2015 Year in Review – Canvassing the Galleries: The year gone by in art

Soo Kim’s work, clearly fascinating to some viewers, was on display earlier this past year in the Torrance Art Museum.
Paintings by Ranee Henderson, left, were featured at the Palos Verdes Art Center in June and July, concurrent with “John Elgin: Master of Hollywood Regency.”

Paintings by Ranee Henderson, left, were featured at the Palos Verdes Art Center in June and July, concurrent with “John Elgin: Master of Hollywood Regency.”

They come and they go, not only art shows but exhibition spaces and the people who have their work on view. This is a survey of what the South Bay put on display during 2015, a few things left out on purpose and probably just as many left out by accident. With some luck, most of the good stuff is mentioned below.

January: The Manhattan Beach Art Center, in what would prove to be an impressive lineup of exhibitions, began the year with work by Terril Cascia, Abdul Mazid, and Alex Weinstein… Gallery 730 opened in El Segundo with photographs by Chris Miller, Jill Sanders, and Brent Broza, plus paintings by Michael Petroni, Deslie Guthrie, and Scott Miller. If there were other shows at the gallery they fell under our radar… The Palos Verdes Art Center featured the paintings of Paul Jean Martel, an early 20th century Belgian Post-Impressionist… “Sincerely Yours” opened at the Torrance Art Museum (TAM) and examined the resurgence of the notion of the Romantic in contemporary painting… “Beautiful Planet: In Celebration of Nature” was curated by Susanna Meiers at the El Camino College Art Gallery, and among others included artists Margaret Lazzari, Candice Gawne, and Betsy Lohrer Hall.

Artist Holly Socrates organized three art walks this past summer for El Segundo.

Artist Holly Socrates organized three art walks this past summer for El Segundo.

February: “Spark,” a collaboration between Mirada Studios and storyteller Cornelia Funke, based on her “MirrorWorld” series, was at ESMoA (The El Segundo Art Museum)… Richard Stephens had new work featured at Destination: Art in Torrance… “Artistic Adventures,” at the Artists’ Studio Gallery in Rolling Hills Estates, showed work by Don Crocker, Joyce Welsh, and Beverly Holman.

March: “When the Cat’s Away,” a group show at Ego Fine Art in Redondo Beach (one of the very last exhibits at the former home of Cannery Row) highlighted, among others, Scott Trimble, Michael Chomick, Angelina D’Arcy, Gavin McGroggan, Kyle William Harper, and Emily Brantley… “Post-Medium” at the Manhattan Beach Art Center featured experimental, contemporary work by Walpa D’Mark, David Festa, Rema Ghuloum, and Ana Rodriguez… The Pastel Society of Southern California exhibited 150 paintings by local and national artists at the South Bay Lexus Service Center in Torrance… “Rock Show: 30 Years of Rock Images,” by Don Adkins, was given the star treatment at the Frame and Art Department in Hermosa Beach… “One Day in March,” photographs by Beth Shibata, were on view at the Madrona Marsh Nature Center in Torrance… “Art at Plaza Riviera” was the first of several art shows organized by Artlife Gallery’s Vanesa Andrade… Ross Moore and Francis Azzopardi exhibited at Dion Gallery in Riviera Village (owner Jeff Dion’s first show there in four years)… “Second Sight: New Representations in Photography” was a group show at TAM, with “John Hyatt: My Brush with Angels” in the smaller, second gallery.

Art patron and Time 4 Art founder Homeira Goldstein held soirees at her home and curated James Gilbert’s “Sledgehammer.Bullet.Bomb” at the Manhattan Beach Art Center.

Art patron and Time 4 Art founder Homeira Goldstein held soirees at her home and curated James Gilbert’s “Sledgehammer.Bullet.Bomb” at the Manhattan Beach Art Center.

April: Jim Murray’s “Been There–Done That–Doing This: Three Series, Four Decades” featured hyperrealist paintings. Curated by Ann Martin, the work was on view at the Manhattan Beach Art Center, and Murray was the subject of an Easy Reader cover story… The PADA group, South Bay fine art photographers, showed their images at the Frame and Art Department in Hermosa Beach… “riverrun,” photos of the L.A. River by Ray Carofano, were on view at Warschaw Gallery in San Pedro… Chris Barela’s “Yin Yang Wave” sculpture was unveiled at the Manhattan Village Mall… As it does each year, one weekend a month from April to September, Malaga Cove Plaza began hosting its art show and sale, featuring roughly 30 artists associated with the Palos Verdes Art Center.

