Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Mei Xian Qui Art Talk via ZOOM

You are invited to my Art Talk via ZOOM
USC PACIFIC ASIA MUSEUM
Saturday at 2:30 p.m.



"Mei Xian Qui draws from her personal history to reconstruct the unknown, fantastical notions of culture, self-invented and revelatory and iconic. This type of flexible self-view and easy piercings of notions of the impermeable interior self, are in keeping with the new contemporary landscape of commonplace transience and a growing global monoculture."


Make sure to register at least a day before via EventBrite link:
https://pacificasiamuseum.usc.edu/calendar/details/?event-id=33326868743529

(The Parade / All images are courtesy of dnj Gallery)









Wednesday, April 29, 2020

dnj Gallery -- artist Ellen Cantor

"Mothers and Daughters"

“Life doesn’t come with manual, it comes with a Mother” --Unknown


*Edition of 20. 
$250 for the 1st 10 books, which includes a 5"x7" print.
$150 for the 2nd 10 books.
 All books are signed by the artist Ellen Cantor. 

(All books are handmade
and include 10- 3X5 photographs from her 
2  series)

40% of all proceeds from the sale of this book will go to Food Forward.



"After finding a poem that described the unique relationship between Mothers and daughters, I started this book as a labor of love to honor my extraordinary Mom and my exceptional daughters.


Another prompt for this handmade book is my series, “VISUAL DNA…the language of photographs” at dnj Gallery, Santa Monica. Using family vintage photographs, this series suggests the passing of time and the fading nature of memory. The images challenge us to “read” and interpret a photograph filling in the visual language and context as best we can.


The final impetus for this book was a class in bookmaking I took at The Los Angeles Center of Photography. Combining images from my series ‘VISUAL DNA…the language of photographs” and “Family” with techniques I learned in the class, I created a hand-made book that celebrates the unique relationship between the generations. Each photograph is from my family archives and expresses the memorable link between not only Mothers and Daughters, but also Grandmothers.


I designed and printed the book myself and it is hand-stitched. There are two different options for the cover.

Making this book has been a creative challenge during this period of Covid 19. It reminds us that although we may not be able to see each other in person, family bonds are still strong."







**Please mark your calendar and join Ellen Cantor on Zoom, 
Mother's Day, Sunday, May 10th at 12pm 
as we discuss her latest book and her two adjoining series, "VISUAL DNA...the Language of Photographs" and "Family". The discussion will be joined by dnj Gallery Director Pamela Schoenberg, and led by Shana Nys Dambrot of LA Weekly.  
LACP (The Los Angeles Center for Photography) will co-sponsor this program.

RSVP to office@dnjgallery.net and we will send you the Zoom link.


dnj Gallery Artist -- Dylan Vitone

MoonArk 

MoonArk will be a philosophical mini-museum, left on the moon for future explorers to discover.

"Earth is giving a gift to the moon that will land on the lunar surface next year.
The nine-ounce MoonArk -- a tiny time capsule-esque artifact of humanity -- will be attached to a small lunar rover. This is in the hopes that one day it may be picked up by lunar explorers -- hundreds or thousands of years in the future."




"There's a stunning visual of the FOXP2 genome structure, the gene that allows songbirds to make songs and humans to put words in order, said Dylan Vitone, professor of photography at CMU. The "out of Africa" concept explaining the spread of humanity is given a modern update, showing the light population and density over Egypt. It represents the growth of light and electrification to show the spread of humanity from the fertile crescent..." - Ashley Strickland, CNN

Read more here.

Saturday, April 11, 2020

dnj Gallery Artist -- Sia Aryai

NEW WORK:
#308
Griffith Park, 2016
Archival pigment print on
Hand-painted water-color paper
8”x10”
Unique

$500

#309
Griffith Park, 2016
Archival pigment print on
Hand-painted water-color paper
8”x10”
Unique
$500


#310
Griffith Park, 2016
Archival pigment print on
Hand-painted water-color paper
8”x10”
Unique
$500

#311
Griffith Park, 2016
Archival pigment print on
Hand-painted water-color paper
8”x10”
Unique
$500

 #312
Griffith Park, 2016
Archival pigment print on
Hand-painted water-color paper
8”x10”
Unique

$500

 #313
Griffith Park, 2016
Archival pigment print on
Hand-painted water-color paper
8”x10”
Unique

$500

 #305
Griffith Park, 2016
Archival pigment print on
Hand-painted water-color paper
8”x10”
Unique

$500

#318
Griffith Park, 2016
Archival pigment print on
Hand-painted water-color paper
8”x10”
Unique
$500


Sia Aryai defines beauty in his pieces. As he explains, “[t]his is the moment -- today, tomorrow or yesterday -- when innocence opens a window to eternity.” Aryai prints on painted, water-color paper to begin his aesthetic. But even though his images present the color, the shape and other outward features, it is the personality and spirit, the gestures and passion, and the overall inward sentiments that are apparent. Aryai causes us to witness the actual soul and humanity, a timeless quality, and stresses that there is more to see than ones’ first glance. In describing Aryai’s pieces, Gil Garcetti remarked, “we who love the magic of photographs are compelled to own and display photographs- photographs that somehow stop us, linger with us, emote feelings unique in our daily lives, and demand that we thank the artist.”

Thursday, April 2, 2020

dnj Gallery artist Janna Ireland

Exhibition feature in:





Janna Ireland, Estate, If Everything is an Outrage


"Varied and rich, the Binder of Women refers to the name of a collective inspired to launch in 2017 and name their group of artists offer a 2012 debate comment by then-candidate Mitt Romney. It refers to both his comment and a meme that arose from it, in which Romney said he relied on “binders full of women” given to him by women’s groups as his way to handle pay disparity between the sexes.


Eleven artists from the collective present work in this terrific exhibition, which is filled with a wide range of mediums, styles, and subjects. By creating their own “binder” they are handling a different disparity – in artistic representation. Each work is strong. Exhibiting artists include Michelle Blade, Yasmine Diaz, Rema Ghuloum, Janna Ireland, Kysa Johnson, Galia Linn, Bruna Massadas, Sarana Mehra, Erin Morrison, Julia Schwartz, and Ginger Wolfe-Suarez.

Janna Ireland’s vividly colorful C-Print work of citrus, flowers, and children is visually as juicy as the fruit; while Galia Linn’s painted broken kiln shelves and glazed stoneware, from her “Untitled” Intentions Series, is as compelling as her other sculptural stoneware works in this show, each surreal and involving.

All of the artists’ work is well worth exploring – this is one “binder” that must be kept open..." 
- Genie Davis
More here.

(This exhibition runs from February 8 to March 21, 2020)


*The work of Janna Ireland was presented in the dnj Gallery exhibition:  "Awareness

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Opening Reception: Dinesh Boaz, Ellen Cantor and Sarah Hadley



Thank you to all who attended the opening reception for Dinesh Boaz, Ellen Cantor and Sarah Hadley. The three solo exhibitions explore the human experience through the lens of nature, femininity and family.

MAIN GALLERY
Dinesh Boaz
"Within the Lines"

GALLERY II
Sarah Hadley
"Storylines"

INSTALLATION ROOM
Ellen Cantor
"Visual DNA...the Language of Photographs"

The show is on display until April 18th.

dnj Gallery Artist Dinesh Boaz

Learn a little bit more about our exhibiting artist, Dinesh Boaz. See his series, "Within the Lines" on display at dnj from March 7th to April 18th.