Venice Gallery Roaming

On Thursday I visited two galleries just off the beach on North Venice Blvd the first is the Shulamit Gallery owned by Shulamit Nazarian an Iranian born Jew who as a teenager immigrated to this country with her parents in 1978 just before the start of the Iranian Revolution.  She is active in the art scene in L.A. including the Santa Monica Museum, LACMA, and at UCLA.  She opened this gallery in 2011 to build bridges between the Middle Eastern art community and the embattled Arab and Israeli communities according to Deborah Vankin who wrote about Shulamit in the L.A. Times yesterday.

The current exhibit is called "For Export Only,"    Here is a sampling of what I saw:

"Mailbox," 2013 bronze and epoxy resin, by Kamran Sharif, b. Iran, lives in Los Angeles.
"The artist investigates the differences between Iranian and American perceptions of common everyday objects

"Abi" 2014 by Kamran Sharif, Epoxy resin and mixed media.

"Blue Angel," 2013 by Sanz Mazinani, set of two photographs mounted on Di-Bond with custom wooden structure. The description states that the patterns, while resembling traditional Islamic ornamentation are in fact constructed from multitudes of repeated media images of war.  The artist is quoted as saying that she is interested in thinking about how we can be more aware of what is really happening around us so that we can make informed decisions around the choices that our government so often makes for us.

By Kamran Sharif, 2013

"Water for Tea I," 2013 by Galia Linn, paper clay, white and clear glazed stone-ware

I visited L A LOUVER just a few doors away and enjoyed the sculptures of Sui Jianguo, a Chinese artist born in 1956 in Qingdao. This is his U.S. gallery debut.  Sui's works in both figurative and non-representational form.

"Right Hand," 2003, bronze.  Sui portrays Mao's right arm, derived from the portrait of Mao with his outstretched hand, thereby depriving the gesture of its potency.

These are a few of Sui's most recent works created while blindfolded.  After molding the clay he enlarged it in bronze, leaving his impressions and fingerprints.  He then applied a patina to the surface.

"Schwarzwald," 2014, bronze.  This is is inspired by the time Sui spent in the German Black Forest.  It is over 16 feet long and comprised of black drips that cascade and puddle onto the floor.  It was formed from plaster poured over an armature and was allowed to take shape without his direct manipulation.  It was cast in bronze. 

"The Blind #8," 2014
"Sui kicked a mound of clay with successive blows, leaving behind imprints that seethe with tension and aggression."

 Upstairs in the gallery are the works of Frederick Hammersley in an exhibit entitled "Organics and Cut-ups," 1963-65.  "To make cut-ups the artis took a completed abstract painting, cut it into squares or oblong forms, rearranged the parts, and mounted it in its re-formed composition."  Eight cut ups are in the exhibit.  The wooden frames are all handmade by the artist and are unique to each composition.  Hammersley was born in Salt Lake City in 1919.  He created his works mostly in California where he lived until he accepted a teaching post at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque in 1968.  He remained their until his death in 2009.

"Before + After, # 2," 1964, oil on cb panel.

"George #6c," 1965 

"Agnes #9c," 1965

"Earth bound #30," 1963