TAG hosts a Yellow Dot Sale during Bergamot Station's "Spring Fling" -- Saturday, March 19, 12-4pm

Every piece at TAG that has a yellow dot will be 10% off for the duration of the Spring Fling (12-4pm).

Join Bergamot Station Arts Center for their inaugural Spring Fling event, Saturday, March 19th from 12- 4 pm. In the festive spirit of the Holiday Open House this too will be an unparalleled arts and community celebration! Bergamot Station is an internationally renowned creative arts complex, boasting over 40 galleries and creative businesses. The Spring Fling highlights 25 gallery exhibitions and brings together live music, local vendors and special events. Come enjoy a thriving arts community gathering!

This is a FREE family friendly event! There are no tickets necessary to gain admission.

It is highly encouraged that attendees carpool or use services like Lyft and Uber to get to the event. There is limited parking at Bergamot Station and the parking lot will fill up quickly. Check out our Facebook event for Lyft and Uber discount codes.

Special Events and Vendors:

Official Bombay Sapphire sponsored event
Bergamot Café (A3): Festive fare and live music
Apollo Espresso and Shave Ice truck
Border Grill gourmet food truck
Live music from the Venice Symphony Orchestra (1:30 PM at the Bergamot Café)
Argentine Tango instruction by Ilona Glinarsky
Hiromi Paper (G9): Origami 101
Lilla Bello (F1B): Single Stem Sale
bG Gallery (G8a): free portrait painting and photo-booth
SLOAN PROJECTS (B5): Orchid Kokedama (mini gardens) and Ceramics
Laura Korman Gallery (D2): Opening Reception for Penumbra: Randall Stoltzfus
Robert Berman Gallery (B7): Chess on the patio
Lora Schlesinger Gallery (B5b): Keennon Shaw Design Trunk Show (custom fashion and jewelry)
FIG (G6): Opening reception for group exhibition
ROSEGALLERY (G5): Visitor activity challenge at Tomoko Sawada's Facial Signature exhibition
Schomburg Gallery (E3a): Painting demonstration by artist Kathleen Keifer
FREE vinyasa yoga session hosted by Bender with live-DJ.
60 min, all-levels class starts at 11am. Advance RSVP required // details & signup at www.benderLA.com
Free Just Chill natural calming beverage
Free Zouq Gourment Snack Mixes

Artist Spotlight: Go Woon Choi

Everyday Life is the title of Go Woon Choi's current exhibition at TAG, through March 19, 2016.

Go Woon Choi, Prop Composition 01, Oil, 40 x 30"

She is showcasing a series of oil on canvas paintings exploring the beauty and abstract possibilities of common objects. Reflection, refraction, transparency, color, and composition are all considered with great attention to detail.

It all started during one of Choi's travels, when she saw some tools piled in a blue plastic box at a hardware store. She felt compelled to capture the strong feeling the jumble of shapes, reflections, and colors invoked.

Go Woon Choi, Blue Tool Composition 01 01, Oil, 40 x 30"

Back in her studio, she began to set up compositions to paint, arranging disparate objects that aren't typically seen grouped together -- a magpie assortment of shiny things.

Go Woon Choi, Red Prop Composition 05, Oil, 30 x 24"

The use of the background negative space is also carefully considered. Combinations of red, yellow, or blue with black or even shiny foil are arranged to give maximum impact, pushing the very real objects into an abstract realm.

Go Woon Choi, Toy Car Composition 01, Oil, 30 x 24"

Concentrating on color, form, and the play of light, Choi transcends the quotidian function of the objects and creates a hybrid of hyper realism and semi-abstraction. For example, Yellow Prop Composition 01 has tools and a shower hanger but it looks like an abstract painting from far away.

Go Woon Choi, Yellow Prop Composition 01, Oil, 30 x 24"

"Even common objects can appear strong and fantastic under different light conditions and environments," says Choi.

Go Woon will be part of an Artist Panel at TAG this Saturday, March 12, 3pm.
Feel free to leave her any questions here in the comments.

TAG Interviews Elyse Wyman

Sign Language is Elyse Wyman's current show at TAG on view through March 19, 2016.

Elyse Wyman, Woman's Work, Mixed media bas relief, 32 x 15 x 4"

We asked her a few questions:

Have you always lived in Southern California? 
Yes, I was born and raised in Los Angeles. In fact, I am a fourth generation Californian. I did spend a year abroad in Paris, France as a college student. There I studied the great European art traditions as well as the more modern artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Duchamp and many others.

What historical art movement would you choose as identifying most with your work?
I am inspired by Joseph Cornell’s often dream-like shadow boxes, sometimes called “memory boxes” or “poetic theaters.” His work in turn was inspired by Marcel Duchamp’s “readymades” or found objects from the Surrealist Dada art movement. Like Cornell, I am interested in the memories and feelings evoked by the items contained within the female shapes I have chosen as my “memory boxes." I layer the torsos with significant objects, paintings, and personal fragments, exposing the female figure to deeper scrutiny. I invite the viewer to peek into my private world, which is both revealed and concealed within these transparent forms.

What is the significance of plastic forms in your newest work? How do they contribute to the structure, the meaning?
The plastic forms come from the fashion industry. They are highly structured female shapes, most likely designed by men, and are conventionally used to display bathing suits. Their shapes are more akin to the unattainable figure of a Barbie doll than to the flesh and blood human form. In my artwork they function as structural containers for the assemblages inside them. They serve as both physical and psychological containers for the artwork within their confines. They display the female as both subject and object. These visual double entendres demonstrate how context can determine meaning and how meaning changes according to context.

Elyse Wyman, Yield/Allegorical Muse, Mixed media bas relief, 34 x 15 x 4"

What are the key themes that run through your work?
In this latest body of work I explore the dynamics and interrelationships of female identity, sexuality, gender and body stereotypes. I am attempting to illuminate the deeper emotional level generally hidden by the more carefully managed armor we show to the outside world.
I also fuse separate entities to reveal things we often take for granted. Seemingly ordinary road and warning signs (such as “Yield,” “No Outlet” and “Keep Off The Grass”) take on new meaning when placed inside the female form. This intersection of disparate elements results in new, sometimes humorous interpretations.

Elyse Wyman, Keep Off the Grass, Mixed media bas relief, 29 x 15 x 4"

How do you like people to view your work—from across the room, or close up?
If I were viewing my show for the first time I would stand back at first to take in the span of the colorful bas-relief figures hanging on the wall from coat hangers. Then, I’d definitely come in for a closer look at each piece as there are many interesting details to discover in each of them. For instance, “Empty Nest” contains an actual Hummingbird nest and a gold leafed leaf. “Exposed Heart” features a rare piece of red seaweed as its core. “The Grass Is Always Greener” and “Keep Off The Grass” both feature strategically placed fake grass.

Elyse Wyman, Installation View

Elyse Wyman, Empty Nest, Mixed media bas relief, 34 x 15 x 4"

Elyse will be part of an Artist Panel at TAG this Saturday, March 12, 3pm.
Feel free to leave her any questions here in the comments.