Opening Reception for Impact: Emotions of Color
Friday, March 2nd from 6:00 to 10:00 pm
ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries
169 Madeira Avenue
Coral Gables (Miami)
Florida, 33134, USA

As you read this, one of the most extensive and unprecedented museum collaborations that has ever occurred in this country is taking place in Southern California. Under the auspices of the Getty Research Institute and the J. Paul Getty Museum, a comprehensive survey of Los Angeles art from 1945-1980 called “Pacific Standard Time” is being shown in more than 60 of the region’s museums and cultural institutions and still more private galleries like this one. (For more information, see the spectacular 330-page eponymous catalog.)

The five artists we are exhibiting in “IMPACT: Emotions of Color” are another generation of artists influenced by the light and environment of Southern California. They are heirs to both the “light and space” and “finish fetish” movements, but each has found a unique way to build upon and continue to evolve those traditions. I hope that our show will offer South Florida art enthusiasts a taste of two key elements in “Pacific Standard Time.”

Five mid-career California artists will exhibit together for the first time in “IMPACT: Emotions of Color” opening Friday, Mar. 2nd at ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries in downtown Coral Gables.

Each of their unique abstract statements evolved from the extraordinary art matrix of Southern California in the 1960s, sometimes called the “Light and Space” movement. Stimulated by a heady mix of the surfing culture, glossy finishes on custom hotrods and motorcycles, and new materials from the local aerospace industry, those earlier artists were inspired to produce their abstract, often minimalist works by the region’s natural phenomena of surf, shorelines, skies, desert landscapes, and a sprawling metropolitan area pulsating with freeways, peppered by billboards and glowing with neon.

The artists represented by “IMPACT: Emotions of Color” essentially cite the same influences from nature—with an updated global perspective. It is no coincidence that Casper Brindle, Ned Evans and Andy Moses are dedicated surfers; the sport’s flashing excitement can be felt in their art. Atmospheric phenomena are among the influences found in the paintings of Lisa Bartleson and Suzan Woodruff.

Gallery owner and director Virginia Miller notes that “IMPACT: Emotions of Color” will offer art enthusiasts an opportunity to experience the contemporary works of outstanding Southern California artists deeply rooted in that region’s Light and Space movement through June 2012.

Greater Miami’s longest-established contemporary fine art gallery, ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries is located at 169 Madeira Ave., in the downtown Coral Gables business district. For more information, visit www.virginiamiller.com or call 305-444-4493.

Image: Ned Evans, Ukiah, Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas, 41 x 41 inches, 2009