New Talent Keeps the Festival of Art Young.
Staf photo by Ted Reckas Ellen Rose preparing her booth at the Festival of Arts, which opens this Sunday for the summer season. The wild man from Borneo, the sword swallower, the lady with tattoos all over her body and other carnival denizens made an indelible impression on the 10 year old girl who grew up to be Ellen Rose, the artist.
In this age of digital escapism, there are not many people left who still dream of joining the circus or a passing carnival. But, Rose, now 73, must be among them because she has an empathy with this disappearing subculture that shows up in paintings that one is not likely to forget any time soon.
Rose brings her subjects, men and women, bald and hairy, attractive and not, clad in work clothes or performance costumes, and copiously tattooed, to this year's Festival of Arts exhibit, which opens to the public this weekend.
The Laguna Woods resident was juried in after an eight-year hiatus, making her a newbie of sorts and, judging by her subjects, something of a departure from the usually pretty and dejà-vu burdened summer fare.
Over the years, this unquestionably gifted painter has followed her own eclectic inclinations. She has given us clergy in esoteric vestments (modeled by her husband who let himself be transposed into Francis Bacon-ish bishops and nuns), traveling performers and aging, work-worn carnies, unabashedly old nudes and dancing dogs.
"I was at the fair eight years ago where I showed my dogs," she recalled. They got an O.K. public reception but really took off when, to her initial consternation, the owner of a now defunct Forest Avenue doggie emporium bought two paintings to hang in his shop. "Those dogs kept me busy (in commissions) for two years, a side effect of the festival," she quipped.
But, to a serious painter, frolicking fidos offered a limited future, to say nothing of critical recognition and entry into the gallery circuit she aspired to. Since then, Rose work made it into several galleries and exhibits in Orange County and Los Angeles. Her bishops and nuns won acclaim. Critics and sophisticated viewers, too, see beyond superficial impressions of her superbly done freak shows.
A festival veteran and juror this year, Laguna Beach artist Pat Sparkuhl, championed Rose and encouraged her to exhibit her tattooed denizens who are now augmented by several teen-agers and subjects in their 20s who have embraced skin art as their own badge of otherness. "Ellen's approach to the figure shows her getting out of a predictable box," said Sparkuhl. "Her paintings contain a challenging mix of nostalgia for and celebration of people who have disappeared or moved deeper into the shadows or who come from a darker environment." Since his own work addresses the human condition, Sparkuhl is a natural advocate for someone with similar inclinations.
As space constraints allow her to display only for four paintings, Rose intends to rotate work. She's clearly happy to be back, although re-entry to the festival exacts a sacrifice. Some galleries will not represent artists who also show at art fairs, but demand exclusivity in a region. "I am better off on my own," she said. "The galleries want new stuff all the time and I'm stuck with the older works. I want to do commissions and show when and wherever I want."
The festival's professionalism, camaraderie among exhibitors and interaction with huge and diverse audiences are an added bonus, she said.
The festival will be easier to navigate due to a more open exhibit layout and clearer sightlines, and that the grounds, covered by architectural canopies, will be cooler and more comfortable, said spokeswoman Sharbie Higuchi. Visitors will also have a chance to learn the artists' secrets by attending workshops, docent tours and, for the first time this year interface with artists over coffee on Thursday mornings.
The festival may be 77 years old this year, founded in 1932 to revive dismal art sales during the Great Depression, but one of its newest exhibitors is just 20. An illustrator by training, Will Koffman paints on black fabric with bleach via a reductive technique that exposes several layers of hue. "Black is a very concentrated color and bringing lighter colors out through chemistry is part of the process," he explained. As many will know, black is often the deepest hue of another shade like red or blue, and thus this process results in fascinating images that are, surprisingly, representational rather than abstract. "I use images from mass consciousness, commercial images and objects that define popular culture," he said.
Koffman, perhaps this year's festival wunderkind, began his art career at 14 when he began to produce record covers and comic book images. At 16, the Newport Beach resident enrolled in the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and just recently graduated. Even so, he knows the pratfalls of an artist's life and thus is understandably thrilled to be juried into the festival. "In the world of art you can be talented and still have to make a living at minimum wage jobs," he said. "Exhibiting at the festival will undoubtedly help me gain momentum."
The Festival of Arts, 650 Laguna Canyon Road, opens to the public July 5 through Aug. 31. For further info: call 497-6852, or visit www.LagunaFestivalofArts. org.
