Week 12: Artist Conversation

On November 12, I visited the Max L. Gatov Gallery West. When I walked in the gallery, I was very familiar with the backgrounds of the art. The work of the artist showed a community that I was familiar with. The painting of the beach with people was something I saw in my daily life. The work of the artist really portrayed the community. In the work, you can see many different types of people. There were family, friends, someone who is drunk, and some alone. These types of people are easily found in communities. All the details in the art really showed the community.

At the gallery, I had the chance to talk with Christopher Linquata. He is 38 years old and this semester is his last semester at CSULB. He is majoring in representative drawing. It took him about 4 months to finish his work. His painting was inspired by early Renaissance. He used acrylic paint for his work. Usually, his works are often mythological and religious. His work was based off area of Long Beach in San Pedro. He didn’t write message about those painting because he wanted the audience to find out.

When looking at his work, I thought of my community, Los Angeles. From the painting I saw, I felt like all communities are the same even though they are in different areas. I thought the drawing showed Los Angeles community at first because it was so similar. Although, everyone have different thoughts, religion, and more, we are all still the same.

November 16, 2015November 16, 2015 by suhyuncindy Tags: Gatov-West Leave a comment

Week 9: Artist Conversation!

On October 22, I visited the Gatov West Gallery. Unlike the previous galleries I visited, the work inside Gatov West Gallery was not as colorful. From all the works inside the gallery, one work really stand out. The work doesn’t have a name, it was just called “Seated Man” by everyone. It was hard to take picture of the work because a lot of people were taking turns to take picture with the sculpture. When I was looking at the sculpture, I thought how similar the work was to “the Thinker.” The sculpture was made from a casting a of mannequin with solid concrete. The artist didn’t give out a lot of informations on the works because he does not like giving out too much informations on the piece. From all the works in the gallery, the sculpture of a man was really cool and it really caught everyones’ attentions!

At the gallery, I had the chance to talk with the artist Juan Martin. He is a transfer student at CSULB and this is his last year. He is majoring in sculpture. He was always interested in art as a kid. He started to draw in his college.He said this works were inspired by minimalist in 1980s.  He does not like to give out too much informations on his work. It took him four weeks to work on the arts. He planned and thought about the show about a year ago. He was a very nice man. It would’ve been nice to hear more about his works.

While looking at the works in the gallery, I thought about my thoughts on art. Just looking at the “Seated Man” made me think. I thought art was something you see and enjoy at first. However, hearing about the works of the artist every week, I thought how art is more than seeing and enjoying. There are so many different meaning and stories to the works of the artist that artists want to share with the audience. Next time when I see work of the artist, I want to understand more of the meaning behind the piece.

October 25, 2015October 26, 2015 by suhyuncindy Tags: Gatov-West Leave a comment

Week 4: Artist Conversation!

On September 17, I visited Gatov West Gallery. When I first walked in, I was amazed by all the works that visualized horror or nightmares. I am not a big fan of horrors or nightmare but all the works were very fascinating. The artist used oil paint for his painting. All the works had many different colors. From all the colors that the artist used, I recognized the color green and purple which are used often in horror movies and books. Walking around the gallery, I felt fear in every work. From all the work, I was interested in this one work where a person is sleeping on the bed. When I saw the paint, I knew the person was having a nightmare. The position the person was sleeping, the way the person’s hands were, and the mess around the bed showed how the person was having a nightmare. Even though the colors of the painting were vivd, the work was showing nightmare.

At the gallery I had the chance to talk with David Mendoza. He has been studying in CSULB and he has one year left. He worked as a artist for three years now. His works were inspired by horror movies and nightmares. David grew up with nightmare since he was a kid. The nightmares he experienced helped him create his art works. David was able to paint his works because he not only experienced with horror but also because he likes creepy and cool stuffs. I think David was trying the explorer the idea of horror or fear in his works. If it wasn’t for his experience, I wouldn’t have felt the fear in the paint like in his nightmares.

After seeing the paints in the gallery, it reminded me of my fears. I am not a big fan of fears and I do get scared easily. I don’t get nightmares very often but when I do, I really look like the person who is having a nightmare in the paint. It’s amazing how the artist can fully show his thoughts and experiences in his works.

September 21, 2015September 28, 2015 by suhyuncindy Tags: Gatov-West Leave a comment