ART / PRESERVATION / ECHO PARK

Michael Gullberg

2006-08-16T16:33:00.000-07:00

Michael Gullberg has been living in Los Angeles for the past 25 years and has been a resident of Mount Washington for the past ten years.  Upon arriving in Los Angeles from Pennsylvania in 1981, he began a journey through various art forms -improvisational comedy, acting, writing, filmmaking, drawing, and then painting.  They have all added different elements to his creative work.

He has been painting for over 16 years now and it has become his main focus.  He is currently combining woodworking with his abstract spiritual imagery by finishing a painting with his own custom made wood frames.  The organic shapes and colors of his paintings combine well with the grain and color of the many varieties of soft and hardwoods that he uses.

Michael also does mural commissions, indoors and outdoors.  He is always looking for a large open space to create his visions on a larger scale.

Deborah Arlook

2006-08-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

Deborah Arlook studied photography and filmmaking at The American
University, Washington, D.C. Her work has been exhibited in numerous
galleries in the Los Angeles area and published in national and
regional magazines. The photograph in this exhibit is from her "Dia
de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead) series, which has been described as
"haunting and mysterious." This Mexican holiday honors and celebrates
the dead. Arlook, one time president of the Los Angeles League of
Photographers, focuses on commercial photography and street
photography projects. Visit the artist's website at deboraharlook.com.

Corrie Gregory

2006-08-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

Corrie Gregory was born and raised in the legendary Los Angeles
artist haven Laurel Canyon. She was born the same year the United
Stated nearly fractured from political unrest, police rioting, and
high profile assassinations. Her mother is a retired grammar school
teacher. Her father, one in a long line of dyslexics, is a retired
dentist. She spent the first 11 years of her life as an only child
until a half-brother came along.
After a childhood of making art and performing on stage (she was
Dorothy in the school production of "The Wizard of Oz") she,
typically, rebelled. Gone were the signs of the young artiste,
replaced by punk rock clothing and a mohawk hairstyle. A high school
art instructor gave her refuge from the dyslexia-enhanced challenges
of academics.
Corrie's paintings explore the definition and double meaning of words.
The metaphoric ideas behind her paintings reflect her commentary on
life, from which viewers create their own interpretation. The oil
paintings are completed on wood, dura-lar or collected paper.
After graduating in 1991 with a BFA from Otis Art Institute of
Parsons School of Design, Gregory embarked on a series of work
experiences that added to her creative being. She worked as assistant
to the Arts Editor at the LA Weekly, created menu and display icons
with renowned architect Josh Schweitzer (Schweitzer Bim Architecture).
Corrie has shown her art in numerous galleries and exhibited in both
group and solo shows throughout Los Angeles. Her illustrations have
appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Houston Press and the LA Weekly.
Opening November 7, 2006, "Tales From the Root Cellar" Corrie
Gregrory will present her latest series of works along with Sonia
Romero. For more information on Corrie Gregory, please contact Juan
Garcia at (323) 663-2787 or by email at juan@metrogallery.org.

Diane Best

2006-08-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Diane Best studied in the San Francisco
area (Stanford University, San Francisco Art Institute), before moving
south to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, she was involved with the
entertainment industry doing commercial work, as well as commissioned
portrait work for private clients, while exhibiting her paintings.
Since living in Joshua Tree, California, Diane has focused her talent
on capturing various dramatic scenes of the desert landscape.

Diane Best has traveled to some of the most remote locations within
deserts of the southwest to fully surround herself in the receptivity
and aesthetics of the environment. Best's paintings are rich, vivid
and inspiring, through her skilled use of color and light derived from
her observation of natural landscapes.

"Seeking some of the more remote, uninhabited and overlooked corners
of the desert, I am interested in preserving or recording a single
incredible moment of converging light and landscape while enjoying the
space, beauty and quietness of the desert," describes Best.

