REVIEW - Terry Winters "patterns in a chromatic field" at Matthew Marks Gallery, Los Angeles, California

       Terry Winter's new exhibition "patterns in a chromatic field" at Matthew Marks Gallery, continues Winter's examination of structures that surround biological and bio-morph processes. The twelve vibrantly colored abstract canvases take their title from a 1981 score for cello and piano by composer Morton Feldman and continue the artist’s lifelong investigation of the intersection between representation and abstraction. Depicting a family of organic patterns in evolving configurations, the series demonstrates, in the artist’s words, “how abstract processes can be used to build real-world images.” The paintings feature a heightened chromatic palette, complex figure/ground reversals, and interlocking forms, as well as a variety of surface textures modified by successive layers of resins, oils, and waxes. These beautiful works demonstrate Winter's mastery in both composition and color. There is always a tension between both figurative and abstraction in Winter's work. I think the artist intentionally never settles that tension, and instead lets the viewer see the canvas as an investigation of the biological. The field on the canvas takes the viewer to an organic journey that reveals a process that is not readily seen by the human eye.The blues, reds, yellows, and greens, as well as the composition occupying the entire canvas with lines, curves and paint are a visual enjoyment to the viewer who sees these works. I definitely recommend going to this exhibition.

The show continues until June 21, 2014.

Matthew Marks Gallery
1062 North Orange Grove 

Los Angeles 90046 

Ph: 323 654 1830

Email: info@matthewmarks.com

Happy Easter!

Bart Exposito at Thomas Solomon Gallery, Los Angeles, California

Bart Exposito

March 1—April 12, 2014
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 1, 6-8pm

Thomas Solomon Gallery presents an exhibition of new drawings and paintings by Santa Fe- based artist Bart Exposito. Each artwork in the show originated with a small drawing that the artist made nearly five years ago. This original drawing will be on view along with the artist’s new work.

The exhibition will include artworks that are all variations of this drawing. They reflect on the various possibilities triggered by the artist’s production which have been stirred once more by the drawing’s contours or forms. For the first time, all but one of the pieces in the show will be on a horizontal format suggesting a narrative or landscape. In the past, Exposito’s work was nearly always executed on a vertical format, symptomatic of enclosed frontal portrait painting that resists any of the expectation found in pictorialism. But this likeness to figuration has softened as his painting method of building, erasing and replenishing gained muscle and finess.

The new large-scale horizontal works, while investigating how abstraction can be pushed into spaces we associate with the everyday, still carry geometric indicators—elegant curves, shapes and lines—known in calligraphic composition, lettering, graphic design, architectural planning and primitive mark making that may have originated with oversimplified symbolic terms but have, over time, transformed into recognizable things and systems of expression. Exposito’s process and individual experience play a role in his work by evidence of ghost images, which remain where he has erased his cryptograms leaving mortal traces of his construction-washout-and-restructuring activities. A discourse on daily life and accumulated experiences seems to have occurred as the paintings were being executed.

Exposito, who was born in Texas, moved to Los Angeles to continue his art practice. Last year he transferred to Santa Fe where he now holds a teaching position at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque some 60 miles away from his new home. The long drives back and forth from one town to the other may be having an effect on Exposito’s newest paintings and drawings. He left Los Angeles, the first decentralized city in America, where noisy streets, roads and freeways interweave each other expansively for thousands of driver-tormenting miles, and he rebooted himself near the pueblo-sprinkled dunes and wilderness of New Mexico—an area that not only sustains the indigeonous tribal cultures living in what is now considered to be America, but also can have a calming effect on outsiders and newcomers.

Relocation may feed into Exposito’s new work. More so, he has been influenced by a history of what other artists like Agnes Martin, Richard Tuttle, John McCracken and Ken Price have done. New Mexico has given him newfound liberty and time to reflect on his practice outside of the relentless grind and likenesses witnessed inside a homogeneous art arena. Exposito still sits in an automobile for hours at a time, but he has exchanged the choking traffic of L.A. for the wide-open spaces of New Mexico. And this change hasn’t dislodged the idiosyncratic qualities particular to his work. While aware of current trends in art, he is not swayed by them. Rather, his paintings and drawings reveal the mark of an artist who is not out for work that is intensely personal but is interested in the ongoing investigation of his own sensibility and the decisions that go into realizing each piece.

Thomas Solomon Gallery
427 Bernard Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
www.thomassolomongallery.com

323-275-1687

info@thomassolomongallery.com

LA Heat: Taste Changing Condiments at the Chinese American Museum, Los Angeles, California

LA Heat: Taste Changing Condiments, is an art exhibition exploring the impact of Sriracha and Tapatio in Los Angeles. The exhibit will include a curated selection of artwork from artists of diverse backgrounds who are passionate and reflective about notions of identity, community, and foodways.

Sriracha and Tapatio hot sauces are two examples of the recent homegrown all-American condiments that have dramatically impacted American cuisine. The rise in popularity of these condiments signifies an increase in Asian and Latino populations living in the US and especially in Los Angeles after the passing of the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1965. In 1971, Mexican immigrant Jose-Luis Saavedra, Sr., started Tapatio Hot Sauce, a unique combination of red chili peppers, spices and a hint of garlic, in a warehouse in Maywood, California. David Tran, an immigrant from Vietnam of Chinese ancestry, started making Thai-inspired Sriracha sauce blended fromchili peppers, vinegar, garlic in small shop in Los Angeles Chinatown in 1983. In large American cities everywhere, both Sriracha and Tapatio contend to rival Heinz Ketchup and French’s mustard as the all-American condiment for the Y-Generation, for these hot sauces have become interwoven into the American cultural fabric and thus becoming an ubiquitous condiment in American cuisine.

Participating artists in the exhibition include:

Edith Beaucage
Erik Benjamins
Audrey Chan
Ching Ching Cheng
The Chung!!
Chris Christion
Clayton Brothers
Eye One
Gajin Fujita
Daniel Gonzalez
Pato Hebert
Michael C. Hsiung
Phung Huynh
Tomo Isoyama
Nery Gabriel Lemus

Sandra Low
Trinh Mai
Patrick Martinez
Michael Massenburg
Kwanchai Moriya
Jose Ramirez
Yoshie Sakai
Jose Sarinana
Sand One
Shark Toof
Sket
Slick
Henry Taylor
Werc

Location:
The Chinese American Museum is located in the red-bricked historic Garnier Building, located at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument across from downtown Los Angeles’ Union Station. Just follow the hanging lanterns, south of Olvera Street, to find the museum site.

Address
425 N. Los Angeles Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(The cross street is Arcadia)

Museum Front Desk: (213) 485-8567

Hours
CAM is opened on Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 3pm.
Closed on Mondays and the following holidays:
Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day