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Up LA Painting Various Artists Five Year Survey curated by Cooper Johnson In MOAH’s Main Gallery, Five Year Survey , curated by Cooper Johnson features significant Los Angeles painters over the last five years. Its paintings range from socially-conscious figurative works to “pure” abstraction and everything in between. The exhibition exudes pure joy in paint as a material, with thick impasto brushwork, energetic mark-making, and bright, fresh color palettes. But paint isn’t the only material these artists utilize; photography, digital rendering, and printmaking all make their way into the work to break the mold of tradition and subvert expectations of what painting is and means. Five Year Survey is a cross-section of Los Angeles painting of the last five years, as exemplified by 15 artists who are moving the medium in new directions. Whether the artists of the survey pull from socio-political fray, bend the logic of composition, reinvigorate the mark, or push painting into the digital, all have a command of material and concept that enables multifaceted work. More importantly, their work reflects salient aspects of living in the present moment: an increased awareness of identity, hyper-connectedness and information abundance, and a heightened sensitivity to what is fake and what is real. And in this context, three themes emerge throughout the survey. First, many of the paintings in the survey address ideas surrounding identity. Taken together, these works suggest how identity can be viewed merely as a construct, but at the same time, the cause of serious issues concerning one’s experience. Something fabricated but nevertheless real. In Five Year Survey , identity is not about our physical features or inherent qualities, but is instead about the meanings we create for them, and store through object, symbol, and mark. And how those meanings, usually with historical and cultural momentum, are imposed, inflicted, or bestowed on each of us. Five Year Survey prompts us to consider not only how these attached meanings affect our day-to-day lives, but the inverse: whether there is something we truly are without our fabrications. A second theme throughout the survey is the use of paint to confuse how we define and experience what is “real.” Whether approaching the issue from painting’s tradition of illusion or its drift into the digital, these artists manipulate the mind’s natural functions, ranging from base-level sense-making to the desire to treat illusion as real. Artists handle this in a variety of ways in the survey. Objects in a landscape might be simultaneously revealed as staged—mere props in a diorama—but remain cloaked in the illusion of representation. Forms can be ambivalently representative and abstract, trigging the mind’s need to recognize patterns, but denying it certainty. The “space” in a painting may be structured to contain incompatible objects, forcing the mind to reconcile what shouldn’t exist in the same space. Even light itself, painted as textureless and pure as the sublime, lets slight deviations of the hand creep in. These works leave the viewer in seemingly contradictory states: experiencing the painting as “real,” but at the same time, hearing its confessions to the contrary. Third is the theme of plurality and purity in painting—paintings that do not zero in on any single concept, logic, or style, but are more interested in how different sets of rules can coexist in a single image. As seen over painting’s historical cycles of “purification” (and subsequent complication), narrowing down an image or process to its essence simultaneously constructs rules about the logic of its creation and interpretation. Although this isn’t new, the current trend away from “pure” painting seems to fit in the context of how technologically connected we are—not only do we have increasing access to a broader variety of work, but the role of the traditional gatekeepers is not as critical. In Five Year Survey , for example, this could include: charging geometric abstractions with agency or narrative; imbuing marks with more than the immediate movement or gesture, sometimes even elements of the painter’s identity; distorting the logic of the painting’s creation; nesting disparate styles within each other; or ironically adopting the rules of previous styles but conceptually contributing to them nonetheless. While Five Year Survey has no unifying concept, these three themes have similar analytical structures that inflect on, resonate with, and map onto the others. Whether it is our identity, our reality, or our rules of constructing images, the survey asks the viewer to explore the relationships we have with our own fabrications—the extent to which they only exist because we created them, and the extent to which we are nevertheless bound to them. Solo show DAVID ALLAN PETERS David Allan Peters creates work that explodes with countless layers of color and intricate texture, combining painting with sculptural hand-carved qualities. Diamonds, grids and circles create kaleidoscopic compositions that vibrantly explore geometry, intuition and chance. He has become known for his innovative process of building up material which is then peeled and cut away exposing what is below the initial surface, unveiling various colors at different depths. Peters sometimes works for 15 years on a single painting, painstakingly applying layer upon layer of acrylic paint and then cutting, scraping, sanding and carving into