Diane Best's work has been presented solo and group exhibitions in San
Francisco, Los Angeles, New Hampshire, New York as well as Boston.
Recently, her work has been profiled in publications like,
"Lifescapes; West Coast Art & Design," The Desert Trail," and "The
High-Desert Star," as well as the art book "This Face You Got."

Opening October 4, 2006, "Off in the Distance" Diane Best will present
her latest series of works along with Mary-Austin Klein. For more
information on Diane Best, please contact Juan Garcia at (323)
663-2787 or by email at juan@metrogallery.org.

Francisco Arcaute

2006-08-13T13:04:00.000-07:00

Francisco Arcaute is an LA-based street photographer.

His recent shows include exhibiting at Metro Gallery for Los Angeles
League of Photographers, "Everyday LA"; Mexican Mummy photos at Mike
Odd's Odditorium, the Circo de la Muerte show at La Luz de Jesus
Gallery and the LALOP Group Show at the I-5 Gallery. His photos have
appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago
Reader.

MacArthur Park Territorio Libre are photographs taken during 2005 in
and around MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. These images are part of a
larger project being shot in and around Koreatown, where the
photographer lives.

Although said photographer shoots with Leicas and Nikons and Holgas
that still consume film, the MacArthur Park Territorio Libre images
were shot with a Canon digital camera so as to reassure the artist
that he isn't a complete Luddite.

MacArthur Park Territorio Libre translates roughly as the

Free Territory of MacArthur Park, a site once known as West Lake

in the 1920's, a 1960's hippie haven that inspired the indestructible
song of the same name and lately for gang and criminal activity.

Now, MacArthur Park is host to a thriving Latino community, close to a
booming Korean community, and is struggling to incorporate the
invading Hipster community. The photographer suggests you visit the
place and draw your own conclusions.

alphavillemex@yahoo.com

Renee Amitai

2006-08-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

Renee Amitai graduated from the "Ecole Des Beaux Arts De Paris",
France, and has exhibited in Hawaii, Nevada and Texas in the U.S.A,
and internationally in France, Israel, England, Korea, and Japan,
Russia and Germany. Her works have been displayed in several
galleries in Los Angeles. Renee's distinctive style and approach is
evident in her newest series of works.

Todd Brown

2006-08-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

Todd Brown was born in Los Angeles, California, and has been
photographing for over 15 years. Through photography, Todd hopes to
infuse viewers with a sense of place and emotion of the subjects
photographed. His interest in foreign cultures and predilection for
story telling motivates and inspires his passion to photograph. His
photos portray the essence of life and society by capturing people in
ordinary circumstances within their natural surrounding. "Cultures
and Continents: A Photographic Tapestry by Todd Brown," consists of
over 30 photographs taken in over 15 countries and 5 continents.

Todd studied photography in Florence, Italy at the Lorenzo de Medici
Institute and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also holds a
Masters in the History of International Relations from the London
School of Economics. Todd's photographs have appeared in numerous
magazines and has exhibited his work at the Bergamot Station art
center in Santa Monica, California. Todd's photographs have been sold
through Christie's in Beverly Hills.

Mary Katherine Allan

2006-08-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

Highland Park resident Mary Katherine Allan has exhibited her work extensively in California, Connecticut, Florida and Oregon, most recently at the Acorn Gallery in Los Angeles. Exhibitions include: "East of the River" at the Santa Monica Museum; 90041 at Occidental College; and "Palette to Palate" at Gallery Figueroa in Los Angeles. Allan holds an M.F.A. in painting from Claremont Graduate University.

Peter Ortel

2006-08-10T14:29:00.000-07:00

Peter Ortel is spelled with one L. A recent graduate of CalArts, his work has been exhibited at Blum & Poe, Angles Gallery, Robets & Tilton, and the late Ojala gallery in Echo Park. His also participated in the Plein Hair Exhibition at the New Chinatown Barbershop. His video work with performance artist John Fleck has shown at Highways, and he was invited by Capitol Records and the band Sparklehorse to contribute a short film (titled "Comfort Me") to the Sparklehorse Video Project along with such noted filmmakers as Guy Maddin and the Brothers Quay. "Comfort Me" was selected for the 2004 Silverlake Film Festival at the Arclight in Hollywood.

