The Bakersfield Museum of Art is pleased to announce the opening of its Summer Exhibitions on June 14, running through August 26. This is a creative mix of nation-wide exhibited artists, gorgeous paintings, captivating photography and inspiring local talent.
L.A.te: Photographs of Los Angeles After Dark
This exhibit features six photographers who venture out into the night to capture the atmosphere and moonlit landscapes of Los Angeles. These photographers embrace the unique challenges of nocturnal photography, trying to avoid the dangers of being alone in a city after dark, while patiently waiting through long exposures in order to give the film or digital sensor enough time to capture a usable image. Although the uncertainty of a long exposure has been reduced with technological advancements, digital cameras are not without their technical limitations. Aperture, shutter speed, and light sensitivity are all pushed to their extremes in this exhibit in order to reveal scenes of Los Angeles in its most mysterious and magical hours. The resulting imagery surrounds the viewer with the quiet, voyeuristic moments of this urban landscape.
Featured Photo: Tim Simmons, Los Angeles Boulder Drive
Participants include John Humble, J. Wesley Brown, Amanda Friedman, Zack Herrera, Ryan Schude, and Tim Simmons.
VISUAL ARTS FESTIVAL: California
For the 2012 Visual Arts Festival, California artists were asked to create artwork in any medium, using the theme: California. The imagery of works ranges in subject matter from California coast lines and inland landscapes to cultural iconography with Pop influence. The work shown in the exhibition was selected by juror William Wray. These pieces, in two or three dimensions and measuring 10 x 10 inches, are available for sale.
Wray is a California based artist with a background in illustration and commercial art. His most recent work consists of oil paintings of urban landscapes. The Bakersfield Museum of Art will be opening an exhibition of Wray’s paintings in December 2012. Wray is currently showing with Segil Fine Art in Monrovia, H.J. Higgins in Los Angeles, The Vault in Sonora, and Just Looking Gallery in San Luis Obispo.
AMERICANA: Installations by Nobuhito Nishigawara
Nobuhito Nishigawara was born and raised in Nagoya, Japan and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1990. He began studying sculptural ceramics in 1993 and graduated from University College of Fraser Valley, British Columbia, Canada in 1996. Nishigawara also received a BFA in ceramics from Kansas City Art Institute in 1999, and a MFA from Arizona State University in 2002.
Nishigawara’s sculptural work plays out the battle of cultural identity in a humorous way with dark undercurrents. The work focuses on the dichotomies and junctures of the two cultures that prevail upon the artist – those of Japan and the US. The resulting strange figures reference various models, including toys, to reflect the commercialization of individual experience that forms our desires and identities. These figures relate and interact with each other, exploring interpersonal and societal connections. Nishigawara utilizes characters, poses and gestures sourced from religion, Manga, J-Pop and traditional Japanese culture – as well as American models – combined with other cultural sources from around the world to create odd visual nexus points of cross pollination.
Nishigawara was assigned to head the ceramics program at California State University, Fullerton in the fall of 2006 and is an assistant professor of ceramic arts in their Visual Arts department.
EYE GALLERY: A Day in the Life
Once again the Bakersfield Museum of Art has partnered with The Bakersfield Californian to invite local artists to contribute work for exhibition at the Museum and for publication in the newspaper. This year, artists created work around the theme “Day in the Life.” Artists include: Deon Bell, Laura Borneman, Joshua Cain, Sara Drennan, Samantha Garrett, Scott McDonald, Kent Porterfield, Chalita Robinson, Gary Sutherland, Ken Taylor, Coy Townson, Jesus Fidel, and Jenn Williams.
LOST AND FOUND: Paintings of the Central Valley
Dennis Ziemienski, a native San Franciscan, graduated cum laude from the California College of Arts and Crafts. An internationally known illustrator and designer for 30 years and a member of New York Society of Illustrators, his paintings have been in various solo and group exhibitions and have won numerous awards. Dennis Ziemienski has taught at the California College of Arts and Crafts and the Academy of Art in San Francisco, and has had studios in California and New York.
Ziemienski’s strong and richly colored images borrow much of their inspiration from early 20th century paintings and posters. Frequently traveling to Europe, Dennis has acquired an affinity for the architecture, lifestyle and light of the Mediterranean.
“When the BMOA honored me with a solo show this summer, I harkened back to my personal history with the region. When I was growing up my family took summertime road trips from the Bay Area, to visit my relatives in Madera, Fresno, and Bakersfield. Along with weddings and barbeques were dips in a motel pool, snacks at a Giant Orange, drive-in movies, trips to the local fruit stand, counting cars on a long freight train that finally ended in a caboose, and worrying about whether the car would boil over ascending the Grapevine. I can still smell the orange blossoms and the hot rich summer soil. These memories are very vivid and are represented in the work I am showing.”