the layers to show the passage of time similar to the rings of a tree trunk. From the by-products of his paintings, Peters recycles the carved-out remnants into bricks forming minimalist installations. He pushes the limits of acrylic paint and the traditional painting processes, while dissolving the boundary between the second and third dimension. Rooted in the history of early West Coast abstraction, the genesis of Peters’ career was inspired by the dense layers found in other abstract artists such as Jay DeFeo. Continuously experimenting with pattern and diverse techniques, David Allan Peters’ latest body of work explores both the bold designs of Native American textiles and post-painterly, geometric abstractions. Peters received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Claremont Graduate University following his undergraduate at the Art Institute in San Francisco.The artist has been featured in WhiteWall magazine’s profile on the Anderson Collection as well as the Los Angeles Times, the Huffington Post, the New York Times and an artist profile in Elle Decor. Site Specific Installation ERIKA LIZÉE Site-specific installation Infinite Love/Flesh and Blood by Erika Lizée spans three floors in the MOAH atrium. Erika Lizée uses trompe l’oeil and sculptural acrylic painting to create images that seem to “react” to the actual light and shadows of the space in which they reside. Her magically biomorphic installations are strange yet familiar, and seem to recede behind the gallery wall and reach out toward the viewer simultaneously. Lizée imagines the wall surface as a symbolic threshold between different realms or states of existence. She is also inspired by Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, a tale of human perception and how our perceptions and experiences shape our personal reality. “The visionary function, which fulfills the soul’s need for placing itself in the vast scheme of things, has been suppressed, with the result that as a culture, we have lost the gift of vision,” states Lizée. She believes there is a “universal and ever-present urge for transcendence, for going beyond the mundane to experience the sublime. I hope to provide such an otherworldly experience.” Lizée’s recent body of work is based on her studies of the numbers 1 through 10 as well as sacred geometry. Infinite Love/Flesh and Blood at MOAH is inspired by the number 8, with visual references to the shape of the clematis flower, oxygen (the 8th element on the periodic table), musical octaves (there are eight notes in an octave) and the infinity symbol (which looks like a number “8”). Raised in a family of four and now having her own family of four, the number eight holds great symbolic power for Lizée as she reflects on love and life. Erika Lizée earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting from the University of North Carolina Asheville and her Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting from California State University Northridge. She is currently a tenured professor at Moorpark College and the Director of the Moorpark College Art Gallery. A Visual Game of “Telephone” 49 works of art created by 49 contemporary artists in absolute secrecy over a period of nine years. Laura Hipke and painter Shane Guffogg’s curatorial project Circle of Truth in the South Gallery is comprised of works by Ed Ruscha, Shane Guffogg, Billy Al Bengston, Lita Albuquerque, Jim Morphesis, Charles Arnoldi, Robert Williams, Ruth Weisberg and 41 other artists in a modern, visual take on a common childhood game “Telephone”. The Circle of Truth project opens a dialog regarding the nature of what is considered “truth”, and the inherent flaws of receiving and re-transmitting information from one person to the next. The process for the Circle of Truth project was simple: the first painting, created by Shane Guffogg, was delivered to a second artist in the Circle along with a blank canvas. The second artist was instructed to find the “truth” in the first painting and respond with their own creation. That painting was then passed on to the next artist. As a rule, each artist was asked to keep their participation a secret until the project was completed. Circle of Truth, launched in 2009, was completed in 2016 and includes paintings by 49 different participating artists, all of which come from a variety of backgrounds and utilize painting styles ranging from hyper-realism to pure abstraction. The paintings will be hung in chronological order so visitors can see the progression of the “truth” over time. Each artist was also asked to write an essay about their experience. Excerpts of the essays will be available in the exhibition catalogue titled Circle of Truth (available for purchase at MOAH) and can be autographed during the book-signing on September 7 at 1 p.m. Kaye Freeman in collaboration with Amy Kaps The Anatomy of a Painting Kaye Freeman in Collaboration with Amy Kaps: The Anatomy of a Painting , examines the performative act of applying paint while expanding the painting plane to include the Museum’s entire East Gallery. Kaps’ role as curator quickly morphed into that of cohort, catalyst and collaborator when she asked artist Kaye Freeman to participate in creating the immersive painting installation. Together, they explore the body in relation to the process and product of painting. The curatorial vision for The Anatomy of a Painting is to tell the story of “creation” from the artist’s point of view using Freeman’s bright color palette and intuitive