Current Exhibition: LA Open 2018

January 2 - 20, 2018
Reception and Awards: Saturday, January 6, 5-8pm

In the spirit of the our annual “California Open”, TAG Gallery is proud to present its first ever “LA OPEN.” This juried exhibition will serve as a gateway for a diverse range of artists in the greater Los Angeles area to display their artworks on Museum Row, home to four major Los Angeles museums. Our juror, Fabian Debora chose 110 artworks for this year’s exhibition from more than 922 submissions received in the greater Los Angeles area.

LA Open, installation view. For more, click here.

Congratulations to the selected artists!

Artist Spotlight: Joan Wynn -- Alive

Joan Wynn, What Lies Ahead, Brass, 7 x 18 x 5.5"

In Alive, an exhibition of new work by Joan Wynn, her sculpture captures what living—being alive—is about. Her work focuses on both the individual human form and the situations individuals encounter. 

Joan Wynn, Reaching Out, Steel, 8.5 x 19 x 8"

Wynn’s sculptures embody the joys, longings, and challenges of life that are universal as well as those reflecting the lives of particular people and their potential futures. This new body of work includes sculptures of welded steel, Wynn’s original medium, as well as works in materials including bronze, glass, crystal and resin. 

Joan Wynn, Each Unique I, Resin, aluminum, 14 x 10 x 7"

As art critic Betty Ann Brown wrote: ”Wynn’s work continues and extends the psychologically invested, existentially charged dialogue initiated by Giacometti and continued in the work of David Smith and Louise Bourgeois. This California artist is in very good company.”

Joan Wynn, Woman, Antique Bronze, 78 x 24 x 24"

Tuesday, November 21st – Saturday, December 16th

Artist Panel Discussion: Saturday, December 9, 3pm

Artist Spotlight: Deborah Decker -- Under the Radar

Deborah Decker, Mike, Oil on glassine, 72 x 70"

TAG Gallery is proud to present a body of work from Deborah Decker entitled Under the Radar. This body of work utilizes the figure in conjunction with the artist's interest in socio-political matters. To this end, the work explores various facets of the human condition and memory, and external determinants that influence both. Decker’s work grew out of her interest in the study of empathy and the hardships which are all too frequently magnified and exacerbated by economic, social, and political realities. 

Deborah Decker, Double Girl With Pink Hair, Oil on glassine, 72 x 70"

Under the Radar is based on the day-to-day realities and memories of the students who live in Inglewood, California, under the flight path of the Los Angeles International Airport. This work endeavors to blur the boundaries of ‘the other’ who is perceived as being different in some fundamental way. The other is a false illusion of hyper-reality created by differences between and within social classes, or a community within a society, a family, a high school clique or a neighborhood gang. 

Deborah Decker, Shanell, Oil on glassine, 67 x 36"

Decker invites the viewer to meet these students: their full body portraits hang in an installation type setting, while jetliners from the LAX's relentless and noxious presence fly constantly over their heads.

Deborah Decker, Installation View

Tuesday, November 21st – Saturday, December 16th

Artist Panel Discussion: Saturday, December 9, 3pm

Artist Spotlight: Katie Crown -- Watercolors

Katie Crown, Crossing Signal, Watercolor, 49.5 x 49" 

Watercolors, Katie Crown’s newest exhibition at TAG, features abstract watercolors that focus on the convergence of shape, form, and color. 

Katie Crown, Quartet, Watercolor, gouache, 37.5 x 30.5"

Though the works were completed in 2017, many pieces were based on watercolors Crown painted in the 1970s and 1980s, updated and adorned with geometric and chromatic patterns. To this end, Crown views this renewed expedition into her past as a journey into an artistic diary. 

Katie Crown, Curious Forest, Watercolor, gouache, 38.5 x 30"

The work started as landscapes but evolved into non-objective, abstract, and geometric forms. 

Compositionally, arcs and triangles are mainstays of this work while Crown utilizes airbrush techniques as well as expressive, saturated color to bring a sense of texture and grit to the works, engrossing the viewer in each piece’s own geometric universe.

