LGT! presents: LA n CV @ Coachella Valley Art Center

I have two pieces in this show at Coachella Valley Art Center. The opening is this Saturday, February 15th from 6-9pm.  The gallery is located at 45140 Towne Street, Indio, California 92201.  Lots of street parking available, in addition to two lots.  The Press release is below:

LA N CV Art Exhibit

The Coachella Valley Art Center and LGT! curatorial present LA n CV, a survey show of Los Angeles area artists including  painting, sculpture, photography,  mixed media, drawing,  video, and performance, curated by Mike McLain.   The reception will be held Saturday, February 15^th from 6-9pm, with a closing reception on Sunday, February 23^rd from 1-4pm.  Both receptions will feature performances by Takeshi Kanemura.

The show will run from February 6^th- 28^th, with gallery hours by appointment only.  Admission to the Coachella Valley Art Center and this exhibit is free and open to the public.  Please call (760) 799-4364 to schedule a visit.

This is part one of a two part survey that explores the relationships between artists making work in the desert terrain of the Coachella Valley and the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles’ cityscape.   LA n CV will exhibit Angelinos at Coachella Valley Art Center and CV n LA will exhibit desert artists in the city (TBD).  The show dates were specifically chosen to correspond with the Palm Springs Art Fair and Modernism Week events, both of which cause an influx of the LA Art Scene to the desert.    For more information, please visit www.facebook.com/LGTart/events

Artists include:

Shiva Aliabadi, Tania Jazz Alvarez, David Arenas, Jacqueline Bell Johnson, the California Poppy Collective, Janine Cortez Ker, Matthew Carter, Jacob Fowler, Kristin Frost, Dion Johnson, Takeshi Kanemura, Virginia Katz, Aragna Ker, Mihyang Kim, Zach Kleyn, Marion Lane, Alan Marx, Dan Taulapapa McMullin, Kathleen Melian, Thinh Nguyen, Hung Viet Nguyen, Max Presneill, Ranwakaba, Yoshie Sakai, Conchi Sanford, Kevin Scianni, Nicolas Shake, Hiroshi Shimizu, Curtis Stage, Dai Toyofuku, Nano Rubio

About the Curator:

Mike McLain is an artist and curator who has worked all over Southern California, since receiving his MFA from Claremont Graduate University in 2010.  Of recent note is his curation of Paint Can, which exhibited in the Pomona Packing Plant in 2012.  His studio is currently housed at the Coachella Valley Art Center and he resides in Palm Springs.

www.mikemclainart.com

About the Venue:

Coachella Valley Art Center is a newly established art resource in downtown Indio.  Featuring ample gallery space, rentable studios, a classroom, plus a small theatre, the CVAC is set to support the artistic community of the valley.

http://www.coachellavalleyartcenter.com/

About LGT!:

LGT! is a Southern California Arts Organization pulling from the resources of its individual members to create exhibitions, collaborations, and alternative presentations of art in the LA Metro Area.  

https://www.facebook.com/LGTArt

Deflated/Defeated Hatchfund Project

http://www.hatchfund.org/project/deflated_defeated

Entrance to Human Resources

My next endeavor will be to create a huge (read:entire gallery) installation at Human Resources.  They are a gallery known for performance art, and even as a music venue.  I was invited to do an installation piece as a collaboration with Dorian Wood.  He will be performing there with an orchestra from the 20-25 of March.  

 

Dorian and Orchestra Performing

My work will serve several functions including helping with acoustics (eliminating the echo) and transforming the white cube that is the gallery space into an environment that goes along with the themes of his performance.  The audience will be free to roam through the space at will.  I consider this really interesting, because the viewer can dictate their experience of both the music and the visuals.  

Sketch of project idea (over a photo of the gallery).

Sound interesting?  In order to make this piece I have launched a Hatchfund to help raise money for the project.  Please considering supporting this project or sharing the link with your social networks.  Here's the link:

http://www.hatchfund.org/project/deflated_defeated

Macquette superimposed over photo of gallery space.