May: “Visualization in Art and Science,” curated by Margaret Lazzari, was at South Bay Contemporary, now at the Loft in San Pedro. Among the artists were Fatemeh Burnes, David Chappell, Candice Gawne, and Ruth Trotter… Rosemary Bandes was featured at Destination: Art… “South Bay Snapshots” opened at Phantom Gallery in Hawthorne with photographers Melissa Richardson Banks, Jon Berry, Arlene P. Carley, and Richard Podgurski, Jr. Just next door, at Gallery H, “These into That (2010-2015: Found Objects Art” by Ben Zask was on view. These two galleries, under the guidance of Gloria Plascencia, presented some of the area’s most exciting shows during 2015… Kevin Gilligan’s “Elements: Sea–Air–Land” was at Ego Fine Art in Redondo Beach… “Writers in Search of the Sacred,” a multimedia exhibition by Cie Gumucio (profiled in our May 7 issue) drew crowds to Michael Stearns’ Gallery in San Pedro.

“CA 101,” held at the power plant in Redondo Beach this past July, highlighted the work of dozens of artists, including Karrie Ross, shown here.

“CA 101,” held at the power plant in Redondo Beach this past July, highlighted the work of dozens of artists, including Karrie Ross, shown here.

June: ESMoA opened “Studio,” highlighting work by the late German painter Norbert Tadeusz… “John Elgin: Master of Hollywood Regency” was a nicely presented, informative exhibition at the Palos Verdes Art Center… John Van Hamersveld’s highly anticipated mural, “The Great Wave,” was unveiled at 14th Street and Hermosa Avenue in Hermosa Beach… “Share Your Vision,” photographs from the advanced students of the Creative Photo Academy in Torrance, under the direction of Mark Comon of Paul’s Photo, was on view at Gallery H in Hawthorne… “On the Beach” spotlighted 16 artists from the Redondo Beach Art Group and was shown at the Frame and Art Department in Hermosa… Flower photographer Jamie LaValley had a new set of images to show at Annie Appel’s Gallery 381 in San Pedro (we interviewed him in our June 4 issue)… “Forgetting the Future: Entropy in the Reflective Age,” curated by Lisa DeSmidt, was at TAM, with paintings by Mimmo Catania in Gallery Two… Holly Socrates coordinated the first of three El Segundo Art Walks. The others took place in July and August… Painter Erin Hanson, whose work has been dubbed “open-Impressionism,” was picked as the featured artist for 2015’s Hermosa Beach Fine Arts Festival (formerly the more prosaic Hermosa Beach Art Walk).

Mark Sonners opened Gallery Exposure in Old Torrance in September, and currently is hosting its third exhibition.

Mark Sonners opened Gallery Exposure in Old Torrance in September, and currently is hosting its third exhibition.

July: “CA 101” brought in artists, lots of them, from up and down the coast. The exhibition was held in the always impressive AES Power Plant… “Ranee Henderson: Latchkey” was at the Palos Verdes Art Center (we profiled her on July 2)… The Torrance Artists’ Guild presented “Gallery of Fine Arts” (with over 100 works) at the South Bay Lexus Service Center… TransVagrant and Warschaw Gallery showed Gary Szymanski, Marie Thibeault, Ted Twine, and others… Destination: Art held their summer exhibition in Old Torrance.

August: “Studio System” was an open workshop, so to speak, at TAM, with the public encouraged to come in and engage the dozen-plus artists in conversation about their works-in-progress. These included Valerie Wilcox, Hung Viet Nguyen, Seth Kaufman, Dickson Schneider, Mariangeles Soto-Diaz, and Elizabeth Dorbad… “Contrasting Boundaries” was at APC Fine Arts & Graphics in Old Torrance, and featured Ghada Jamal, plus Ron Hust and Ron Libbrecht… “Body of Water” was a multifaceted look at H2O from drought to deluge, shown in the El Camino College Art Gallery… “New Constructions and Assemblies,” by publisher and gadfly James Preston Allen, was at Michael Stearns’ Studio 347 in San Pedro… “Art Fusion 2015,” a group show with 50 artists and 150 artworks, curated by Scott Canty, was seen at Gallery H in Hawthorne. At the end of the month this same gallery opened “Transformations,” the first solo show ever given to long time curator (and artist) Peggy Sivert Zask (she was interviewed in Easy Reader’s 8/27 edition). The show was curated by Gloria Plascencia.

