He moved to Los Angeles in 1990, where he has worked in television and motion picture studios, painting billboards as well as several backdrops for The Tonight Show. Smith currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Derek Boshier Born in Portsmouth, England, Derek Boshier is best known for his paintings, which helped to establish the British Pop-Art movement in the 1960s. He studied at the Yeovil College of Art in Somerset, England, before attending the Royal College of Art in London alongside David Hockney, Allen Jones and R.B. Kitak, among others. Boshier’s graphic work found immense popularity among music groups such as The Clash and David Bowie, helping to bring the artist’s work to a wider audience. Though he is best known for his paintings, Boshier is not one to be limited by a medium, having worked in metal, neon and plastic as well as with books and film. He taught at Central School of Art and Design in London in the early 1970s, where he met then-student John Mellor (later known as Joe Strummer, of The Clash). Boshier has exhibited in several prominent international museums and galleries, including London’s National Portrait Gallery and Paris’ Galerie du Centre, as well as dozens of institutions throughout the United States. Boshier currently resides in Los Angeles, California, where he teaches drawing part-time at UCLA’s School of Arts and continues to create relevant, politically-charged works. Eleanor Wood Born in London, England, Eleanor Wood is best known for her minimalist paintings. She studied at the Hornsey School of Art in London, followed by The Winchester School of Art in Winchester, where she received a Bachelor’s degree with Honors in Fine Art, and the Chelsea School of Art in London, where she received a Master of Arts in painting. Wood has had several solo exhibitions in California and the United Kingdom and has participated in dozens of group shows both in the United States and internationally. The artist currently splits her time between Central California and Norfolk, England. Gordon Senior Born in Norfolk, England, Gordon Senior is best known for his sculptural work, which addresses humans’ relationships to nature through the use of materials such as wood, alabaster, bronze and cement. He studied at the Wakefield College of Art, Leeds College of Art, and Goldsmiths College at London University. The artist has had several exhibitions throughout California and the UK and has participated in group shows both nationally and internationally. Currently, he splits his time between Central California and Norfolk, England. Graham Moore Born in London, England, Graham Moore is best known for his graphic, music-themed collages which utilize pop culture imagery. He studied at the Wimbledon School of Art and the East Ham College of Technology in London, before following his chosen creative career path of graphic design and art direction to the United States. Moore has participated in several group exhibitions as well as two solo shows and has designed work for clients including: Neiman Marcus, Pier 1 Imports, JC Penney, USC School of Social Work, Art Center College of Design, Creative Domain, The Cimarron Group, SRC Advertising, Teleflora, Asian Ceramics, Wise USA, Samsung Records, Quango and Resonance Records. He has taught at several prominent California arts institutions, including: Art Center College of Design, Woodbury University, The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, UCLA Extension and the Art Institute in North Hollywood. Moore currently resides in Los Angeles, California. James Scott Born in Wells, England, James Scott is best known for his work in film and both abstract and narrative painting. He studied painting and theater design at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. The success of his first film, The Rocking Horse, led to an opportunity to work with Tony Richardson, allowing the artist to direct his first feature at the age of 21. Scott won an Academy Award in 1983 for his film, A Shocking Accident, based on the short story by Graham Greene. In 1989, Scott relocated to California following the passing of his father, wherein he decided to focus again on drawing and painting. The landscape of Los Angeles has provided a wealth of inspiration for the artist, and he continues to live in LA while exhibiting in England, Los Angeles and New York. Jane Callister Born on the Isle of Man in the United Kingdom, Jane Callister is best known for her abstract paintings, which explore the consequences of action and the movement of paint itself. She received a Bachelor of Arts with honors from the Cheltenham School of Art in England, a Master of Arts from the University of Idaho, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Callister has exhibited at the Albright Knox Museum in Buffalo, New York, the Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art and Design in Santa Monica, the Laguna Art Museum and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Arizona. She was included in the First Prague Biennial at the Veletrizni Palace in Prague as well as the 2006 California Biennial at the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach. She has been featured in notable