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Repost: Ralph Bacerra

Today I am participating in Seth's Buried Treasure 2010. It's a post on his great blog listing other wonderful art bloggers who are reposting one of their favorite past posts.

I decided to repost this on Ralph Bacerra who I was lucky enough to take a class with a million years ago at Otis Parsons (well, that's what it was called back then) here in LA. He was a great teacher and would have been an encouraging mentor if I chosen ceramics to major in. His work is wonderful!

In June I read that Ralph Bacerra had passed away and I felt a huge pang of sadness. You see, he was one of my teachers when I went to school at Otis. The ceramics department at Otis was probably the smallest of the Fine Arts and Ralph was the head of it. I fell in love with hand building and was thinking about majoring in ceramics. I liked Ralph very much and knew that he would give me a lot of individual attention if I did. He was very encouraging even though I was terrible at the wheel.

When I first came back to LA I went to the Getty and they have a large collection of California ceramics. I saw some of Ralph's work there and it felt like seeing an old friend. I remember the first time I saw some of his work. It was like seeing your parents have sex. The shock and intimacy of his work, when I was used to him just being my teacher, was a revelation.

The pieces I saw at this show today were delicate, even painterly because Ralph was so influenced by Asian patterns and motifs. Each piece has a special perfection to it; you feel a master at work here.

I love this quote that Ralph said about his work "There is no meaning or metaphor. I am committed to the idea of pure beauty. When it is finished, the piece should be like an ornament, exquisitely beautiful." I think that is it's own kind of spirituality.

Ralph Bacerra at Frank Lloyd

James Nares

These larger than life paintings are gorgeous pieces that draw the viewer into their space. As you come closer, the images seem more likely to have been printed onto the canvas than to be actual paint. Yet that is not the case. Each fluid brush stroke feels suspended in air as apparently the artist is when he creates the paintings. The stroke glimmers, curves in sensuous movement. At times feeling smoke, air, or an unknown force. While a single color is used on each painting, that color on a dark background fades and intensifies. You can feel the light moving through movement.

See these pieces online at Kohn Gallery or in person through August 21.

Elizabeth Patterson

Elizabeth Patterson creates images using colored pencil as her medium. Her technique is so impeccable, you can't help but be impressed. At first glance you could easily think these are photos or paintings.

The colored pencil adds a softness that I don't think any other medium can. It's subtle. The sharpness that can be almost harsh that comes from the digital photograph is not missed here. The colors are incredibly vibrant contrasted with muted grays or dark blacks.

What you also see is incredible composition. After several minutes of looking the shapes become an excuse for form, geometric shapes and movement. The third piece above is is almost Kandinsky-esque in it's composition.

All of this technique is put together to create images of LA streets at day or night, seen through the windshield of a car. It's meaningful that these images of LA would be viewed from a car since most Angelenos spend so much time driving. We experience so many of our visions and impressions through this small window, behind the wheel of our cars. The rain drops on the wind shield act like a beautiful and dreamy metaphor for the way our perceptions are influenced by the things that cloud, decorate or simply exist in our sight. Our view is altered by by an external presence.

These pieces are dreamy but not romantic. Visually they are striking. They bring much alive in my feelings for the city I love.

This show is at Louis Stern Fine Arts through August 28.

Click here to go to Elizabeth Patterson's website.

Rick Araluce

These pieces are miniature constructions, the largest being 16" x 8" x 3.75". They are tiny shadow boxes that hint at something dark and unspoken, perhaps forgotten or unfinished. More than any other artist I can think of, these boxes follow in the tradition of Joseph Cornell. Not in theme because Cornell's pieces tended to be more abstract and magical, but in their construction and attention to detail in addition to the allusion to a story the viewer must create. The crumbling paint falling off of a wall, the dirt on the floor, the scratches on a door, all visually gorgeous details that make me look way past the obvious. So many hints at what was or might have been; phone lines that lead to strange places, the outside of a door that appears to have days tallied on it, a blood stain... all gestures to a story that can only be imagined.

Also important to know is that the artist fabricates every piece in each box. It appears most artist use found objects or toy miniatures but this artist has said that he loves to build and fabricate and it's clear, the story is in the details.

Wonderful show at La Luz de Jesus

or check out the artists website here

Nancy Rubins

Not many LA galleries can accommodate Nancy Rubins huge sculpture of canoes. An unlikely material for sculpture, it was hard for me to predict that I would like these pieces. But walking into the gallery room, I felt the awe and transformation of them. After walking under and around them, I felt like I could be in an airplane hanger or train station. Or a strange adaptation of the lake boathouse I had once wandered into in Austin. I have no personal history with boats yet I felt the stories that exist with each scratch and ding on the canoe's hulls. Interesting too, the taunt lines of cord that held the boats together along with the angles created by the shapes of the boats, made me aware of the drawing quality the sculptures created. In another gallery upstairs were the collages Nancy produced using photos of the boats. These too were reminiscent of drawings because the forms and shadows created such strong lines.

You can see more at the Gagosian site here.

Jim McHugh

I love LA. And I love work that captures even a few of the city's many moods. This show captured the recent history, noir and mystery of the city. Using a large format polaroid camera the images are often soft and blurry, the colors muted or sepia toned. All perfectly reflect LA's past and present.

You can see more here at Timothy Yarger Fine Art or Jim McHugh's website here.