Catalogue 15: ArtExchange Studio Artists

CATALOGUE:15

STUDIO ARTIST GROUP SHOW

ALEXIS ANDERSON MARGIE DARROW LEAH C. DIXON ALEX FRIDRICH STEVEN FROST CHRISTINE FUCHS REBECCA GIESKING NOEL MADRID KENNY MCBRIDE JOHN THATCHER MONTGOMERY JORGE MUJICA J. RENEE TANNER CHRISTIAN WARD

Catalogue:15 is a showcases two pieces – one small and one large – from each Studio Artist, marking the first time Studio Artists will show works together. The selection of sculptures, paintings, and installations show a remarkable level of skill and a variety of technique. The installation shares the artistic conversations taking place between the artists in the program.

In its third year, the studio artist program now boasts a roster of thirteen artists working in a variety of media and styles. Current momentum among Studio Artists focuses on the development of their art practice, inviting community engagement, and amplifying the quality of ArtX programs.

Founded in 1992, the ArtExchange (ArtX) is a growing, innovative visual arts center in downtown Long Beach that offers diverse audiences the chance to experience art firsthand through thought-provoking interactions with artists, gallery openings, lecture series, special events and classes. ArtX provides artists studios for both private and collaborative work; events to demonstrate their skills to the public; workshops to develop their professional skills; and opportunities to earn income from their profession.

ArtX selects Studio Artists through a competitive application process as space becomes available. Once selected, artists agree to participate in scheduled programming, provide an individually defined contribution to the organization, and develop an art practice that engages the community-at-large. Studio artists make the maximum use of every square foot available in the collection of small buildings and storefronts. Enjoy this first-time exhibit of their accomplishments in the main gallery.

CATALOGUE:15

Welcome to Catalogue:15, the inaugural group show of ArtX Studio Artists.

MARGIE DARROW

The Flow Acrylic on birch wood cut 2006 55 x 36 inches NFS

BIO Inspired by nature, history and counter culture - Long Beach based artist Margie Darrow's' flexible approach to art making and design has guided her throughout a broad range of creative endeavors. This includes – fine art, commercial art, public art, performance art along with many collaborative projects. Her artwork has been exhibited in respected venues locally, nationally and internationally and she has received recognition for her work in the form of awards and several fellowship grants.

Chocolate Hydrangea 2013 Colored pencil on Bristol paper 14 x 11 inches $300

LEAH C. DIXON

The Source, 2012, Pigment digital print, mounted on aluminum, 30 inches diameter $2300

BIO Leah C. Dixon creates layered compositions of intense color, fusing complementary analog and digital, gestural and geometric, photography and painting. Her current art practice is focused on digital painting derived from her original photography, as well as several cross-media processes that defy easy categorization.

Dissolution III 2014 Pigment digital print 13 x 19 inches $175

Graduated form Pratt Institute, BFA Computer Graphics & Interactive Media/Art History 2004.

Los Angeles County High School for the Arts 1990.

ALEX FRIDRICH

Circles with Crosses 2012 8 x10 inches Etching $60

BIO Alex Fridrich received a BFA in Printmaking at California State University in 2011, where she learned how the technical process and opportunity for the multiple are central to her work as an artist. A third generation Californian she references her family history and the history of her community to generate narrative images that evoke a familiar yet distorted memory.

After graduating she worked at various print shops in the Los Angeles area, before localizing her practice in Long Beach at the Art Exchange. Along with Christian Ward and Alexis Anderson she began the Collective Print Studio in 2015, a small but effective place to produce etchings, photopolymer plates, and screen prints.

STEVEN FROST

My Girlfriend is Out of Town / Diet Plan for Liberace, 2014, 90 x 21 x 6 inches $1150

BIO Steven Frost (b.1981, Woodsville, NH) relocated from Chicago to Long Beach in 2012. Frost received his BFA from Alfred University in 2004 and an MFA in Fiber & Material Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011.

Steven Frost’s video, sculpture, and fiber-based works use: upholstery, macramé, bead-work, and other traditional craft materials to create garish tools and evocative moments. His work builds on the clashes and mashups of parallel social movements.

Frost relishes in the kind of amateur mastery found in “low” craft culture and the performance of secular sacred rituals like parades and sports.

Monument for Workers, Lesbians, and Muscle Marys 2014 Sequins, leather, Hulk action figure, Muscle Milk jar, wood, + sand 60 x 12 x12 inches $950

CHRISTINE FUCHS

Rest, 2015, Charcoal on paper, 48 x 72 inches $700

BIO Fuchs is a visual artist and educator living in Long Beach, CA. Having received her BFA in Studio Arts: Drawing & Painting, from Biola University in 2012, Christine opened her studio at the Art Exchange in the Spring of 2014.

Flare 2015 Ink on watercolor paper 8 x12 inches $50

Inspired by the landscape: the wind, the light, the continual construction and deconstruction of space, Christine makes art in conversation with her immediate surroundings and the memories that accrue in such spaces.

