Monthly Archives: April 2014

The gallery is pleased to share Christopher Knight‘s review of Christopher Russell‘s current solo exhibition at the gallery! Says the acclaimed LA Times critic:

Making the best of a bad situation – refreshing lemonade from sour lemons – is a time-honored practice. Christopher Russell performs it once again in a frosty yet lovely show of 27 recent manipulated photographs, plus one large-format handmade book.

The photographic pieces at Mark Moore Gallery begin with the blurs caused when a camera’s lens refracts light and creates a prismatic flash across the image. Aiming his camera skyward, Russell photographs into the network of tree branches overhead. The light flash shatters nature’s sheltering canopy with visual overtones of apocalypse.

Next he folds, spindles and otherwise mutilates the pictures, then spray-paints blasts of white and scratches into the photographic surface (and sometimes the framing glass) with a blade. Sailing ships sink, wolves pace, jungle cats attack and flocks of birds scatter. Floral patterns proliferate like animated Victorian wallpaper. Nostalgia for the past bubbles with hints of determined regeneration in the future.

The handmade book, which features one page with the ominous heading “dead art star,” is a meditation on the seemingly contradictory effort of making art within a collapsing environment – social, cultural and natural. Titled “GRFALWKV,” it bristles with the confounding energy of a resolute Jabberwock: ‘Twas bryllyg, and ye slythy toves / Did gyre and gymble in ye wabe.

See the exhibition before it closes this Saturday, May 3!

If you are planning to attend this weekend’s Paris Photo LA fair (April 24-27 at Paramount Studios), make sure to visit Aperture Foundation’s booth – as they will be showcasing two new limited edition prints by gallery artist, Christopher Russell. Aligning with the artist’s current solo exhibition at the gallery (which closes May 3), the prints have already been the subject of much critical acclaim. Says art critic Shana Nys Dambrot for KCET:

“Christopher Russell will be releasing two print editions through Aperture at their storefront in the New York Backlot D1. Each image is in an edition of 10, but the scratching and drawing on each single piece is unique. The work is related to the current exhibition at Mark Moore Gallery, which examines among other things the potential beauty and emotional power of imperfection, and ‘the handmade origins of bookmaking, imitating the illustrative qualities of crafted manuscripts while also recalling the visual language of contemporary materiality, literature, and design.'”

We congratulate Christopher on this special project, and encourage you to visit both the fair, and the gallery before close of exhibition.

The gallery congratulates Andrew Schoultz on his newly completed mural in Downtown LA’s arts district! Titled “Imperials” (2014), the wall is approximately 26 feet by 130 feet with an additional wrap around on the front of the building that is another 34 feet. The mural took exactly two weeks to complete, and features all of the trademark motifs of Schoultz’s practice – make sure to visit it at 7th and Imperial Street!

In coordination with his exhibition at Azusa Pacific University, Tim Bavington and The Department of Art and Design invite you to a catalog release party and book signing by the featured artist. This event is in conjunction with the ongoing exhibition, “Tim Bavington: Poptimist”, presently on display in the university’s Duke Gallery. The book is a survey of the artist’s most recent bodies of work, with a forward by heralded art critic, Dave Hickey.

Join us on April 24, 2014 from 4:00-5:00pm in the Duke Gallery on West Campus. Refreshments will be provided.

Location:
Duke Art Gallery
John and Marilyn Duke Academic Complex, West Campus
Azusa Pacific University
701 E. Foothill Blvd.
Azusa, CA 91702

For more information, contact:
Department of Art and Design
artdesign@apu.edu
(626) 387-5726

We could not have asked for a more positive experience at the Dallas Art Fair last week. The gallery was featured in coverage from Art in America, Interview Magazine, and CultureMap Dallas as a “must-see” of the fair, while selected artists received ample praise for their individual works. Gallery artist Penelope Umbrico was selected by Kenny Goss of the Goss-Michael Foundation as a “fair highlight,” and Ryan Wallace was chosen as the #1 “Artist Under 40 You Should Have on Your Radar” by Artsy, to name a few. The gallery placed works by various artists with prestigious local collections, as well as works by Ryan Wallace with the The Ring Art Center Foundation’s new permanent collection in Miami (FL).

Next up, we’ll see you in the Bay Area for the artMRKT San Francisco fair, May 15-18th at the Festival Pavilion – Fort Mason Center.

Gallery artist Allison Schulnik is currently featured in “Dramedy,” a group exhibition at Texas Christian University Art Gallery curated by Devon Nowlin. Also featuring Michael Bise, Kirk Hayes, Robert Jessup, Lawrence Lee, Trenton Doyle Hancock, and Folkert DeJong, among others, the show brings together artists working in painting, drawing and video who use comic or caracature-like forms to present dark yet often humorous narratives.

The exhibition will remain on view through May 10, 2014. For more information, call: (817) 257-7643.

The gallery is proud to announce the Norton Museum of Art‘s acquisition of “See for Me” by the Clayton Brothers for its permanent collection.

Since its founding in 1941, The Norton Museum of Art has grown and evolved to become one of Florida’s major cultural institutions. The Museum is internationally known for its distinguished permanent collection featuring American Art, Chinese Art, Contemporary Art, European Art and Photography. Its masterpieces of 19th century and 20th century painting and sculpture include works by Brancusi, Gauguin, Matisse, Miró, Monet, Picasso, Davis, Hassam, Hopper, Manship, O’Keeffe, Pollock and Sheeler. The Museum presents special exhibitions, lectures, tours and programs for adults and children throughout the year.

This will make for the Clayton Brothers’ fourth public collection addition since 2012. We congratulate them on this new career milestone!