Holiday Sale at Palos Verdes Art Center

Hi Folks, I will be participating in this event at the PVAC.  I will be selling some small scale ceramic sculptures, other ceramics items, and a lot of handmade jewelry in gold, silver, copper and lots of gemstones and vintage buttons.  Support your local artists and see some amazing art items!

Crit Session Part 2

Jennifer Frias Project Crit Sessions happened a couple of weeks ago, a project of which I was a part of.  The project is basically this: have a group of non-art people (people who have not studied art in depth, do not know art history, and do not speak "art speak") to critique, at length, art pieces.  The artists get to witness the critique (I took lots of notes myself) but are not allowed to respond until the end.  She has done this project with Cal State Fullerton students, and several other local (So. Cal) schools' MFA programs.  Part of what is going on is "an interrogation of the Institution" that institution being art school, as well as the lessor acknowledged hierarchies and unspoken laws that make the art world inaccessible by most.

Me photographing the whole room.  The critique is currently of Takeshi Kanemura's performance piece.  (He is standing with on the right.)

It is also bridging the gap between the artist and the viewer as the artist getting to see and hear the conversation, and in this case the non-art-professional's response to the work.  Sometimes we artists are so wrapped up in the art world that we fail to see the big picture, and the big references because we are only focusing on the ones that pertain to art.

This is a pic from the previous round.  It took place at my studio at CGU, right before I moved out after graduation.)

Jennifer records the critique and takes pictures, which then get compiled into an exhibition.  This crit session included two other students from Claremont Graduate University (CGU).  She has been showing the results at spaces close to where the school is, as a way to reference the locality that each institution has.  (i.e.: CGU as an institution will praise and condone certain things based on the value system of that school.)

An example of Henrique Oliveira's work.

This is part two because the recordings from part one unfortunately were not usable.  So I made a new piece and we had new people come and talk about it.  I had been dying to play with a method of construction that I saw artist Henrique Oliveira use.  He makes these large scale forms out of wood, making a frame out of PVC and then layering thin veneers on to to get organic curvy shapes.  I didn't go quite that far, but I wanted to play with the PVC frames with the wood.  I have these thin slat pieces left over from another project that would work perfectly, so I set out to try a new construction.

My piece for the crit.

The piece kind of grew on its own, and control fell whim to the material.  I wanted to reference the figure along with modernist minimalism.  I thought it was funny to make forms that in minimalism are simple and to make them wholly complicated by ways of construction and the resulting surface.

The critique was really good.  The thing I can remember most (without checking my notes) was a conversation they had about the possible gender of the sculpture.  BINGO!  While I don't nessecarily agree that I should be considered feminist because I'm a woman using "masculine" materials (Wood, metal, hardware, plastic) -it perpetuates a stereotype of those materials being masculine.  However I align with the postmodern concept of truth:  truth is perspective.  And my perspective is a combination of what I learned from my father and what I learned from my mother.  My mom taught me all kinds of crafts, and then later I was in girl scouts and learned even more.  My father does construction, and a lot of that he did where I could watch, and later help with.  I'm interested in this overall handiness as a way for me to create forms with a certain confidence in the reality of that object because of its construction.  I feel that the end result is quite balanced in that there is not a smooth blend of both, but that both sides meet up in tension.

Curator Jennifer Frias is in maroon sitting down and artist Takeshi Kanemura is leaning against the wall in the back.

So LGT! has really started to take off.  I have found that it is amazing what can be accomplished when you reach out to people and are not afraid to ask for a little help.  A few words about our next Exhibit:

Nothing Heavy
This group show will be one night only at the Pomona Packing Plant during the Second Saturday Pomona Art Walk. 

Curated by Mario Vasquez

Artists:
Jocelyn Grau
Dion Johnson
Liz Nurenberg
Atilio Pernisco
Tamarind Rossetti
Lisa Talbot
Andrew K. Thompson
Kim Zsebe

Pomona Packing Plant
560 East Commercial Street, Pomona, California 91767
September 14th from 4-10pm.

Please visit the event listing on Facebook for more details and updates.

https://www.facebook.com/LGTArt/events

Teaching Classes at Palos Verdes Art Center

I will be teaching 3 classes this coming fall season (2013) at Palos Verdes Art Center.