Katie Crown, Flag of No Nation, Watercolor, gouache, 54 x 47"

Tuesday, November 21st – Saturday, December 16th

Artist Panel Discussion: Saturday, December 9, 3pm

Current Exhibition: Katie Crown, Deborah Decker, Joan Wynn

Tuesday, November 21st – Saturday, December 16th

Opening Reception: Saturday, November 25, 6 – 9PM

Artist Panel Discussion: Saturday, December 9, 3PM

Katie Crown - Watercolors

Katie Crown, Carnival, Watercolor, 48 x 36"

Deborah Decker – Under the Radar

Deborah Decker, Zarhia, Oil on glassine, 67 x 36"

Joan Wynn - Alive

Joan Wynn. On High, Brass, cast concrete, 14 x 6 x 3"

Current Exhibition: Betty Sheinbaum Retrospective

TAG Gallery is proud to host a retrospective for founding member Betty Sheinbaum. This exhibition, running now through December 16th, covers an expansive look at the artist's exploration in several different mediums over the course of more than five decades of her artistic practice.
This exhibition showcases 98 works, including previously unseen pastel work, paintings, collage, sketches, and abstract experimentation with different found objects.
Throughout her life Sheinbaum carried a natural and comforting humility that manifested itself not only through her artworks, but also through her personal philosophy and ethos. Sheinbaum never once created for recognition or praise, but to learn through the process of doing, of being a perpetual student.
Art Critic Marlena Donohue has said, “Coming to art seriously in the 1950s, long before feminism carved for women the freedom to select and juggle roles, Betty Sheinbaum doggedly tucked art into the stolen space between marriage, mothering, political activism, and astute art collecting. She managed to fit making art into a life that included raising four children, working with her husband in his political activities and running two successful bi-costal galleries of contemporary craft…Whatever else Betty Sheinbaum has accomplished in her busy life, she is indeed an artist. She is an artist by virtue of an honest, unpretentious desire to hone rather than rush her skills, by virtue of the inventiveness of her productivity and mostly by virtue of her quiet, unrelenting commitment."

Click here to see more installation images.

Opening Reception: Saturday, December 9, 5-8pm
Exhibition runs through December 16, 2017

Artist Spotlight: Shelley Lazarus -- Nouns

Shelley Lazarus, Besties, Watercolor, ink, 16 x 22"

Shelley Lazarus has always strived to have her paintings speak to their audience on their own merits, evoking different sensations and emotions to a wide array people as they are viewed. When working on a piece the artist tends to make up narratives about the day, different people, or her neighborhood.

Shelley Lazarus, Couple, Watercolor, 18 x 18"

Everything we see, do, or feel has a noun attached to it, so that other humans can identify with it or understand a particular thing or concept fully. Be it love, fear, risk, beauty, rapture, and so even in art, works are given titles to identify where or what the artist felt in order to assist viewers in engrossing themselves in paintings. This collection is Lazarus’ latest set of nouns.

Shelley Lazarus, Deck View, Watercolor, 22 x 24"

As far back as Lazarus can remember, her left hand held some tool to make a mark with. However her true medium of choice has been watercolor ever since she found out all she needed were a small pad, travel size palette, water, and brushes to make her creations. Lazarus will find a bench, pull out her portable gear and get lost in the moment of creating. A non-purist about her work, Lazarus often includes all kinds of mediums -- pencils, pens, and crayons while working on Yupa paper.

Shelley Lazarus, Beachies, Watercolor, ink, 37 x 29"

The exhibition runs through Saturday, November 18, 2017
Sunday Afternoon Jazz, Sunday, November 12, 2-5 pm
Artist Panel Discussion: Saturday, November 18, 3 pm

Artist Spotlight: Carol Kleinman -- Reflections

Carol Kleinman, Window Dancing on the Rue de Rivoli, Single Exposure Photograph, 39 x 59"

TAG Gallery is proud to present “Reflections”, an exhibition of surreal photographs of reflections on windows by Carol Kleinman. This exhibition pushes beyond reality, transmuting the everyday and commonplace into visual fantasy. The multi-faceted reflections, captured in Paris, Amsterdam, Los Angeles and New York, range in tone from romantic to intense to whimsical.

