Just closed at California State University Northridge Art Gallery, the 40th anniversary exhibition of Blinky the Friendly Hen is a tour de force. The exhibition is all of these things: performance art, gallery show, and homage to both Blinky herself and Blinky’s immortalizer, artist Jeffrey Vallance.

 

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On Wednesday at noon in suite B310, there will be a panel on collecting with art dealer Edward Cella, Thomas Lavin, and Justin Marr.

The Stargazers show at the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion in Costa Mesa, curated by gallery director Tyler Stallings to coincide with the opening of Orange Coast College’s state-of-the-art planetarium this month, interweaves scientific explorations of the cosmos with the mysticism of Jung’s collective unconscious. While created separately by five artists and three artist teams over the course of several years, the works’ interpretive liberties with astronomy data and history reflect stunningly common colors, placidity and mandala-like geometries evidencing Jung’s notion of synchronicity, or the uncanny coincidence of events pointing to a shared undercurrent of symbols and aspirations. Through meaningfully warped timeframes and spatial scales, the works guide us in turn through the cosmos—macrocosmically with the aid of astronomical tools, and microcosmically through our bodies as cavities of spiritual wonder—collectively inviting us to reconsider and resolve our position within it.

Read the full article on Artillery.

 

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Rema Ghuloum’s life-affirming response to this loss has been to make paintings whose direct and unapologetic pursuit of beauty feels rare.

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Representing a broad range of artists, years, techniques, and themes, this exhibition of approximately 30 works offers viewers a rich and engrossing experience of color photographs by emerging and established artists alike, as it presents a concise and select traversal through the history of color photography from its origins as an accepted artistic tool in the 1960s and 70s, up to today’s most conceptually-driven practices. Due to the generosity of patrons who have given works of art and acquisition funds, the Museum has been able to significantly deepen and expand its holdings in the field of color photography, a groundbreaking and still-influential mode of expression in the art of the past 50 years.

Simmering with psychic intensity, Rema Ghuloum's eight hazy abstractions in “Love Is a Feeling” conjure the geometric and mythical lexicons of Paul Klee and Hilma af Klint, viewed through Rothko-esque fields of transparent color. Each work yields varying effects depending on one's viewing angle and distance. Seen from across the room, their salient attribute is a lustrous, mottled palette. As one approaches, an atmospheric sense of depth unfolds.

Read the rest of the review on Artforum. 

Garment Girl developed from Jennifer Vanderpool’s immigrant grandmother’s reminiscences about working as a cook in a sweatshop in the Allegheny Mountains and her mother’s stories about sewing shirt collars in order to pay her college tuition. The exhibition interlaces her matrilineal family stories of struggle with current labor activism through evoking questions about the global textile industry and the unseen garment workers sewing in sweatshops. Garment Girl includes imaginary realism prints, textiles, and workers’ stories told by Vietnamese refugees who worked in Los Angeles sweatshops, and those told by women textile laborers in Hà Nội. Their stories are interwoven with interviews Vanderpool conducted with labor scholars and activists in both locations. Garment Girl first opened in May 2018 at Heritage Space, Hà Nội, Việt Nam.

"I would describe my work as a confluence of abstract styles and painting methods that explore the temporality of representation. What I mean is that historically speaking, art in general - and in my case abstract art - has been a marker of time and place; an encapsulation of the ideas that are circulating and social concerns, both philosophically and politically. In Post-War abstract expressionism there was a push toward a non-verbal communication - a more instinctual communication that happened between viewer and object. This relationship calls to be present in the moment. I've thought a lot about those ideas in relation to my work and the world we now live in with incredible technologies as we manage multiple identities simultaneously. So being "present" takes on new meaning and understanding where our online presence is at times, which is as real as our physical reality. With these ideas in mind, I created paintings that combine the contemporary with the historical and they act physically as though they are mediated, despite being handmade and physically occupy the same space with the viewer."

Read the full interview here.

"Ruth Pastine’s latest series, 'Counterpoint,' is a luscious group of pastel on paper pieces. Like its musical name, “Counterpoint” is a unique relationship between different voices, independent and separate. But when each voice shares the same ground, unexpected possibilities emerge."

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California State University, Northridge Art Galleries is honored to present Blinky the Friendly Hen: 40th Anniversary Exhibition. Comprised of a Relic Chamber, a Blinky Theatre, Blinky book editions (1979-2019), chapel, gift shop, stained glass, and historical artifacts, this fourth retrospective exhibition celebrates historical and contemporary works relating to four decades of the Blinky phenomenon. A curated group exhibition of works by international artists, CSUN faculty and staff, as well as a student show component, will acknowledge Blinky’s legacy.

Built in the style of a cathedral dungeon, the Relic Chamber will have early first-class relics on display from the collection of Barry Sloane; other reliquaries will contain third-class relics produced over the years. The Blinky Theatre will screen Blinky-related videos, including a 1983 clip from “Late Night with David Letterman,” Bruce and Norman Yonemotos’ 1988 video documenting Blinky’s exhumation, a MOCA TV episode, and a punk rock video dedicated to Blinky. The Blinky Gift Shop installation will offer affordable handmade Blinky souvenirs and collectibles

 The exhibition will include several events including walkthroughs and an artist performance. 

Opening Reception: Saturday, February 2 | 4-6 PM at CSUN Main Art Gallery Artist Talk: Monday, February 4 | 10 AM at CSUN Main Art Gallery Artist Walk-through: Saturday, February 16 | 1 PM at CSUN Main Art Gallery Blinky's Graveside Performance: Saturday, February 23rd, 1 PM at the LA Pet Cemetery, with reception to follow at CSUN Main Art Gallery