publications such as Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting, published by Phaidon Press and Abstract Painting: Techniques and Concepts by Watson & Guptil. In LA Artland: Contemporary Art from Los Angeles, published by London’s Blackdog Press, she is recognized as one of the top California artists alongside Ed Ruscha, Paul McCarthy, and Raymond Pettibone. Callister currently resides in Goleta, California. Jeremy Kidd British-born, L.A. based Jeremy Kidd is best known for his digital photography, which combines up to 100 long exposure photographs into a single piece of art, as a more cohesive way of expressing the overall picture. His artwork presents a condensed vision of multiple photographs as a metaphor for repeated perceptual glances. Kidd received his Bachelor of Fine Art and Sculpture at Du Monfort University in Leicester, England. His work has been shown throughout the United States and the United Kingdom. The artist currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Jon Measures Born in Lilbourne, Northamptonshire, England, Jon Measures is best known for his mixed-media paintings; the pieces shown at MOAH, which represent a personal and psychological journey are a distinct departure from the concepts which informed his previous body of work. Measures obtained his degree from the Falmouth School of Art in England, after which has enjoyed a successful career as a graphic designer, illustrator and educator. Recently, Measures has decided to focus his attention on fine art, exhibiting extensively while developing his own approach to making mixed media which combines multiple views of Los Angeles and other urban areas, slicing and dicing bits of the city’s rich fabric together. The artist currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Kate Savage Born in Sussex, England, Kate Savage is best known for her paintings, sculpture and works on paper, which deal with folktales as well as the artist’s personal history. She studied at Parsons School of Design in New York and Paris before completing her Master of Fine Arts with honors at California State University, Long Beach. Savage’s work has been exhibited in several galleries, both nationally and internationally, including: Curve Line Space, Gallery 825, Ruth Bachofner Gallery, Haus Gallery, L.A.C.E. (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions), and the Santa Monica Museum of Art. Her work has been written about in Artweek, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and various other publications. The artist currently resides in Mar Vista, California. Max Presneill Born in London, England, Max Presneill is an artist and curator, best known for his abstract paintings, which he uses as a means to explore multiple avenues of inquiry simultaneously. As an artist, Presneill addresses existential questions, masculine codes and an awareness of presence and mortality in his work. He received a Master of Fine Arts from California State University, Fullerton. Presneill has exhibited throughout the world, including New York, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Istanbul, Sydney, Guanzhoe and Tokyo. His work has been shown at several art fairs including The Armory Show and the NYC and Miami Projects; it was included in the Istanbul Biennial and the Yokohoma Triennial and has been exhibited in several museums, including the Ucity Art Museum in Guanzhou, China, the Van Abbemuseum and the Hudson Museum in The Netherlands, and the Mappin Museum in the UK. Says the artist of his work, “When I die, my paintings are what will remain. They contain my memories, hopes and dreams. An identity of sorts and the drive towards cognitive meaning, all within the political possibilities of painting.” Presneill currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Nathaniel Mellors Born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, Nathaniel Mellors is best known for his video and installation work. He studied at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art at Oxford, the Royal College of Art and Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. Mellors also plays bass in the alt-rock group Skill 7 Stamina12 and is an accomplished musician, having released tracks with bands such as Toilet, God in Hackney and Mysterious Horse. As an artist, he has exhibited all over the world in museums and galleries such as: The Box, Los Angeles, Stiger van Doesburg, Amsterdam, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin, Art: Concept, Paris, The View, Switzerland, UCLA’s Hammer Museum, Galway Arts Centre, Ireland, the Baltimore Museum of Art, Monitor, Rome, Malmo Konsthall, Sweden, Salle de Bains, London, Matt’s Gallery, London, I.C.A., London, Monterhermoso, Spain, Lombard-Freid Projects, New York, South London Gallery and The Collective, Edinburgh. Mellors currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Philip Argent Born in Southend-on-Sea, Sussex, England, Philip Argent is best known for his paintings, which marry the influence of technology in the digital age to the practice of hard-edge abstraction. