Last Saturday evening (Sept. 26) I went to two extremely well attended openings: one at the Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM) and one at Loft at Liz’s on La Brea. Both exhibitions were filled with art and viewers. Both exhibitions offer work by local artists. These exhibitions complement each other quite well. At CAFAM, Paperworks curated by Howard Fox provided many (perhaps too many) fine examples of artworks that are made of paper. Loft at Liz’s offers The Drawing Show, an exhibition curated by Betty Ann Brown of carefully selected examples of artists who explore the medium of drawing in a myriad of ways.
Susan Sironi
Echiko Ohira
Paperworks offers examples by 15 artists who all explore the medium of paper mostly through cutting it into sculptural works. There are a few that stood out for me. Sewn and painted paper constructions of clothing garments and common household objects by Phranc do delight and extend the Pop Art tradition. Echiko Ohira’s amazing paper constructions evoke biomorphic forms. Susan Sironi meticulously creates book cutouts and un-makes them into carved-up or meticulously cut up “non-books.” (image is top right) Finally, Chris Natrop’s installation of cut-paper forms in combination with video projections is a showstopper.
Andre Yi
Joanne Julian
In The Drawing Show, the drawings by these local artists remind us that this medium can be equally valued as painting as a primary mode of expression. Drawings by Nancy Baker Cahill, Jodi Bonassi, Abel Alejandre, Nancy Baker Cahill, Susan Feldman, Joanne Julian, Echiko Ohira, Milo Reice, Kent Twitchell, J. Michael Walker, and Andre Yi cover the walls and stairwells of the unique exhibition space. Amazing portraiture by local muralist Kent Twitchell capture one’s careful attention. Andre Yi enhances his drawings of dead birds with pencil shavings, poured paint, and collage components. In a separate small gallery space are drawings by Joanne Julian. Julian’s work is derived from Asian traditions with her nature-based images and Zen Circles.. One’s eyes never tire with these exhibitions that offer such a variety of unique approaches to their respective mediums. I plan to revisit both of these exhibitions when I can enjoy them in solitude and recommend you do the same, as both of these are well worth a careful viewing experience.
The Loft at Liz’s is hosting two artist talks in conjunction with the exhibition.
Session 1: Wed. Oct. 14th, 7-9 p.m.
Session 2: Sat. Oct. 24th, 3-5 p.m.
http://www.theloftatlizs.com
The Drawing Show will be open thru 11/02/15.
http://cafam.org
Paperworks will be open thru 1/03/16.
This looks phenomenal!