FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“L.A. Woman”
Lisa Adams, Kim McCarty, Meg Crantston, Jill Giegerich and Becky Guttin
March 25 – May 22, 2004
Opening Reception: Thursday March 25, 2004 7pm – 10pm
Gallery C
1225 Hermosa Ave. Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
Tel, 310-798-0102; Fax, 310-798-0039
For enquires please contact Gallery Manager, Lara Cosman
E-mail, <nancy@galleryc.com>
Web site, <http://www.galleryc.com>
Hours, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 11am - 6pm; Thursday 11am to 8pm; Sunday 12pm – 5pm
Please direct e-mail inquiries about the exhibition to the gallery’s address (above); DO NOT use “Reply” button, it will send to ArtScene.
Jill Giegerich, Untitled (detail), 1999, photocopy on paper, rope, copper
plate, emery grit, papier mache, acrylic paint, 90 x 58 x 12”.
“LA Woman” Exhibition Presents Intimate Visual Conversations with Los Angeles’ Most Prolific Female Contemporary Artists
Lisa Adams, Kim McCarty, Meg Cranston, Jill Giegerich and Becky Guttin will Exhibit a Rare Group Show at Gallery C
(February, 2004 – Los Angeles, CA) Those following the contemporary art scene for the past few years will recognize the momentum surrounding an enormous body of work produced by Lisa Adams, Kim McCarty, Meg Cranston, Jill Giegerich and Becky Guttin. Each of these talented women has weathered the fickle fields of the art circuit to truly become both the inspiration and vision for California’s contemporary art movement. Gallery C’s newest exhibition, “LA Woman” (March 25 – May 22, 2004), highlights the works of these influential Los Angeles painters.
As visual thinkers that truly provoke compelling dialogues, these women epitomize what it means to be an artist. By pushing the boundaries, creating controversy and inspiring thought, discussion and change, seek to awaken the consciousness of the public. “LA Woman” pays homage to the experiences, contributions and art produced by Adams, McCarty, Cranston, Giegerich and Guttin. The exhibition’s selected works address sexuality and humanity, as well as the artist’s interpretation of nature in a technological world.
Until the beginning of the contemporary art movement, many female artists throughout history had to rely on their relationships with male artists to gain exposure for their work. Either as a wife (Georgia O'Keefe, Lee Krasner), a mistress (Camille Claudel) or a daughter (Artemisia), these talented artists were first branded 'women' and second 'painters.'
The Feminist artists of the 1970s and 1980s came a long way in breaking down gender barriers, often featuring the struggles of those who came before them in their art. Commentary on women's roles and traditional women's work confronted viewers in the photos by Nan Golden and Cindy Sherman, the bold text of conceptual artist Barbara Kruger and the noted installation from Judy Chicago’s "The Dinner Party". “LA Woman” artists Adams, McCarty, Cranston, Giegerich and Guttin follow the tradition of extending and breaking boundaries, which began thirty years ago, and continue to inspire conversations about the world in which we live.
Much of the draw of Lisa Adams’ quirky works lie in their underlying social commentary. Often whimsical and sometimes dark, her clever paintings poke fun at human sexuality, the entertainment industry and pop culture. “My art explores ideas about the contentious relationships between abstraction and story-telling. It points to a kind of symbolism which pursues a contemporary view of the use of signifiers or subjects, in art. I use contrasting surface techniques to communicate different aspects of consciousness and existence,” states Adams.
Having exhibited at numerous museums and galleries, Adams is a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship. She has been an artist-in-residence in Slovenia, Finland, Japan, Holland and Costa Rica. Adams teaches at Otis College of Art and Design and is a resident of Los Angeles.
Joining Adams’ art are Kim McCarty’s symbolic portraits which exhibit a preoccupation with transitional states. Her works evoke feelings of hope, defiance and a sense of vulnerability. Her paintings are almost voyeuristic in their intensity of the subject’s expressions and their stark setting. McCarty explains, “I have always been interested in trying to identify an expression that suggests both longing and loss. I am interested in the adolescent expression, which exhibits fragility and vulnerability.”
Born in Los Angeles, McCarty has been painting for twenty years. She has exhibited internationally in both galleries and museums. McCarty attended Art Center College of Design and received her Master of Fine Arts from University of California, Los Angeles.
Another artist, Meg Cranston, has been investigating aspects of body and soul for several years’ with energy and wit. Recent shows have featured drawings and sculptures of bad teeth and their imagined physiognomic significance, a large composite photograph of an average-size American, and a performance about the life of Marvin Gaye. Cranston's work often combines text and imagery from popular culture.
Cranston muses, “Most of my recent works have been objects that have implied action. That is most clear in the group of works entitled “Magical Death”. Literally, I have created piñatas of myself. For me, creating the works and eventually seeing them used is a way to rehearse suffering and death.”
Showing internationally since 1988, Cranston has been the recipient of a New School of Social Research Faculty Development Grant, an artist grant from the Penny McCall Foundation, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a faculty research grant from the Center for Asian American Studies at UCLA. She lives in Los Angeles and teaches at Otis College of Art.
The thought-provoking installations and paintings of fellow “LA Woman” artist Jill Giegerich have been met with critical acclaim for a number of years. Ever prolific, Giegerich’s newest body of work continues to examine the human condition. By not specifying a particular gender, her androgynous works speak to larger issues in life, which are equally experienced by both sexes. According to Giegerich, “My work has always played in the arena of the subliminal. I make objects that exist between an implied potential to bring closure and the actual refusal of the work to do so. Imagine coming upon an interesting face in a public place; something compelling bleeds to the surface, but can never be known. My work has the same intention as myth; its virtues bloom in the rumination of the spectator.”
Born in New York, Giegerich lives in Los Angeles and teaches at University of California, Riverside. Her works have been exhibited extensively at galleries and museums around the world.
Mexican sculptor Becky Guttin creates works that humanize our relationship to nature. Guttin’s sculptures, objects, installations and assemblages are created from a wide diversity of materials, such as plant forms and raw industrial waste materials. Her work attempts to draw forth cultural and spiritual meaning in objects that were once forgotten and now, newly formed. When placed together in a gallery setting, her pieces evoke a sense of history, provocative beauty and daily observances, which leave the viewer humbled by the beauty in common materials.
Born in Mexico City, Guttin has exhibited at galleries and museums around the world. She has lectured and taught at prestigious institutions and received numerous awards for her works.
Gallery C in Hermosa Beach is Southern California’s newest cultural destination. The gallery presents contemporary painting, sculpture and installation works by both emerging and established artists who live and work in California. Gallery C is located at 1225 Hermosa Avenue in Hermosa Beach, CA. Public hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Thursday, 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; and Sunday, 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The gallery is closed on Mondays. Public parking is available in the structure that is immediately to the north of the building. For further information, the public may visit <http://www.galleryc.com/> or contact Gallery C Executive Director Nancy Silverman-Miles at (310) 798-0102.