Carol Kleinman, A Chorus Line on 3rd, Single Exposure Photograph, 17 x 18"

Kleinman’s trademark single exposures of reflections are the result of a visual treasure hunt. “I’ll spot a reflection on a window, get captivated by its complexity, and, with a click of my shutter, and capture the image. Reflections seduce me by their symphony of layer upon layer of life... all of it culminating in the very personal moment when light, motion and planes of reality merge!”

Carol Kleinman, Back on the Beach, Single Exposure Photograph, 26 x 32"

The startling photographs in this exhibition are not composites. They are single, complex images that actually existed at a specific time and place. The viewer sees what the artist saw, creating an intimate bond between artist and viewer. Kleinman’s work is meant to help viewers perceive the many visual secrets reflected in the daily world around us.

Carol Kleinman, A Face in the Window, Honolulu, Single Exposure Photograph, 26 x 16"

The exhibition runs through Saturday, November 18, 2017
Sunday Afternoon Jazz, Sunday, November 12, 2-5 pm
Artist Panel Discussion: Saturday, November 18, 3 pm

Artist Spotlight: Don Adler – Birth/Rebirth

Don Adler, Infinity, Marble, 20 x 7 x 7"

BIRTH has been described as an explosion of forces culminating in a scream followed by a feeling of joy and tranquility. The pastoral calm and realization of the magnificence of the process followed by growth and development constitutes REBIRTH.

Don Adler, Labyrinth, Marble, 18 x 12 x 7"

This equation of birth followed by rebirth is captured in Adler’s body of work. The passionate palette of color and form reflects a deeper understanding of the birthing process developed from Adler's 40+ years of experience as a Fertility & Ob/Gyn physician.

Don Adler, Flame II, Onyx, 17 x 9 x 8"

This metaphorical analogy translates the creation of the earth 4.6 billion years ago when particles of solar dust and fiery gases exploded and fused to form our planet. It then took 10-20 million years to produce the geologic formations of the stone with which the artist has been working.

Don Adler, Pisces, Marble, 10 x 16 x 5"

BIRTH-Extraction of stone

REBIRTH-Carving of stone to finished sculpture

One can say: this multiphasic process is “CARVED IN STONE”

Opening Reception: Saturday, October 28, 5-8pm
Artist Panel Discussion: Saturday, November 18, 3pm

Current Exhibition: Don Adler, Carol Kleinman, Shelley Lazarus

Tuesday, October 24 - Saturday, November 18, 2017
Opening Reception: Saturday, October 28, 5-8 p.m.
Artist Panel Discussion: Saturday, November 18, 3 p.m.

Don Adler - Birth/Rebirth

Don Adler, Torch, Marble, 20 x 7 x 7"

Carol Kleinman - Reflections

Carol Kleinman, Watching Mannequins On the Seine, Single Exposure Photograph, 16.5 x 18"

Shelley Lazarus - Nouns

Shelley Lazarus, Seating, Watercolor, 27 x 33"

Artist Spotlight: Joe Pinkelman -- More China

Joe Pinkelman’s latest work, More China, continues the artist’s exploration of fragmentation, imbalance, delicacy, and beauty. Born out of a residency in Jingdezhen, China, Pinkelman uses carefully crafted porcelain structures to lay the blueprint for work that is not only beautiful to the eyes, but speaks to the political and conscious mind of the viewer.

More China continues the artist’s various critiques of the United States government, focusing on harsh crackdowns toward immigration and the many children killed by US drone strikes.

In a time where political tensions are at a fever pitch and human decency seemingly is lost, Pinkelman urges the viewer to examine the humanity in those persecuted and the often-passive role that we, as by-standers can so often play.

The exhibition runs through Saturday, October 21.

Artist Spotlight: Marion Wood -- Gravity

Marion Wood, Nightshade, Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 48" 

In Marion Wood’s latest series Gravity, there is an intentional lack of brush strokes; the paint is applied using various instruments, employing gravity as the essential forming agent. 

Marion Wood, Time Spent, Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40"

Intentional movement within the confines of gravitational pull is explored by manually moving the canvas, as well as creating layered obstacles and viscous differences that are meant to challenge this unrelenting force.

Marion Wood, Downtown Rain, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48"

The physical act of painting, a dirty and explorative undertaking, is the core of the artist’s connection to each piece. Wood chooses to inhabit her paintings and move within them the way one would inhabit a location in the more traditional sense; by wandering, searching, reveling, taking risks, failing, feeling the natural flow and getting messy.

