- Venue: Phone Booth Gallery
- Official: phoneboothgallery.com
Event/Show Dates
- August 4, 2012
- September 18, 2012
Description:
Phone Booth Gallery is pleased to present “Reimagined,” an exhibition of new works that re-interpret old masterpieces. Each artist in the show chose a historical artwork to respond to – maybe “Cyclops” by French symbolist Odilon Redon, or paper cutouts by tale-spinner Hans Christian Andersen. The results range from whimsical to startling, and as contemporary artists’ toy with its forms, the authority of history becomes less and less weighty. The exhibition opens with a reception on August 4th, from 7-10 p.m. This all-ages event will take place at Phone Booth Gallery’s exhibition space, 2533 East Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90803. “Reimagined” will remain on view through September 18th, both at the exhibition space and on www.phoneboothgallery.com.
“The burden of history” is a millstone for some artists. How do you add to a lineage that includes Pablo Picasso, Roy Lichtenstein or Willem de Kooning? How do you take inspiration from the historical artists who have informed your taste, even your worldview, while still saying something new?=
Some artists in “Reimagined” take a subtle approach to masterworks. In Sarai Villalobos’ rendition of Winslow Homer’s 1873 painting “The Farmyard,” the little girl Homer once painted wearing boots with a serene smile on her face, now wears untied sneakers and scowls. The boy beside her wears a baseball cap instead of a straw one. Ruel Pascual has combined the work of two realists – a blue chair in the style of tight-edged realist John Register sits in a field in the softer style of the Andrew Wyeth – to make a scene all his own. Nick Comparone redoes Renoir’s 1880 portrait of serene redheaded girl, Irene Cahen d’ Anvers, in spray paint, a medium tightly tied to urban street art.
Other artists are more overt. Isaac Bidwell turns the woman from Gustav Klimt’s iconic, particularly abstract 1909 portrait, “Judith,” into a ghoulish figure with ram’s ears and skeletal hands. Peter Adamyan’s “A Complete Breakfast” combines Goya’s 1808 painting “The Third of May,” which depicts a scene from the Spanish resistance to Napoleon’s forces, and Jacques Louise David’s “Napoleon Crossing the Alps” with a cereal logo. Instead of a firing squad, Adamyan has painted sugary bits of cereal with rifles. The effect is humorous, but also ominous. Are colorful, kid-friendly cereal ads evidence of a commercialism that’s a bigger threat than Napoleon ever was? It’s not an easy question.
Can recasting the past in the present can tell us something about our time? “Reimagined,” even when it’s homages are tongue-in-cheek, tries to find the answer.
Exhibiting artists include: Adam Jackson, Catherine Yi, Dave Perillo, David Lee Owen, Famous When Dead, Isaac Bidwell, Joel Zuercher, Lola Dupre, M C Michelon, Matt Hendon, Natalie Rosen, Nick Comparone, Nicole Goux, Peter Admyan, Ruel Pascual, Sarai Villalobos, {ths} and more!
Participating Artists:
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