Keeping up with Kathryn Jaroneski: New Work, New Studio

Kathryn Jaroneski is an abstract painter who lives in Los Angeles. I really enjoyed her solo show "Looking for something and maybe almost finding it" in Silverlake. Since then she's shown some more, and she was accepted into Roland Reiss' Painting's Edge, the advanced painting residency in Idyllwild, California.


Now she's got a new studio, and she's doing new things. Her sharp instinct for color and composition threads through her work as she explores brighter shades and experiments with technique.


:: bogna ::

Rolling along with Bucky

I think we all know I have a soft spot for animals and road trips, (my recent solo show SAFARI AMERICANA: SCENES OF DELIGHT pretty much proves it), and I recently saw another artist's take on those two subjects that are close to my heart, so I'd like to introduce you to David Dechant's Bucky Rolls Like That (pictured below).


Bucky Rolls Like That is an ode to Rauschenburg, since there is the presence of taxidermy, there is a tire, and the lines between sculpture and painting are blurred (see Rauschenburg's "Monogram" pictured right). Dechant adds a playfulness to his subject. The vibrant pigments painted on the bear's fur, nose, and even tongue, give the beast a surreal beauty and humor. David also painted the tire treads white and repeated their geometry in three substantial panels mounted on the wall behind the piece, using that visual language to promise us a nice flowing ride. And by adding exaggerated, ornamental low-rider style handlebars, Dechant poses the question, is Bucky the bear simply roadkill? or is he actually in control of the ride?

And by using Rauschenberg's Combines as a point of departure, David is practicing his own manifesto he calls Varyism by arranging art objects spatially in order to construct intellectual, not physical, relationships. Bucky Rolls Like That is constructed as an interactive arrangement, where the visceral and the elegant can coexist.

:: bogna ::

Getttin' ready for SAFARI AMERICANA

Yes, it's just around the corner. 'It' being SAFARI AMERICANA: Scenes of Delight, my solo show this summer at Gallery 825 in Los Angeles. I'm excited that I get to have the big space that I wanted in the back, and I get to fill it. And I will. With big, fun colorful images taken with toy cameras from my road tripping. And it's analog, baby. Except for the multimedia component of course. But it's mostly large format color photographs dominating the walls with the images that dominated me when I saw them in "real" life. And since I am about to experience a very rewarding process both as a visual artist and as a filmmaker, I am pulling up my sleeves, rubbing my hands together, and giggling on the inside. I cannot wait!

Ready for Art Therapy?...and other notions

So, I joined up with artist Quinton Bemiller's gallery tour at Bergamot station, and I wanted to share some of the highlights from it that spoke to me. (Quinton is an accomplished and knowledgable artist who speaks about exhibitions like no other guide or docent. His gallery tours are not to be missed.)
I really enjoyed seeing the luminous work of one of the top abstract painters Jimi Gleason at Patricia Faure Gallery. Reminiscent of Rothko, in the sense that you could just sit there and meditate in front of large fields of color for days, but with a textured and unique application of oil paint which made it feel fresh, real, and intriguing.

I was also impressed by the showing in Shoshana Wayne Gallery of the work of Brad Spence. Inspired by clinical psychology, his show "Art Therapy" has a relaxing and healing quality true to its name. As soon as I walked into the space I felt instantly relaxed. And, like with the work of Gleason, I felt my eyes relax as I gazed deeply into and almost past these paintings - the way it feels when I look at the horizon outdoors. I suppose that is the feeling of infinity, and if I can feel it in a painting, that's something.

The work of Susan Woodruff at William Turner Gallery was a fun fluid romp, kind of like looking like a Georgia O'Keefe painting underwater.

But it was the work of David Allan Peters at Ruth Bachofner Gallery at our last stop at Bergamot Station that really took the cake. Ruth came out and spoke to us about Peters' work, which was a real treat. Imagine the patience of painting layer upon layer upon layer upon layer, then using handmade tools to carve out shapes that expose beautiful rings of color in minimal elegant composition...and that's just for the paintings....then, gather the carved-out bits and make a colorful sculptures too. Talk about eye candy. It is, simply put, rockstar friggin' awesome.

:: bogna ::

Looking for Something

If you are looking for an antidote to the kitsch trend in art this summer, then look just a little further, like towards Hyperion and Rowena in Silverlake, CA.
"Looking for something and maybe almost finding it" is the title of Kathy Jaroneski's solo exhibition at the Silverlake Neighborhood Council.
Her paintings have a quality of seeing both through and far into an introspective reality.
The color composition is bold and soothing at the same time, like good design, but the forms, strokes, and drips of paint have a motion which makes the paintings come alive.
There is a tension in her work, a dichotomy where discipline meets emotion. Color logic rules over expressive brushstrokes in "Silvia's Lake", while a light palette serves to offset an aubergine storm in "Aubergine #2". It lulls you in then shakes you up. Definitely a must for anyone seeking some emotional authenticity in a season of empty blockbusters and subprime refinancing.

On another note, let's hear it for seeing something you weren't really looking for in the first place, and would rather not have seen, but now that you have you can't help but grin a little. I found myself grinning at the Claremont Museum of Art when I saw this sculpture. You get the picture. You should see what the artist Amy Maloof did to a shopping cart as well.

Enjoy the heat and keep looking.

:: bogna ::