Sandra Kraisirideja, Enjoy!
GLENDALE -- Common household windows and doors are the focus of two
new exhibits at the Brand Art Galleries.
Mixed-media artist Gretchen Gates transforms house doors -- sometimes
incorporating the whole door, other times segmenting and re-hinging them
-- to form long wall hangings with photographic and sculptural elements.
Painter Joseph Corso exhibits his collection of window paintings.
Completed from a vantage point inside various rooms in his home, the
paintings serve as framework for the world he sees outside.
Gates is no stranger to solo shows, but this exhibit is a milestone in
her career.
"It is the biggest space I've exhibited in and much of it is all new
work," she said.
Gates has been working with doors for five years, but this exhibit
marks the first time she cut and re-hinged the doors to create fragmented
wall installations.
On a sheet of paper tacked near the gallery's entryway, Gates thanks
nearly a dozen people for their help putting the show together.
"I couldn't do what I do without the help of my friends," she said.
"This is a journey not undertaken alone and I wanted to acknowledge their
participation in the process."
Gates finds inspiration for her work in everyday life.
"I listen to what's around me and I pay attention," she said.
The photographic elements on some of the doors, for example, were
taken within a 5-mile radius of her live-in studio near downtown Los
Angeles, Gates said.
A self-described "dumpster diver," Gates also scours thrift stores and
antique shops for found objects that she can use in her art.
"I like objects with history," she said. "I started working with doors
by accident. My landlord had thrown away an old door and it intrigued me,
so I brought it home. Then friends would tell me about discarded doors
they would see around and I slowly built a collection."
In retrospect, Gates said her attraction to doors is not surprising.
"They've had a life, in some cases many lives," she said. "Doors are
pregnant with meaning and yet they are very common."
Corso, who lives in Long Beach, is also inspired by the world around
him.
"I respond to the environment around me, especially light," he said.
While viewing Corso's paintings, one gets the sense they are taking a
visual tour of his home. While there may be some truth to that, Corso
said it was unintended.
"I don't think my home is that special," he said. "It would be a
disappointment compared to what is in the paintings. What is special is
the moment that I try to capture."
IF YOU GO:
WHAT: Brand Art Galleries new exhibit, "Journey," by Gretchen Gates in
the Brand Skylight Gallery and a series of window paintings by Joseph
Corso in the Atrium Gallery.
WHEN: 1 to 9 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 1 to 6 p.m. Wednesday and 1 to
5 p.m. Friday and Saturday through March 1.
WHERE: Brand Library, Brand Park, 1601 W. Mountain St., Glendale.
ADMISSION: Free.
PHONE: 548-2051.
