IMAGE: Jennifer Gunlock Bird’s Nest, 2016 Mixed media paper collage and drawing on 2 sheets rag paper, grommets 76 × 50 in / 193 × 127 cm COLLECTION OF THE LAGUNA ART MUSEUM
Five Mark Moore Fine Art Artists Featured In The Current Art Exhibition at Laguna Art Museum
The Laguna Art Museum “LATEST AND GREATEST” is showcasing its newest acquisitions featuring the works of Mark Bennett, Jennifer Gunlock, Jimi Gleason, Heidi Schwegler, and Robert Standish. This exhibition includes almost 50 pieces that have been added to the museum’s permanent collection, highlighting influential California artists, the connection between art and nature, and a diverse range of California-based artists. The collection also aims to increase representation of women and contemporary themes with a focus on artwork created after 2000.
Visit the Laguna Art Museum before March 30, 2025 to view these “latest and greatest” additions. For more information, visithttps://lagunaartmuseum.org/exhibitions. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the best of new California art! #markmoorefineart #lagunaartmuseum #markbennett #jennifergunlock #heidischwegler #jimigleason #robertstandish
Clay Johnson The Last Turn, 2023 Acrylic on panel 24 × 24 in | 61 × 61 cm COLLECTION OF THE FREDERICK R. WEISMAN ART FOUNDATION (Los Angeles)
Mark Moore Fine Art and the artist are pleased to announce the acquisition of a major work by artist CLAY JOHNSON by The Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation.
Clay Johnson (American, b. 1963) was born in Durham, North Carolina, where he studied art and art history at Duke University, receiving a B.A. degree in 1985. He then worked for several years as assistant to the painter Robert Natkin in Connecticut and New York City. He began showing paintings from his first series of mature work in 1998, and has since exhibited in galleries across the United States and in Europe. His work is represented in collections around the world. Clay began work on his Strata Series shortly after relocating to Wyoming, and, while non-objective in nature, the paintings convey a sense of the wide open landscape of the American west. The Atomic Series continues his exploration of formal concerns—light, color, texture—while introducing a more narrative element inspired by the interactions of subatomic particles. Clay currently lives and works in Laramie, Wyoming.
Johnson’s “Strata Series” is a stunning collection of abstract paintings and works on paper that capture the essence of memory and the human experience. Moving to Wyoming, known for its vast open spaces and breathtaking landscapes, served as a major inspiration for his work. While the paintings may not have overt references to the natural world, they convey a powerful sense of the wide-open space and the ever-changing formations of the land.
Johnson views his paintings as collections of moments and experiences that have been collaged together. This mirrors the way our minds construct memories, with layers of different moments and experiences blending to create a representation of a person, place, or idea. In a similar way, Johnson layers many sections over one another in his paintings, keeping the parts he likes and painting over or modifying the less memorable elements. This process of editing and layering reflects the way our brains forget certain experiences and focus on others, creating a distorted but meaningful representation of our memories.
Upon first glance, the “Strata Series” paintings may appear chaotic and busy, but upon closer inspection, the layers reveal a carefully crafted composition. The many layers are distinct and yet seamlessly blend together to create a cohesive whole. This perfectly captures the complexity of human memory, where seemingly unrelated moments and experiences come together to form a unique and meaningful representation of our lives. By incorporating this concept of memory within his paintings, Johnson invites viewers to contemplate their own memories and the ways in which they construct their own realities.
The Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation is dedicated to continuing the legacy and vision of Frederick R. Weisman, an extraordinary entrepreneur, philanthropist, and art collector. He held an uncompromising belief in the cultural value of art and understood the importance of both the individual artist and the creative process. In carrying out Mr. Weisman’s intentions, the Foundation seeks to preserve, collect, and make publicly accessible his collection of modern and contemporary art as a means to strengthen and contribute to the greater artistic and intellectual life of our time. In 1982, Frederick R. Weisman purchased the Los Angeles estate to serve as a showcase for his personal collection of 20th-century art. He and his wife, Billie Milam Weisman, an art conservator and curator, worked together to create a unique environment located within the Mediterranean-style villa. More than four hundred works of art are on display at the Foundation. The collection includes works by European Modernists, including Cezanne, Picasso, and Kandinsky, and Surrealist works by Ernst, Miro, and Magritte. The holdings in postwar art include works by Giacometti, Noguchi, Calder, Rauschenberg, and Johns; Abstract Expressionist paintings by de Kooning, Francis, Still, and Rothko; Color-Field paintings by Frankenthaler, Louis, and Noland; and Pop Art by Warhol, Lichtenstein, Oldenburg, and Rosenquist. Contemporary California works include those by Ruscha and Goode and Super Realist sculptures by Hanson and de Andrea. These holdings are part of a larger collection that Mr. Weisman established as the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation in 1982. Currently, under the direction of Billie Milam Weisman, the Foundation continues to make the collection available through loans to museums worldwide, docent tours at the Los Angeles estate, exhibitions in public-art venues, and the funding of several art museums, including the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art at Pepperdine University in Malibu, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the San Diego Museum of Art, and the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota, designed by Frank O. Gehry.
IMAGE: Mark Bennett, The Pritchett Family Plans (Modern Family), 2017 Archival pigment print on Hot Press Cotton Rag 29 × 40 in / 73.7 × 101.6 cm / Edition of 10 + 2AP COLLECTION OF THE LAGUNA ART MUSEUM
Five Mark Moore Fine Art Artists Featured In The Current Art Exhibition at Laguna Art Museum
The Laguna Art Museum “LATEST AND GREATEST” is showcasing its newest acquisitions featuring the works of Mark Bennett, Jennifer Gunlock, Jimi Gleason, Heidi Schwegler, and Robert Standish. This exhibition includes almost 50 pieces that have been added to the museum’s permanent collection, highlighting influential California artists, the connection between art and nature, and a diverse range of California-based artists. The collection also aims to increase representation of women and contemporary themes with a focus on artwork created after 2000.
Visit the Laguna Art Museum before March 30, 2025 to view these “latest and greatest” additions. For more information, visithttps://lagunaartmuseum.org/exhibitions. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the best of new California art! #markmoorefineart #lagunaartmuseum #markbennett #jennifergunlock #heidischwegler #jimigleason #robertstandish
ARTSY Featured Exhibition – THE CREATIVE PROCESS: Inside The Studio Of Dennis Ekstedt
Experience the art world like never before with “The Creative Process” series, revealing new works straight from the studio of DENNIS EKSTEDT. Gain a personal look at the artist’s studio practice and discover exciting new art in this exclusive series of ARTSY online exhibitions.
Dennis Ekstedt (Canadian, Born 1961) is a painter based in Vancouver, Canada. He received his Diploma in Fine Arts from Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C in 1986, and his M.F.A from Concordia University in Montreal in 1993. In 2002, Ekstedt was awarded the Eastern Canada prize in the RBC Canadian Painting Competition, and his work can be found in numerous public, corporate, and private collections. Over the years, he has held many exhibitions and received multiple artist grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Quebec. Ekstedt’s work has also been featured in publications such as Carte Blanche Vol 2-Painting (2008) and The RBC Painting Competition: 10 years (2008). He has collaborated with art consultants, including Soho Art Consulting, Kalisher, Art and Objects, and Tatar Art Projects. Currently, Ekstedt is represented by Herringer Kiss Gallery in Calgary, Alberta, Mark Moore Fine Arts in Los Angeles, and Nancy Toomey Fine Art in San Francisco.
🎉 EXCITING NEWS 🎉 We’re thrilled to announce the exclusive ARTSY online exhibition of CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL: RECENT WORK. This highly anticipated exhibition marks Russell’s return to Mark Moore Fine Art, featuring a selection of his “Mountains” series and pieces from his newer series, “The Explorers.” Each unique piece combines color photography and drawing for a one-of-a-kind experience.
Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Russell’s work draws inspiration from pioneer photographer, Carleton Watkins. But with a contemporary twist! His purposely hazy and abstract images challenge the traditional role of photography in capturing evidence, instead inviting reflection on our understanding of nature and the landscape. His work also incorporates historical plant patterns from the Arts and Crafts era, symbolizing the infinite within nature.
