FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Vivian Flynn
“Urgency of Being”
February 19 - March 19, 2005
Reception: Saturday, February 19, 7-10pm
Artist dialogue: Saturday, March 5 - 8:00pm
Chouinard School of Art Gallery
1020 Mission Street, South Pasadena, CA 91030
626.799.0826 office / 626.799.0017 fax
E-mail, <info@chouinardfoundation.org>
Web site <http://www.chouinardfoundation.org>
Hours, open daily 11:00am-7:00pm
Vivian Flynn, “Urgency of Being”, Oil on Aluminum, 37” x 53”.
An Artist Comes Into Being
There’s a lot happening on Mission Street, and those in the know are well aware of what’s been going on at the Chouinard School of Art. Now in its Winter session, Chouinard has brought the area its unique art class offerings, an eclectic store offering one of a kind gift items and art supplies, and more recently free film nights (in conjunction with Videotheque, South Pasadena’s premiere rental outlet for film aficionados).
Opening Saturday, February 19, Chouinard is pleased to present “Urgency of Being”, paintings by Vivian Flynn. Flynn, a graduate of the original Chouinard (1966-1970), has the distinct honor of not only currently teaching at Chouinard, but also serves as Director of the Junior Arts Program. Students of Flynn’s are quite familiar with her warm and sensitive style of teaching. For Flynn, art and life are intrinsically linked. According to Flynn “art brings you to your senses”.
Her early training at Chouinard has certainly been a major component in her continued evolution as an artist. Like many of the Chouinard artists passionately involved with the Mission Street school, the early experiences at the original school (founded by Nelbert Chouinard in 1921) not only trained them as artists, but imbued them with a larger sense of an artist’s responsibility in the world. “Some thirty years later I realize that the unspoken bonds between myself and fellow Chouinard graduates has risen in my consciousness and is more apparent and tangible over time. I feel we each walked away uniquely imprinted even though that imprint escapes definition for me. It continues to unfold and as a Chouinard graduate I can continue to witness and participate in a legacy that encourages the spirit of seeing” says Flynn.
Flynn’s current work, on view through March 19, shows her trademark constructed sanctuaries. Using a variety of media, she masterfully incorporates polished metal and common, everyday objects (beans, rice, seeds) to create what she calls “a luminous, organic braille; a silvered archive awaiting its exposure to light and touch”. Flynn seeks to preserve and celebrate her sense of place and voice within our natural world, while deeply coded messages, stored in time and memory, are inherent in each work.
Her structures are at once physical (the hand of the artist is always present) and deeply personal. The intimate work of this artist, which easily combines the mundane with the more heroic aspects of art-making, conveys the simple yet elusive purpose of expression: The artist, as keen observer, and the ability to create meditative, thought provoking, and aesthetically challenging works of art. Nelbert Chouinard would be proud.
There will be an artist dialogue on Saturday, March 5 - 8:00pm.
For more information contact 626-799-0826 or visit Chouinard at <http://www.chouinardfoundation.org>.
