ISSUE FALL 2017
LUZ T H E
C L U B
D ’A R T
J O U R N A L
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE CLUB D’ART CORE MEMBERS Advisor Brian Doan President Adrian Barreras Vice Presidents Samantha Flores & Marvin Basham
We at Club d’Art would like to welcome everyone to the Fall 2017 semester at LBCC. Club d’Art exists to give artists of all media an opportunity to display and discuss their work with peers, and this semester you will have the chance to see student works at the Art Exchange in downtown Long Beach. This exhibition was made possible because dedicated members from the club spent countless hours collecting art, raising funds, promoting the event, and designing an accompanying catalogue. Thank you to the artists and volunteers that worked hard to make this exhibition possible; it is very important to show the Long Beach community that amazing art can come From Within. Sincerely,
Secretary Jenny McCullough Treasurer Alex Kawano ASB Senate Representative Eric Benitez Graphic Designers Jonah Coloma & Samantha Flores
Adrian Barreras
(562) 938-3036 clubdartlbcc@gmail.com clubdartlbcc @clubdart
Editor Lila Orshesfsky Event Coordinator Judy Estrada Club d’Art proudly presents From Within, in collaboration with The Long Beach Museum of Art and The Art Exchange. Curated works of both LBCC students and alumni will be on display from September 9 to November 5, 2017. The Art Exchange is located at 356 E. 3rd St. in downtown Long Beach. Please visit http://artexchangelongbeach.org for hours of operation: (on the cover) Daniel Barajas Young Man, 2016. Charcoal on paper.
Triennial 2017’s artist Trong Gia Nguyen and his installation
2017 CALIFORNIA PACIFIC TRIENNIAL: BUILDING AS EVER ORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART by M a r v in B ash am
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h i s exhibition of 28 ar tists from California and the Pacific Rim is wisely chosen. I t s e e s t h e a r t o f c o n s t r u c t i o n and deconstruction from various points of view. It recalls homelessness, gentrification, new beginnings, and demolition. W i t h so l i t t l e affordable housing available a n d t h e majority of new home construction being “high end,” Building as Ever touches many current issues. One work looks like a building-in-a-box project from Home Depot. In the accompanying video, the colorful popup structure could be a protest booth, a minimarket, an art gallery, or low-income housing, according to how the user envisions it. My two favorite pieces were not necessarily building related: Super Critical Mass and Place on-fold. Super Critical Mass by Australian composer and musician Julian Day was a clanging, ringing, and vibrating break from the normal visual museum experience. Julian Day used group participation, sound, and acoustics to
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redefine public spaces. Order and chaos in the space was linked with sound as it resonated and dissipated. Place on-fold by Carmen Argote is a sitespecific work that has evolved since the opening of the show. Eight 25-foot-long-by12-feet-wide painted muslin panels hang from the gallery ceiling like colorful sails. As the exhibition approaches its end on September 3rd, the panels have been deconstructed and sewn into garments by the artist. The public are encouraged to model finished readymade tunics, togas and hoodies as they hang from garment racks in the gallery space. The inspiration for the fabric panel design is from archival photos of installations that were once in the outdoor sculpture garden. The last part of this specific work will have the garments repurposed into canvases for a future art project. This exhibition was wisely assembled and has been a treat for the eyes, ears, and mind, truly an instance of artistic evolution and transformation to behold.
NOBUYOSHI ARAKI SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY 1971 - 2017 -
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erhaps Japan’s most famous living photographer, Nobuyoshi Araki began photographing in the 1960’s, and continues to do so with unremitting drive. Araki has published over 500 photobooks to date, and has received world-wide acclaim for his photography. The exhibition, “A R A K I N o b u y o s h i : S e n t i m e n t a l J o u r n e y 1 9 7 1 - 2 0 1 7 - ,” commemorates the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum’s twentieth anniversary of its opening. The exhibition title refers to Araki’s Shi-Shashin (“I-Photographs”, an allusion to the Shi-Shosetsu, “I-Novel”), which begins with his self publication of Sentimental Journey as a photobook in 1971, and to his life-long journey as a photographer. The original Sentimental Journey is comprised of 108 photographs of Araki’s and his wife Yoko’s honeymoon and serves as Araki’s photography manifesto. In the handwritten introduction to his 1971
by Al ex Kaw ano
book, Araki states, “These photographs are different from those lying photographs. This Sentimental Journey is my love and my resolution as a photographer… My point of departure as a photographer is love and it just so happens that I began from an I-Novel. Though I think in my case it will always be an I-Novel.” Having denounced fashion and other forms of photography of the day as being “fake photographs,” he strove to make his own photographs as “autobiographical,” in which “the photograph is me.” Yoko became his most important subject, from their meeting in 1968 until her death in 1990; his journey continues well beyond her death resulting in a unique photographic poem between a man and a woman. In Sentimental Journey / Spring Journey (2010) he traces the death of their cat, Chiro. After Yoko’s death in 1990, Araki began photographing the sky in great volume, resulting in a 2012 photobook appropriately named Sentimental Sky. 2
