Suki Kuss, Cheryl Medow, Grace Swanson June 19 - July 14, 2012

Opening Reception: Saturday, June 23, 2012 5-8 PM

Suki Kuss
Franklyn Calm (detail),
Mixed Media Collage, 30 x 24" 2012

Suki Kuss
Breathing Room

Suki Kuss’ “Breathing Room” showcases her latest work, an ever expanding search for balance and space. This search has resulted in her new series of heavily layered pieces, integrated with vintage fabrics, lace, reflective materials, threads and sheet music. Each work has intensely layered areas combined with large plains of peaceful space, giving the viewer a “restful place to breathe”. Her work has often been referred to as femmage, a conflation of feminine arts and painting. Sand Brim from the Altered Space Gallery has stated that Kuss’ “work is intricate, emotional and transcendental.” The exhibit is dedicated to the memory of Franklyn Liegal, her longtime teacher and dear friend.

 

Cheryl Medow

Great Blue Heron With Chicks

Digital pigment print, 28 x 23 1/2

Cheryl Medow

In the Company of Birds

In Cheryl Medow's most recent show, In The Company Of Birds, viewers may be puzzled as to whether they are looking at paintings or photographs. To achieve this effect, in the digital darkroom, Medow interlocks layers of her photographic images of birds, landscapes and flora to provide a dreamy sense of place for her avian subjects. These montages are further integrated with bits of relevant ephemera such as maps, old envelopes, and bird tracks. Medow’s final images raise comparisons to works by early 19th century naturalist paintings and have been referred to as a “hyper-real Audubon.”

Grace Swanson
Canine Combustibles (detail)
watercolor, 22 1/2 x 30"   2012

Grace Swanson

Illuminating Cats and Dogs

In her new exhibit, Illuminating Cats and Dogs, Grace Swanson merges the world of matchbook advertising with cat and dog themes celebrated in pop culture. The evocation of nostalgia through the use of matchbooks is a recurring subject for Swanson, who describes her matchbook series as cultural "memory-quilts." Her new work delves further into the world of matchbook collecting, known as phillumeny, by examining cat and dog-themed matchbooks from restaurants, television shows, businesses, and even the military. Swanson emphasizes the bold, graphic nature of advertising by merging the labor-intensive rendering of Realism with the kitsch and bright colors of Pop Art.

Interview With Cheryl Medow

Cheryl Medow 
Great Egrets of the World, Ed of 5 
Digital Pigment Print, Deckled Edge 29 ¼ x 24”

Of all the animals and birds you photograph, do you have a favorite?

The birds are the most difficult to shoot and I love a challenge.  When they are in full mating colors it's the best.  Their feather, beaks and eyes can be unbelievable.  The cats are amazing as well.  I have to travel a far distance to see them in the wild.  Where they live is as spectacular as how they dress.  The leopard is the most beautiful with his coloring and incredible eyes.  When I am eye to eye with these cats, I stop breathing. And I have to remember to press the shutter.

I know you often travel to search out birds and animals to photograph. Where are some of the places that your work has taken to you in the past year or two?  

For the birds, they live everywhere.  I have been shooting them in Kenya, Botswana, and the Pantanal in Brazil and as close as the Malibu Lagoon.

Have you noticed any changes to the conservation areas that you visit, or in the numbers and/or varieties of animals?  

The numbers of animals depends on drought and of course loss of habitat.  The oil spill in the gulf certainly disturbed the ecosystem there.  Malibu is in the process of wanted to change the lagoon.  I for one have been against this so as not to disturb the habitat and as well, keep the lagoon in the wonderful state it is with great wooden bridges going thru the marsh, rather than only have a walkway around it.

Cheryl Medow 
Elusive Leopard, Ed of 5 
Digital Pigment Print, Deckled Edge 29 ¼ x 38”

What are some of the challenges you face in your work? (Technical, scheduling or time constraints, distances, weather, etc)  

Technically, the challenge is to be able to carry all my camera gear whether it be 1 mile or taking it on board a flight.  The gear is heavy.  My camera and 600mm lens weighs approx. 20-25 lbs.  Kenya and the continent are not close to Los Angeles but the Malibu Lagoon is.   Unfortunately I can't find the big cats in the wild in Malibu.  So making arrangement to fly across the world almost once a year for the past 15 years has been exciting and challenging.  

Is there a particular season, or time of day that you find better for finding your subject matter?  

