A new exhibition opens at TAG Gallery in Santa Monica today that will run a little less than a month through May 17 featuring local artists Shelley Adler, Sally Jacobs, and Carol Kleinman.
The community is invited to attend the gallery’s opening reception set for this Saturday, April 26 from 5-8 pm.
Adler’s exhibit “Local Color” presents a detailed study in color that simultaneously examines the co-existence of grotesque and manufactured objects within the natural world.
In her exhibit, Adler fuses the colorful and bizarre. Inspired by the traveling carnivals that temporarily occupied her West Adams neighborhood over the past two years, Adler’s paintings pulsate with intensely saturated hues.
Local street signs, eerie clowns, tents, and carnival games create a surreal environment that blurs the line between playful and frightening.
“Carnivals are a perfect storm of lively street life with the blatant primitive aura of a medicine show,” Adler said. “In contrast to this were evenings of wonderful pink, mauve sunsets that were sublime, and a total contrast to the manufactured features of the carnivals and signs.”
It is the dichotomy of this imagery that attracted Adler to her subject matter.
Coupled with the challenge of cataracts and later surgery, Adler said her sense of color changed dramatically as she continued her series.
For watercolor artist Jacobs, dramatizes the defining nature of a range of flowers and succulents is the focus of her new exhibition.
Departing somewhat from traditional botanical art where an entire plant is depicted, Jacobs focuses her viewers’ eyes on a plant’s subtle or unique features.
Whether she’s painting delicate freesia petals, the leathery skin of a pomegranate, or the bold swirl of succulent leaves, Jacobs uses her keen eye and layered watercolor technique to capture incredible detail.
Her work has been exhibited in numerous juried shows in New York and San Francisco; and at museums in Minneapolis and Phoenix.
She was an award winner at the Brand 37 Works on Paper exhibit, and was featured on the CNN show, “Your Money.”
She is one of the artists included in “Today’s Botanical Artists,” a book of contemporary, well-regarded nature artists.
Meanwhile, through the lens of artist Kleinman’s camera, the reflection on a restaurant window at Santa Monica Beach is transformed.
With one single exposure, Kleinman combines interior with exterior. The tables and chairs merge with sand and sky, creating an abstracted world.
Kleinman’s images blend illusion and reality – a door opens as a portal to the shoreline, a superhero keeps watch over bustling sidewalks.
“Reflections fracture, layer and transport visions of reality into the realm of fantasy,” Kleinman said. “They are a common occurrence all around us that most of us don’t notice. I seek and find these visual treasures and say, ‘Look at this!’”
These reflected images are further enhanced as Kleinman prints her work on canvas, creating a textured, painterly effect.
Kleinman has traveled the world capturing reflections on windows in places such as New York, Paris, and Hawaii.
Her current series, “Westside Windows” consists of reflections on the windows of Los Angeles’ Westside.
From the beaches to the farmers markets, to the streets of Venice, these images open doors into a surreal world that nevertheless exists for all to see.
TAG Gallery has scheduled an artist talk and Mother’s Day Open House on Saturday, May 10 from 11 am to 5 pm. An artist talk with the three artists will be held at 3 pm on this day.
TAG Gallery is located at 2525 Michigan Ave. D3 (Bergamot Station), Santa Monica.
Its hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm, and Sundays from noon to 4 pm.
For more information, call 310.829.9556 or visit www.taggallery.net.
