Edith Beaucage, Julie Gross, Asuka Ohsawa, Maria Park: Refraction
Andrew Shire Gallery, Los Angeles
July 17 – August 2, 2004
Raised in Montreal, Quebec, Edith Beaucage was exposed at the tender age of five, to the seminal body of work, “Man And His World,” at the International World Fair. Buckminster Fuller’s American pavilion, and the German pavilion designed by Frei Otto and Bodo Rasch made an indelible mark on her psyche, stark contrast indeed, to the small, sheltered agrarian community that was her bubble. That influence, no question, lingers, and in many ways, shades Edith Beaucage’s filters on the world.
Philosophically, Edith Beaucage’s work is a sublime exercise in freewill, drawing deeply from the new “Agent Theory of Free Will,” (Ref: Freedom Evolves: Daniel Dennett) and from her conviction that the spirit and body are fundamentally one. She articulates deliberate choice on multiple levels, from format, to color palette, from the cutting of shapes and patterns, to the whimsical geometric design, and the warm optimistic filters of color. Everything is planned ... including the infectious sense of optimism that embraces the viewer in warm colors.
In Julie Gross’ work, drawing precedes painting. She uses compasses to tautly choreograph a network of circular forms, reflecting her passion for centripetal forces. The edges set up the tension as well as the flow. Symmetrical forms expand and contract, interconnect, and vie for prominence in rhythmic dance. Circles morph into “bubble slices,” reflective patterns of the soul.
Julie Gross invokes the discreet relationships that emerge from the interplay of color and form, in a tense field where subject and ground continually alternate. The images appear suspended in isolation, and yet, are intricately connected slices of light, breathing, tense and emergent. In the paintings, these forms serve as vessels for color. The painted surface is precise and uninflected allowing spatial interaction to reveal itself simply and clearly, establishing a balance between surface tension and movement.
Born in California, Asuka Ohsawa draws viscerally from the traditional Japanese ukiyo-e images of the 17th -19th centuries, a long tradition of image making, in which works by old Japanese masters are carefully studied, copied, and altered by successive generations of artists. While she claims a direct artistic lineage to the tradition of her native culture, she also subverts such canonized aesthetics by fusing it with the language of contemporary popular culture.
In her new series of tightly rendered gouache-on-paper drawings, Asuka Ohsawa uses the framework of animal cartoons to examine behavioral patterns that are formed, transmitted, and/or challenged within a particular culture. Her narratives evolve around the theme of a mother and child. At first glance, her images appear playful and whimsical. But that first impression quickly fades in the glare of the implied conflicts, and the ominous presence of suspicious voyeurs from different animal species lurking behind the windows. The open-ended ness of the narrative prompts deep introspection of the consequences of the depicted actions, re-evaluating generally accepted socio-cultural mores, while alluding to an implicit acceptance of the deviant and unfamiliar.
Maria Park challenges her Muse to bridge the vast gulf between utopian ideology and the vices that haunt human existence. From Alaskan glaciers, to Hawaiian shores and alluvial plains, fully simulated and automated environments are preserved and vacuum-packed into tiny capsules, ingested daily, vigilantes seeking retribution for the tragic humor and the sad frailties of the human spirit.
The Mindscape, uploaded onto the Database, surfs the alternating currents that surge though the shifting sands of our subconscious. Inertia dissipates as velocity and sight converge to hone image and awareness. With the pathogenesis of artificial life, promises of infinite variety and random access await. Flanked by war machines in a technocratic landscape, fragile hope is vested in the medium of paint on discrete objects and surfaces, poetry in motion, camouflage against innovation, holding-out against the remorseless exchange of energy and information.
ANDREWSHIRE GALLERY
3850 Wilshire Blvd #107, Los Angeles, CA 90010
www.andrewshiregallery.com
