Selected
I have one painting in the annual Winter Show 2024 at the Palos Verdes Art Center. The Winter Show is an open call group show for artist members. The one painting that I submitted was selected to be included in the show by guest curator, Yulia Gasio. Yulia is also a painter who recently had a show of her work at the center this year.
Details
The painting is oil on panel and measures 12"h x 24" wide, without the frame. The panel was hand cut, primed, and prepared at my studio. The image is of two buildings situated next to each other. They appear to be as if they are of an unlikely yet amiable relationship. Clearly the two structures are of two different eras and have different manners about them. The relationship in size of the two structures caught my eye as well as the repetitive pattern of the garage doors. The larger building appears as a punch card, or some kind of signal pattern. The blue waste receptacle, utility pole, and transformer seemed to look like a semaphore, another type of signal device. Finally, the iconic water tower in El Segundo peeks into view.
Subtleties
While painting this scene from a reference photo I took at the location, I noticed the yellow window, the blue receptacle, and a small bit of a red building nested in the tree lined background. It made a nice triad of primary color notes against the neutral scheme of the main subject and the sky.
Approved
This painting was done as part of a larger body of nine paintings that were created specifically for a show at the El Segundo Public Library. That show's title "Second Look" was described as an ode to El Segundo, CA. Indeed, it was a "love letter" of seemingly banal, commonly overlooked yet highly familiar and trafficked areas of the downtown neighborhoods. The community received the painting with high approval. Some residents who met me at the opening of the show remarked that I somehow "got it". That what was shown was what they knew to be uniquely their home.
The Winter Show at PVAC will run December 5th, 2024 through January 4th, 2025.
Palos Verdes Art Center
5504 Crestridge Rd, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275-4905
(310) 541-2479