Sculpture: Plaster Carving

Carving is one of the oldest methods of making works of sculpture.  As a technique it can be applied to stone, wood, wax, plastic and even ice.  But a great way to learn this skill is through carving plaster.  In this class we will learn how to mix and cast plaster, and translate clay maquettes into plaster carvings using the traditional hammer and chisel method, apply texture. 
 

Student Example of plaster carving

Metalsmithing: Jewelry Basics

Introduction to working with precious metals to make jewelry.  Skills taught include soldering, hammering, sawing, and bezel setting a stone.  The class is designed to keep everything simple, demonstrating how to set up a small worktable at your home, with little investment. Supplies discussed at first class meeting.

Portfolio Preparation Studio

This class is intended for those wishing to build a portfolio for college admission that reflects not only the student's skill but their ideas.  We will start with basic art skills such as drawing and explore content and new techniques that can enhance the work.  Through discussion, we will also expand the students' knowledge of contemporary art and artists, which they can use to draw inspiration from.  There will be a new project each week.

If you are interested in taking a class, or would like more information about the PVAC please visit their website:

http://www.pvartcenter.org/education.htm


or their facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Palos-Verdes-Art-Center/110500642318527

tried to nap on a cloud but fell to the ground

I am curating a show that will be up for two weeks starting Friday July 5th 2013.  
Details below:

LGT! presents:
tried to nap on a cloud but i fell to the ground
at Groundspace Project.
Curated by Jacqueline Bell Johnson
An exhibit featuring:
Katie Grip
Stephanie Meredith
Dan Taulapapa McMullin



The show is running july 5-14 (gallery hours are fridays and Saturdays from 1-6, or by appointment.)
The reception will be held July 13th from 6-9pm with a preview of Plastic Sunshine.

You can find the place at: 1427 E. 4th Street, #4, Los Angeles, CA 90033
It the project space off of the main gallery at Groundspace Project gallery.
To find out more about Groundspace Project check out their website:
http://groundspaceproject.wordpress.com/
For more info on this show, LGT!, and upcoming shows please visit facebook.com/LGTArt

Thanks,

Jackie

Copper Bells

This is a new project I am working on.  These are raised copper breast bells.  The piece talks about beauty and objectification.  They are not presented formally yet, this is just a demonstration of how they sound.  When completed, there will be probably 4 more bells, each with its own stand and proper mallet.

Crit Sessions Vol. 2

The lovely Jennifer Frias came up with an idea now known as Crit Sessions.  Crit Sessions is a project where non-art people (as in those not fluent in art speak) are invited to critique a piece of art for an hour long session.  The purpose of this is allow the artists to receive real world feedback from outside the art world bubble.  It is "an interrogation of the institution" as Jen put it, that is, the institution of Art School specifically and the art world at large. 

The artists chosen are in or recently graduated from a Master's of Fine Art program in the LA metro area.  Volume 1 was conducted at Cal State Fullerton (CSF), and Volume 2 happened at Claremont Graduate University (CGU).  There are plans to expand to Art Center, Cal Arts, UCLA, UC Irvine, LCAD, and others.  There will be 3 artists included from each program.  The artists choose a piece ahead of time, and prepare a one page statement (specifically addressing that piece) to go with it.  During the hour of critique the artist can't say anything (which is typical of a lot of art school critiques) but they have a chance afterward to address any questions or point of discussion that came up.

Crit Sessions came to CGU on June 22, 2013, and the artists included were Dan Taulapapa McMullin, Takeshi Kanemura, and myself.  We got to watch each other's crits as well, which was also informative.  I made a new piece specifically for the crit.  A vagina dentata (my third one).  I found that a lot of what I was going for was received pretty straight on. To me that furthers my belief that a lot of aesthetics and formalism in art is based on an instinctual sensibility.  I'm totally fine with that, and consider it an accomplishment that the people conducting the critique were able to understand my work.  I took pages of notes, and plan to use those to help make some decisions for future pieces.

Though the project wasn't designed in this way, I thought it gave those critiquing a sense of empowerment, and demystified art in a lot of ways.  They as a viewer were validated as part of the process and (with encouragement) their opinions became valid.  When a lot of non-art people discuss art they usually tack on the anti-qualifier: "Well, I don't know much about art, but..."  Though most contemporary art has some reference to art history or other contemporary work, that's not the end all be all.  And I think the participants learned that in their role as critic.