Mark H. Flanders

2006-08-08T13:20:00.000-07:00

The work of Mark H. Flanders is a unique blend of artistic design and
experimental photographic methods. His work has been described as
poetic, luminous, and a representation of the dynamic tension between
punctuated images and hand layered constructions. The infinite
variations of Flanders' complex mixed media constructions reveal his
command of the technical mastery and artistic skill requisite in
rendering a harmonious balance of subject and surrounding space.

Having received his Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree from the University
of Wisconsin- Stout in 1983, Mark went on to graduate Magna Cum Laude
with a Masters of Fine Arts Degree from California State University at
Long Beach in 1993. In addition, he received an academic placement at
the prestigious Ealing University in England to further his studies
Art History and explore his passion for cameraless image production.

As a native of Wisconsin, his work exemplifies a deep and profound
respect for the organic sensibilities of nature. Now a working artist
in California, Mark continues an active fine arts career in Los
Angeles, specializing in multimedia, traditional & non-traditional
photography, mixed media construction, as well as serves as a creative
consultant for several multi-media design venues. Returning his
passion for art to the community, Mark also enjoys a rich and varied
teaching career specializing in the visual and mixed media arts.

When asked about his art, he replied candidly, "I enjoy working in
the mixed media and alternative processes because I find the
uniqueness of each image compelling. My work exists somewhere between
printmaking, photography, and ink painting and has allowed me great
freedom to do what I love. I invite the process to challenge me, to
push what arrives naturally beyond expected limits, towards a
personal, meaningful expression of the image. I court the process to
help determine my imagery, which is often inspired from my travels and
observations with an interest in the art and symbols of ancient,
organic, and everyday culture. Formally, my work is about composition,
practically it is about the fracturing of the picture plane into
interacting layers and symbols, and the resulting dialogue created
within the space they occupy. The power of my pieces lies in the
number of levels available for interpretation."

Additional pieces of art may be view at www.markflanders.com

Darrell Kunitomi

2006-08-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

I'm a native Angeleno who grew up fishing at Echo Park Lake. I now
live up on Sargent Court, work at the LA Times, have written about
flyfishing the lake and around California for the paper's defunct
Outdoors Section, taught Steve Lopez how to fish and do some theatre
for art's sake. I am a professional flyfishing guide and instructor.

I'm donating a plate of personally tied flies from feathers from birds
in the Echo Park area: the ducks and geese from the lake, parrot
feathers from the bird shop on Glendale (next to Pizza Loca and Tacos
Mexico). All the flies were tied by me, using as many natural
materials as possible. The names of the flies are inspired by Echo
Park: 'The Lady of the Lake,' 'Aimee's Impulse,' 'Glendale Red Car,'
etc.

Rebecca Tuynman

2006-08-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Tuynman is a photographer who uses her medium to figure out
what makes a house a home. She has lived in Echo Park since Spring
2005, when she graduated from UCSB with an MFA. Please visit the
artist's website at RebeccaTuynman.com

RG Bullock

2006-08-07T15:27:00.000-07:00

RG Bullock is a fine art photographer born and raised in Los Angeles.
Graduate of The Otis Art Institute in 1969. She majored in painting,
and even though no photography was taught at Otis in those years,
discovered her interest in photography while in graduate school. You
can view a vintage B&W image from those years on her website,
www.rgbullock.com which features her work on Echo Park and the Lotus.
She had her own B&W portrait studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the
90's, now back in Los Angeles, concentrating on fine art images, both
in color and B&W.

