Imagine a bright and colorful world where light pippy jazz is always playing, an assortment of soothing scents casually linger in the air, the weather is never not pleasant, and the diverse and eclectic people all around you are upbeat and friendly… This world is at your fingertips, thanks to the immersive art and design of Priscilla Moreno. A SoCal native, Moreno grew up in Los Angeles, but now calls Long Beach home. She is a full-time artist, and has shown her vibrant and fun artwork...
Last month, over thirty artists from the 2020 Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach opened their private art studios and gallery venues for visitors to take a no-cost, self-guided journey through the Orange County coast in an event called “Art Along the Coast.” For two consecutive weekends, artists from San Clemente to Santa Ana shared their new art as well as works in progress to locals looking to support and connect with the art scene in their community. This was a great opportunity for both...
If ever there were an exhibition curated with the intention of discovering the visual and unseen splendor of the Golden State, it would be this year’s social-distanced version of “Made in California” (MICA) at the Brea Art Gallery. This annual show, now in its 35thyear, traverses through the minds of several Californian artists, uncloaking the density of California’s current state of mind. MICA’s electrifying display of artworks frames contemporary Californian lifestyles, trends,...
We know that reality is a construct and artistic expression is an attempt to relay one’s interpretation of that construct. Perception is everything—it is personal, how the world is viewed through one's eyes, and no two people can truly perceive reality the same way, even if those two people happen to be romantic partners. Currently, the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (OCCCA) is hosting an exhibition called “Terra Incognita,” which explores this concept by showcasing various works by...
Climbing the walls and growing on the floor like a mold in various colors or stages of propagation, pill bottle caps encased a gallery space, bringing awareness to the spread of addiction to pharmaceuticals and its similarity to the growth of bacteria. I stumbled on this installation in 2012 as a part of the Huntington Beach Art Center’s “Escape from the Landfill” exhibition and was immediately enamored and enthralled by the power of this Long Beach-based installation artist, Olga Lah. Lah’s...
Local painter and art instructor, Eric L. Jones has been a fixture in the Orange County art scene for more than decade. His work blends a new kind of Abstract Expressionism with spirituality, poetic reflection, and Deconstructivism. He has shown his work in galleries in Fullerton, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, and Santa Ana, and actively shares his talents and passions with many different college populations in OC. Maribele, I am with you (after and before), Eric L. Jones, oil on...
While most cling to the familiar, artist Sureya Davis strives for the unknown. Davis is an African American Orange County-based artist who was originally born in Staten Island, New York, but would ultimately move to Southern California to pursue her career in art. “I knew going into this profession as a woman of color, it would not be simple, but my drive to create is stronger than my fear of failure.” Study of Vanna, Sureya Davis, Oil on canvas board. When asked what the driving force...
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus, the existentialist anti-hero, is punished for being so full of himself that, as he valiantly rolls his rock up the mountainside, the Gods have it roll back down just as he nears the top, doomed to do it again and again forever with the same result. In his way, he’s the perfect absurdist saint for artists: Daily work in isolation, never reaching the end of the journey, valiantly continuing, despite the cost of supplies, the inability to make rent, or difficulty...
The City of Fullerton has for the better part of the last decade been the favorite rebellious and beloved artistic community of Orange County. Laguna Beach can keep its seascapes and figurative sculptures; Santa Ana can dominate street art; but, Fullerton has led the county in art walks and offbeat artworks. Santa Ana took a lesson from Fullerton in art walks, and now seems to be the leader in interesting contemporary art, but just a few years ago, most people would say that Fullerton was...
Perhaps it is serendipity or simply good luck; but more likely, Elizabeth Turk’s presence working in an expansive artistic environment is the result of her irrepressible ambition, sense of adventure and impressive talent. In this time of Covid-19, Turk is busy and locked away creating sculptures and installation works at Logan Creative in Santa Ana. And while numerous artistic spaces are closed, this compound welcomes artists working in many different media. With large, airy studios,...
In the frostbitten daylight of Wexford, Ireland's lush landscapes, Yevgeniya Mikhailik woke to pieces of freshly baked sourdough bread and hot coffee. After she ate her breakfast, she walked over to the old barn that was converted into an art studio and draw for about four hours. During this time in Ireland, her studio work was inspired by the vast evergreen scenery that surrounded the cow-house-turned-studio that was built in 1915. For one week, she basked in the rugged...
Who are we really? How do we fit into society? What parts of ourselves do we allow to be seen, and why? These are all questions that Brooke Shaden uses as inspiration for her digital show, “BEGIN AGAIN,” hosted by JoAnne Artman Gallery in Laguna Beach. In the virtual exhibition available online through May 30, 2020, Shaden explores the many layered notions of identity to fuel the work, but rather than conform to the expected notions, Shaden questions what it would be like to celebrate the...