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the Cheltenham School of Art in England, Master of Arts from the University of Idaho and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Widely credited with bringing Los Angeles painting back into the spotlight in the early 2000’s, Argent has had several solo exhibitions at numerous museums and galleries, including: Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, Galerie Jette Rudolph, Berlin, Tate, New York City and Post Los Angeles. An artist whose work is truly internationally renowned, Argent has shown in cities such as: Dusseldorf, Germany, Kwangui, Korea, Graz, Austria, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Turin, Italy and Zurich, Switzerland. Currently, Argent lives and works in Santa Monica, California. Philip Vaughan Born in Dorset, England, Philip Vaughan is perhaps best known for his large-scale neon sculptures, though he also works extensively in drawing and painting. He studied at Brighton College, Cambridge University and the Chelsea School of Art. Vaughan has installed sculptures in California and Japan as well as throughout United Kingdom, including his famous Hayward Tower, which sits atop the South Bank’s Hayward Gallery in London. Says the artist of his work, “Despite the apparent deliberate and planned nature of my sculptural end products, the origin of all my work is often a mystery to me. It may be years before I become aware of the connection between a part of my work and its origin. This is one of the pleasures of being an artist. There are things that are not always explainable, both within the individual and in history. At heart, life and art are still mysterious.” Vaughan currently resides in Altadena, California. Rhea O’Neill Born in Reading, United Kingdom, Rhea O’Neill is best known for her color-focused figurative and landscape oil paintings. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts with first class honors from the University of Reading and a Master of Arts in painting from the Wimbledon College of Art. The artist has work in the United Kingdom Government Art Collection and has exhibited both nationally and internationally at numerous museums and galleries, including: Goethe University, Frankfurt, National Center of Performing Arts, Beijing, Lush, Hamptons, Rollo Contemporary Art, Westminster, Long and Ryle Gallery, London and Rollo Contemporary Art, London. O’Neill currently resides in Scott’s Valley, California. Roni Stretch Born in St.Helens, Merseyside, England, Roni Stretch is best known for having pioneered the dichromatic process, exploring photorealistic under-paintings that emerge ghost-like from a void of color. He studied at St. Helens College of Art and Design. Stretch has been exhibited throughout California including shows at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art at the Geffen Contemporary Museum, the Westmont Museum of Art in Santa Barbara and the Cooperstown Museum in New York. His work has recently been included in the permanent collections of the Pasadena Museum of California Art, the Museum of California Design, the Cooperstown Museum in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles. Sarah Danays British-born artist Sarah Danays is best known for her synthesis of sculpture and photography, which is inspired by gesture and antiquity, particularly fragments of broken sculptures. She obtained a joint honors degree in fine art and art history from Camberwell College of Arts (now part of University of the Arts, London), a Master of Arts in Textiles as Contemporary Art Practice from Goldsmith’s, University of London, and studied Stone Carving for Contemporary Sculptors at City and Guilds, London. In 2008, she was shortlisted in Le Prix de la Sculpture Noilly Prat as one of the UK’s top five emerging sculptors. Danays has exhibited internationally and her work is in public and private collections in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Europe. She currently works out of studios in Los Angeles, Tuscany and the United Kingdom. Shiva Aliabadi Born in London, England, Shiva Aliabadi is best known for her sculptural, mixed-media relief paintings, which are reminiscent of assemblage work. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, a Master of Arts in English from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts and a Master of Fine Arts from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, California. Aliabadi has held several residencies and won awards for her work throughout the United States, and has exhibited extensively in museums and galleries, such as: Fine Arts Complex 1101, Tempe, Arizona, Proxy Gallery, Los Angeles, The Gamble House, Pasadena, Elephant Art Space, Los Angeles, University of Buffalo Art Gallery, New York, Yokohama-Tokyo-Los Angeles Triennial, Yokohama, Japan, The Institute of Jamais Vu, London, Studio 17, San Francisco, Torrance Art Museum, California, and The Vortex Gallery, Los Angeles. The artist currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Siobhan McClure Born in Margate, England, Siobhan McClure is best known for her narrative works which feature children rendered in paint and graphite. She obtained a Master of Fine Arts from California State University, Long Beach. In her work, the artist seeks to bear witness to the degradation of the environment, the