I try not to go places in the rain.  Certainly not good for camera gear.  Early morning and late afternoon light are the moments that photographers relish.  The light is incredible when the sun is out of course.  The lions (morning light), the leopard (afternoon light) and the Great Blue Heron Of The World (morning light) are examples of the nature of light.

There is a new quality to your latest images, a texture. Have you learned any new techniques? If so, can you share them?  

My newest work began as field notes and postcards. I wanted to tell people about my travels so I incorporated an envelope pattern on the photographer's canvas. The envelope I used was one I found amongst my father-in-laws love letters to my mother-in-law from December 1930.  And here we are 81 years on. Life has texture and maps show us where we are.  In other words, the textures explore the fabric of life.  The maps are another means of travel and worldliness.  The images are placed in their world as a snapshot of time.  

Cheryl Medow's exhibition begins November 1.

The Lives We Could Have Led November 1 - November 26, 2011 Featuring: Carol Kleinman, Michael Knight, Cheryl Medow

Opening Reception: Saturday, November 5, 2011, 5-8 PM

Artist Panel: Saturday, November 19, 2011, 2-3 PM



Carol Kleinman
Reflections of Hawaii


Upon first glance, Carol Kleinman's works might seem like photoshopped composite images. However, Kleinman takes a single picture of a single reflection, floating in the complexity of simplicity. Kleinman's images engage a careful kind of seeing, where unlike things interact and overlap in images simultaneously possible and impossible. Though they are real images without technological intervention, they only exist in reflections, and thus are in a way unreal. Kleinman invites viewers to join her in floating between exotic placeless places, somewhere between home base and utopian escape. Here Kleinman explores Hawaii, her origin and oasis, and a place where dreams fade in and out of reality with its surreal beauty and maternal warmth.

Michael Knight
As the Crow Flies


Moving from here to there, people and populations travel and disperse for myriad reasons, ccasionally or with regularity, legally or illegally, willing or under duress. Cultural patterns are reinforced or shifted by these journeys that range from daily commuting to the activity of nomads. Reflecting on this enduring human activity in his new show, As the Crow Flies, artist Michael Knight continues a multifaceted metaphorical exploration of the complexities of human migration. In this series of limited edition digiglyphs on canvas, Knight combines layered images of maps, hand drawn crows in migratory flight and calligraphic tracings that record growth, time and change. These images combine the uniqueness of a monoprint with the sophistication of the digital world, exposing our own, uncertain times. In Knight’s transitory world, nothing is taken for granted, and nothing remains the same.

Cheryl Medow

Wildest Dreams

In her upcoming exhibition Wildest Dreams, Cheryl Medow infuses her hyper-realistic images of wildlife with an acute, visceral energy.  From the jungles of Africa to the marshy thickets of the Malibu Lagoon, Medow seeks the textures of the landscape and its diverse creatures, saturating them with layers of color and imagery.  With every image we become attuned to the contours of the environment and the creatures within her magical dioramas.  

Medow is filled with a sense of belonging whether she is photographing nature in a nearby lagoon or in a far distant land.  Join Cheryl Medow in the journey through her wildest dreams.    

BEST OF TAG Group Exhibition Opens

TAG Gallery was filled with the sound of tape measures snapping and nails being hammered as artists were hard at work installing the BEST OF TAG annual group exhibition which opened on December 28.

First, gallery walls and sculpture pedestals are patched and repainted by TAG Gallery members on the Wall Prep crew led by Gary Polonsky. Polonsky, along with Pat Klowden and Anne Ramis, come in the gallery at the end of every show to make sure that the walls are pristine for the next group of artists to install their work. Even spouses pitch in to help, as was the case in preparing for this exhibition, when new TAG Gallery member Katie Crown brought her husband Guy Webster to help.



“People do not realize that there is a lot of work that goes into getting ready for a show,” says former TAG Gallery president Ellen Starr. “Hanging a big show such as this often takes a lot of people and a couple of days. Sometimes the trickiest part is evaluating where each of the art pieces should be displayed. When we layout the show, we have to consider not only size, but also medium, subject matter, color, and framing. Then, the artwork and walls are measured to be equally spaced and centered on a point close to 60 inches from the floor. A poorly hung show can reflect poorly on the art and exhibition space.”



In addition to the Wall Prep crew, Starr was joined by co-presidents Carol Kleinman and Cheryl Medow, and members Della Rolle, Katherine Kean, Diane Rudnick Mann, Suki Kuss, Joan Vaupen, and Grace Swanson, in setting up the show.






