Author: Kendra Dority
When Los Angeles art critic Holly Myers conceived of curating a show for the Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock, she found the endeavor to be a personal one. Intrigued by abstract art, she originally sought to find out how abstraction works—but discovered that a more appropriate, more intimate question was determining why abstraction is specifically exciting to her.
The theme of the current exhibition “Possible Impossible Dimension: Six Artists on the Brink of Abstraction” is “abstraction that employs a sense of spatial dynamics,” Myers explained. “I found that I personally was really drawn to work that created its own world and drew the viewer into that world—as if into a landscape.”
Walking into this art exhibit, one cannot help but be drawn into another world. The pieces—created by young artists (all under 35 years of age) from the east side of Los Angeles—are engaging, textured, playful and imaginative. Max Lesser’s large “Untitled” compositions are multilayered and charmingly colorful; Chris Natrop’s “Substructure Spring Drip,” a meticulously intricate creation of cut paper, seems supernatural; and the rhythmic textures and shading of Dan Bayles’ “From Glass Box to Fort 1-4” create an unconventional architecture.
In her Curator’s Statement, Myers explains that these artists “play with elements of depth, movement and perspectival space.” Their work contrasts with what Myers sees as the “flatness and pattern” of a long running tradition in abstract painting. “They flirt with the boundary between the imaginative realm within a given piece and the ‘real’ world outside of it, whether by inviting the world into the work [. . .] or imposing the logic of the work onto the world,” she explained in her statement.
It is these elements of the “real world” within the art that entice the viewer and tease traditional perception. Bari Ziperstein’s hilarious “Victorian Couple I,” for example, includes two sculptures of ceramic figurines—a Victorian man and woman—engulfed in geometric plaster. The Victorian man’s body is exposed, but his head is swallowed by the odd plaster shape, while an outgrowth of plaster seems to substitute itself for the woman’s dress. Ziperstein’s “Chandelier,” a larger installation, similarly includes the familiar form of a light fixture escaping from—or succumbing to—unfamiliar shapes of plaster and foam core. Dorsey Dunn’s “Sensation of Movement,” a sound installation that utilizes noise from a Berlin park, feels like walking through a cave of strange echoes. In Brad Eberhard’s unexpected “I Can See You, But You Can’t See Me,” an elephant amusingly peeks from behind a billboard.
“Possible Impossible Abstraction” runs through Feb. 16, but there are many other reasons to visit the Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock—it is a community gem. Located just near the intersection of Eagle Rock and Colorado Boulevards, the structure—a 1914 Spanish Colonial Revival building, it was the original site of the Eagle Rock Library and is a Los Angeles City Historic Monument—is not only architecturally interesting with its high-ceilinged, columned interior, but it also serves as a space designed for community development and accessibility.
Their mission to “present innovative and multicultural arts programming” and their connection with the Eagle Rock Cultural Affairs Department results in poetry readings, performances, low-cost children’s animation and dance classes, seminars for musicians, their annual fundraiser art auction and many other arts and educational opportunities. And, as Director of Operations (and Oxy alumna) Renée Dominique explained, the Center for the Arts is always looking for volunteers to help maintain their programs and continue community outreach.
“Get out and see as much as possible,” Myers said, offering her advice to students. “It is a very exciting time for art in LA—there’s really no better place you could be in the US for contemporary art at the moment.”
The Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock is located at 2225 Colorado Blvd. For more information, visit centerartseaglerock.org.
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