rise of displaced populations and the impact of today’s consumption on future children. McClure has had solo exhibitions at several galleries throughout Los Angeles, including: Richard Heller Gallery, Laura Schlesinger Gallery and Jan Baum Gallery. She has also participated in numerous group shows at the Torrance Art Museum, Irvine Fine Art Center Angel’s Gate Cultural Center in San Pedro, California, and the Center for Contemporary Art in Sacramento. She was featured in New American Paintings no.97 and was a finalist in the 2011 Google Invitational for Site Specific Projects in Venice, California. Her work has been reviewed in The Huffington Post and the Los Angeles Times. McClure currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Trevor Norris Born in Hertfordshire, England, Trevor Norris is best known for his abstract paintings. He obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts with honors from the Central School of Art in London and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has over 20 years of experience teaching art and design at institutions such as the University of Southern California (USC), California State University, San Bernardino and Orange Coast Community College. He has curated extensively at Orange Coast College, Long Beach City College, College of the Canyons, Muzeumm, Los Angeles and USC’s Fischer Art Museum. Norris has participated in several group and solo shows at museums and galleries such as: Jan Baun Gallery, Los Angeles, Vita Art Center, Ventura, Wallspace Gallery, Los Angeles, Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan, the LA International Art Fair, the Chicago International Art Fair, LACMA Rental Gallery, Los Angeles, and Victory Contemporary Gallery in Los Angeles. Norris currently resides Los Angeles, California. November 19, 2016 - January 22, 2017 Back to list

Sophia Rocha < Back The Periwinkle By Sophia Rocha Oh, periwinkle Taken from your home, But brought into mine. Look how you bloom, At the brightest of times. Oh, periwinkle Your soft lilac petals, Bright in the spring. But when the snow settles, In your roots, deferring. Oh, periwinkle Spread about the ground, For everyone to see. As you gaze upon the sidewalk, Are you ever really free? Oh, periwinkle Is this all you desire? To stay in one place, In your vivid attire. I am the Periwinkle, Involuntarily planted. Leaves that are bitter in taste, But it is the inability to leave that makes me bitter. Previous Next

Up Photography: Beyond the Surface Various Artists Solo exhibitions: Matthew Finley Rob Grad John Peralta Melanie Pullen Christopher Russell Joni Sternbach Rodrigo Valenzuela Site specific installation: Kira Vollman Selections from the Permanent Collection The Lancaster Museum of Art & History (MOAH) and the Lancaster Museum and Public Art Foundation (LMPAF) invite Antelope Valley residents and visitors to its newest exhibition Beyond the Surface , a survey of contemporary photography. The exhibit will be on display November 9 through January 12, and the opening reception will be November 9 from 4-6 p.m. Beyond the Surface features the work of eight photographers, including a survey of Melanie Pullen’s work in the Main Gallery, Joni Sternbach’s Surfland series in the East Gallery, This Too Shall Pass by Matthew Finley in the North Gallery, Rob Grad’s Finding Foreverland series in the Wells Fargo Gallery, work from Christopher Russel in the Moore Family Trust Gallery, photographic installation by Rodrigo Valenzuela in the South Gallery, along with sculpture by John Peralta, and 16mm , a site-specific installation, by Kira Vollman. Photography has long been associated with its ability to document reality. As a medium, photography has neatly satisfied the human need to search for objective truth. But truth is not objective. Like photography, the truth is crafted, manipulated, and enhanced. In the digital age, with the advent of augmented and virtual reality, the blurring of the line that separates real from unreal has reached an unprecedented level. Beyond the Surface examines these permeable boundaries. Its artists, who each utilize traditional photographic processes, challenge the viewer to look deeper and find a greater sense of truth that lies just beyond the images’ surface. MATTHEW FINLEY: THIS TOO SHALL PASS Matthew Finley creates conceptual portraits that connect with the viewer on an intimate and emotional level. By using the handcrafted photographic processes of tintype and ambrotype, Finley harkens back to the fixedness and inerasable quality of his own personal history. He explores instant film as a way to create portraits as original and authentic works of self-examination, capturing elusive, often fleeting moments of self-realization. In the series, This Too Shall Pass , Finley reflects on his personal journey of coming out as a gay man after being raised in a religious household where being gay was not accepted. Each Polaroid acts as a looking glass, through which the viewer experiences Finely’s “past selves.” His memories, though fuzzy and impressionistic, are a vulnerable look into his youth, realization of his sexuality, and the persistence of time. Shame, fear, and rejection slowly transform into