What's happening update

So I graduated last month from Claremont Graduate University (CGU) with my MFA.  Now that school is over I am hurrying to make the most of my school studio before they kick us out to make room for incoming students.  Simultaneously, I am improving my garage, and building a shed in the backyard to create a studio and display space there.

Out in the world of Los Angeles, I have taken on the project LGT! which will be presenting group exhibitions of myself and other fantastic people kamikaze style (aka pop-up gallery).  Two shows are in the works, and once details are finalized, I will post it here too.
Check out LGT on Facebook too:
https://www.facebook.com/LGTArt

I have been applying to residencies, grants, and calls for shows and proposals left and right.  And the suspense is killing me.  I won't be hearing back from anything for at least a few weeks, and sometimes longer. 

I now have a website:
jacquelinebelljohnson.com

...but you can also still see goings on on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/JacquelineBellJohnson

I will be involved in Curator Jennifer Frias' project Crit Sessions, along with performance artist Takeshi Kanemura, and painter Dan Taulapapa McMullin at the studios at CGU in late June.  This event through collected documentation and artwork will eventually culminate in a group show with Takeshi and Dan.

Be sure to check back for more!

Incremental curves

This piece is a new one, shown in the DC Gallery at CGU April 28th through May 4th 2013.  I made a sculpture a few months back with the same strapping, creating these incremental teardrops shapes.  While everything was piled on the floor I saw these great patterns and undulations of line.  This is the first of a few pieces that will play with the strapping as line.  I have the work leaning, which causes the strapping lines to sag out of the frame and create this space... almost like the impression of a body.

Ave Regina

This is a piece that was up at Claremont Graduate University for the week of May 5-11, 2013.  The space is referred to as The Nook, or alternatively The Niche.  The title is Ave Regina (Hail Queen).  The piece is made of wood, with steel brackets, bolts, nuts, screws, and house paint.  The long painted 2x3's are hinged by the brackets to the wooden arches making them movable, so they could adjust to the space.  (I built this in the sculpture yard for the most part, and then assembled it in the nook.)  The space is about 20 ft deep, and 12 ft wide.  I took most of the pictures at night so there is this dramatic lighting effect going on.  

I should mention this is a vagina dentata, and the second one I have made, at that.

Claremont Graduate University Open Studios!

CGU will be having there annual open studios event next Sunday, May 5th, from 12:00pm-5:00pm at 251 East Tenth Street, Claremont, CA 91711.  It's a free event and open to the public.  Not only will you get to see the studios of over 50 graduate art students, but also two MFA Thesis shows, performances throughout the day, collaborative installations and happenings, and more.  Every empty room in and around our building has been turned into an exhibition/installation space.  

I myself will be showing some work in my studio, #234, as well as part of a sculpture show, a collaborative installation with Patricia D. Burns and will have several large sculptural works outside on the lawn.  

If you haven't been to Claremont before and want to make a day of it, there is also the Pomona College Art Museum, the Ruth Chandler Gallery at Scripps College, and the Pitzer Art Galleries to see (all within a few blocks).  

Our Facebook Event Page:

https://www.facebook.com/events/478950702177631/

CGU's Art Department Website:

www.cgu.edu/art

So I have been out of the blog posting world for a little because I have eating, breathing, and sleeping THESIS.  But you guys didn't know that til now.  I would like to formally invite you to my MFA Thesis Show: There Be Dragons.

Jacqueline Bell Johnson, MFA Thesis Exhibition

Peggy Phelps Gallery @ Claremont Graduate University
251 East 10th Street
Calermont, CA 91711

Gallery hours m-f, 8am-5pm
Opening: Tuesday Night 6pm-9pm

I will be having a soft opening on Sunday afternoon from 12pm-5pm for those of you who can't make it Tuesday.
Like most gallery art events, this is a free event.  I will also be serving refreshments at both openings.
My show partner is Matthew Hillseth, also a metal sculptor.  He will be showing in the gallery across the hall, meaning you will get to see two shows for the efforts of one.