Tracey Weiss (her recent work just behind her) was among the artists in “South Bay Focus 2015,” held in November at the Torrance Art Museum.

Tracey Weiss (her recent work just behind her) was among the artists in “South Bay Focus 2015,” held in November at the Torrance Art Museum.

September: Mark Sonner’s opened Gallery Exposure in Old Torrance with an exhibition of his own work, “Cuba 99: A Photographic Retrospective from La Habana, Cuba.” Sonners was written up in our Sept. 3 issue… The third “SUR: biennial” was a collaborative effort between TAM, the Manhattan Beach Art Center, and galleries in Cerritos and Whittier, and it featured work by artists with a Chicano, Hispanic, or Latino background who might thus influence students of the same ethnic background. TAM curator Max Presneill was interviewed for our preview story devoted to this endeavor… Artists Unlimited presented “Impressions,” a group show, at the Malaga Cove Library Gallery… “California’s Best Artists” was also a group show, held at the Lexus Service Center in Torrance, and familiar names included Cinthia Joyce, Stephen Mirich, and Jody Wiggins… “Confluence at the Pier,” held at Savoir Faire on the upper deck of the Redondo Beach Pier, featured fine art textiles, art quilts, elegant prints, etc., and among the artists were Deborah Weir and Inga Gorsvan-Buell.

In August, “Studio System” turned the Torrance Art Museum into a large artists’ workshop, where the public was encouraged to engage the dozen artists about their work. Dickson Schneider was among those featured.

In August, “Studio System” turned the Torrance Art Museum into a large artists’ workshop, where the public was encouraged to engage the dozen artists about their work. Dickson Schneider was among those featured.

October: The Redondo Beach Art Group’s “Power of Art” again took place in the Redondo Beach Main Library, with approximately 46 artists (it was also an Easy Reader cover story)… “Touch” at ESMoA (on view through January 2016) highlights the artist portraits of photographer Jim McHugh… “Mark Shaw: Glamour” and “Monica Orozco: Photo-a-Day” was at the Palos Verdes Art Center, curated by Joe Baker… Mark Sonner’s Gallery Exposure opened its second show with works by David Engle and David Fairchild… “Form and Fantasy” at the Artists’ Studio Gallery in Rolling Hills Estates featured painters Jeanne Zaske and JoAnn Bosowski, plus jewelry maker Jill Kollman… Nancy Crawford has her own gallery in San Pedro, but was given a stunning show at Gallery 478, just up the street… Gallery H presented a vivid “Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos”… “Binocular” was an exhibition by photographer and graphic designer David Jordan Williams, held in the Art Gallery at El Camino College… David Wolfram was the recipient of the 2015 Torrance Cultural Arts Commission Excellence in Art Award.

November: “Sledgehammer.Bullet.Bomb” (up through Jan. 16) features installation art by James Gilbert, and was curated by Homeira Goldstein at the Manhattan Beach Arts Center… “South Bay Focus 2015” opened at TAM and many local artists had work on display there… Holly Socrates premiered a new series, “black,” at her El Segundo Gallery… Destination: Art celebrated its one-year anniversary: Paintings of famous works, given a holiday makeover, were on view… “Hyung Mo Lee: Recent Work” and “Sam Arno, Retrospective: 1995-2015” were shown at South Bay Contemporary, at the Loft in San Pedro.

Soo Kim’s work, clearly fascinating to some viewers, was on display earlier this past year in the Torrance Art Museum.

Soo Kim’s work, clearly fascinating to some viewers, was on display earlier this past year in the Torrance Art Museum.

December: “Tango,” a whole new series of jolly, colorful dancers by Wilfred Sarr, was given a spectacular opening at Annie Appel’s Gallery 381 in San Pedro… “Emerging Impressions: A Collaborative Group Show” highlights the work of young artists, and it’s up through Janl. 15 at Gallery Exposure in Old Torrance… “Aiepathy: Collaborative Works by Shannon Donnelly and Scott Meskill” was at Phantom Gallery in Hawthorne, right next door to Gallery H, which presented the colorful work of Kristine Schomaker, work that challenges society’s obsessions with physical appearance.

As I hope you will agree, it wasn’t a bad year for local art, and of course it’s only going to get better in 2016!

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