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Artists interpret liquid theme in show at Santa Barbara Tennis Club COURTESY IMAGESTricia Evenson’s “Three Hearts of Mother Octopus.”
More than 40 artists have interpreted all things “Aquatic,” which is the theme for the 2022 annual jury competition hosted by 2nd Fridays Art at the Santa Barbara Tennis Club.
It is on view from Saturday through June 30. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
An artists reception and awards presentation, open to the public, will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. June 10 at the club, 2375 Foothill Road. Attendees are asked to follow COVID precautions.
“The exhibition titled ‘Aquatic’ is the anticipated annual open call, which has been going on for 10 years,” said Susan Tibbles, gallery director and curator of exhibitions. “The artists in the show are represented by a variety of mediums — oil, acrylic, encaustic, collage, photography and mixed media. The theme dictates a wide range of interpretations of all things aquatic including environmental issues, seascapes, water sports, backyard pools and reservoirs.
Seyburn Zorthian’s “Watery Gestation.”.“Tricia Evenson‘s ‘A Good Day to Fish, or Is It?’ has an uncanny timeliness to the local collapse of the pelican population in Santa Barbara and the Central Coast in recent weeks. Jane Gottlieb’s nod to Monet, in her photographic rendition of his famous Lily Pond, exudes a contemporary twist and painterly quality.”
Ms. Tibbles told the News-Press that Cynthia Martin’s “Sunset Off Stearns Wharf” evokes “a passing landscape a commuter might see driving down the Central Coast. The deconstructed colors create glittering stripes that suggest currents or waves.
“In the series by RT Livingston, ‘The CiC Carpinteria: (The Sea I See ),’ the artist draws the line where the water meets the sky, representing the physical act of drawing a line across the horizon, while simultaneously expressing her aesthetic, philosophical and environmental points of view.
Jane Gottlieb’s “Monet’s Lily Pond.”“Janice Lorber’s ‘Water Pipes’ expresses the concern over the looming water shortage in California by highlighting the pipes that carry this precious resource in her watercolor painting,” said Ms. Tibbles.
“ ‘Seyburn Zorthian’s ‘Watery Gestation,’ uses blues, black, lights and darks in relationship to each other, with an ‘energy stroke’ as the basic bones of the composition. That stroke, which comes from life experience focused into the present moment, dictates the subsequent direction of the painting and defines the abstract elemental meaning.”
Juror for the show was Michael Long, a native of Santa Barbara, collage and assemblage artist who has been active in the Santa Barbara art community for more than 30 years. He was an elementary school teacher before co-founding the Rondo, a co-op gallery and artist workspace in Santa Barbara and is the show organizer and curator for the annual art show “Ready to Hang” at the
Cynthia Martin’s “Sunset off Stearns Wharf.”Community Arts Workshop in Santa Barbara. The show hosts hundreds of local artists.
Self-taught, Ms. Tibbles launched her career as a fine artist in 1990. Her work has been shown in both solo museum and gallery exhibitions across the U.S. and Europe including Santa Monica, San Francisco and Laguna Beach; Santa Fe, N.M.; New York City and Berlin.
She has served as guest lecturer and speaker at several universities and art councils throughout the West Coast. Her illustrations have appeared in the op-ed pages of various publications over the past 20 years, including the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and the Washington Post.
Tricia Evenson’s “A Good Day to Fish, or Is it?”“I work in mixed media construction, encaustics and collage, using found and fabricated objects in an idiosyncratic and imaginative way,” she says on her website. “My artwork shows the psychological and sociological complexities and metaphors of discarded objects brought to life in a new light. Much of the strength of my work lies in the decontextualization, reconditioning and enshrining of bits and pieces of American culture, creating icons of multifaceted experience.
“My work unites us with our past, present and future.”
email: mmcmahon@newspress.com
FYIThe “Aquatics” exhibition will be on view from Saturday through June 30 at the Santa Barbara Tennis Club, 2375 Foothill Road. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. An artists reception and awards presentation, open to the public, will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. June 10 at the club. Attendees are asked to follow COVID precautions. For more information, call 805-682-4722 or visit www.2ndfridaysart.com.
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