Fantastic Feminist Figuration, curated by Betty Ann Brown and Wendy Sherman

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 17, 6-9 pm
Curator’s Talk/Closing Reception: Saturday, October 8, 4-6 pm
Exhibition Dates: September 17 – October 8, 2016

Curatorial Statement:

“Fantastic Feminist Figuration” (FFF) features the work of seven Southern California artists: Jodi Bonassi, Bibi Davidson, Enzia Farrell, Laura Larson, Deirdre Sullivan-Beeman, Tslil Tsemet, and Lauren YS. Larson is a sculptor, the rest of the artists are painters. All of them present human figures–most often female figures, but not always–in fantastical worlds that recall the work of Surrealist “Grandmothers” Leonora Carrington, Frida Kahlo, and Remedios Varo. Much like the Surrealists, the FFF artists depict the special relationships between women and their animal familiars.

Echoing the wisdom of the Ancient Egyptians and Assyrians, the FFF women recognize that the human and animal worlds are indelibly interwoven, and we gain personal power through our intimate interactions with four-legged companions. Sphinxes (Egyptian human-lion beasts) and Lamassus (Assyrian deities combining human, eagle, lion, and bull features) embodied the protective powers of the human-animal connection. And just as the ancients represented spiritual power by combining human and animal features, Larson transforms a medieval model of mourning monks by giving animal heads–rat, bear, lion–to the robed religious figures. Davidson depicts women with bright red hair (painted avatars of the artist herself) with feline companions. And Bonassi allows cats and other mammals (especially giraffes) to emerge magically from the ether around her human subjects. Farrell depicts dark-haired beauties with dog and chicken comrades. (Not surprisingly, the artist herself lives with a dog and several chickens.) Sullivan-Beeman, Tsemet, and YS all depict women with animal allies, and do so in remarkably diverse styles, from the almost academically precise work of Sullivan-Beeman to the superflat, graphically impactful YS.  (Betty Ann Brown, July 2016)

Groundspace Project is an artist-run alternative space located just east of the 4th Street bridge in downtown Los Angeles.
Exhibition hours are Friday and Saturday, 1-6 pm.
1427 E. 4th St. #4, Los Angeles, CA 90033

The Chance Chronicles: Ann Mitchell

Opening Reception: Saturday, October 22, 6-9 pm
Exhibition Dates: October 22 – November 19, 2016

Please join us for The Chance Chronicles, a solo exhibition by Ann Mitchell.  Ms. Mitchell is a Los Angeles based photographer whose work ‘created a bridge between analog and digital’ more than a decade ago, developing the psychological territories of her potent imagery.   Derived from meditation, The Chance Chronicles explore the deep processes of intuition played out in process and material.

Artist’s Statement:

This series began with the title, The Chance Chronicles, because the images were inspired by a series of randomly selected prompts. Starting with a large set of Buddhist meditations I would randomly select one to write about each day. Through this process an image would “arrive” and then I would start the process of creating it. The concept of randomness and chance interested me in that I was both giving up control and having faith in where the process would lead me. I allowed chance to take me on a journey.

When I first imagined these images I wanted them to feel as if I was gazing at them from inside a great storm…probably that’s what my life felt like at the time. For the past four years I’d been working in color, but I’ve always been drawn to monochromatic imagery for its narrative qualities. I’m also exploring an aesthetic far removed from the current deadpan vogue – with a nod to popular culture, this “instagrammed visual choice is part of the vocabulary I want to use. Scanning the glass from a set of vintage proof frames gave me the textures and created a bridge between analog and digital.

These are the stories that came to me by chance…my hope is that the viewer can find their own stories in them as well.

Groundspace Project is an artist-run alternative space located just east of the 4th Street bridge in downtown Los Angeles.
Exhibition hours are Friday and Saturday, 1-6 pm.
1427 E. 4th St. #4, Los Angeles, CA 90033