brush marks. Inspired by Yves Klein’s Anthropometries, Freeman paints directly on Kaps’ nude body, using the human form as a mark-making tool. The installation is made complete with a performance by Amy Kaps in which she walks around the gallery as viewers tear pieces of artwork off her dress, gradually revealing a satin under-dress embellished with body prints, black and white photographs and gestural brush-strokes by Freeman. Kaye Freeman uses painting and drawing to “fold and unfold the myths that surround us like a cosmic origami”. Memories and shared emotions weave through her paintings, abstracted and reshaped again and again until an ineffable common humanity and truth is revealed. Kaye Freeman was born in Hong Kong, raised in downtown Tokyo and currently resides in Los Angeles, California. She has shown in solo and group exhibitions throughout Australia and southern California. Amy Kaps is an interdisciplinary artist in constant dialogue with her surroundings and those who inhabit it. Possessing a predilection for the abstract and surreal while emphasizing the human form and condition, she presents a psychological puzzle hoping to entice the viewer to question what they see. Kaps is a past Artist-in-Residence at the Museum of Art and History and completed a major installation at MOAH:CEDAR in 2018. She has worked in the realms of performance, installation, video, photography, music and words in the United States, Germany, Cuba and Spain. She currently lives in Venice, California. Selections from the Permanent Collection Selected highlights from Lancaster Museum of Art and History’s (MOAH) permanent collection are on display throughout LA Painting. The mission of the permanent collection is to celebrate the rich creative culture and history of southern California. As the Lancaster Museum of Art and History, we place great importance on being good stewards of the art of its collection by preserving and displaying artworks for the enjoyment and education of the public. MOAH emphasizes the support of emerging and established local artists that are significant to our region’s unique cultural perspective. Highlights from the permanent collection include works by: Craig “Skibs” Barker Billy Al Bengston Gary Brewer The Clayton Brothers Rebecca Campbell Alex Couwenberg Julius Eastman Renee Fox Dion Johnson Michael Jones Christine Kline Gary Lang Scott Listfield Stevie Love Bradford Salamon Andrew Schoultz Roni Stretch Tim Youd Eric Zammitt August 10 - October 20, 2019 Back to list

Joanna Vazquez < Back A Plant’s Life By Joanna Vazquez I don’t understand how others look at this world and know what they have to do in life. It is like they have a purpose; do we all have a purpose? Where do we even come from? Where do we at any point come from? Can anyone explain why I need to go into this world and carry on with a daily existence I won't ever concede to? Where do I, by any chance, come from? More often than not, I feel like there is no reason for living. We spend our lives stuck in this soil, we never move, yet others are so persuaded this is an excellent way of life. I realize I ought to be more joyful to be a piece of something; however, I am not because I don't have the foggiest idea. I'm on this soil, no place to go watching the days pass endlessly, but then I don't have a choice; however, it is my life, right? We will die anyway; there are stories about how humans remove us whenever they feel Like it; eventually, we will die off when the winter comes. It isn't like I would be missed or anything. When the leaves fall, we fall. I guess the upside to things is no one ever comes out as often. I used to hear stories about people running around them, and we dance; everyone dances with the wind. They talk about how exciting it is to be a plant. Coming into this world, I've seen nothing but had things don't even get me started when the dogs use the bathroom on us! It is so disgusting. What's considerably more sickening is me, why I'm so frizzy all over. Why is the top of me so big while the bottom of me is so thin? I feel so disgusting sometimes, and I hate it. I need to be content with life and myself; however, it is difficult to feel lonely. I don't relate to any other plant. I have tried, but now I don't even bother. Some days I feel fantastic, happy, thrilled and then other days I feel really sad. I don't understand; the world is grey, and to the other plants, the world is gloomy. I wish I had the chance to see the world in that way. But I frequently ask myself, why me? Am I just not good enough? It would be nice to stand up tall and appreciate the sun and how amazing the sky looks, and how being a part of this world is a beautiful experience. I try and try, but I am just a plant; I have no means to reproduce as I’m supposed to; I don’t have a gender. Why I’m I the only one like this? I know my purpose should be to provide oxygen for other living things, but there is no point in doing so because what do I get in return? Dog poop. At some point, when I die, I will become another plant that does the same thing over and over again. As the days have gone on, I've tried to be more positive. And as the days continued, I've found this to be more pointless, but I am trying. Trying to be positive makes me feel better. It makes me feel like maybe I have a purpose, and there is hope. I haven't felt hope in a long time. Lately, days have seemed better; I've tried to make friends, and I mean, I am trying. Having a friend makes me feel happy for once. And as the days will continue, I will try and find my—purpose in this life. Previous Next

