BERGAMOT STATION — bG Gallery presents Spectrum-Gestalt at its new space in Bergamot Station this Saturday, March 22.
The gallery recently decided to acquire a second space in Santa Monica.
Om Bleicher, gallery director and co-curator of the current show happened to have an appointment at a nearby gallery, when he saw the space.
"The configuration just called for this exhibit," which will feature variations of a single color, Bleicher said.
Spectrum-Gestalt is co-curated by Daniel Rolnik, who met Bleicher through another show.
"We e-mail each other poems rather than traditional dialogues about art," Rolnik said. "So curating a show with Om is an artwork in and of itself."
Venice photographer and artist J.J. L'Heureux's paintings will be featured as part of the exhibition. L'Heureux first started her Bergy Bits series in 2000 after returning from her first expedition to Antarctica. She continues to return each season.
"The Bergy Bits are evolving," L'Heureux said. "For me they contain the spirit I feel in Antarctica that speaks with the wind, the cracks of startling booms as icebergs calve into the sea and the silence of a place devoid of industrial sounds."
L'Heureux also works in other mediums since oil takes time to dry. Very often she will work in several mediums — mixed media/collage, photography and painting — all at the same time. When asked how often she works on her Bergy Bit series, she said, "Not as often as I would like."
"Each expedition to Antarctica takes about six weeks. Upon returning to my studio I have much to catch up with," she added. "With a number of one-person exhibitions this year, each with reception and talks, I have a full schedule for the next two years."
This April, G2 Gallery will feature the photography of L'Heureux as part of a group nature exhibit. For more information, visit jjlheureux.com and penguinspirit.com
Another artist to be featured in the opening is Julienne Johnson, who recently returned from Thailand as part of the Thailand/USA 2014 exhibit, hosted by Dr. Kamol Tassananchalee, coordinated with Lydia Takeshita of LA Artcore Gallery. The exchange featured 15 artists from the U.S. along with six Thai national artists, including Tassananchalee. Johnson was part of an elite group as a guest of the government.
"We had privy to situations few tourists could ever experience," Johnson said. "Imagine! The king sent The Palace Dancers to perform for us at the opening reception. Even their costumes were stunning art pieces."
Two of Johnson's paintings have been accepted into the permanent collections of both the Thaskin University Museum, Songkhia Province and the Ratchadamnoen Museum in Kraby Province. The International Gallery at Rachadamnoen is putting her work on permanent exhibition in their International Gallery.
Bleicher was drawn to Johnson's "# 11" artwork from her TOUCHED series, which is as much about materials as it is about paint.
"By employing collage," said art critic Peter Frank, "Johnson not only signals her interest in the world outside the studio, but directly engages that world in her art. Her art becomes no mere reflection of contemporary life, but becomes a physical part of life's tissue — and vice versa."
For more information, visit juliennejohnson.com
The exhibit will run through April 8. The opening reception for Spectrum-Gestalt will take place March 22 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at bG Gallery (space G8A) at Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave. For more information, call (310) 906 4211 or visit santamonica.bgartdealings.com
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