Before the COVID-19 pandemic took our community by storm, a phenomenal exhibition featuring the iconic work of a fascinating artist was about to open up to the public in Fullerton. Sitting in silence, waiting for the dust to settle, the compelling environmentally-conscious artwork of Kim Abeles’ Smog Collectors series is expertly hung and patiently waiting its turn to show us what we’ve done to our world. “Kim Abeles: Smog Collectors, 1987-2020” was scheduled to open March 21 at...
Naida Osline’s photographic artwork is a manifestation of her vivid imagination. Her images depict her fascinations with underappreciated beauty, the subtle magic of everyday occurrences, surrealism in reality, and the magic of indigenous California flora and fauna. Osline’s work also delves into “themes of economic and cultural structures, community, identity, gender, aging and transformation, along with the mystical and natural worlds in tension with the human-built environment,” she...
I am in quarantine. Not sure how long this will last. And like many others, in an effort to find something to do that isn’t staring into one of the several glass screens in my home, I am thinking this would be a good time to clean my office. I mean really clean my office. According to Kyle Chayka’s recent release, The Longing for Less: Living with Minimalism, a new survey of the minimalism of the moment, I may be suffering from an abstract desire for a different and simpler world that will...
While baby boomers are the first generation raised with television as a major life influence, Jeff Gillette surpasses most of his contemporaries with his fascination for TV images, particularly for animated characters. The Costa Mesa-based artist recalls his earliest major artistic influence to us in an interview, “I grew up in Michigan in the 1960s through ‘80s, often watching The Wonderful World of Disney, and I loved the shows, especially the cartoons.” Yet when Gillette first...
Any kind of patriarchal poke in the eye is welcome, especially one that upends the tired visual dynamic of submissive women, but is there anything particularly revolutionary about replacing those suppliant female bodies with male figures in the same position? Additionally, if a painter’s intent is to subvert the ‘male gaze,’ why would they still include bound or nude women as the centerpiece of their imagery? Those questions are likely to hang in the air as you walk away from...
The Brea Art Gallery is a small, distinct gallery that is often overlooked; however, its current exhibition, “Chapter One,” is a reminder that it is a staple of Orange County. An inviting display of imaginative multimedia artworks can be seen from the glass outside. What lies inside is an arena of fantasy and storybook beginnings. The exhibition’s central theme is tying together the importance of imagination and narrative-based art, which shows through its display of works from many different...
Typographic street artist and designer Peter Greco has spent his entire adult life learning the mastery of communication through language and lettering. His artwork celebrates the centuries old tradition of the art of calligraphy and the fascinating world of typography while paying homage to the many different cultures that have kept this tradition alive. He has shown all over the country, but based out of Los Angeles and teaching at Art Center College of Design, his artwork rarely makes it...
Local artists Alyssa Arney and Liz Flynn are very aware of the superficial nature of Southern California, where beauty is valued over health, and the constant presence of advertising is louder, brighter, and more attractive than honesty. Finding their way, separately, toward fiber arts, was an important journey for each artist, but finding their way toward each other, and creating an open dialogue with their community, other women, and internally, has fueled their artwork and their...
The OC Art Blog was created in 2004 as a way to build community and promote the marginalized but dynamic Orange County art scene.
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By Mason Fujikawa Awakening at Gallery Sonder is the first exhibition in the United States by Mexican artist Moncho. Moncho takes an instinctive approach to his practice. He doesn’t sketch or even plan before painting. Instead, he draws from his subconscious, working...
By Alisa Ochoa Low and Slow is on view at House of Danger Gallery, nestled in an unassuming shopping center just off the 55, beside a Circle K and below the Attic Skateshop. The space is operated by Jackie Danger, a visual artist and brand strategist who opened the...
By Chris Hoff I’ve been messing around with learning to play guitar for as long as I can remember. It’s been a story of starts and stops for years. In a more recent start I picked up the book How to Write One Song by Jeff Tweedy. I thought it might provide some...
By Maggie Luy What shifts when the ground beneath everyday life begins to move? Infrastructure is usually what disappears first. In “Breakdown/Breakthrough: Art and Infrastructure," it stayed exposed. The exhibition, on view at UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum...
By Maggie Luy What does it mean to be remembered, and who gets to be seen? Through textured brushwork and carved forms, Sergio O’Cadiz Moctezuma honors labor and ancestry. That legacy continues in Edgar Fabián Frías’s layered digital collages and psychedelic video...
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