love, desire, and belonging as Finley takes the viewer through his journey to self-acceptance. His goal is to share these memories, set free the ghosts that have haunted his past and connect with andencourage others who are going through similar experiences. Based in Los Angeles, Matthew Finley has been a photographer for ten years and is a core member of the Advanced Photography Critique Group at the Center for Photography at Woodstock. His work has shown in galleries on the West Coast, New Orleans, and Cincinnati. His images have also appeared in publications including Fraction Magazine, Shots Magazine, and Plates to Pixels where he won the Juror Award in The Visual Armistice 10th Annual Juried Showcase. ROB GRAD: FINDING FOREVERLAND Rob Grad’s sculptures are photo-based mixed media. Each piece consists of layered plexiglass parts that combine painting, drawing, and photography in a variety of ways that highlight or conceal various elements. Grad uses his work to address existential issues, using the physical layers of his sculptures to tackle the multiple layers of each issue. These meditations give the viewer license to consider their personal histories and discover their own truth. Finding Foreverland reflects on his interest in nature and the evolution of humankind’s relationship with it. Grad says, “from as far back as I can remember, I’ve always felt at home surrounded by nature. It’s wise. And patient. It was here before us, and will probably be here long after we’re gone.” The artist’s inspiration comes from a poem he wrote while reflecting on the wisdom and authenticity of a flower’s life. He saw the flower as delicate, but also unreservedly tough and unapologetic. Each sculpture in the series is a metaphorical character that struggles to grasp the wisdom that the flower embodies so effortlessly. The complementary environments cropped into hand painted gestural shapes, fused together with colors and text and assembled into a three-dimensional wall hanging brings each character to life. Grad is a current resident of southern California. He won First Place in the “New Media” Category of the Beverly Hills Art Show in 2015. He has shown his work in solo exhibitions at Fabrik Projects in Culver City, California, Gallery 825 in Los Angeles, California, and the Frame Gallery in Agoura, California, as well as in group exhibitions throughout southern California and Florida. Grad’s work was included in Art Basel, Switzerland, and at SCOPE Miami in 2017. JOHN PERALTA John Peralta is a self-taught artist whose unconventional style of sculpture incorporates iconic mechanical objects and high-tech materials to produce beautiful and complex representations. His interpretation of what is known in engineering terms as the exploded diagram, is original and demonstrates his imagination, technical expertise, and inventiveness. Peralta’s The Mechanitions Series reverses the fabrication process by taking utilitarian objects from the past and turning them into sculpture. Each three-dimensional exploded diagram makes each object feel vulnerable and approachable, while also creating a sense of reverence as the viewer takes in the intricate workings of the device. It allows the viewer to connect their own intimate experiences with the object, “like the typewriter your grandfather used in the war, your grandmother’s sewing machine, your father’s pocket watch, an iconic electric guitar,” as Peralta explains. These memories evoke a strong emotional connection to these objects and invite the viewer to imagine the vast memories each object holds. Peralta is a native of New Mexico and, although he now lives in Austin, Texas, his New Mexico family and heritage remain major influences on his life and work. Some of his earliest memories are of him and his brother pulling their red wagon around the neighborhood, knocking on doors, collecting broken radios, televisions, tape players – anything they could get their hands on – opening them up to see what made them work. He received no formal training in the arts, and it wasn’t until his thirties that he found his creative voice. Peralta is currently represented by the George Billis Galleries in New York and Los Angeles, Galerie Goutal in Aix-en-Provance France, Wally Workman Gallery in Austin, Gerald Peters Projects in Santa Fe, and Cinq Gallery in Dallas. He has had major exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Austin, and Santa Fe. SCENE OF THE CRIME AND THE FASHION OF VIOLENCE : A SURVEY OF PHOTOGRAPHER MELANIE PULLEN Melanie Pullen’s photography tells a story in a single frame. Her work is cinematic and theatrical, often taking inspiration from film, photojournalism, forensic photography, and war journalism. This retrospective features work produced over the course of the last 14 years, including images from her High Fashion Crime Scenes, Violent Times, and Soda POP! series . Widely known for her work in the fashion industry, Pullen often uses fashion and media consumption as themes in her work to express the subtleties of her ideas. In her most extensive series, High Fashion Crime Scenes (2013-2017), Pullen outfits her models in haute-couture while staging them in re-enacted vintage crime scenes. The outfits distract