back to list Lily Brick Lily Brick is a creative artist interested in design, street, and graffiti art, with an admiration for graphic expression. Brick’s art career started by studying Advertising Graphic Design and working for multiple companies and organizations. Upon leading the design team of a printing company, she initiated a new artistic expression with spray paint, leading to a hobby and soon professional trade. The discovery of her first works in the public gardens of Lleida, Spain, led to her first commissioned murals and over 300 pieces worldwide of her artwork. Notable locations include multiple cities in Spain, like Barcelona, Pennelles, and Alcarràs, as well as Germany, Morocco, France, Sweden, and others. Being recognized as having made the largest mural created in Spain by a single woman, Brick surpassed herself with the creation of another larger mural. Brick utilizes her work to represent and express visibly empowered women with strong and intense gazes. Lily Brick was born in Lleida, Spain, and has produced significant artwork globally.

Artist in Residence Up You are (the interpreter) Here Dave Martin Elyze Clifford Interpretive Center In this workshop series participants will venture into the Preserve with Polaroid cameras and unique pointing devices to photograph areas that capture their personal interest. These locations will also be marked on a map to document their connection to the land. Back at the Interpretive Center, participants will bring their images to life by adding text, drawings, and captions using stencils, vinyl letters, and handwritten type. All photographs and contributions will be collected to create a community-generated interpretive map of the Preserve, which will be showcased in an upcoming exhibition. Schedule: Saturday, January 4, 2025 | 11AM - 1PM Saturday, January 11, 2025 | 11AM - 1PM Saturday, January 18, 2025 | 11AM - 1PM https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artist-in-residence-with-dave-martin-you-are-the-interpreter-here-tickets-1133494124439?aff=ebdsshcopyurl&utm-source=cp&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing January 4 - January 18, 2025 Back to list

< Back This is a Title 01 This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. You can create as many collections as you need. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own, or import content from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, videos and more. You can also collect and store information from your site visitors using input elements like custom forms and fields. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. Preview your site to check that all your elements are displaying content from the right collection fields. Previous Next

2021 < View Public Art Projects Charlie Edmistion Crosswalk Mural 2021 Temporary Art Project

< Back Charles Hood Under/Water Amongst his twenty published books and over eight-hundred photographs, artist and author Charles Hood has focused much of his attention on wildlife and nature. He has traveled globally, documenting aspects such as resource allocation, regional fauna, and the evolution of natural landscapes. Hood’s work brings attention to both the political and environmental nuances of these varied regions in order understand how these locales are shaped and still constantly evolving. A widely published poet, Hood has received numerous fellowships and writing awards, and his most recent artist residencies were with the National Science Foundation in Antarctica and with Playa Arts in Oregon. Other residencies include Center for Land Use Interpretation and the Annenberg Beach House. He has also been a visiting professor in England, Mexico, and Papua New Guinea. Previous Next

Up Threads of Entanglement Orly Cogan Hand embroidery typically conjures up images of docile women, silently working on their expected domestic duties through their needle work. This traditionally feminine medium was once seen as an indicator of marriage suitability, teaching ideas of modesty, virtue, and obedience. Artist Orly Cogan reclaims the medium, using vintage fabrics as a foundation for her hand stitched explorations of modern women. Cogan challenges the idea of embroidery being a symbol of female domesticity and injects themes of sensuality, feminism, and power to portray the evolving role of women in society. Cogan’s love for embroidery stems from her early years in grade school where she would learn to knit and crochet with natural fiber materials. This fondness for the material was also encouraged through her mother's collection of samplers — pieces of embroidered cloth meant to represent a larger whole — and quilts. Cogan describes her work as intuitive, figuring out the stitching as she goes, utilizing an embroidery hoop, appliqué, and paint to bring movement within the stitches. The result is a dreamy and ethereal quality that speaks to the feminist fairytales she creates in her pieces. May 13 - August 20 Out of gallery Back to list

back to list Carly Ealey Fine artist, muralist, photographer, and writer with a few hundred other secret talents, Carly Ealey has a knack for all things creative. With a natural inclination to painting the familiar figures of women in her work, Carly prefers acrylic ink on wood panels when painting small, and spray paint when working on murals. However, she also incorporates her photography from time to time on a larger scale via wheatpaste.