Russell’s art knows no boundaries, blurring the lines between photography, drawing, painting, and bas-relief. But it still maintains a sense of romanticism that will leave you in awe. Don’t miss your chance to view his work at this exclusive online exhibition on ARTSY. 😍
Mark Moore Fine Art and the artist are pleased to announce the acquisition of At Sight of Sun (lark bunting), 2022 by artist KARA MARIA by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston for the Permanent Collection.
Kara Maria produces paintings and work on paper that reflect on political themes such as feminism, war, and the environment. She borrows from the broad vocabulary of contemporary painting; blending geometric shapes, vivid hues, and abstract marks, with representational elements.
Maria received her BA and MFA from the University of California, Berkeley. She has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States at venues including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University; the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, Texas; the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art; and the Katonah Museum of Art in New York; among others.
In 2016, Maria’s work was featured in a solo exhibition, Head Over Heels, at the University Art Gallery at California State University, Chico, which included an accompanying monograph. Her work has garnered critical attention in the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Art in America. Maria has completed residencies at the Montalvo Arts Center, Recology Artist in Residence Program, Djerassi Resident Artists Program, and at the de Young’s Artist Studio. She is recipient of multiple awards and honors, including a grant from Artadia and an Eisner Prize in Art from the University of California, Berkeley. Maria lives and works in San Francisco.
With its encyclopedic collection and an exciting schedule of international loan exhibitions and award-winning programs, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is one of the premier destinations in the United States for art lovers. Established in 1900, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s collection numbers nearly 70,000 works and embraces the art of antiquity to the present.The collecting department of modern and contemporary art has grown to more than 1,400 objects spanning six continents. Major figures in the evolution Modern and Contemporary art, with a particular emphasis on the progress of abstraction, are represented across the 20th century and into the 21st and include works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Piet Mondrian. The Surrealist era is introduced with works by Max Ernst, Alberto Giacometti, Roberto Matta, Joan Miró, and Yves Tanguy. Postwar European artists in the collection range from Pierre Alechinsky, Anthony Caro, Niki de Saint-Phalle, and Jean Tinguely to Rebecca Horn, Anselm Kiefer, Giuseppe Penone, and Gerhard Richter. Collecting in the new millennium has opened up new avenues of exploration, from the light-based works of James Turrell, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Bill Viola to artists who challenge accepted art-historical narratives, including Nan Goldin, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Do Ho Suh, and Fred Wilson.
Amy Elkins Akuuragna/Pasadena, Huntington Library Parking Lot (Fruiting Almond Tree)
We are thrilled to share that two pieces from the AMY ELKINS photography series, A Place Where We Are in The Sun have just been acquired by Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University. One of these works, Akuuragna/Pasadena, Huntington Library Parking Lot (Fruiting Almond Tree) from 2021 is pictured above for your reference.
Amy Elkins (American, b. 1979) is a visual artist and educator based in Northern California. She received her BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts and her MFA in Art Practice from Stanford University. She works primarily in photography and installation and has been exhibited and published both nationally and internationally, including at The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA; South Bend Museum of Art in South Bend IN; MSU Broad Museum in Lansing, MI; Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna; the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, AZ; the Minneapolis Institute of Arts; North Carolina Museum of Art and more. Her photographs have been published in American Photo, Conveyor, Dear Dave, EyeMazing, Financial Times, Harpers, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, NY Arts, New York Times, New Yorker, PDN, Real Simple, Stella and Vice among many others. She was recently awarded a Fleishhacker Foundation Eureka Fellowship and Kala Media Arts Fellowship. Past awards include the Aperture Portfolio Prize, Peter S. Reed Foundation grant, Cadogan Award and more. Her work is in permanent collections at The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; Newcomb Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC; The Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; Light Work, Syracuse, NY; Aperture Foundation, New York, NY; Eleanor D. Wilson Museum, Roanoke, VA; RISD Museum, Providence, RI and more.
Most recently Elkins’ work pivots to include explorations of self as well as her family’s deeply rooted and complex history in Southern California as an 8th generation traceably born on Tongva/Gabrielino land in the greater Los Angeles area with the ancestral blood of both colonized and colonizer. Her approach is series-based, steeped in research and oscillates between formal, conceptual and documentary.