Deborah Arlook

2006-08-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

Edith Abeyta

2006-08-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

Edith Abeyta is an installation artist residing in Los Angeles. She has shown locally and nationally, receiving a public arts commission from the Regional Arts and Culture Council of Oregon. She co-founded and co-operated an artist run gallery and currently is on the board of the Arroyo Arts Collective. Her art explores the undisclosed narratives that salvaged and scavenged objects inherently contain.

Taking scissors to discarded mattresses, saws to cast away furniture, stooping to investigate bits of found paper she combines the re-purposing of post-consumptive artifacts with traditional women's craft methods to investigate various aspects of production and consumption.

Fred Chuang

2006-08-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

Late-blooming, emerging artist, Fred Chuang, is the son of physician émigrés from China. He holds a BA from Dartmouth College and an MFA in Theatre Design: Costume & Scenery from Carnegie-Mellon University.
Since his recent discovery of his innovative technique, Chuang has been able to tap into his individual creative source in a way that has allowed him to move into the realm of Fine Art.

Using spray acrylic, Chuang paints on the back side of clear, PETG panels in a technique that is obviously not about the direct placement of pigment. His process focuses on leaving or creating clear openings, "windows" and "windows-within-windows," and filling them with subsequent colors. Chuang creates indirectly, building his artwork layer by layer, generating images to be viewed through the clear surface..
Painting from behind injects a high degree of spontaneity and surprise into Fred Chuang's work, which he calls "OBVERSE" paintings. Chuang uses this label to distinguish his art from "reverse" paintings-an antique, pre-conceived, formulaic process. In contrast, OBVERSE PAINTINGS result from a creative "dialogue" between intentions and results.

Through strategy and intuition, Chuang searches for drama and eloquent balance.
"Working from behind is not the equivalent of working in reverse."

Each painting is unique-unrepeatable, by virtue of the technique. After completion, paintings are annealed, giving the surface a "fingerprint" -a final mark of distinction. The works are framed without glass, in an open frame, which emphasizes the fact that these works are more than arrays of pigments-rather, they are art and objects.
Some paintings are coated with polyurethane to harden and protect the surface. As with all pigmented fine art, these paintings should be sheltered from direct sunlight and excessive heat.

Catherine Parr

2006-08-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

Catherine Parr is an artist illustrator originally from London UK, where she studied fine art at Leicester University.
She began illustrating and showing her work shortly after leaving university for clients such as The Village Voice, Washington Post and the LA Times. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Luiza Padilla-Mavropoulos

2006-08-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

American via birth, Mexicana/Xicana via roots, love Hebrew National hot dogs with nopales and Mole. Married forever to this wild and crazy Greek. We call him the Greeksican "TATA" grandmother of 5. Self taught crafter and childerns Mexican Arts instructor. President of The Echo PArk Youth Empowerment Council since 1993, our outreach media is the arts. I love the way the childrens eyes light up when they see they have created a piece of art. There are no mistakes in art, only artistic opportunities. My world changed in 1987 when I discovered la masestra " Frida Kahlo" Que viva La Mujer....

Karen Frimkess Wolff

2006-08-03T11:47:00.000-07:00

Karen Frimkess Wolff was born in Los Angeles, received her BA from U.C.L.A. and MA in Art History from California State University Northridge. Her work has been exhibited throughout California, in Washington State and Germany. 1991, she received a Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Grant. 1976, she was one of thirty Americans nominated for the Paris Bienniele. The primary themes and forms of her works are based on Romantic landscape. She makes drawings, constructions and site-specific installations which usually include an element of sound.

Cindy Bennett

2006-08-01T21:50:00.000-07:00

Her panoramic landscapes and junkyard imagery speak to the increasing fragility of our environment and evolving perceptions of individuality. These open spaces and urban horizons reveal a relevant sense of place where beauty, disaster, and memory coexist.