Marion Wood, Midsomer's Night, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60"

Artist Panel Discussion: Saturday, October 7, 3pm

Artist Spotlight: Pam Douglas -- SIGHT

Pam Douglas, One, Acrylic, rope, silk, wood, 36 x 48"

In SIGHT, an exhibition of new work by Pam Douglas, she uses transparencies and reflections to reveal multi-layered perspectives of our times. SIGHT evokes the courage to see what is happening.

Pam Douglas, Witness, Mirror, ink, sawblade on plexi, 14 x 32"

Douglas has enjoyed the metaphysical realms of vision in past works, and with this exhibition she continues her interest in the circle as an embrace of “oneness.” Amidst current national challenges, she felt these times call for boldness. That led her to images of women crying out in darkness, oil derricks spewing oil, the unflinching gaze of a woman inside a round saw blade, and the line from Thoreau beneath another work: “The question is not what you look at, but what you see.”

Pam Douglas, The Question Is Not What You Look At But What You See,
Ink, acrylic, silk, paper, mirror on plexi, 38 x 34"

Art critic Shana Nys Dambrot wrote: “Pam Douglas is steeped in the magical way assemblage creates meaning. But she also excels at using paint, light, and line to create thematic compositional elements of powerful abstract narratives. Motifs of landscape, stylized abstraction and portraiture, and elemental forces of earth, water, and air are depicted and embodied using Plexiglas, rope, machine parts, and newsprint, as well as rich colors and mirrored surfaces. The works in SIGHT share material interests with her previous bodies of work, but for this series she has chosen those elements with increased specificity because their message has intensified as a response to society’s troubles. SIGHT evokes ideas about perspective and perception, truth and spectacle, evidence and witness, and includes both physical and metaphysical sensory experiences.”

Pam Douglas, In a Dark Time the Mind Begins To See, Ink, acrylic, mirror on plexi, 14 x 47"

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 30, 6 – 9pm
Artist Panel Discussion: Saturday, October 7, 3pm

Current Exhibition: Pam Douglas, Joe Pinkelman, Marion Wood

Tuesday, September 26 – Saturday, October 21, 2017

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 30, 6 – 9pm
Artist Panel Discussion: Saturday, October 7, 3pm

Pam Douglas – SIGHT

Pam Douglas, Forecast From the Deep, Ink, string, acrylic on plexiglas, 55 x 43”

Joe Pinkelman – More China

Joe Pinkelman, Cloud #1, Porcelain, 26 x 19 x 19”

Marion Wood – Gravity

Marion Wood, Off the Grid, Acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60"

Artist Spotlight: Elyse Wyman's Positive From Negative

Elyse Wyman, Kick, Cast Aluminum, 41 x 32 x .5"

In art as in life, a slight shift in perspective can transform negative into positive. While creating the positive shapes for the sculptures in her previous show, Elyse Wyman noticed the remaining negative shapes were intriguing in their own right and reserved them for future inspiration. In the spirit of recycle, reuse, renew, those raw pieces evolved into new sculptures, retaining some of the shapes and characteristics from the previous artwork, but emerging as something distinctly novel in her new show, Positive from Negative.

Elyse Wyman, Evolutionary Venture - 2S Recycle, Cast Aluminum, 9 x 8 x 5.5"

Wyman utilized the negative shapes born from earlier sculptures of the female torso to create positive sculptural forms cut and carved from Styrofoam. She then buried them in sand and cast them in aluminum. As she dug the sculptures from the hot sand, she noticed that an unforeseen surface pattern had spontaneously emerged from the path of the molten metal. 

Elyse Wyman, Winged Defeat, Cast Aluminum, 9 x 6 x 5"

Intrigued with the reticulated patterning, she ventured further, making pencil and wax rubbings on paper and employing gold leaf to further reveal and enhance the shapes and patterns. With this exhibition, the negative has transformed into positive.

Elyse Wyman, Undulation, Gold leaf on paper, 45.5 x 35"

August 29 – September 23, 2017

Artist Panel Discussion:
Saturday, September 23, 3pm