If you look carefully around Claremont and Los Angeles, you may find my show card.  Or just shoot me an email with your address, and I would be happy to mail you one.

Below are some sneak peaks of what is in my show.

And here is a photo of Geena Davis getting a personal invite from me.  (She loved the title!)  Everyone is welcome to come, and bring your friends.

I am participating in this show at Claremont Graduate University.  It is a collaborative installation created by the students of CGU Art, taking the Installation Seminar.

INDecent Proposition

Show is open from November 26th to December 14th Gallery Hours: M-F 8am-5pm Group show including Artists: Vera Bauluz Jacqueline Bell Johnson Janelle Borsberry Andrea Breiling Jeremiah Catling Adrian Culverson Clayton Ehman Suzanne Utaski Gibbs Katie Grip Scott Jamieson Takeshi Kanemura Abdul Mazid  Stephanie Meredith Julie Orr Augusto Sandroni Jette Via Patch Wright Jo Anna Zelano Show Statement (written by Jeremiah Catling) This exhibition is a collaborative effort, put together by a group of students involved in the installation art class here at CGU. This is a collection of moveable objects, initially gathered in between the two gallery spaces so that they can then be freely moved from one space to another. These works result from a single directive and a short timeline: within two weeks construct a piece that can travel between the galleries. The two galleries, one titled Decent, and the other Indecent, invite the viewer to interact in a visual organization of the works. Whether one person sees a piece as decent and moves it into the gallery, while another disagrees and puts it in indecent, or if the work appears too nebulous to the viewer and they want to leave it in the lobby space, this exhibit wants to explore how we create and dismantle consensus. The show is itself a question of taste: is it decent to touch works, to move them, and engage with them, or is there value in overcoming the indecency of interacting physically with art? How do we as a culture categorize and understand art, and how do we define what is decent and indecent in the objects that are present? Is art itself decent? How definite are our own views?  And what happens when we put a bunch of stuff on wheels and start moving it around?

http://www.facebook.com/events/485428221504089/

The Possibilities of Failure

This is a piece built for an outdoor space called the "Nook" over at the CGU art campus.  The space used to house the dumpsters for that building and when they were relocated it became a place for the installation class.  I have been scavenging from the woodshop scrap bin for a while and have been reusing it on different projects as needed.

This piece is a result of the idea of creating a line with many perpendicular lines coming off of it and then bending that line to see how it alters their curvalinear progression.  I started with creating a pair of strips of steel 24 feet long.  I took these wood scraps of mine and sandwiched them between the steel then wrapped them up nicely with some decorative threading in twine.  Added a little bit of color with some dry brush of lavender.  This line was then carried by a team of friends and myself out to the nook.  

I proceeded to bend the strip (this is no small chore, it took my entire body to get it to go) in the space.  The cotton snapped in the process of carrying out there, and while bending it into shape.  I figured it was a possibility, but did not expect it to break to the extent that it did.  Furthermore, the curves I had in mind were much bigger, so that you could walk through the piece.  It was way too heavy, and too rigid to create the image I had in my head.   

So I was forced to settle for what the piece would allow, and not what I wanted.  

While You Were Out

Kids behaving badly?  Maybe so... All of us MFA students at Claremont Graduate University who have now made it to our second year had the whole summer to work at the studios without interruption (or feedback) from our professors.  This show is a reflection of those new directions, risks, and ideas we all developed during the break.  Each "2nd Year" student has a piece in the show (there are 30 of us), held in the two main galleries of the CGU Art building at: 251 E. 10th St., Claremont, CA 91711.

The show will open Monday and stay up until mid October.  Our Opening Reception is Tuesday September 25th from 6-9pm.  When you stop by be sure to peak into our installation galleries and other spaces (littered all throughout the building).

Feminization as Equalization, Installation at The Loft.

I have been invited to do an installation at The Loft in Downtown Pomona.  It will be up for one night only, this Saturday from 6-8pm.  My piece will be up alongside Dominique Ovalle's paintings.