Oftentimes creating “body-sized drawings” that are upwards to 6 feet in scale, she is fascinated by the way the body orients itself in relationship to the landscape’s deterioration and growth, creating work that functions as an exploration of the potential and possibility of failure through the mediums of charcoal, graphite, oil paint, and ink.

REBECCA GIESKING

Splitman, 2014, oil, encaustic, spray paint collage on paper, 19 x 26 inches $400

BIO

Untitled (If you stand over here, it looks like a puppy) 2014 Oil and encaustic collage on paper 8 x 10 inches $100

Rebecca Giesking is a painter and collage artist who works in a diverse range of mediums including oil, encaustics, flashe, acrylic and spray paint.

Alternating from interior/ external landscapes and abstraction her paintings portray her everyday surroundings contrasted with news media imagery. She is interested in experimenting with different mediums, testing materials out and finding alternative ways to compose a painting. This process is expressed in her paintings.

Rebecca graduated cum laude with honors from Cal State Fullerton with a BFA in Drawing and Painting. She currently exhibits her work in Orange County and Long Beach.

NOEL MADRID

Eight Figure, 2014, oil on canvas, 48 x 32 inches $1100

BIO Noel Madrid works with various media on the borders of the abstract and representational. His recent paintings and drawings focus on a sense of time and momentum. Figurative works often lapse into textural layers of line and color. Also utilizing traditional printmaking techniques such as monotype and relief, he brings the same energetic touch to a more meditative medium.

Noel developed Room+Border Studios. The artist run space serves as his workspace as well as a curatorial venue for group shows and workshops. He received a BFA from CSU Long Beach in 2010 and hopes to pursue an MFA in the not too distance future.

Five Figure 2014 Acrylic on canvas 20 x 16 inches $300

KENNY MCBRIDE

i, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 35 inches $1200

BIO Kenny McBride's works are largely colorful in both palette and theme. He finds inspiration in the surrealism of Dali, illusions of MC Escher and fantasy illustrations of Frazetta. The artist stays busy in the Long Beach community, currently illustrating a children’s book with local author, Marilyn Bradford and painting a mural at local eatery, Seoul Mate. His current personal projects are his MC icons, a series of one hundred mixed media portraits of global icons and his growing body of vibrant plein air paintings.

Ocean Blvd.

2012 Acrylic and sculpey on canvas 16 x 20 inches $700

JOHN THATCHER MONTGOMERY

TRANONMAI, Footcandle Invitational No. One 2015 A deconstruction of projection. Opening reception performances at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 PM. 43 x 103 inches $5,000

BIO

TRANONMAI, Postcard No. One 2015 Vinyl on paper 4 x 6 inches $100

Creative technology artist exploring transmedial concept development and implementation.

Experience with multiple technologies related to print and digital content development, live television production and social media engagement.

Knowledgeable of current technology platforms and consumer utilization.

Accomplished at identifying emerging trends and habits to develop strategies across multiple platforms for increased engagement. Native to Long Beach, CA. Studied Transmedia Fine Arts (a combination of tradition and digital art practices) at University of Colorado Denver.

Returned to Long Beach, CA in the summer of 2014 to develop his art practice.

JORGE MUJICA

Peeking Through the Smoke on a Summers Day, 2014 Spray-paint and marker on reclaimed frame, 37 x 32 inches $800

BIO Finding inspiration in pop artist Keith Haring, modernist painter Henri Matisse, and Mexican Muralist, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mujica aims to link contemporary ideas of painting, sculpture, and murals onto his freestanding paintings.

Mujica graduated form Yale University M.F.A. Painting and Print Making 2012 The School of the Art Institute of Chicago M.A. Visual and Critical Studies 2010 Driving to Long Beach on the 710 South 2014 Spray-paint and marker on reclaimed frame 14.5 x 17.5 inches $250

California State University Bakersfield B.A. Political Science / Art History 2008.

J. RENEE TANNER

My Hood, Long Beach Blvd., 2015, mixed media on canvas, 30 x 30 inches $500

BIO Renee Tanner completed her graduate studies in Fine Art receiving an MA and MFA from the University of Dallas, Irving Texas. Her career path took her from art-maker to public art administrator, community activist and public affairs representative. Renee grew up in Texas, lived 25 years in Seattle Washington and now lives in downtown Long Beach. Accepted in the ArtX studio artist program, July 2014.

My Hood, Signal Hill circa 1930 2015 Marker on vellum 12 x 12 inches $75

She is currently working on My Hood a series of paintings and drawings inspired by Long Beach architecture.

Her paintings push traditional boundaries with vibrant color combinations and unusual perspectives.

CHRISTIAN WARD

Memory Pile 2015 Print collage 17 x 20 inches $100

BIO Christian Ward received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oregon and his MFA in printmaking from Cal. State Long Beach in 2012. Ward is an artist and arts instructor in the Long Beach area. Recently he and two other colleagues, Alex Fridrich and Alexis Anderson opened The Collective print shop in downtown Long Beach.