Karen Valderrama

2006-08-01T16:59:00.000-07:00

Karen Valderrama has been interested in, and making quilts since the early 1980's. She belongs to the Glendale Quilt Guild. With the quilts she's made, she's always tried to stretch the boundary of what is known as a traditional quilt. Her family are the recipients of her quilts

David M. Milstien

2006-08-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

I've been shooting photography seriously for about 7 years. I've been doing art for about 3 years. I'm a former professional baseball player. I've played for the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and for the Wechin Dragons in Taiwan. Baseball has taken me around the world. I've been to Russia, England, Tiwan, and all around the United States and Canada. I currently have my own on line photography and art gallery: DM7Studios.com. I've do fine art photograhy, head shots for actors and actresses, do fashion photography and do photos and art for decoration in T.V. and major motion pictures. I'm also currently doing still photography for some T.V. commercials.

N. Therrien Pacillas

2006-08-01T16:29:00.000-07:00

Impressionist N. Therrien Pacillas has worked in a variety of styles and venues, including a stint painting billboards for Peaches Records. In the three year period she worked for Peaches she painted over 300 stars including Barbara Streisand, Bruce Springsteen, Linda Ronstadt, The Bee Gees, Kenny Rogers, and nearly every other major personality in the music business today.
Pacillas has studied with Theodore N. Lukits, MFA, A.R.U., A.I.C. of the Lukits Academny of Fine Arts. She has also studied with artist J. Mittle and completed a three-year apprenticeship with the nationally known western painter Thomas P. Darro.
Pacillas has belonged to the former society of American Impressionists and participated in the Elizabeth Stewart Haley show in Midland, Texas and sold at the Newman Galleries, Biltmore Galleries, and Miner Gallery in Carmel.

Joe Perez

2006-08-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

Joe Perez was born in Guatemala, Central America. His parent immigrated to the U.S when he was 3 years old. Attending all of his schooling here in the U.S he was always interested in photography, getting his first camera at the age of eight. He continued with his photographic interest and continued to study photography throughout collage which earned him a degree in fine arts photography. Since then his major interest has been nature and wildlife photography with the occasional portrait here and there of his wife and two children. Currently he has had his work recognized by the Circle of Photographers in Canada for wildlife photography. "I look forward to the future in hope that we can continue to not only preserve, but not destroy what we have, in order for our future generations to enjoy and learn the importance of nature and it's many cultures".

Barry Markowitz

2006-08-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

Barry Markowitz, born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., became an artist at a very early age. His passion for drawing and painting led him to the High School of Art & Design in Manhattan, graduating in 1964. He went directly into a career of illustration and design in New York City. After several years in advertising he missed painting, moved to California and concentrated on Fine Arts at UCSB and Cal State Northridge. Through the following decades Mr. Markowitz has continued to be a painter, showing in galleries and museums, as well as a freelance designer and art director for film and television. He was a performance artist (receiving 2 Rockefeller Honorariums) through the 70’s, produced multi media shows for the New Music Festivals at the Hollywood Bowl, taught Performance Art workshops at Cal Arts and was a creative director for Ray M. Johnson Studios, Positive Response Television: Infomercials (80’s-90’s). Mr. Markowitz was awarded the J.Paul Getty Fellowship for painting in 1996. He has straddled the two worlds of Fine Art and Commercial Art his entire career and has recently added teaching. He teaches drawing, painting and written expression for artists at Cal. State LA, design at the University of LaVerne, and advanced drawing and non-traditional painting at the Los Angeles High School of the Performing Arts. His passion for drawing and painting (the artist’s life) continues unabated.

Georgia Love

2006-07-31T14:12:00.000-07:00

I have a Bachelor's degree in art from California State University, Northridge. My paintings have been in open and juried shows in California, Idaho, and Arizona. I believe that my paintings stimulate memory and refer to personal experience in the viewer. For me, what is significant in Los Angeles is us, while we are here. In my most recent work, I stop the process to leave evidence of the under painting and pencil marks. This halt in the process can affect the way the painting is viewed.

