Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Helen K. Garber News


Congratulations to dnj Gallery artist, Helen K. Garber, for wining third place in the FINE ART : COLLAGE PRO category of the 2011 International Photography Awards competition!

To see more images from Helen's amazing Encaustic Noir Series, please stop by the gallery at Bergamot Station for a visit.

Friday, August 12, 2011

LA Times Review - Andrew Uchin


A big congratulations to dnj Gallery artist, Andrew Uchin, for his recent review in the Culture Monster section of the LA Times! And thank you to Sharon Mizota as well for writing such a wonderful review!
Andrew's show will be on view a dnj until September 10, 2011 so be sure to stop by the gallery for a visit and see this amazing body of work in person!

As books are increasingly made of pixels instead of paper, it's not surprising that their quaint physical form should become fodder for artists. Andrew Uchin's spare photographs of the covers, spines and other parts of old tomes at dnj Gallery look like little abstractions, but are also paeans to the appealing physicality of books.

Isolated on white grounds, the images sometimes evoke painting. An illustration from a children's book is mottled all over with abrasions, suggesting a very slow, quiet form of action painting. The back of “Voices in Stone” is a plain gray expanse punctuated by a white library checkout card. It looks as if it were carefully placed to resemble a Hans Hoffman painting.

In other cases, the works are small jokes. "Art and Anarchy" is opened to the dedication page, which reads, "To Diane, who refuses to read it." In "The Tyranny of Words" the book is missing entirely, leaving only the dust jacket: words about words about the tyranny of words. At times these ploys are too cute. The cover of "Visual Thinking" has been ripped off, leaving the title page fuzzy behind a translucent white end paper. The corner of a book bearing the running figure of the Modern Library series is creased upward, as if he were turning pages in his haste.

Uchin's images are strongest when they record the personal and often emotional attachments we form with books, charting how intellectual engagement takes physical form. In "Josephine," we see only the page edges of a book lying on its side. Across the edges, someone has written "Josephine" in large letters, and at each end, the words "Black Boy." The edges become a highly personal alternative spine — it's impossible to tell whether the book is titled "Josephine," or whether it is a copy of Richard Wright's "Black Boy" that belonged to someone named Josephine. Regardless, it's poignant evidence of a unique relationship one is unlikely to develop with an iPad.


-- Sharon Mizota

dnj Gallery, Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 315-3551, through Sept. 3. Closed Sun. and Mon.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

"Splash! Liquid Energy Splattered" Reviewed By Ventura County Star

Congratulations to dnj Gallery, artists, Annie Seaton and Bill Sosin, for their inclusion in "Splash!" and the recent review in the Ventura County Star!

Annie Seaton_Big Wave

Exhibit Standout:
'Splash' Exhibit in Oxnard Explores Fascination With Water


Put artists next to water and their creative juices flow. Inspired by coastal waters, Southern California artists have found plenty of ways to interpret wet. "Splash! liquid energy spattered," an exhibition on display through Aug. 21 at the Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard, celebrates our fascination with water.

The collection features 60 traditional and nontraditional artworks in diverse media by California artists. Themes represent water's recreational allure, beauty and transparency both realistically and abstractly. The images explore the impact and experience of water, from manufactured pools to natural waterways.

The 22 featured artists are John Budicin, D.J. Hall, Carolyn Hesse-Low, Margie Livingston, Joel Meyerowitz, Brad Miller, Stephen Mirich, Bobbie Moline-Kramer, Maria Luisa Morando, Elizabeth Patterson, Roxie Ray, Blakeney Sanford, Annie Seaton (whose "Big Surf" image is pictured here), Brooke Shaden, Bill Sosin, Rich Stich, Adam Thorman, Daena Title, Roger Weik, Daniel Wheeler, John Wimberley and Peter Zokosky. The collection is on loan from participating artists and fine art galleries throughout California.


The Carnegie Art Museum, 424 South C St., Oxnard, is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 1-5 p.m. Sundays. A donation of $3 is suggested. For more information, call 385-8157 or visit carnegieam.org.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Michael Eastman "ARTnews" Review - Summer 2011 Issue

Congratulations to dnj Gallery artist, Michael Eastman, for his recent "ARTnews" review on his Plexagraphs series!

Eastman_Plexagraphs_artnews scan