and draw the viewer’s attention away from the gruesome scene of the crime. In Violent Times (2005-2009), Pullen focuses on the history of violence and its glamourization from early documentation in historical painting to the contrasting reality of modern photojournalism. Her series Soda POP! (2015) takes the idea of iconic soda ads and flips it on its head, making the viewer feel uneasy by placing the models in questionable nighttime settings. Melanie Pullen was born in New York City in 1975. She is self-taught and was raised in a family of photojournalists, publishers, and artists. Currently she lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Pullen has both exhibited and her work is in the permanent holdings of The Getty Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Art, The Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, California and Museo Jumex in Mexico City. Pullen has been recognized in numerous publications including Art Forum, Art Review, CBS News, CBS Radio, Elle, Fortune, GQ, Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, New York Times Magazine, Nylon, Photo, Rolling Stone, San Francisco Chronicle, Vogue, and W. CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL: FALLS Christopher Russell analyzes the use of photography as technology has advanced over time. Originally, chemical photography was used to faithfully record people and places around the world, often feeling as if the viewer saw or experienced the actual place or thing firsthand. With the progression to digital photography, that sense of truth and reality is lost due to the complete malleability of images. Russell takes these digital images and emphasizes their changing position in the world from objective truth to subjective realities by scratching, cutting, folding and painting on the print, often creating his own narrative. In this series Falls , Russell fictionalizes a travelogue of a highly acclaimed Western photographer from the 1860s, Carleton Watkins. Russell travels to locations that Watkins previously photographed and photographs them himself, looking at them from the opposite end of a historical continuum. As he photographs each location, he manipulates the light that enters the lens to ensure they are fuzzy and hard to follow. As Russell scratches into the emulsion of the print, ghost-like patterns and fictional narratives begin to appear, warping Watkin’s original travelogue. Each of the images in this exhibition is “waterfalls.” This connecting theme is portrayed in a variety of ways throughout the work. It can take form in a sudden change in the flow of a pattern, an interpretation of a historical photograph of Willamette falls, or a muddle of ships approaching a watery precipice. Born in 1974, Russell received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the Art Center College of Design in California. In 2009, he produced a solo exhibition at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, California. He has also been featured in group exhibitions at the Tokyo Institute of Photography in Japan, The Norton Museum in West Palm Beach, Florida, Armory Center for the Arts in Los Angeles, California, White Columns in New York, New York, De Appel Arts Center in the Netherlands, Oakland Museum of California in Oakland, California, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles, California among others. He has published numerous critical articles in addition to being a featured subject of positive review by the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Huffington Post, Artillery, Frieze, and ArtForum. JONI STERNBACH: SURFLAND This exhibition of tintype portraits was made during Sternbach’s visit to Oahu in December 2017 and 2018. It is part of a larger body of work, entitled Surfland, depicting various sized large format portraits of surfers, made on location around the globe. Surfland explores the real and conceptualized state of the surfer in the American imaginary. This project is a latter-day ethnographic document that unites different ages, genders, cultures and geographies through sport. The artist’s project places the everyday “soul surfer” (those who surf for the sheer pleasure of surfing) next to the elite, pro-surfing competitor just as they might exist in the water, waiting for the next wave. Sternbach’s work examines the ever-changing juncture between land and sea. This series was born out of her life-long desire to clarify the connection between humans and nature and her enduring love of the ocean. Surfland is an in-depth body of work that delves into the nature of identity and the character of portraiture. It’s an endeavor that can engage an entire community at any given time. What started as a local project on Long Island developed into a broader global study of people and place, sport and culture. Each tintype uses a liquid emulsion (collodion) that is poured onto the plate just minutes before it’s exposed and developed. All of Sternbach’s photographs are processed on site using a portable darkroom. The plates are fixed in daylight, allowing the image to be shared immediately with her sitters, which is crucial to her interaction and relationship with her subject. The attention to time spent making and evaluating each detailed collodion plate transforms the standard photographer/subject connection to a shared experience. Joni Sternbach is an artist and educator based in New York. