Cathy Breslaw's Installation

Cathy Breslaw's Installation
Cathy Breslaw's Installation:Dreamscape

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Color Field Meditative Paintings by Maggie Tennesen at R.B.Stevenson Gallery, La Jolla, CA

Maggie Tennesen
Convergence
R.B. Stevenson Gallery, La Jolla, CA
Thru August 30th, 2014

by Cathy Breslaw


When I look at Maggie Tennesen’s acrylic paintings I am reminded of Native American blankets, rugs or weavings.  Her tightly painted grid-like striped patterns form energy fields of color that vibrate across her canvases. The process of creating these mostly large scale works involve painting hundreds, maybe thousands of individual thin strips of multi-colored paint with a straight edge, that often appear like strands of yarn. Tennesen also carves into her paintings creating thin crevasses between lines and curious geometric lines that often form shapes and patterns, lending a textural quality to the works.  While standing at a distance, the viewer can see overall geometric shapes that build compositional devices into the otherwise obsessively controlled lines.  There is also a meditative and delicate quality to the works that are further developed and enhanced by Tennesen’s choice and finely tuned use of color palettes.  Tennesen’s work is reminiscent of color field painting as well as possessing a certain spiritual quality. 
Eastern Sky   2014      acrylic on canvas    48" x 48"

Victor Landweber's 'American Cameras' Exhibition at Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla, California

Victor Landweber, photographer
American Cameras
Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla, CA
Article by Cathy Breslaw
Hopalong Cassidy   20" x 16"  Cibachrome print


Victor Landweber is a conceptual artist who uses the medium of photography to create his art.  American Cameras is an exhibition of fifteen 16” x 20” Cibachrome prints whose subject matter is vintage cameras of the 1940’s and 50’s. These color images are portraits, each work having a single frontal view of one camera that is centrally placed onto a black background.  Landweber has carefully traced a white outline around each camera, like a ‘glowing halo’, emphasizing its shape and elevating the unique qualities of each one.  This series highlights the distinctive designs and commercial viability of these retro cameras, showcasing them as objects of beauty.  Each camera had unique names including Imperial Debonair, Bear Photo Special, Hopalong Cassidy, Brownie Starlet and Lady Carefree. Their ability to create images takes a back-seat to their object-hood, transforming Landweber’s photographs into commercial photographic illustrations. On a deeper level, Landweber is guiding us to ask the question ‘what is art?’ and whether the context of his presentation of the cameras meets our definition.  This photographic series, created in the early 1980’s, documents the early years for the development and use of the camera and its relationship to making art.
Beacon Twenty-Two Five   16" x 20" Cibachrome
Bear Photo Special 20" x 16"   Cibachrome print