LUX XXI Art Exhibition Catalog

PEGAN BROOKE MICHAEL BUSCEMI BRAD DURHAM JULIE EASTON ERIC JOHNSON and drawings by DOUGLAS ANDREWS & ERIC BELTZ

LUX X XI

SCAPE | southern california art projects + exhibitions 2859 e. coast highway, corona del mar, ca 92625 info@scapesite.com 949.723.3406 www.scapesite.com

PEGAN BROOKE MICHAEL BUSCEMI BRAD DURHAM JULIE EASTON ERIC JOHNSON and drawings by DOUGLAS ANDREWS & ERIC BELTZ

March 16 through April 30, 2021 SCAPE | southern california art projects + exhibitions Curated by JEANNIE DENHOLM

LUX X XI

LUX XXI exhibits a variety of artists that find inspiration in different materials and methods, exploring the interaction of light, through shimmery gradations of white and other soft monochromatic palettes. The culmination of this group exhibition unfolds a poetic and evocative examination of subtle textures and surfaces that resonate and mesmerize within a lyrical spectrum.

PEGAN BROOKE ARTIST STATEMENT

“My intention is to find a way to communicate the fleeting quality of experience and the flowing nature of being...to capture those magical moments in life where one feels spacious, communal, and capable of holding all possibilities.”

Pegan Brooke’s paintings are inspired by the artist’s experiences of sustained reflection upon the Aven River in Pont-Aven, France and the Pacific Ocean near her home in Northern California.

Gallery Installation

S-265 oil on canvas 60 x 42 inches

S-179 oil on canvas 60 x 52 inches

S-283 oil on canvas 84 x 60 inches

S-152 oil on canvas 60 x 44 inches

MICHAEL BUSCEMI Layers upon layers of thick white paper, collaged into richly patterned and glowing compositions, straddle the division between sculpture and painting. Buscemi’s creative process demands a vigorous honesty that fills the artist with inspiration and an appreciation for the intensely, time-consuming process in which he engages. The artist states: I am always in search of the spontaneous forms that seem to spring from movement. I find myself drawn to capture these forms as they emerge, caught in a moment of their evolution. When this works well, I am filled with an inner music, the beauty of something simple, yet complex appearing for the first time, being born out of no pre-conception.

Gallery Installation

Untitled archival paper construct 72 x 60 inches

BRAD DURHAM The subtle, abstract paintings of Brad Durham communicate the fleeting qualities in nature; as in a sunspot amidst a stormy sky, or the gentle lifting of fog after daybreak. Durham’s reductive paintings of smudged, blurred edges reach out to viewers on an intuitive and emotional level, inviting a contemplative response. Poetic and evocative, his works inspire the spiritually of infinite space.

Watching mixed media 44 x 39 inches

Reflections #4 mixed media 26 x 24 inches

Stillness mixed media 48 x 44 inches

JULIE EASTON Actively engaging in a practice of making art that places everyday materials at the center of meaning in her work, Julie Easton explores their overlooked essences and thoughtfully transforms them. Whether applying cigarette paper or hand-torn pieces from calculator paper rolls, her artworks emphasize the repetition of pattern and create dramatic, monochromatic works that accentuate the effect of light and shadow within their compositions.

Winter Solstice burned cigarette paper, acrylic wash 53 x 41 inches

Drip Series encaustic on paper 43 x 42 inches

ERIC JOHNSON Elegantly created from highly finished resin surfaces most often associated with Southern California’s Light and Space and Finish Fetish art movements, Eric Johnson’s works capture and disburse light through multi-dimensional layers. As if to defy gravity, his Madame X series showcases the artist’s unique art practice – using a threeaxis gimbal. It is a mechanism that has allowed him to spin a polyester resin, biomorphic-shaped mold so all sides of his artworks are coated evenly, in all directions, solidifying their jewel-like appearance.

Gallery Installation

Baltic Sea Scape polyester resin and urethane 8.5 x 29 x 3 inches

Vi Smith Madame polyester resin and urethane 47 x 4 x 4 inches

Helen Modjeska Madame polyester resin and urethane 47 x 4 x 4 inches

San Joaquin Reveal polyester resin and urethane 8.5 x 29 x 3 inches

ERIC BELTZ Intensely detailed in a stunningly rich grayscale, Eric Beltz’s luxuriously patterned works belie his preferred drawing medium, graphite on Bristol board. His intimate works pull viewers into his world of cosmic weightlessness formed by mind-bending patterns of triangles, diamonds, circles and hexagons. Working as a visual essayist and poet, Beltz transmutes a simple medium to conjure up the magnetic forces between the plants, moon and stars.

Thirteen Inch Sun/Holy Flower of the North Star graphite on Bristol board 13 x 13 inches

DOUGLAS ANDREWS Throughout history the natural world has inspired artists, challenging and compelling them to express their perceptions. The meticulous drawings of Douglas Andrews explore the representation of threedimensional space on a two-dimensional surface unfolding the detail and abstract nature of his favorite subject matter – the ocean. Pencils are manufactured in different grades, which refer to the concentration of graphite to clay in the pencil core. A lower concentration of graphite, draws a lighter, harder line and a pencil with a higher concentration of graphite offers a dark, soft line.

Andrews’ utilization of different pencil grades and pencil points creates intimate, highly-detailed drawings that offer a fine balance between photorealism and abstraction.

Sea Lace graphite on paper 10 x 13.5 inches

Gallery Installation

southern california art projects + exhibitions

Published on occasion of “LUX XXI Exhibition” March 16 - April 30, 2021 Curated by Jeannie Denholm Catalogue Design by Kathleen Updyke Brown © 2021 SCAPE | southern california art projects + exhibitions All artwork © individual artists SCAPE | southern california art projects + exhibitions 2859 e. coast highway, corona del mar, ca 92625 info@scapesite.com 949.723.3406 www.scapesite.com