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography from the School of Visual Arts and a Master of Arts degree from New York University and the International Center of Photography in 1987. She is an advisory board member and founding faculty at Penumbra Foundation in New York City, where she teaches wet plate collodion. Sternbach’s work is part of many international and public collections including the National Portrait Gallery in London, Joslyn Museum, MOCA Jacksonville, Nelson Atkins Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She is the recipient of several grants including New York Foundation for the Arts and Creative Artists Public Service and Santo Foundation. Her monograph Surf Site Tin Type was published in the Spring 2015 by Damiani and is now sold out of the second edition. She is represented in Los Angeles by Von Lintel Gallery and in Paris, France by Galerie Hug. RODRIGO VALENZUELA: STATURE Rodrigo Valenzuela’s work in photography, video, and installation is rooted in contradictory traditions of documentary and fiction, often involving narratives around immigration and the working class. The artist often expands upon his own personal experiences, such as feelings of alienation and displacement, to inform universal concepts throughout his work. Valenzuela’s photographic technique involves orchestrating “performances for the camera,” which entails creating complex spaces by using his own photographic work as a backdrop against which additional installations are seamlessly built and rephotographed. The illusionistic quality of these spaces engage the viewer in questioning the way their own experiences influence their view on truth and reality. Valenzuela’s new series, Stature , is a progression of his previous studio constructions. In this series, the artist casts discarded electronics packaging in clay and concrete. These abstract constructions appear sterile, harsh, and sometimes even monsterlike, reminiscent of Brutalist architecture that was popular in the 1950s. None of these forms are glued or connected in any way. Instead, each object is precariously balanced in each arrangement. By taking these cast off items and making them permanent, structural and valuable, Valenzuela indirectly examines capitalist endeavors. Rodrigo Valenzuela was born in Santiago, Chile in 1982. He completed an art history degree at the University of Chile in 2004, then worked in construction while making art over his first decade in the United States. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Evergreen State College and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Washington. His work has been exhibited in a variety of museums and galleries including the Upfor Gallery in Portland, Oregon, New Museum in New York, New York, Laurence Miller Gallery in New York, New York, Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City, Mexico, USF Contemporary Art Museum in Tampa, Florida, Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery, Light Work in Syracuse, New York and the Galerie Lisa Kandlhofer in Vienna, Austria. He is a professor of art at the University of California, Los Angeles and represented by Klowden Mann Gallery in Los Angeles. KIRA VOLLMAN: 16MM Kira Vollman’s installation, 16mm , combines photography, painting, sculpture, and sound into an interactive experience. Vollman collects refuse from scrap yards, thrift and surplus stores, combining these disparate objects and synthesizing new meanings in this next phase of their life. As a visual and sound artist, Vollman sees each medium in constant interaction with one another, as “parts of a whole” rather than separate entities. Byincorporating music into her work, she curates a connection between the artwork, the viewer, and herself,orchestrating a moment of unity via interaction. 16mm is an abstract, static film clip which takes the viewer on a narrative of their own choosing. As the viewer travels down the 16 foot piece, the provided score, along with the photography, collage, and painting invites the audience to imagine themselves on an adventure, drama, or even a romance. Vollman muses, “Danger might be lurking around the next corner. There are escape routes. There is a serious pitfall at the center of your journey. Can you avoid it? The red threads are your lifelines.” The undulating frames draw viewers deeper as the plot thickens. The score for the piece is incorporated via steel frames that have been woven onto diffusion frames used in lighting for film. Kira Vollman is a Los Angeles based artist, curator, and vocalist. She is currently the owner, director, and curator of ARK Gallery Studios in Altadena, California. She is also a composer and vocalist for the group, Non Credo. Her artwork has been shown in galleries such as The Neutra Institute Museum & Gallery, Sylvia White Gallery, SOPA Studios Gallery, and MOAH:CEDAR. In 2017, she won first place in the All Media Exhibition at the Irvine Fine Arts Center in Irvine, California. November 9, 2019 - January 12, 2020 Back to list