POMONA - It is nothing short of amazing
how the Pomona Arts Colony has expanded its art venues
by 50 percent over the past year, with tonight's Second
Saturday Art Walk featuring the opening of four new art
venues.
Andi Campognone, who is no stranger to the Arts Colony
(formerly co-owner of the dba 256 Gallery), is going it
alone in a new venture on the Colony's west side named
appropriately, Andi Campognone Projects,
558-B W. 2nd St.
Campognone, who has curated exceptional and diverse artists
in previous shows, is continuing this high standard with
her opening of "The New Irascibles," based on
the Irascible 18 (painters from the New York school),
who in 1949 protested the New York Metropolitan Museum's
collection and acquisition policies.
"The New Irascibles" is an exhibition of artists
dedicated to painting. Though some say "painting"
had died, this show is about artists who are loyal to
the craft, re-examining and forwarding the act of moving
pigment on a surface.
Beginning as a smaller version of the traveling exhibit
(11 painters), "The New Irascibles" will eventually
highlight the works of 18 painters. Artists include Philip
Argent, Daniel Brice, Max King Cap, Alex Couwenberg, Jimi
Gleason, Robert Kingston, Andy Moses, Thomas Pathe, Roland
Reiss, Greg Rose and Mark Zimmermann.
Across the street from Campognone's gallery is the newly
refurbished Edison Building, housing a dozen artist live/work
units, some doubling as
exhibition space. One such space making its debut is Silence
Gallery, 565-1 W. 2nd St., operated by Kai Streets,
a Pomona native and photography artist.
Kai Street has an interesting take on art. His reasoning
for naming his gallery "Silence": "I wanted
to be part of this (Arts Colony) by giving artists an
avenue for their work to have a voice, and most importantly
be heard. Every piece of art speaks volumes that are immeasurable,
and every viewer hears something different, sometimes
nothing at all. It's that `silence' that gives it its
true meaning, art!"
Silence Gallery's Second Saturday exhibit will present
the photography of Rocco Myers, a teacher who enjoys spending
his summers traveling the world and capturing the people,
places and wonders of this incredible planet in photographs.
Switching up the exhibition space later in the month
for Last Saturday's Metro Night Out on Nov. 28, Silence
Gallery will present a group show of more than 20 local
photographers.
Another art venue opening in the Colony featuring photography
is Faded & Blurred, also the name
of the 200-member photography group exhibiting at the
gallery.
Faded & Blurred was founded by two photography instructors,
Frank Wisneski and Jeffrey Saddoris, from Tri-Community
Adult Education in Covina, one of the best known schools
for beginning and advanced photographers in Southern California.
A body of like-minded photographers, Faded & Blurred
shoots, retouches, shares, instructs, displays art and
discusses photo-related issues, additionally performing
community outreach.
Asked why the group is named Faded & Blurred, Paul
Knight, member and curator of the gallery, said, "Sharp
and vibrant is simply too overrated. Faded & Blurred
represents the quest for promoting photography as an art,
a business, and a group of socially conscious individuals
giving back to the community."
The gallery is in the Founders Building, also the home
of the Latino Art Museum, and the SCA Project Gallery.
Unlike their neighboring venues located in the basement,
Faded & Blurred requires an elevator ride to the second
floor, 281 S. Thomas St. No. 205.
Having done a spectacular job converting the space at
the northeast corner of Thomas and 4th St., Kirk Pedersen
will debut his new gallery, PEDERSEN Projects,
396 S. Thomas St., during the Art Walk.
Pedersen has recently exhibited at the Downtown Cal Poly
Art Center and completed five exhibitions in China including
the Today Art Museum, Beijing, and Duolun Museum of Modern
Art, Shanghai. His first hard-cover photography book,
titled "Kirk Pedersen: Urban Asia," was published
earlier this year.
Pedersen's first offering at the gallery will be "FINISHED/UNFINISHED,"
an introduction to PEDERSEN Projects featuring the paintings
and photographs by Pederson himself. Future shows will
focus on group exhibitions of paintings and photographs
by national and international, established and emerging
artists.
Pomona's Art Walk is every "Second Saturday"
of the month in downtown Pomona, 6 to 10 p.m., with closing
exhibits on display during Pomona's Last Saturdays Metro
Night Out, 6 to 10 p.m.
For more information and to download a map of all 36
art venues in Pomona's Arts Colony, go to www.pomonaartscolony.com.
A.S. Ashley is a Pomona Arts Colony artist and advocate.
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New neighbors
Four new galleries have recently opened in the Pomona
Arts Colony:
• Andi Campognone Projects, 558-B W. 2nd St.
• Silence Gallery, 565-1 W. 2nd St.,
• Faded & Blurred, 281 S. Thomas St. No. 205
• PEDERSEN Projects, 396 S. Thomas St.
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