  The piece is called Feminization as Equalization.  The piece explores the notion that a masculine environment can be balanced by adding the feminine.  The piece consists of a aluminum and steel frame with pink and blue thread tied to it like an excessive fringe.  These strings are then attached to the walls and floor to create various patterns, but are also at times overlapping and meshing together.

You can find out more about the space here:
http://lofton2nd.com/

Wax Paper Installation

The idea of feminizing space is the idea of seeking a more balanced equal world.  This piece is my first major attempt to study the "how" of feminizing, to see my ideas work on a physical and visual level.  I was lucky enough to gain access to one of the MFA thesis galleries at Claremont Graduate University (where I'm attending) during the off season (summer).  Its a big rectangle: 37.5 feet long by 25 ft wide by 16 feet high.  The space is gorgeous with blank white walls, white ceiling and white track lighting, and a used but wax cement floor.  The problem is the shape, which is a box. 

The rectangle, the cube, the box, the square are all the shapes we are exposed to with architecture.  There are reasons for this such as maximization of space, efficiency in building, ease of located/manufacturing building materials to name a few.  These are all concerns whenever building anything, but somehow they have won in the minds of designers and architects and those with approval stamps and gold start stickers.  My argument is that they are a masculine concern and there are a lot of social implications of a created environment that are neglected and ignored or even disbelieved because it can be detrimental to the male ego.  To say that a room would have influence over you is to say you are week.  To say that a social concern is your concern is to say that you are weak.  I don't exactly agree with gender roles or column A is female and column B is male, but when they are thrust upon society to a point that you are raised with a sense of these roles and standards through generations, they do mold your conversations and ideas.  Rectangular rooms are everywhere.  Most architecture created in the last 50 years gets innovative only when seeking to offer variation to the rectangle, and are hard pressed to throw it out completely.  We are surrounded by rooms, buildings, shed, bus stations, offices, telephone booths, bathroom stalls, etc. that conform to this shape. 

Feminization of Space, Wax Paper is me trying to examine the question of what kind of power does an environment's shape hold?  What happens when we leave those shapes behind.  Does changing material help?  This installation started with a solution of weaving material together as a quick and easy way to replace the straight walls an d corners with a rounded wall.  The material needed to be white so it blended in with the existing walls.  The goal was to change the shape of the room to something more organic and rounded, less symmetrical, and to a softer material.  The lighting was such that you could not see the actual walls of the room, just my alteration.  I chose basket weaving as the method to create this piece firstly because of its form building ability, and that it could use lightweight material and still work.  Secondly it does bring other feminine aspects to the room being a domestic/craft construction method.  Something on a roll seemed not only practical for the act of construction, but also would act like a fat string in weaving.  Wax paper wound up being the medium of choice, as it was very cheap and translucent white, so that it would still allow light to fill the space and the color would blend in with the wall so it would help create the feeling that it was part of the room or part of the wall.

Though I agree with the comments I received about the appearance of the outside (that the outside is just as interesting to see as the inside), the work is meant to be viewed from the interior only.  You walk into a room that possesses all these qualities that are lacking in the traditional box format.  The "walls" themselves glow because of the nature of wax and having to place lights outside the piece because of lack of track inside the piece.  The weaving added a (albeit unexpected) sense of movement which is not typical to architecture or rooms.  Weaving also brought about the association of fabric to the viewers which in turn reads as cozy and warm.  Socially I think the shape created provided more options for someone occupying the space:  I spent an afternoon in the space to try to pick up on nuances that I might have missed in making the piece, where I was mostly experiencing the outside.  the curves of the walls allow you to tuck yourself under the wall a little if you were so inclined.  The space did not feel overwhelmingly vast, empty and boring as the room normally feels.  Though the size of the room was shrunk in the creation of the piece, it still feels big because I left the top open exposing the ceiling.  As the AC kicked in the wax paper gently and delicately moved and covered the industrial hum of the ducts with a light crinkly sound.

I think I will definitely be examining this concept again, with this specific method of altering the shape of the predominantly masculine architecture.  With perhaps a grant I'd like to use fabric and weave more carefully to create a larger piece in a space where you can experience the inside and outside of it.  Something like a mall or office atrium, where the second floor would have a view of the exterior and the first floor could experience the inside.