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I’m taking classes at El Camino this semester, cleaning up my much abused academic record, and preparing to finally go about getting my BA in something…  So spending time in and taking photos of the ECC art gallery shows is awfully convenient.

Impressions, The Printed Image is apparently a really popular show on campus.  I was in the gallery office today, shooting the breeze, and Susanna Meiers and Michael Miller, the Gallery Director and Exhibition Preparator, mentioned that the gallery seems to be experiencing exceptional traffic for this show.  So kudos to them.  Impressions is a great example of the kind of curation that I learned working under Susanna for four years.  You have a mission - showcase art for the student population at ECC.  You find a way to follow that mission, without compromising the quality of work in the gallery.  You use works that are easily accessible to draw your audience towards works that require more investment, or are more conceptual.  You balance shows that are more conventional like this one against risky shows of aggressively experimental installation works by solo artists.  Working within a gallery’s mission, especially when that gallery is a pubic or municipal space, can be tough, it can be emasculating.  Or it can be an opportunity to deliver tremendous work that’s incredibly relevant to the audience you serve.

The show doesn’t have a web page of its own that I can find, except for a page listing the artists participating in the exhibition.  They are Jessica Dunne, Jocelyn Foye, Mark Greenfield, Yunsun Lee, Besty Lohrer-Hall, Robin McCloskey, Phyllis McGibbon, Patrick Merrill, Kamran Moojedi, Annette Owens, Victor Raphael, Laura Stickney, Richard Wagener, Medora Wildenberg and Thomas Wojak.  Here’s a link to my Flickr set of images from the exhibition.  The show is up right now, and there’s a reception this Thursday, 7-9 PM.  There’s also a talk with Artist Betsy Lohrer hall next Tuesday (the 18th) at 1 PM.  I’m not missing that.  Below are some highlights from the show.

Above - Betsy Lohrer-Hall, Sweeping Light with a Broom - Let’s start with Betsy, since she’s so awesome. Betsy is one of my favourite people. Beyond simply liking this piece for the aesthetics - Betsy has a way of bringing a quiet subtlety to anything, she could make an A-bomb seem quiet and contemplative - I’m so proud that a aspects of this piece were completed and made possible through the printmaking residency that we gave her at Angels Gate (here’s a link to the interview my intern did with her during her residency). I was in the studio the day after she pulled the red slip image that’s in this piece, and it’s gorgeous. The piece is also accompanied by a great big label that’s really informative about the piece.

Above - Kamran Mojedi, Nelson Mandela - I’m really attracted to this image, and work that shows the electronic hand of various plotter programs in general.

Above - Jocelyn Foye, Goodyear Blimp Performance and Swimmer Performance - I may have butchered/mangled the titles on these works, forgive me. Several of the artists in this exhibition are ECC faculty, and Jocelyn is one of them. I’ve seen Jocelyn’s blimp piece in her studio, and I think it really shines in the gallery. I’ve had the pleasure of working with her twice over the past year, and I’m really enjoying seeing how her work is developing. I can’t wait to work with her again.

Above - Laura Stickney, Lincoln Beachey - Lincoln Beachey, according to Wikipedia, was a pioneer American aviator and early star performer. This piece, by Laura Stickney is a beautiful book containing a poem about him.

Above - Patrick Merrill, 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse - Based upon four huge woodcuts, Merrill’s 4 Horsemen is a really impressive technical achievement, in addition to an excellent piece of political art. This piece was in a Jean Clad curated exhibition Master Printers, at the Municipal Art Gallery about a year ago. I did the exhibition design for that show, and this piece is big, big, big in person. It wasn’t possible to shoot the image there because the space was so narrow, so I’m really glad that I got to shoot it here and share it as well. It was one of the stand out pieces in both that show and this exhibition.

Technorati Tags: Jocelyn Foye, Partick Merrill, Laura Stickney, Betsy Lohrer-Hall, Kamran Mojedi, El Camino College, El Camino College Art Gallery, art, printmaking, prints, art exhibition, exhibition