News of the World

Time marches on and I am currently in a show at PCC, where I teach Contemporary Art. The show is called "News of the World: A fraction of the artists who teach at PCC" -- it will be up through September 30 at the Pasadena City College Art Gallery. Here is the front of the card:



The interesting thing about this is that it features a photo of Howard Carter and his team of archaeologists opening the fourth chamber of King Tut's tomb. What this has to do with the show I'm not sure, but in two weeks I will be teaching Egypt in the other class I teach, the art history survey from ancient to modern. . . .

The show itself is a group show that includes a lot of very interesting work by other adjuncts in the Visual and Media Arts Division at PCC. I submitted a small photo/textile piece called "Arroyo rakusu". Rakusus are symbolic, handsewn bib-like wearable patchwork squares that stand in for robes and symbolize Buddhists' refuge in the precepts. I like to think about taking refuge in nature, and the greenery of the Arroyo Seco is refreshing so soon after the fires.

"Bringing the Past to Light" recap

I had a blast curating this show. The artists were great and I was very happy with my own piece, too. To start with, here are some pictures (thanks, Kevin Hass) of my installation, "Dirty Laundry" -- it is a clothesline hung with domestic linens covered with photos of some of the various women in Charles Lummis's life, "acknowledging the experience and points of view of the many women who comprised Lummis's domestic circle, supporting the household with their work and devotion."

Lummis had three wives and was a notorious womanizer. Harvard educated, Lummis is best known as a man of letters in love with the West and a founder of the Southwest Museum in Highland Park. He launched his career during the 1870s by walking from Ohio to Los Angeles in street shoes, on his own, and writing a book about the experience. He also married three times, brought a daughter from another liaison to live with him, and collected dozens of photographs of the women in his life who entertained him and kept him on track. I wanted to bring their contributions to light by including their words and images in my installation.

Little vacation from blog --

So, I confess, Facebook has sucked my attention away from keeping this poor blog current!! I am not really a dedicated "blogger" in the "blogging community" anyway -- but I still like to have a place to post things about art activities and other things. My last post was in April -- even though there is no catching up, here are a few posts that cover what's been going on. . . .

"Bringing the Past To Light" is coming --

So the show at the Lummis home is moving forward -- and we have an electronic announcement.

In addition to doing a lot of curatorial work on the show, I have started my own piece. Here is a description of my project:

"My installation will be designed to mark both conceptual and physical space in behalf of the women who helped to create and sustain the lifestyle of Charles Lummis, man of letters and sometimes notorious bohemian resident of the Arroyo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These women included his three wives, Dorothea Rhodes, Eva Frances Douglas and Gertrude Redit; an out-of-wedlock daughter, Bertha Belle Page, who cared for him in his old age; and numerous and frequently nameless assistants, “secretaries” and maids who supported the household through their work and devotion to Lummis and his extended family. These women bore the burden in various ways of Lummis’s reputation as a lifelong womanizer, and in “bringing the past to light” it is important to acknowledge their experiences and points of view as members of Lummis’s domestic circle."

I am going to string a clothesline in an area of the grounds near the bedroom and hang a series of pillowcases on the clothesline, each with a photo image and/or a caption ironed on – each photo or caption referencing the experience or remarks of one of the women in Lummis’s orbit relating to their experience of life with Lummis.

Bringing the Past To Light

A photo (by Kevin Hass/Cidne Hart) of the Charles Lummis home in Highland Park, site of the AAC's spring installation project. Lummis was a Harvard-educated man of letters who walked to Los Angeles during the late 19th century and proceeded to learn about the local indigenous culture and live a cultivated life in his own singular fashion. This is the home he built by hand from concrete and river rock -- the center of his literary activities, explorations into photography, and "noises" (meetings of his bohemian salon). We have received over two dozen proposals and are looking forward to an intriguing show. Details to come.