A Place Where We Are In The Sun uses family archives, historical documents and early Alta California maps to trace the land loss, assimilation and resilience of Indigenous, Mexican and multiracial ancestors in Southern California from the perspective of an 8th generation Angeleno. Taken by trekking into land between what is now known as Lompoc and the Greater Los Angeles area, these physically manipulated and rephotographed archives work to unearth historical conditions permeating the soil my ancestors lived on: the enclosure of land under European notions of private property and the resulting displacement of indigenous/BIPOC communities from such spaces.
The Cantor Arts Center plays a leading role in the cultural life of the Stanford campus and greater community, welcoming some 200,000 visitors a year to its 24 galleries. The Cantor Arts Center’s collection houses over 38,000 items, including African Art, American Art, Ancient Art, the Andy Warhol Photography Archive, Art of Asia and Oceania, Art of the Indigenous Americas, Auguste Rodin, Eadweard Muybridge, European Art, Modern and Contemporary Art, Photographs, Prints and Drawings, Richard Diebenkorn Sketchbooks, Sculptures on Campus, and collections and memorabilia of the Stanford Family. Penelope Umbrico is proud to be a part of their permanant collection.
Mark Moore Fine Art is proud to announce that the work of DAVID RATHMAN will be included by The Norton Museum of Art in their third unique presentation of Strike Fast, Dance Lightly: Artists on Boxing – a collaborative exhibition presented at the Norton Museum of Art, The FLAG Art Foundation and The Church, Sag Harbor. We are excited about this exhibition as it has the potential to be the largest comprehensive survey of boxing related artworks in over 20 years with over 50 artists, spanning over 100 years.
Strike Fast, Dance Lightly: Artists on Boxing presents a critical look at the sport of boxing through a variety of artistic media. Featuring over 100 artworks spanning from the late 19th century to present day, this dynamic presentation is the largest comprehensive survey of artwork depicting the global sport and its cultural impact. Strike Fast, Dance Lightly illuminates the connections between boxing and artists, and underscores the rich history of a centuries-old sport and its influence on artistic movements.The exhibition showcases artworks that directly reference the sport, and its legends, while presenting artworks that explore nuanced and intimate moments surrounding the fight. Strike Fast Dance Lightly unpacks the rich intersections of art and boxing — locating the work in explorations of spectacle, the body, psychology, storytelling, and politics. The aesthetics of boxing stand in for gestures of power, activism, emotional experience, and the human desire to continue to fight for justice.
Other artists featured in this show in addition to David Rathman include Andres Serrano, Roy Lichtenstein, Jonas Wood, Fletcher Martin, George Wesley Bellows, Daniel Arsham, Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Samuel Fasso, Caleb Hahne Quintana, Chase Hall, and Jared McGriff, to name but a few.This exhibition was Curated by Arden Sherman, Glenn W. and Cornelia T. Bailey Senior Curator of Contemporary Art and will be on view from October 26, 2024 – March 9, 2025.
DAVID RATHMAN (b. 1958, Choteau, MT) received a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1982. While primarily a painter, Rathman has produced limited edition books and prints, and has created several original films. Recent solo exhibitions include “Somewhere Between,” Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis, MN; “Up to You, Down to Me,” Morgan Lehman Gallery, New York, NY; “Stand By Your Accidents,” Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL and Rochester Art Center, Rochester, MN; “Hope I’m Never That Wrong Again,” Mark Moore, Culver City, CA; and “Let’s See What Stirs,” Larissa Golden Gallery, New York, NY. Recent group exhibitions include “TXTD,” Salisbury University Art Gallery, Salisbury, MD; “Box(e),” Jerome Zodo Contemporary, Milan, Italy; “Ultrasonic V, It’s Only Natural,” Mark Moore Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; “Every Man’s Life is a Fairytale,” Larissa Goldston Gallery, New York, NY; and “The Old, Weird America,” Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX. His work is in numerous public and private collections including The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis MN; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and The Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA. David Rathman lives and works in Minneapolis.
