FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Metro Gallery presents:
“Off in the Distance”
October 4 – November 1, 2006
Opening reception: Saturday, October 7, 6-10pm
1835 Hyperion Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027
Contact: Juan Garcia
(323) 663-2787
E-mail, juan@metrogallery.org
Web site, http://www.metrogallery.org
Gallery hours, Tuesday – Saturday, 1-7pm
(top) Mary-Austin Klein, "Long Shadows Eureka Valley", 2006, Oil on Dura-Lar mounted on board, 6.25" x 17.5".
(bottom) Diane Best, "Cadiz Road, Old Woman Mountains", 2006, Acrylic on Canvas mounted on wood, 5" x 48".
artists use creative talents to promote preservation of fragile landscapes
LOS ANGELES, CA – Metro Gallery is proud to announce “Off in the Distance” featuring landscape paintings by Diane Best and Mary-Austin Klein. The artists will present their latest series of dramatic landscape paintings inspired from deserts in the southwestern states. The landscape paintings capture the awe and grandeur of the secluded locations of the wilderness and reveal the artists’ passion and ardor for the preserved and untouched natural world that remains. The exhibit is based on a series of explorations and trips taken within the summer of last year and winter and spring of this year.
“Off in the Distance” being the second exhibition featuring artists Klein and Best at Metro Gallery, will unveil approximately 30 paintings for the exhibit that will run from October 4, 2006 to November 1, 2006. An opening reception will be on Saturday, October 7, 2006 from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
About the Artists
Diane Best has traveled to some of the most remote locations within deserts of the Southwest to fully surround herself in the receptivity and aesthetics of the environment. Best’s paintings are rich, vivid and inspiring, through her skilled use of color and light derived from her observation of natural landscapes. “Seeking some of the more remote, uninhabited and overlooked corners of the desert, I am interested in preserving or recording a single incredible moment of converging light and landscape while enjoying the space, beauty and quietness of the desert,” describes Best.
Diane Best’s work has been presented solo and group exhibitions in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Hampshire, New York as well as Boston. Recently, her work has been profiled in publications like, “Lifescapes; West Coast Art & Design,” The Desert Trail,” and “The High-Desert Star,” as well as the art book “This Face You Got.”
Mary-Austin Klein meticulously rendered landscape paintings featuring expansive desert skies and luminous mountain ranges. Her signature small-scale “landscape portraiture” captures a beauty beyond realism. Through these paintings she transports the desert to others who might not be aware of the scenic panoramas that exists in remote untouched landscapes. With the deserts being some of the last pristine regions and vulnerable to the expansion of bordering urban areas she felt the need to document and promote the soul of the western landscape. “The question of what is out there, off in the distance, creates a ceaseless yearning for escape, adventure and discovery. My paintings come directly from these explorations, states Klein.
The Desert Trail newspaper, LA Architect Magazine and The Desert Legacy Guide to the Wild Mojave published by the California Wilderness Coalition have featured and profiled Mary-Austin Klein for her work.
About Metro Gallery
Metro Gallery is a full-service art gallery located at 1835 Hyperion Avenue in Silverlake, California. Gallery hours are from 1 – 7pm, Tuesday through Saturday. For more information on this exhibit opening and upcoming exhibits, contact the gallery at (323) 663-2787 or visit http://www.metrogallery.org.