The BEST OF TAG exhibition continues through January 22, 2011 and features a diverse mix of painting, photography, mixed media, printmaking, pastel, sculpture, and fiber art.

A reception to meet the artists will be held Saturday, January 8, from 3 to 6 pm and is open to the public.

Cheryl Medow, Gary Polonsky and Peter Kempson May 25 - June 19, 2010

TAG Gallery is proud to present new works by Peter Kempson, Gary Polonsky and Cheryl Medow.

May 25 - June 19, 2010

Artists' Reception Saturday May 29th, 5-8pm

"L.A.NDSCAPES" BY PETER KEMPSON

Though relatively new on the fine art scene, Peter Kempson has already exhibited at LACMA, the prestigious Los Angeles Co. Museum of art. His canvasses are remarkable for their detailed precision, as his style evolves from realism to photorealism.

With a wry sense of the city's proclivity to spin paradox on top of paradise, Kempson's L.A.ndscapes were called "love notes to Los Angeles" by one critic, and he has recently been awarded the commission for a large painting to grace the lobby of the L.A. Firemen's' Credit Union. Nonetheless, his paintings have been purchased for collections across the U.S. and in Europe.

Kempson has had a career as an advertising art director and creative director at Ogilvy & Mather in New York and McCann Erickson in Los Angeles, with numerous awards for creativity to his credit, including several Clios and an Emmy.

When viewing his paintings, it may be hard to believe that Peter Kempson is a self-taught artist. He holds a B.A. in English from the University of Virginia, which is reflected, in the story-telling quality of his work.

Though he has begun painting other cities, beginning with his hometown of New York, Kempson's primary focus remains capturing the unique and ironic character of Los Angeles where, as he puts it, "...validation may come in the form of an Oscar statuette or a stamp on your valet parking ticket."



"THE BOTANICAL SERIES" BY GARY POLONSKY

Los Angeles artist Gary Polonsky presents a series of three dimensional "botanical" pieces in his new show at TAG Gallery. He has abandoned the flat, rectangular canvases of his early work to experiment with, and then expand upon the use of other materials. The results are "canvases" with no corners, with painted surfaces that twist, and undulate, sometimes showing both sides of the piece. Most of his "canvases" have rough, textured edges, a notable characteristic of real leaves.

Yet, on close inspection of any of his colorful leaf paintings, one notices that he still incorporates expressionist methods, suggesting his early admiration of Jackson Pollock, and other abstract expressionists.

Seen in person, the painting's surface jumps out at the viewer because of the varying degrees of depth; and some, like his two orchid paintings, extend almost eight inches into the room.

A graduate of Santa Monica City College, and Art Center College of Design, Polonsky has been involved in art for almost fifty years and has shown his work in several galleries, both here in the Los Angeles area, and San Francisco.



"WILD WINGS" EXHIBIT BY CHERYL MEDOW

"Is that a painting?" "Are those stuffed birds?" "Are those really wild birds?" These are some of the questions you may find yourself asking when you see the works in Cheryl Medow's latest exhibition, Wild Wings which continues her exploration of her passions for photography, birds and the environment. She presents idealized images of the wild birds she photographs in idealized environments to emphasize the interconnectedness of all creatures.

Medow travels from her backyard to other parts of the United States, Europe, Central and South America and parts of Africa in search of just one more bird, one more photograph of the flying descendants of dinosaurs.

Her images are initially captured in the field as photographs of birds, landscapes and sky. Then they are melded in the studio through modern computer techniques and tools to produce a final idealized image that is simultaneously hyper-real and hyper-artificial, reminiscent of the dioramas found at the Museum of Natural History.

Medow graduated from UCLA with a BA in Art & Design. Her recent work has been published in 100 Artists of the West Coast II, NANPA Expressions Magazine 2009, Nash Editions: Photography And The Art Of Digital Printing. Her awards include NANPA Juror's Award, Brand Art Library Competition and The Topanga Canyon Art Center, Best of Show Award. She has donated her work to the Inner City Arts Program in Los Angeles and this year, has been asked to donate a work to the Venice Art Walk Silent Auction.

Cheryl Medow Interview

Ovampo Sparrowhawk ©2010 Masai Mara, Kenya
Digital Pigment Print
Cheryl Medow

Blending photography and a painterly sensibility Cheryl Medow elevates images of wildlife into a rarified domain.

Where did you grow up?