Araki is known by many as an artist who depicts “Eros and Thanatos,” but like Tokyo Photographic Art Museum Chief Curator, Michiko Kasahara, I believe the “Eros and Thanatos” expressed in Araki’s work is purely his, that of which is confined to a Japanese heterosexual man who was born during the Showa era (1926-1989). His photographs of women and his views of life and death are misogynistic and clearly sexually discriminatory, but for better or for worse, we are able to view a Showa-era male’s concept of women and of Eros and Thanatos. Araki’s honesty and effort to extoll max sentimentality and authenticity is what I admire the most about him and his work. As controversial as his work may be, Araki brings his internal self out as well as his subjects’ and viewers’ internal self and for that I greatly appreciate him. Professor of Photography and Advisor of LBCC Club D’Art, Brian Doan, got a chance to see this commemorative exhibition while in Tokyo over the summer and he shared the experience with me. When walking through the exhibition one can view an incredible volume of photographs, so to single out one photograph could be an arduous task. But I asked Brian which 3
photograph or series of photographs elicited the strongest emotional response. Doan said that Araki’s series occurring after Yoko’s death titled From Close-Range, made him break down and do his own reflection. From CloseRange includes still lifes of wilted flowers, spilled glasses, Yoko’s abandoned shoes, and gloomy skyscapes; it is the the dark reality of the “I-photograph” and how much the loss of one person can affect one’s reality. Within the exhibition, each of Araki’s monumental series was given its own room. Brian described entering the room containing From CloseRange as entering the dark, or entering a forlorn room. As a husband and photographer who has a love affair with life himself, the series resonated heartily with Brian. Not only did Araki make himself vulnerable to the world by putting his inner feelings into this imagery, but he made Doan, the viewer, reflect on his own reality, and his own dark feelings. To me, that emotional response that Araki elicited is what makes him one of the most polarizing and unique figures in the history of photography.
LOCAL EXHIBITIONS by L i l a O rshesfsk y
Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA
is a wide-sweeping series of exhibitions happening from September through January across Southern California. PCT aims to explore the deeply felt artistic roots which run like a vibrantly woven web of color and culture between the greater Los Angeles area and Latin America. The dialogue between these two places is such a diverse subject that it could only be explored on such a large scale. About 70 museums and galleries are taking part, kicking off with a free party in Grand Park in LA on Thursday, September 14, from 12-10 pm which will include music, food, and giveaways to celebrate the arrival of PST. Here are some local PST exhibitions all with FREE ADMISSION!! (For a full list, go to pacificstandardtime.org or drop into the LBCC Art Gallery to pick up a guide booklet.)
Drawn from Clay
September 13, 2017 - October 12, 2017 LONG BEACH CITY COLLEGE ART GALLERY This exciting project features works by four Southern California based artists influenced by the cultures and artistic traditions of Mexico and Central and South America. Drawing from clay’s ubiquitous nature and its diverse domestic familiarity, these four young artists stretch the possibilities inherent in clay’s conceptual foundations, and its elastic materiality – even to the point of breakage.
David Lamelas: A Life of Their Own
September 17, 2017 - December 10, 2017 University Art Museum, CSU Long Beach Argentine-born David Lamela was a pioneer of conceptual art. This monographic exhibition encompasses post-minimalist sculpture, photography, video installations, and films.
The Cuban Matrix
September 09, 2017 - November 04, 2017 Torrance Art Museum This in-depth look at contemporary Cuban artwork focuses on the digital media exchange culture of “El Paquete Seminal”: a mirror and method to scrutinize the relationship of Cuban artists to contemporary art and culture within Cuba and internationally.
Yoshua Okón: Oracle
September 09, 2017 - November 04, 2017 Torrance Art Museum This exhibition is a three-channel video installation that explores the social and political contradictions of the ongoing Central American children refugee crisis, immigration and the inadequacies of borders and nationalism
HOPE
September 17, 2017 - January 28, 2018 El Segundo Museum of Art This video and conceptual art exhibition will highlight how Cuba, despite its many contradictions, b ec a me on e of t h e mos t i n te res ti n g p l a c es for t h e c rea t i on of contemporary art, and new media art in particular.
Coastal/Border
September 17, 2017 - December 17, 2017 Angels Gate Cultural Center Six Southern California–based artists lead multimedia projects mapping the geopolitical implications of the largest West Coast ports situated in San Pedro as part of a larger conversation about the United States border.
Día de los Muertos: A Cultural Legacy, Past, Present, and Future
September 17, 2017 - January 20, 2018 Self Help Graphics & Art This exhibit follows the evolution of Self Help Graphics’ celebration of Día de los Muertos through historical prints, photographs, and ephemera, tracing the evolution from an indigenous tradition to a remixed fusion of cultures. 4
James hd Brown: Life and Work in Mexico
September 19, 2017 - December 02, 2017 USC Fisher Museum of Art This exhibition will feature Brown’s creation of limited-edition artists’ books in collaboration with influential artists from the US and Mexico. Also featured are Brown’s own large-scale paintings in a seminal series called “My Other House.”
