Metro Galleries in a California state of mind
| Wednesday, Feb 03 2010 04:43 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Feb 03 2010 04:43 PM
GO & DO
What: California Contemporary, part of First Friday
When: 5-9 p.m. Friday
Where: Metro Galleries, 1604 19th St.
Admission: Free; hors d'oeuvres by Enso Japanese Bar and no-host wine bar; live music with Kama Ruby and pianist Ezekiel Victor
Information: 634-9598; Info@theMetroGalleries.com
Lush green fields, blue skies outlined by cotton ball clouds and earthy mountains with a glimmer of majestic lavender are the images that embody the beauty of California's landscapes, and now you'll find them all under one roof.
Metro Galleries' latest opening features detailed and vibrant Urban and Abstract landscapes from some familiar names as well as a couple new names to the Bakersfield art scene. Sponsored by Bakersfield Heart Hospital and local artist Barbara Reid, the "California Contemporary" exhibit highlights the talents of contemporary artists Mary-Austin Klein, Art Sherwyn, Keith Wicks, Tina Bluefield and John Brosio as well as emerging talent Lily Stockman.
"I'm excited about this show because we will be introducing several exciting new Contemporary artists," Don Martin says. "Many artists have turned their eye towards Bakersfield as a place they want to show their work. All of these artists are equally talented and all share a unique perspective. Having their work in the same space, at the same time will be exceptional."
The exhibit's featured artist, Mary-Austin Klein, had well-received shows at Metro Galleries over the past four years. This year, she says she's thrilled to show her latest pieces.
"Over the last year I've continued my exploration of the state of California's beauty and have furthered the completion of paintings that promote the stunningly diverse range of landscape our state possesses," she says. "From the Bakersfield Museum of Art to the other galleries opening up downtown, there is a synergy that seems to be gaining a momentum that will make downtown Bakersfield a destination for both collectors and artists."
A Southern California native, Klein has found inspiration in California's lush landscapes for many years. Her work has been shown in galleries in Pasadena and Los Angeles, but it's her enthusiasm for Bakersfield that helped bring contemporary artist John Brosio to Metro Galleries for this exhibit.
"I love Mary-Austin's paintings and find quite a bit of inspiration in their power and intimacy," Brosio says. "It turned out that we lived relatively close to one another and recently exhibited together in Orange County at Sue Greenwood Fine Art."
Brosio says that much of his inspiration comes from nature, sensation, extreme situations and cinema, to name a few sources. "For me, painting is a venue in which I can reconcile my interest in a variety of subject matters," he says. "I was painting tornadoes almost exclusively up until a couple years ago, when I started to tinker with the figure once again."
An emerging artist, Lily Stockman says her perspective tends to simplify her paintings to a distilled subject-ground relationship of brushstrokes creating an appearance of just enough visual information to create a recognizable image.
"We are so saturated in digital images; it's a part of the way we see the world, literally -- that I find my paintings becoming more and more 'painterly' and less concerned with rendering an image accurately," she says.
"The beauty of painting is that it allows others to see the world in a different way. It's paint, not pixels. It's malleable, mercurial. I like that. I'm old school."
