SMC exhibit curator encourages adding public space for artists
By CHRISTINA YOON Special to the Daily Press
SMC At first glance, the 49 works of art displayed at the “Emphasis Santa Monica” exhibit could not be more disparate. In one corner hangs Jon Swihart’s hyper-realistic nude. In another stands an abstract fiberglass and resin sculpture by famed architect Frank Gehry.
All of the show’s artists, however, share a common denominator — their addresses.
Beginning this week and running until Oct. 18, the Pete and Susan Barrett Art Gallery at the SMC Performing Arts Center on Santa Monica Boulevard houses the free exhibit, comprised entirely of artists who live and work in the city.
“It was something I wanted to do for a long while,” said Bruria Finkel, artist and curator of “Emphasis Santa Monica.” “I’ve lived here for 50 years and the idea of having live-work artists in the city was very important to me.”
Finkel worked for a year and a half to curate the show, which opened this week in collaboration with the opening of the new 499-seat Eli & Edythe Broad Stage at the Performing Arts Center.
Exhibiting artists include mixed media artist John Baldessari, portraitist Don Bachardy and abstract painter Michael C. McMillen.
“I think what you get is a potpourri of wonderful Santa Monica artists in this show,” said Steve Galloway, who is showing his surrealist drawing “Babylon Dance Party,” originally created for a show in France last year and now belonging to collectors in the area.
Finkel selected eclectic pieces from the artists and requested that they write a statement expressing their thoughts on the home that they all share.
“I decided I wanted a comment about Santa Monica, what is it that connects them to Santa Monica,” she said. “All of the comments related to the environment: the sun, the sand, the wind, the ocean. No matter what they do in their studios, that feeling of light is right there.”
Such were the thoughts of artist Helen K. Garber, whose black and white photograph of the Third Street Promenade on a foggy night can be seen at the exhibit.
“I’ve traveled all over the world, but I love it here,” said Garber, who lives in the Ocean Park neighborhood. “It’s an essential part of my life. The Santa Monica Pier is my anchor — it’s my favorite place to be and to photograph in Santa Monica.”
Sources of inspiration aside, Garber said that she was also drawn to Santa Monica’s thriving artistic community.
“I always take studio spaces around other artists. I like the camaraderie here although I like to work by myself,” Garber said.“There’s an artistic energy here.”
This solidarity assisted Finkel as she worked to create “Emphasis Santa Monica.” She called upon the many artist friends and colleagues she has amassed during her time in the city both as an artist and an active member of the Arts Commission for 13 years.
“It’s a very supportive community — look what we have here! What you see here is a great deal of love,” she said.
Although she has not officially worked with City Hall since 1995, Finkel has not stopped pushing for public art. In fact, even “Emphasis Santa Monica” is a sort of gueril-la tactic to encourage the building of a public cultural center.
“Primarily I’m really interested in getting us a museum in the civic center and this is my flag,” she said of the show. “I know the community is interested. We did a lot of things years ago, like the Twilight Dance Series, that still survive today.”
Galloway has also been involved with public art in the more than 30 years he has lived in Santa Monica. In 2005, he and fellow exhibited artist McMillen created 29 banners to hang from the light posts at the pier.
The banners stayed up for almost three years before the weather took its toll on them. Galloway also supported the idea of a cultural center in the civic center, although he warned that planners would have to be sure to include diverse artist lineups beyond just the confines of Santa Monica or the Westside.
“One has to be careful to make sure it’s not an insular museum,” he said.
But even more than a plea to City Hall, “Emphasis Santa Monica” is a visual love poem from 49 locals. Finkel, who is also showing one of her pieces in the show, said that this affection for Santa Monica was enough to create a surprisingly cohesive artistic narrative using wildly different art-works.
“Santa Monica to me is paradise,” she said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 22, 2008. Read the original PDF.