Laura Aguilar: Show and Tell
September 16, 2017 - February 10, 2018 Vincent Price Art Museum Laura Aguilar’s photographs provocatively challenge prevailing notions of beauty, sexuality, and identity. This is the first major survey of Aguilar’s work, which often takes the artist’s own body as its subject.
Visualizing Language: Oaxaca in LA
September 16, 2017 - January 31, 2018 Los Angeles Central Library This exhibition and associated programming celebrate the Zapotec language and culture of Oaxaca, Mexico, and includes new artwork exploring identity, migration, and the shared cultural experience between LA and Mexico.
Martín Ramírez: His Life in Pictures, Another Interpretation
September 09, 2017 - December 31, 2017 ICA LA (Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles) The first monographic presentation of selftaught artist Martín Ramírez in Southern California features approximately 50 remarkable drawings collaged from found paper and executed with matchsticks, melted crayons, and other makeshift implements.
Eduardo Sarabia: Drifting on a Dream
September 16, 2017 - November 18, 2017 The Mistake Room This new installation will revisit the artist’s oeuvre and depict how popular culture, 5
personal histories, and ordinary events can be metaphors for moments of cultural contact and exchange.
Circles and Circuits I: History and Art of the Chinese Caribbean Diaspora
September 15, 2017 - February 25, 2018 California African American Museum The first of a two part exhibition, this collection features art of the Chinese Caribbean diaspora from the 1930s to present day and reveals the hidden complexities of the transcultural nature of the Caribbean.
Juan Downey: Radiant Nature
September 13, 2017 - December 03, 2017 LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) The early works of artist Juan Downey—many not seen since their originally presentations, will be explored through interactive electronic sculptures, documentation of happenings and performances, and installation.
Condemned To Be Modern
September 10, 2017 - January 27, 2018 Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery The artists in this exhibition explore the connection of modernist architecture with political ideologies, social values, and contemporary reality, engendering dialogue about the role of government and public policy in the development, preservation, and use of the built environment.
Video Art in Latin America
September 17, 2017 - December 16, 2017 LAXART More than 60 works of video art from Latin America will be presented in this landmark exhibition, sur veying groundbreaking achievements in Latin American video ar t from the 1960s until today.
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: DANIEL BARAJAS
I n te r v i ew by Hann ah Griffith
What is your medium? My medium of choice is oil for painting, charcoal for drawing, and photoshop for my digital work. As a painter as well as a digital artist, what do you find important in multidisciplinary training? As an artist, it is important to know your materials, as well as your materials limitations. Paintings that I’ve created with oils would read very differently had I decided to paint them digitally, same goes for my digital work. What is most important for you to express within art? Through my art, I wish to express emotion. I paint what I feel, a lot of my work is autobiographical. Hearing other people’s interpretation of my work, and how it made them feel is what I enjoy the most. Your work has a lot of references to pop culture, what lies within that drive? I would say that my digital work is more influenced by pop culture than my paintings. My digital work is mostly illustration based, I do hope to find a career in entertainment design as a concept artist for films or videogames. I’m sure that my paintings draw some inspiration from my digital art.
The movie poster work is great, you seem to have a way with visually capturing mood. Do you have career goals within art, as a commercial artist or within a fine art realm?
The Getty is by far my favorite place to see art. The museum itself feels like its own little world, beautiful architecture and gardens. I’ve spent close to an hour observing a single piece of work.
As every artist, if not most, their biggest dream would be to find success in creating and making a living out of their own work. But as most artist, art comes second hand (financially). I do hope to find a career creating art for films or videogames, while still painting and sharing my personal work.
Outside of your work, what are you interested in doing?
Your work has an interesting mix of visual elements, from moody, sci-fi-esque lighting to the illustrative stylings of Art Nouveau. Is there an art movement that you identify most with, or has substantially inspired your work?
What projects are you working on currently?
I am inspired by many artists, from Caravaggio, Rembrandt; Picasso, Dali, Jenny Saville and Kehinde Wiley. Much of my inspiration comes from books and films, there is such beautiful cinematography from composition to color pallets. In your studio, what can you not work without? I cannot live without my sketchbook (standard size moleskine), pen and pencil. I once lost a sketchbook at school, I almost cried. Thankfully it was turned in by a fellow student, we are now very close friends. Where is your favorite place to see art?
I have been inspired by my professors. I too see myself teaching, I love sharing my techniques and what I have learned. I hope to be the source of inspiration to others as many of them have been to me.
Unfor tunately, I a m n ot working on any personal p ro j e c ts . I am bac k at school, so all my work now till mid - December will be strictly academic. B u t I am thank ful, these are the months that I grow most as an ar tist. Do you have any upcoming shows? I am one of many artists showing at the ‘Fifth Annual Coaster Show’ at La Luz de Jesus in Hollywood. The show will be open till September 1st.