Elana MannBellows and QuakesThrough sculpture, sound, and community engagement, the artwork of artist Elana Mann explores the power of the collective voice and the politics of listening. Mann’s sculptures, resembling the horns and rattles prominent in musical instruments, serve to create, amplify, and embody sound. < Back Elana Mann, Unidentified Bright Objects Elana Mann, Bans Off Our Bodies Elana Mann, Bans Off Our Bodies Elana Mann, Unidentified Bright Objects 1/4 Elana Mann Bellows and Quakes Through sculpture, sound, and community engagement, the artwork of artist Elana Mann explores the power of the collective voice and the politics of listening. Mann’s sculptures, resembling the horns and rattles prominent in musical instruments, serve to create, amplify, and embody sound. The physical creation of sound and of hearing itself is an intangible discourse that is visualized through her artworks. For Mann, the act of listening can be a catalyst for social change. Her sonic sculptures, street protests and performances in galleries and museums produce a collective voice to enable social activism. These works generate a sonic link between art practice and civic action, providing visible symbology to connect the ephemeral and material power of sound. Previous Next

2013 < View Public Art Projects Yarn Bomb At City Hall 2013 Temporary Art Project To kick off the 27th annual Antelope Valley union High School District Student Art Exhibition, local artist and art educator Kris Holiday organized this public installation project with the help of pioneering yarn bombing artist Nicola Vruwink, her students, and community members. The concept was to create public art by knitting scarves around trees, cozies on bike racks, and decorating benches, lampposts and even sculptures with vibrant covers.

Up The New Vanguard II Various Artists Artists: Sandra Chevrier | Cages and the Allure of Freedom Seth Armstrong | Lil' Baja's Last Ride Craig 'Skibs' Barker | Suzy is a Surf Rocker Brooks Salzwedel | Rut in the Soil Featured Installations: Andrew Hem Dan Witz HOT TEA Isaac Cordal Jaune Laurence Vallieres Spenser Little The New Vanguard II, a dynamic group exhibition of works by international artists working in the New Contemporary art movement. The highly anticipated follow up to 2016's successful first iteration of The New Vanguard, on view in tandem with this year's POW WOW! Antelope Valley will feature special solo projects by artists Sandra Chevrier, Seth Armstrong, Craig 'Skibs' Barker, and Brooks Salzwedel. A sequel to what was in 2016 the most extensive presentation of work from the New Contemporary movement in a Southern Californian museum venue to date, The New Vanguard II, in keeping with the first, will present a diverse and expansive group of curated new works. The group show will include new pieces by ABCNT, Adam Caldwell, Alex Garant, Alex Hall, Alexandra Manukyan, Amy Sol, Andrew Schoultz, Benjamin Garcia, Brian Mashburn, Carl Cashman, CASE, Dan Witz, Drew Merritt, EINE, Ekundayo, Ermsy, Esao Andrews, Evoca1, Fernando Chamarelli, Fidia Falaschetti, Fintan Magee, Helen Bur, Hueman, Hula, Huntz Liu, Jaune, Joel Daniel Phillips, Jolene Lai, Juan Travieso, Kaili Smith, Kathy Ager, Kikyz1313, Laura Berger, Lauren YS, Lonac, Mark Dean Veca, Mars-1, Martin Whatson, Masakatsu Sashie, Meggs, Michael Reeder, Milu Correch, The Perez Bros, PichiAvo, RISK, Robert Xavier Burden, Robert Proch, Ronzo, Saner, Scott Listfield , Sergio Garcia, Seth Armstrong, Snik, Stephanie Buer, Super A, Super Future Kid, TikToy, Tran Nguyen, Van Arno, and Yosuke Ueno. Alongside the focused solo presentations by Chevrier, Armstrong, Barker, and Salzwedel, the exhibition will include site-specific installations by Andrew Hem, Dan Witz, HOTxTEA, Isaac Cordal, Jaune, Laurence Vallieres, and Spenser Little. A movement unified as much by its diversity as its similitude, 'New Contemporary' has come to denote an important heterogeneity of styles, media, contexts, and activations over the course of its establishment since the 90s. Unified in its fledgling beginnings by a founding countercultural impulse searching for its own nomenclature, the New Contemporary movement's shifting and inclusive designations have offered alternative narratives over the years to those popularized by the dominant art establishment and its conceptual predilections. Though stylistically disparate, the work belonging to