Artist Talk at Avenue 50

As a spin-off of the exhibition "SAA Squared", Avenue 50 Studio is hosting an artists' talk tomorrow (Sunday, March 22) from 2 to 4 -- if you haven't seen the show yet, it is a collection of works in "fiber art" that are all smaller than 12" x 12." Makers range from highly skilled fiber artists to mixed media artists (like me) who use fabric in their work. I will be there and look forward to an interesting discussion!

Fiber show at Avenue 50

I have some new textile work based on domestic memories and a Mother Goose theme at Avenue 50 Studio gallery -- please join us at the opening on Saturday, March 14 in conjunction with NELA Art Night:



“SAA SQUARED”
A JURIED EXHIBITION OF SMALL WORKS IN FIBER

Reception: MARCH 14, 2009 from 7-10 pm

Jurors: Connie Rohman, curator and fiber artist; Kathy Gallegos, Director of Avenue 50 Studio

Honorary Juror and fiber artist Gloria Molina, LA County Supervisor will present the Juror's Choice Award

Nalia Aladdin Sanders, Madeline Bajracharya, Patt Blair, Shelly Brucar, Roberta Chalfy Miller, Phaedra Cheydleur, Joanell Connolly, Maureen M. Cox, Ann Darling, Raoul De La Sota, Jessica Drummond, Jamie Fingal, Dellis Frank, Georgia Freedman-Harvey, Gwen Freeman, Cicely Gilman, Sally Gould Wright, Cidne Hart, Marka Harwell-Bentley, Heather Hoggan, Ruby Horansky, Harumi Iida, Rebecca Janes, Gwen Jones, Georgianne Kandler, Smadar Knobler, Phillippa Lack, Linda Laird, Carol Larson, Susan Lasch Krevitt, Mary Ellen Latino, Sandra E. Lauterbach, Mavis Leahy, Ann Loveless, Pam Lowe, Regina Marzlin, Kathleen McCabe, Linda Miller, Uwimana Moore, Alison Muir, Diane Nunez, Mirjam Pet-Jacobs, Pamela Price Kiebaum, Janett Rice, Ann Ridge, Mary Beth Schwartzenberger, Cynthia St. Charles, Meredith Strauss, Deborah Thomas, Karen Valderrama, E. Vereycken, Binah Waite-Williams, Carol Ann Waugh, Deborah Weir

“SAA Squared”, a small works fiber art exhibition, opens at the Los Angeles art gallery, Avenue 50 Studio on March 14th. Extending through April 5th in the gallery’s main space, this unique fiber arts exhibition is sponsored by the Surface Art Association, an arts organization that promotes fiber art and provides support for local fiber artists.

The “SAA Squared” exhibition gives the viewer a compelling introduction to fiber arts. “There is a current explosion in the use of fiber and textiles in the field of contemporary art”, says Connie Rohman, co-juror, “Fine artists are moving into fiber art because they can do things that they can’t with other mediums, and art quilters have moved away from their traditional roots to approach their work with an arts perspective”.

Artists from all over the world were invited to create small fiber works that are 12” square. Jurors Kathy Mas-Gallegos, director of Avenue 50 Studio, Connie Rohman, curator and fiber artist, and Honorary Juror and fiber artists Gloria Molina, LA County Supervisor, chose work from Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, and Spain, as well as from all over the United States.

“SAA Squared” will be on exhibition from March 14th to April 5, 2009. LA County Supervisor Gloria Molina will present the Juror’s Choice Award at the opening night reception. The opening reception, from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm, Saturday March 14, is part of NELA’s Second Saturday Art Tour in the Highland Park and Eagle Rock neighborhoods of Los Angeles.


Where: Avenue 50 Studio, Inc., 131 N. Avenue 50, Highland Park, CA 90042

When: Saturday, March 14, 2009 from 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Gallery hours: Tuesday through Thursday 10 am – 12 noon, Saturday and Sunday 10 am – 4 pm

Duration: March 14 through April 5, 2009-02-21

For further information, please call 323-258-1435 or visit www.avenue50studio.com