Women Around Town, May 2016

Ruth Bachofner Gallery presents Margaret Lazzari,“Energy, Matter and Light” (image right). Her abstract paintings have a rich palette, delicate line work and thick bursts of viscous paint. Lazzari states: “Rich color and complex surfaces are important in these paintings. I like spaces that are somewhat familiar – there may be sky, horizon, and land – but they’re also fabulous and strange because we have never been here before… In the history of landscape art, works like Ansel Adams’ photographs, paintings from the Hudson River School or the American luminist paintings of the late 1800s convey a sense of transcendence. These landscapes do more than just record surface features  – they also point to large ideas, attitudes of the times and human emotion reactions.”

Runs thru 6/4/16.

“CIRCA TRILOGY” by conceptual artist Mary Kelly at Susanne Vielmetter Projects features three large works: Circa 1968 (2004), Circa 1940 (2015) and Circa 2011 (2016). In each work, Kelly appropriates and reinterprets an iconic archival image through the lens of generational memory. The images, which represent moments from The Blitz, student uprisings of 1968 and the Arab Spring, often encapsulate wider historical narratives in the way specific aesthetics communicate the image environment of the time. Additionally, there is a smaller series of lint works that reference the covers of 7 Days, a short-lived weekly newspaper founded by an alliance of women engaged in feminist politics and men in the self-styled ‘revolutionary left.’ They aimed to establish parity in the production process and give full support to the Women’s Liberation Movement. Launched in October 1971, 7 Days ran until May 1972. During that time, Kelly contributed articles and illustrations to several issues. These images and headlines present a far more specific and mundane chronicle of the events that defined the early years of women’s liberation in contrast to the archetypal images presented in the larger works. Runs thru 5/28/16.

presents the “Artist as Subject.” One of the artists whose work takes center stage in this exhibition is Jane Szabo with her “Self Portrait as Self Investigation” (image right). This Los Angeles based photographer created a body work that pushes the boundaries of traditional self portraiture by finding new ways to express personal identity. In a intimate narrative that also speaks to how women construct their identities in society, Szabo photographs her struggles with order that is imposed from outside but also from within. She photographs dresses she has created from familiar objects such as coffee filters, road maps and dental x-rays. The carefully constructed dresses give us insight into who the artist is, is not or wishes to be. This in turn invites the viewer to contemplate these connections and to create their own mythology. Runs 5/7/16 thru 7/24/16.