this rapidly expansive movement reveals a desire to reference the popular, social, and subcultural domains of contemporary experience, grounding, rather than rarifying, imagery in the familiar. Looking to the urban landscape and the kaleidoscopic shift of individual identities within it, these artists use the figurative and narrative to anchor their work in the accessible and aesthetically relatable. A fundamentally democratic stance governs the ambitions of this new guard, ever in search of novel ways to expand rather than to contract. Sandra Chevrier - Cages and the Allure of Freedom Chevrier creates work that explores identity as a locus of competing imperatives and complex contradictions. Drawing parallels between the assumed invulnerability of the superhero and the impossible demands placed upon the contemporary individual, Chevrier creates literal and metaphoric masks by combining comic book imagery assembled from found and imagined sources. Her dystopian spin on the iconic figure of the superhero looks to reveal the flaws in the staged extroversion of a superficial veneer. In Cages and the Allure of Freedom, her first significant solo museum presentation, Chevrier showcases large-scale sculptural works for the first time including three massive portrait based reliefs alongside three life-sized, hand-painted busts complementing some of her largest two-dimensional acrylic on canvas works. Sandra Chevrier is a Montréal-based Canadian artist. Her work has been shown in Canada as well as in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe and Asia and in collections in Europe, the United States, Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and Russia. Seth Armstrong - Lil' Baja's Last Ride Seth Armstrong creates paintings that arrest a sense of time. Some offer expansive views and others a contracted intimacy, moving freely in and out of public and private spaces to create intersecting narratives. Known for paintings that self-consciously capture the act of looking - whether as a voyeur in trespass or a participant in the landscape - Armstrong apprehends the simultaneity of the city as a place of endless, contingent narratives, jarring interruptions and suspenseful pauses. In Lil' Baja's Last Ride, the artist presents a sequential vignette of over ten new paintings in which his own car becomes an unlikely protagonist. His immersive approach to his subject matter often produces anecdotal adjuncts. Following several pilgrimages into the landscape between his home in LA and Lancaster for the exhibition, a route, incidentally, which also happens to have personal childhood significance for the artist, Armstrong's beloved beater and proverbial instrument of research, 'Lil' Baja,' caught fire and was partially incinerated in the museum's parking lot. The overarching narrative structure of the works feels ambiguously suspended somewhere between fiction, social realism, and personal history. In an ending befitting Armstrong's own penchant for cinematic turns, poetic hooks, and absurd knacks, Lil' Baja's Last Ride is an unexpected swan song in memoriam to an old friend's final expedition. Armstrong is a Los Angeles-based painter who holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from California College of Arts in San Francisco. His paintings have been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe. He is represented by Thinkspace Projects in Los Angeles, Vertical Gallery in London and Bold Hype Gallery in New York. His work has been featured in international art fairs such as SCOPE and the LA Art Show. Craig "Skibs: Barker - Suzy is a Surf Rocker Barker has been immersed in both the punk rock and surf culture of southern California since the early 1980s. His imagery, being informed by the print media and graphics of the subcultural terrain shaping the time period, reflects this upbringing. Influenced and surrounded by punk flyers, album covers, and surfing magazines, Barker began testing his artistic skills by initially making flyers and t-shirts for his punk bands and his friends. Barker’s work explores the junctions between past and present, memory and imagination, fantasy and reality, while creating a dialog between image and viewer. Barker’s most recent paintings infuse his long-standing love for painting and rendering the human female figure with his punk-fueled graphic design aesthetic. Mixing different approaches, techniques