Christopher Russell The Explorers #6, 2017 Pigment print sliced and scratched with a razor 36 × 24 in | 91.4 × 61 cm COLLECTION OF THE CROCKER ART MUSEUM
Mark Moore Fine Art and the artist are pleased to announce the acquisition of a major work by artist CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL by The Crocker Art Museum.
Each piece by Christopher Russell (American, b. 1974) is unique and combines color photography and drawing. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Russell has long been taken with the majesty of Carleton Watkins who photographed in that area and others 150 years ago. Russell photographs in some of the same land but from the opposite end of the history of photography. He makes fuzzy or hazy color photographs by limiting the functionality of the lens. The resulting abstract images form the foundation for his own imaginary vistas. He then manipulates the resulting prints, scratching into the emulsion, and sometimes painting over the scratches, creating an artwork that is at once a photograph, a drawing, a painting and a bas-relief.
Russell’s work challenges the traditional conception of photography as producer of evidence and provokes reflection on our understanding of nature and the landscape. He uses historical plant and floral patterns from the Arts and Crafts era of the late 19th to the early 20th Century as source material for his drawing, and thus alludes to the concept of the infinite within nature. Though he pushes conceptual and art historical boundaries, Russell remains a Romanic, and his artwork is a way for the viewer to experience the wonder that he has found, and that continues to inspire him.
Christopher Russell was born in Sacramento in 1974 and received a BFA from The California College of Arts and Crafts and an MFA from the Art Center College of Design. He has had a solo exhibition at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles and his work has been featured in group exhibitions at The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Norton Simon Museum, Berkeley Art Museum, Armory Center for the Arts, White Columns, Tokyo Institute of Photography, and De Appel Arts Center, The Netherlands, among others. Russell also produces his own unique books in addition to his ‘zine Bedwetter. His first novel is Sniper, and other books include Budget Decadence (2nd Cannons Publications), Pattern Book (Insert Blanc Press) and Landscape (Kolapsomal Press) which was included in Phaidon’s The Photobook: A History Vol 3 edited by Martin Parr. His work is included in numerous museum collections including the Brooklyn Museum, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, Los Angeles County Museum, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Hammer Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography.
The Crocker Art Museum features the world’s foremost display of California art and is renowned for its holdings of European master drawings and international ceramics. The Crocker also holds permanent collections of Asian, African, and Oceanic art, ceramics, and photography. The Museum offers a diverse spectrum of exhibitions, events, and programs to augment its collections, including films, concerts, studio classes, lectures, children’s activities, and more. The Museum has also dedicated the historic building’s entire first floor as an education center, which includes four classrooms, space for student and community exhibitions, the Gerald Hansen Library, and Tot Land. Discover it all at: crockerart.org
Jimi Gleason Landline, 2023 Silver nitrate & acrylic on canvas 56 x 80 inches COLLECTION OF THE LAGUNA ART MUSEUM
Mark Moore Fine Art and the artist are pleased to announce the acquisition of a major work by artist Jimi Gleason, titled “Landline” from 2023 by The Laguna Art Museum in Laguna Beach, CA.
This work will be included in the museum Permanent Collection and will be included in the upcoming New Acquisitions exhibition at the Laguna Art Museum spanning the breadth of LAM’s collection from the 19th century. The artworks, spanning over a century of creation, encompass a diverse array of mediums including sculpture, mixed media, film, painting, and large-format color photography.
The exhibition, titled Latest and Greatest: New Workat Laguna Art Museum features works by: Mark Bennett, Charles Percy Austin, Sergei Bongart, Carole Caroompas, Jedediah Caesar, Rosson Crow, Woods Davy, Fannie Eliza Duvall, John Frost, Jennifer Gunlock, Grace Carpenter Hudson, John Humble, Roger Kuntz, Jimi Gleason, Tom Lamb, Robert Landry, Malorie Marder, Carter Mull, Evan Nesbit, Deborah Oropallo, Phil Paradise, Astrid Preston, Rozeal, Richard Roth, Heidi Schwegler, Millard Owen Sheets, Robert Standish, Craig Stecyk, Jay McCafferty, Patrick Wilson, and Jennifer West.
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