Tuesday, April 17 – Saturday, May 12 | Opening Reception: Saturday, April 21, 5-8 p.m. Artist Talk: Saturday, April 28, 3 p.m.
Sally Jacobs – Sunday At The Farmers Market
Sally Jacobs is a watercolor artist and a foodie — not surprisingly, the Los Angeles’ farmers markets are a trea- sure trove for her. Each Sunday Jacobs visits one, ready to pick her gold: Turban Squash, Cherimoya, Lady Finger Bananas, Safflowers, Buddha’s Hand (lemon) – she loves and paints them all.
In her latest exhibit, “Sundays at the Farmers Market,” Jacobs zooms in, portraying flowers, vegetables, and fruit with dramatic precision unique for a watercolorist. She transforms a vegetable we choose for dinner or a flower for display, rendering its structure eye-catching and explicit, causing viewers to catch their breath in wonder at the feats of nature.
Jacobs is a contemporary botanical artist who has exhibited in numerous juried shows in New York and San Francisco, and at museums in New York, Minneapolis and Phoenix. She was an award winner at the Brand 37 Works on Paper exhibit and is one of the artists included in “Todays Botanical Artists,” a publication of well- known nature artists. She has taught botanical art at The Getty Center, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles Arboretum, and the annual meeting of the American Society of Botanical Art.
Ernie Marjoram – Selected Paintings
From April 17th to May 12th, local artist Ernie Marjoram returns to TAG gallery with a selection of paintings that reflect his passion for life and its’ pleasures. Ernie enjoys the challenge of representational fine art, trying to capture the illusion of three-dimensional objects and real physical places on a flat canvas. Inspired by everyday environments, architectural monuments, natural landscapes and even the food we eat, Marjoram’s art is based on a solid foundation of perspective drawing, dramatic lighting and appropriate color. He often paints outdoors using a limited palette of white and the primary colors; red, yellow and blue. “Working on smaller paintings out- doors with a limited palette is excellent preparation for the larger paintings done in the studio with a full color palette under more controlled conditions”.
Marjoram’s interest in representational art comes from his training in architecture. As a college student, he studied architecture in Florence, Italy for a full year and often created watercolor travel sketches of the sites he visited. In 2003, Marjoram was invited to exhibit his travel sketches in a group art show in Pasadena and when they quickly sold out, a deeper interest in fine art took root. Encouraged by the positive reaction to his artwork, Marjoram began exploring painting in oils and in 2005 held his first solo exhibition “Europe, Asia and the US” followed in 2007 by a second solo exhibition “Bell’ Italia” at the Wilshire Ebell Art Salon.
Since then, Ernie has exhibited in the California Art Club Gold Medal exhibition at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, was invited to participate in the prestigious Torrey Pines Plein Air Invitational competition and won first place in an open art competition at Ironstone Vineyards. Since 2009, Marjoram has exhibited annually at The Artists’ Gallery (TAG) and this year’s exhibition: “Ernie Marjoram – Selected Paintings” promises to bring together an interesting mixture of subjects drawn from the artists’ recent work.
Toni Reinis – Looking But Not Seeing
A self defined contemporary figurative artist, Toni Reinis’ sculpture begins with live models and clay. Finished pieces are fired and often cast into materials such as bronze, resin or liquid stone. The sculptures are refined with paint, organic objects and industrial finishes. Reinis utilizes her knowledge of the human form to enact intricate storytelling with each piece.
In her inaugural exhibition at TAG Gallery, entitled Looking But Not Seeing, Reinis tackles social issues that we observe but often overlook. The artist believes that one can look, but it takes wisdom, knowledge, and empathy to actually see and interpret the human form and facial expressions.
Looking But Not Seeing focuses on matters such as depression, discrimination and military sexual trauma (MST). Solitary Confinement, a rusted clay sculpture depicts a man who is suffering months or years of isola- tion. Employing form and rough clay surfaces, Reinis challenges the viewer to empathize with this man, and question why society may have become complacent in his torture. The California constitution condemns the use of torture, yet prisons routinely utilize confinement as a justified form of punishment. Inmates have no shoes, no clothing, no writing instruments, nothing. As a result, suicide is not uncommon in these situations of excessive deprivation.
Through this body of sculptural work, Reinis aims to convey the stories of those she has met. Looking But Not Seeing promotes viewers to not just look at the work, but to be drawn in and understand the emotions and traumas of others.
Jenny Revitz Soper – Twisted Visions
Jenny Revitz Soper’s Twisted Visions exhibition at TAG Gallery is a nostalgic revisit for some, but for many, a new trip. Her photography presents a mind-blowing, wildly colored dimension slightly off to one side. She transforms the ordinary to the extraordinary with clever juxtaposition, contradiction, color and whimsy. It is spontaneous, yet not unconsidered.
Soper’s visual narrative takes us back to a time when “psychedelic” was a household word and colors glowed with black light or without. Her vision is a place of fun, humor and neon colors. Frameless, nothing stops the art from spreading to the edges and beyond. Twisted Visions invites the onlooker into the unknown and the disorienting. It’s a scene, man.