and mediums, he creates a sense of memory, personal history, and appreciation for the female form. Combining elements of pop culture and literary censorship, he creates layered scenes of voyeuristic playfulness. His artworks feel surreal and partial, yielding results of decontextualization. The way Barker frames his figurative subjects, his compositions feel like spontaneously taken polaroids. Born and raised in Huntington Beach, Barker has been exhibiting installations and his paintings in places such as Long Beach Museum of Art, Thinkspace Projects Los Angeles and was featured at MOAH in 2014. His work has been included in Newbrow and Juxtapoz magazines. Brooks Salzwedel - Rut in the Soil Obscuring the boundaries between actual and imagined landscapes, Salzwedel constructs light, delicate and translucent vistas that fluctuate between solid and ethereal states. These assembled works explore the juxtaposition of natural and simulated scenes, bringing together scant terrains and fabricated sierras with hazy atmospheres and primordial vegetation. Eroding woods and frosty, glacial peaks veil repressed settings, evoking a landscape untethered from this reality existing on the periphery of dreams. Salzwedel continues this series of ghostly, celestial worlds that are suspended indefinitely, the scenes often feel almost real but are undoubtedly conjured from vivid imagination. Salzwedel induces a sense of solitude through ephemeral, surreal fantasies of supernatural scenery using a combination of materials to create his mixed-media works. His drawings are comprised of graphite, mylar and resin, tape, colored pencil and ink. Salzwedel earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with honors and distinction at Pasadena Art Center College of Design in 2004. He has been featured in more than 50 blogs and publications and he has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions. His work has been displayed at renowned museums worldwide, including the Hammer Museum, MOCA, Honolulu Museum of Art and the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art. Salzwedel was born in Long Beach and works in Los Angeles, California. The New Vanguard II A movement unified as much by its diversity as its similitude, 'New Contemporary' has come to denote an important heterogeneity of styles, media, contexts, and activations over the course of its establishment since the 90s. Unified in its fledgling beginnings by a founding countercultural impulse searching for its own nomenclature, the New Contemporary movement's shifting and inclusive designations have offered alternative narratives over the years to those popularized by the dominant art establishment and its conceptual predilections. Though stylistically disparate, the work belonging to this rapidly expansive movement reveals a desire to reference the popular, social, and subcultural domains of contemporary experience, grounding, rather than rarifying, imagery in the familiar. Looking to the urban landscape and the kaleidoscopic shift of individual identities within it, these artists use the figurative and narrative to anchor their work in the accessible and aesthetically relatable. A fundamentally democratic stance governs the ambitions of this new guard, ever in search of novel ways to expand rather than to contract. A sequel to what was in 2016 the most extensive presentation of work from the New Contemporary movement in a Southern Californian museum venue to date, The New Vanguard II, in keeping with the first, presents a diverse and expansive group of curated new works. This group show includes new pieces by ABCNT, Adam Caldwell, Alex Garant, Alex Hall, Alexandra Manukyan, Amy Sol, Andrew Schoultz, Benjamin Garcia, Brian Mashburn, Carl Cashman, CASE, Dan Witz, Drew Merritt, EINE, Ekundayo, Ermsy, Esao Andrews, Evoca1, Fernando Chamarelli, Fidia Falaschetti, Fintan Magee, Helen Bur, Hueman, Hula, Huntz Liu, Jaune, Joel Daniel Phillips, Jolene Lai, Juan Travieso, Kaili Smith, Kathy Ager, Kikyz1313, Laura Berger, Lauren YS, Lonac, Mark Dean Veca, Mars-1, Martin Whatson, Masakatsu Sashie, Meggs, Michael Reeder, Milu Correch, The Perez Bros, PichiAvo, RISK, Robert Xavier Burden, Robert Proch, Ronzo, Saner, Scott Listfield , Sergio Garcia, Seth Armstrong, Skewville, Snik, Stephanie Buer, Super A, Super Future Kid, TikToy, Tran Nguyen, Van Arno and Yosuke Ueno. October 21 - December 30, 2018 Back to list