OsCene Spotlights the Here and Now

(1) “Jacaranda,” anodized aluminum, stainless steel, timed motors and LEDs, by Jim Jenkins. (2) Nobuhito Nishigawara’s “Princess III,” clay, bronze, iron and acrylic. (3) Laguna Beach artist James Miller with “Blue Horizon #2”, left, and “Nexus,” oil on canvas. (4) “Flying Away,” mixed media on panel, by Suzanne Walsh. The artist is the author’s daughter. (5) Laguna Beach artist Brad Moore with his photo, “MS International, Orange, California.” (6) “I Will Love You Forever,” porcelain figures on steel frame, by Diana Donaldson. Staff Photos by Ted Reckas The anticipated survey exhibition of the new and cool in O.C. art opened Last Saturday night at the Laguna Museum of Art after a four-year hiatus. The OsCene: Contemporary Art and Culture in OC, an innovative round-up replete with its first snicker-inducing title, had been the brain child of Tyler Stallings, the museum’s former chief curator.

Now, with Grace Kook-Anderson at the curatorial helm since 2009, this young San Francisco Bay area transplant presented an Orange County art scene that strays beyond the political boundaries, including artists from Long Beach and San Pedro, saying the cities serve as a historical bridge between Orange and Los Angeles counties.

On hand at the opening, Stallings, who is now the director of the UC Riverside Sweeney Art Gallery, praised this third OsCene incarnation as the best one yet. (Jackie Bunge, the museum’s current curator of education, organized the second.) “The show has an incredible energy and, by keeping it smaller than mine, which was rather crowded, Grace gave the works more impact and room to breathe. She has a great eye and that this show not only reflects her interests but what she brings to the table for the museum,” he said.

The opening comprised a Who’s Who of the OC art scene, including Don Cribb, the founder of Santa Ana’s Artist Village, Cal State Fullerton professor curator Mike McGee, artists of every age and inclination, Laguna gallerists and the artists’ families and friends. Assorted Art Walk hipsters helped push the number of revelers to 1,159.

The turnout might partly be attributed to the museum offering $20 event tickets on their website to all comers, rather than the standard practice of extending invitations to museum members and their guests.

The show’s Sunday public opening, including a curatorial walk-through with Kook-Anderson, drew 212 visitors.

Her selections include painting, drawing, sculpture, installations, photography and video clips. She also invited Laguna Film Society’s Keiko Beattie to curate the film contribution and Ashley Eckenweiler to present nominees for the upcoming OC Music Award.

Festivities began with Barbara Berk’s performance titled “Tip-Top.” Without becoming distracted by ambient music or the enveloping throng, she spent close to an hour slowly turning on her own axis inside a circle drawn onto the floor while also balancing a narrow, roughly six-foot-long pole atop her head. While Berk rotated in one direction, the pole at times assumed a life of its own by moving in counterpoint to the artist.

“All my performances come out of my drawings, and are designed to fit the space and the audience,” explained Berk. She chose the title to give the piece a bit of lighthearted humor, she said.

Among a uniformly compelling line-up, there are distinct crowd pleasers: Jim Jenkins robotic birds (“Jacaranda”) enchant and Cheeming Boey’s Styrofoam cups festooned with pen drawings elevate a now maligned material into service of beauty. Rebecca Erbstoesser’s multi-media drawing “Empty Nest,” movingly expresses a middle-aged woman’s anxieties over separation and change.

Shannon Faseler replicated scores of mold fungi in paint. Even the wallpaper pattern on which the stuff has sprouted has been hand painted. “In decay there is often also striking beauty that will challenge perception of what is accepted as such,” she explained. (“Aesthetics of Decay,” Walls, Laguna Art Museum)

McLean Fahnestock’s video titled “St. Clare of Burbank,” examines the effects of mass media on the public’s faith and beliefs. St. Clare, Fahnestock explained, is the patron saint of television.

Suzanne Walsh’s installation titled “Flying Away I” and “Flying Away II” speaks of the ephemeral nature of friendship and also of resiliency in the face of adversity, and Gena Genis reveals a compassionate eye through her series of photographs delving into the insular existence of many of today’s elderly. (“The Pack Rat”)

Ceramics as a tool for expression are reportedly making a comeback. Melissa Thomson’s “Red Progression,” is an array of perfectly shaped, hand-built cubes in gradating shades of red. The piece deserves kudos for its simple beauty and outstanding craftsmanship.

Kook-Anderson effectively sums up her show by saying: “I wanted to revive the concept of regionalism in a positive way. With regionalism having taken on negative connotations and

8 with increasing emphasis on internationalism,

it is also worth reminding ourselves that art is being made close at hand, in the here and now.”