Los Angeles. I graduated from UCLA with hardly ever leaving home. After graduating, I started traveling around the world with my camera, family and friends.

When I was young, there was far less asphalt and cement, so I spent a lot of time outdoors, playing, catching caterpillars and watching them turn into butterflies. I was always out doing something in nature. I didn’t realize how interesting birds are until I went to Africa. Our first trip guide asked, “Do you like birds?’ I said yes and asked why the question? He said, “When the animals are not around, the birds will always be around, so you’ll never get bored.” I found that watching birds is far from boring. They may be small, but their lives are incredibly interesting, busy and sometimes outright funny.

I initially wondered why it wasn’t more like National Geographic. Then I realized that National Geographic only shows you the final result, highly edited, leaving out all the waiting and waiting for the animals to show up and seeing no animals for a day or more. This made me even more interested focusing on birds. I must say, of all the places I’ve been, the birds in Africa are the most spectacular, Brazil a close second.

What made you realize that you wanted to be an artist?

Art has always been a part of my life. The creative aspect comes from my family. My immediate family pursued music. I found my niche in the visual arts. Creativity is where I continue to find my “Self”. When I am working on my art, I can get to a calm, Zen-like place. I make it a practice to be with myself as much as possible – thereby being an artist fits my needs.


How do you choose your subject matter, and where do you find inspiration?

For this show, I think the birds have found me. When I approach them, they don’t necessarily fly away. Some, almost, say, take the picture already. What are you waiting for – I’m posing for you.

I’ve always been inspired by nature. In the Masai Mara in Kenya, you can stand in one spot, twirl yourself around and see the horizon everywhere. No buildings, no other obstructions - it just goes on forever. That feeling of spaciousness warms my soul.


Carmine Bee-eater ©2010 Manda Bay, Kenya
Digital Pigment Print
Cheryl Medow

Are there any artists, contemporary or historical, that you count as influential to you?

On a trip to a Paris museum, I spent hours staring at the Monet Lilies. The sofa that I sat on was oval and the paintings were placed in a way so that they were not just in a straight line and I sat there feeling like I was at the edge of these ponds just taking in the beauty of them. The Impressionists have a soft, romantic, ethereal quality and I strive to have my photographs feel like watercolor.

I know that your images are more than just photography – how do you make them? Can you share that?

I go out in the field and take photographs with my digital camera, capturing images of birds, animals, sky, clouds, water, reflections, all that I see as beautiful or interesting.

To create a photo like those in this show, I find and watch a bird (before he flies away), noticing everything around him. I also take in the surroundings of the animals, the sun raising or setting, the clouds – I want them all in the final photograph. If the bird (since birds are rather small) is to be sharp and printed large, I have to take the shot only of him, leaving out all that wonderful information about the surroundings.. So, I will use more than one photo in my work layering in the backgrounds, foregrounds, central image and additional details that I find compelling. I call them digital pigment prints, which seems to be the current name for photographs that are digitally enhanced.

My fellow artists call me the “bird lady” and the “mask lady”. If you take a Photoshop class someone will eventually show you how to make a mask. Usually they are very rough around the edges, but mine are very, very precise, down to little feathers that are showing on the edges of the bird. Masks are one of my major tools.


Is there a separation between your "normal" life and your artwork?

When I work in my studio, my husband feels himself to be a Photoshop widower. I can stay up until late at night or work in the evening so I’m not available. Also, I have found that vacations are now working vacations for me. Even when we went to Hawaii - we’re supposed to relax, go for walks, but I wanted to go where the Albatrosses were and take pictures. So I’m taking all my camera equipment with me. And I’m weighed down by sixty or so pounds of equipment. So, it has intruded on my life, but it is my life.

What scares you, if anything?

That I won’t come up with another image. That I will not feel beauty in my life.

I’ve been doing birds for a couple of years now and I always thought that something will happen and I’ll move on to something else. And I still haven’t. It makes me think, “Oh my goodness, I’ll only be known for birds.” And so….

What do you see as next?

I’ve become so aware of landscapes. On my trip to Brazil to photograph jaguar, all the photographers waited around for a jaguar. While we were waiting, they saw me taking pictures of the clouds and the water, which were absolutely stunning. It’s a note to remind me that at every turn there is another road. When I see a new path, I will know it.

Until then, I will just keep exploring.


Cheryl Medow at work in Kenya.

Cheryl Medow's next exhibition at TAG Gallery begins May 25, 2010.