TWO ASSEMBLAGE ART SHOWS OPEN AT CALIFORNIA HERITAGE MUSEUM THIS WEEK:
“FORTUNA/TAROT: ORACLE’S GUIDE TO THE FUTURE” BY GILENA SIMONS
ONCE LOVED/TWICE BROKEN BY CHRIS FRATICELLI
Assemblage art exhibitions by Santa Monica-based artists Gilena Simons and Chris Fraticelli will be celebrated with a reception at the California Heritage Museum on Friday, January 11 from 6-9PM. Installed in the first floor of the museum, Simon’s “Fortuna/Tarot: Oracle’s Guide to the Future” presents three-dimensional Tarot-themed pieces assembled from her extensive collection of found objects, once treasured vintage items discarded by others, and remarkable eBay finds. In the second floor galleries, Fraticelli’s “Once Loved/Twice Broken” features his signature sculptures made from ceramic figurines, statuary and other remnants that he breaks and reinvents in new forms.
Gilena Simons has always had an interest in the occult – “true” ghost stories, phantom photographs, the supernatural section of the library, the spirit world, and more. She wanted to read Tarot and took personal lessons from an experienced card reader almost a decade ago. She has practiced herself ever since. Simons’ passion for Tarot was a magical fit for her work as an assemblage artist who is fascinated by collecting other people’s things – items that were once treasured and then forgotten or discarded. Pieced together in her Tarot series “Fortuna/Tarot: Oracle’s Guide to the Future,” these treasures and memento mori weave naturally into the divinatory process of Tarot reading, suggesting omens, signs, events, and other worldly communication.
Simons was born in North Hollywood. She received a BA in Economics from Mills College – where she founded the Gilena Simons Library Fund, which provides conservation and preservation of the college’s Special Collections of early rare books – and an MBA from Pepperdine University. She has been on the Photography Committee at MOCA since 2005 and is a passionate collector of contemporary art.
Chris Fraticell’s artistic sensibility was greatly influenced by the work of his Grandpa Louie. A coal miner and handyman by trade, Louie was also a found object artist. His body of work included a five-foot tall mushroom made from plumber’s pipe, concrete, paint cans, and venetian blinds. One of Chris’ earliest memories is watching four men lift the massive, cement mushroom cap onto the giant stem. Fraticelli travels Southern California’s coastal cities gathering ceramic figurines and statuary to break and reassemble into sculptures. In his earlier life in the military, Chris was surrounded by sand while blowing up objects; he now pieces objects back together into something new. His fabrications both comment on and question societal customs and institutions. He creates a physical transformation that seeks to find a novel meaning.
Chris Fraticelli was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania. A graduate of the US Naval Academy, he served as a Marine Corps combat engineer officer in campaigns in Somalia and Operation Desert Storm. As a platoon commander, Chris worked with mines and explosives, breaching the minefields with his marines, dismantling and disposing of explosive devices. After completing his work in the military, and reaching the rank of Captain, Chris settled in Santa Monica. Looking at the world through a lens of humor, he worked as a producer on television shows including Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Man Show, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, and the cult classic made-for-TV-movie, Windy City Heat.
The January 11 artists’ reception at California Heritage Museum is hosted by The Victorian & Calamigos Ranch. Paid valet parking or self-parking at adjacent lots is available.
Images on exhibition graphic at top:
L: Gilena Simons, “Three of Swords” R: Chris Fraticelli, “Where Clowns Come From”
ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA HERITAGE MUSEUM: The California Heritage Museum is a multicultural facility presenting exhibitions, lectures, publications and workshops that promote the history and cultures of the people that comprise our California community.
