WELLS FARGO BANK SHOW

To follow up on our SCA show opportunities for this summer, the Wells Fargo Bank Show is currently our only planned event. Our previous plans for a show at Chapman U. have been withdrawn by the school. Accordingly, any additional SCA members who would like to show this summer at Wells Fargo Bank should send an E-Mail expressing their interest to Karen Feuer-Schwager. So far there are only 14 members who have signed up, and many more can be accomodated. The next SCA meeting on April 12 will include a discussion for show plans.

SCA Art Show Opportunities

Gallery 57 Underground, main gallery Gallery 57 Underground, adjacent show room

In our March meeting I announced that SCA will no longer have annual exhibitions at Chapman University, that the fine arts department has been reorganized and their gallery is fully booked for the year by its own activities. We do have the Wells Fargo Bank show planned for the summer, but only 13 members have commited to this show so far. To replace the Chapman show, we asked members to pursue new venues. Also, we had significant criticism in last year's survey about the lack of public response to the Chapman show.

So far, we have two offers for new venues. First, SCA member Jay Sagen, who also heads the Coastline art department and art gallery, suggested a possible juried show for a small number of SCA members for a show in July. The show may require several art works, and a themed show is a possibility. Gallery sitting may be required also. We are coordinating with him during this planning period and will discuss this at our next SCA meeting on April 12.

Our second opportunity is offered by SCA member Desiree Engel, who is also with the Gallery 57 Underground located in the Arts Colony of Pomona. This free-of-charge offer is for a one month show of SCA members during July, because of a recent cancellation. This basement level gallery is 2000 sq. ft. and can show 40-50 wall pieces plus ample space for sculptures, so that a full membership show could be held. An adjacent small room could host an art auction for our charity fund raiser (see photos attached). However, the greater driving distance from most members located in Orange County may be an obstacle. Volunteers are also needed for gallery sitting on Friday/Saturday/Sunday during the month. We also need an SCA volunteer for Exhibition chairperson to respond by next week (Monday, March 24). All SCA members who would like to participate and volunteer to support this show, please E-Mail SCA president Thom Wright, so that we would commit to this opportunity with a sufficient show of interest.

All SCA members are requested to enquire about other new venues, particularly for the second half of the year.

your pres, Thom Wright

EXPERIMENTAL CAL ART SINCE THE 60’S

One of the current exhibitions at OCMA presents an assemblage of art historical artworks made in California since the 1960’s. All the last fifty years of art movements are there in some example piece – pop, environmental, photography, video/film, light, installation, performance, conceptual, environmental, life as art, and some of the more recent esthetics using new materials and processes. The side text offers substantial documentation and description, enough to emphasize the experimental aspect as well as touch on its classification. On the whole this is good art history with proof that it was made in California, although never mentioning what is really innovative to California.

For the older public who lived those years, it’s a pleasant sentimental journey. However, most of the older work looks old and faded. The risk taking was daring to the point of using non-permanent materials, so that the immediacy of the art isn’t quite there any more. No Caravaggio’s, only Warhols as our legacy.

My favorite art in the show is processed sheets of glass by Kim Abeles. It combines concept, processes, scale and presentation that is inspiring and somewhat scary. That and the show on the other side of the museum are sufficient to recommend a visit.

SCA BANKS ON ART

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ARTISTS ANNOUNCES
CAP GALLERY EXHIBITION AT WELLS FARGO BANK
SCA BANKS ON ART
Laguna Beach, CA
Southern California Artists (SCA) is featuring members’ paintings and sculpture at the Wells Fargo Gallery located on the second floor of the Wells Fargo Bank building at 260 Ocean Avenue, Laguna Beach, in an exhibit entitled, “Southern California Artists Association Bank on Art,” opening June 3, 2008, running through August 30, 2008. Exhibition will be open to the public during regular banking hours.
This annual event will feature 13 SCA artists who will put their artwork on display for the public’s enjoyment; many works will be available for purchase (contact # for each artist are provided)..
SCA is a non-profit organization with a membership of 67 that provides a forum for professional and emerging Southern California artists. Its charter is to support artists with dialogue, education and interaction at all stages of the creative process, from inspiration to exhibition. SCA has a commitment for community outreach through a variety of art programs, as well as charitable events. There is no favored media, school of art, or political emphasis; rather, SCA welcomes all creative pursuits addressing what is art, its foundations, and what it means to make art and communicate it to the community.
For further information, contact Karen Schwager, Southern California Artists, (949) 497-5926, kfschwager@cox.net.

Obsessive/Compulsive

Have you ever wondered, “Where do they come up with that nonsense for an art theme?” In this age of the Postmodern, anything goes, so it is said. Life is an experiment, where all esthetics are valid, versus the top-down dictum that this year’s fad is neo-minimalist excesses, for instance. So I am a little skeptical about the Huntington Beach Art Center’s upcoming opening show, “Obsessive/Compulsive”, which opens Friday, March 7, at 7 pm. The artists “explore the definition of obsession as a persistent, disturbing, preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling.” Isn’t that what most art is about? And how can that be a subject apart from its meaning, or why does the unorthodox point of view become the subject. If you are as confused by this double-talk art as you are unsure that it can inspire art, I’ll see you at the opening on Friday.