Martin Cox

2006-07-31T14:10:00.000-07:00

The images in Cox's work examine a landscape of leisure, from glitz and shine, to rust and scrap, they evoke the marine expression of contemporary commercial culture. Cox has photographed brand new cruise ships on their debuts to rust streaked scrap yards to witness their ultimate demise and recycling. Cox strikes a mythic nerve with this subject matter. Vessels have shaped world history and are now breaking down our world's barriers at an increasingly faster pace. He deftly shows that ships transport not only passengers and cargo, they convey fantasy and luxury, and vestiges of class. Cox's lens reveals that the most contemporary cruise liners are outfitted as art deco palaces from Hollywood's golden age; the implications grow more eloquent as they reach the end of their life cycles, to be sold for scrap and dismantled. Visit the artist's website at www.martincox.com

An Tran

2006-07-31T14:09:00.000-07:00

Journalist, filmmaker, photographer. Born in Indiana, An is a child of political refugees from Vietnam. Her family’s struggle to integrate in the Midwest is the subject of her documentary “Tran 5,” currently in post-production. In 2001 she was selected by Film Independent (formerly the Independent Feature Project) as a Project: Involve Fellow in writing and directing. She currently freelances as a journalist covering the movie industry. An’s still photography projects have brought her to Eastern Europe and West Africa. Most recently, An returned from Sri Lanka, where she documented the tsunami relief effort and volunteered in psychosocial programs for tsunami survivors

Eric Steidinger

2006-07-31T14:03:00.000-07:00

Raised on a farm in rural Illinois, Eric achieved his childhood dream when he received a scholarship to study at the Art Institute of Chicago. Upon graduating in 1983 he took a ‘day job’ as a paste up artist for a small production company. Twenty one years later he found himself the Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer of the same company as it wrapped up production on the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the summer Olympics in Athens.

After that heady summer, Eric left his corporate job and began to work toward a new vision: to create an independent art tile studio, dedicated to the ideas of beauty, family and community – and Echo Park Tile was born.

More information on Eric, his partner James Ward, and Echo Park Tile - including a studio tour and work samples - can be found at www.echoparktile.com.

Mary-Austin Klein

2006-07-31T13:54:00.000-07:00

The focus of my small-scaled oil paintings starts literally through the lens of a camera. The work combines my love of photography with painting. The photographic images I take document the fractured and contorted landscape of California. I choose only the truly sublime images that capture more than just a beautiful panorama. My compositions express the tension felt underneath the landforms. A passive mountain is anything but. The presence of tectonic force is in the brooding skies, the rich colors, and looming mountains which are key elements in my paintings. Through these paintings I am promoting the beauty of our fragile environment, as protection of these vistas from development is a large part of my motivation as an artist. Visit the artist's website at www.maryaustinklein.com <http://www.maryaustinklein.com>

Ken Fry

2006-07-31T10:27:00.000-07:00

Kenneth Fry has been working in Los Angeles for over 35 years. He was born in Illinois and moved with his family to California when he was 5 years old. At LA Valley College he studied drawing and printmaking with Judith Von Euer. He holds a BA in Art History from California State University,Northridge. His work reflects his interest in the history of form and depiction. For several years he has concentrated on a series of drawings and paintings based on documentary photographs depicting buildings under construction. He currently lives and works in Echo Park.

E. Hill

2006-07-31T10:09:00.000-07:00

E. Hill
From an early age I knew I wanted to do something creative when I grew up. I was accepted at a couple of art schools after high school, but it didn’t feel right. It wasn’t until I was given the autobiography of Gordon Parks on a family trip that I knew I wanted to be a photographer. Being a photographer has taught me view the world with my eyes wide open. To see the good, the bad and everything in between. I call my photography “The Art Of Seeing”. Digital is cool, but film rules. I hope you enjoy my work. Visit the artist's website.