Solar Spectrum
Large Crowd Attends Opening of Tony Clark's Celebration of Summer at MD Gallery on West Third.
More than 100 people crowded into MD Gallery on West Third in WeHo last night, to see Solar Spectrum, a new exhibition celebrating the arrival of summer. Curator Tony Clark, a Chevalier in the French l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contributions to culture and cultural inheritances, invited artists to enjoy and reflect in their art the colors that summer brings.
"We intended Solar Spectrum to encompass all the rays of the Sun: all its varieties and shades from light to dark, from morning to sunset", - he said.
Each of the prize winners and honorary mentions responded to this theme with visual images that spoke with a distinctive, personal nonverbal voice. We are very proud that Tony Clark curated this exhibition; he has an amazing eye for beauty. We are also very happy that such a crowd showed up the opening reception last night. Old friends came and new friends, too.
O
ur First Prize winner, Felice Willat's photograph, Molokai Maiden, captures a meditative spirit of Hawaii, showing in her photo three young women absorbed in their own world. What you see is not a product of Photoshop; she caught this moment suddenly as if by magic.
Second Prize went to Lucie Hinden' Sun Day. She created an amazing combination of summer colors and textures, reflecting the dance of parasols, as in caleidoscop,
using collage and abstract motives interlaced with figurative motives and painting.
Third Place went to hyper-realistic, black and white charcoal drawings by Dan Pyle, catching all the details of shades and shadows; in Dan's crushed aluminum cans, we can see the shadow reflections of the sun.
The honorary mentions were similarly special and unique.
In his Cosmos series Dimitry Demchenko symbolizes the universe of feelings by suns reflected in an ocean. Jenik Cook, working in the dripping Jackson Pollock manner, produces summer garden landscapes.
Lana Sokoloff's big, round, beautiful shapes reminds us about summer flowers and project intuition and spontaneity. In an even more abstract direction, Shula Arbel's little squares, like fragments and molecules of sunlight sparkling on water and on trees after a rain, burst with an enjoyment of color.
Kathryn Donatelli's realistic, still life pears are soaked in summer light, vibrant with juice. Jane Serebrenikov's realistic, professionally etched miniatures catch the subtle movement of souls with a vivid imagination and sense of humor – in her universe, a nail can fall in love with a rose.
Mark Pol, who who sent his art from Switzerland, reflects perhaps the very center of the sun, its heart, where everything is born. John Waiblinger reflects the sheer pleasure that human beings experiences in summer when flowers stretch out like blankets. Thomas Myrdahl reflects both human beings and animals in bright colors and occasionally grotesque accents.
While Galina Kovshilovsky and Linda Kunik respond to the cosmic relationships of Earth and Sun, Olesya Volk connects with earth and trees, inhabiting them with multiple souls. J. Natasha Kostan uses traditional collage techniques of images and letters to deliver a happy celebrating summer mood, whereas Elizabeth Parent presents a new type of digital collage using photos and Japanese characters to deliver a mood of youthful turmoil.
Solar Spectrum runs June 9 to July 9, 2015 MD Gallery, 7952 West Third Street Los Angeles. CA 90048
Call Eva Perez, new gallery owner at (310) 227-2869 and make an appointment to see this unque exhibit!