JOHN M. VALADEZ
“PINTURAS PANDEMIA!’
CLOSING RECEPTION: NOVEMBER 28, 2020 6:00-9:00 PM
CHINATOWN, LOS ANGELES
About
Eastern Projects concludes “Pinturas Pandemia!”, an exhibition of new paintings by John M. Valadez. This is Valadez’s second solo exhibition with the gallery, and the first solo exhibition at the gallery since Covid-19 shutdown much of the country.
Artist statement
The majority of the work was made during our collective pandemic experience. Some began before the virus hit.
Some of the work themes cover travels I’ve had and travels thwarted since we are all banned in Europe. The paintings cover multiple themes and ideas, figuration, indigenous contrast, history, and burlesque.
May a vaccine liberate us all and we can reacquaint ourselves with creative and subversive normalcy.
JM Valadez
10/10/20
Only 10 guests in 30 minute intervals will be allowed inside, MASKS and social distancing are mandatory for the safety of everyone. Temperature checks and hand sanitizer will be provided upon entry, time limits will be enforced.
for those who cannot attend, you can join us via ZOOM, https://www.zoom.us/join:
Meeting ID: 689 923 7694
Password: ajAU0S
Gary Wong
DriveByPictureShow|WordPictures
Drawings and Paintings
VIRTUAL OPENING RECEPTION: JULY 11TH, 2020 5:00-8:00 PM
Show Runs: July 11, 2020 - August 8, 2020
CHINATOWN, LOS ANGELES
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/6899237694?pwd=UnZJbTJ4STlQRE9iNDFVaElJa3FBUT09
Meeting ID: 689 923 7694
Password: 0pTFdL
A California native, Gary S. Wong moved with his family from Oakland to Los Angeles at a time when City Hall was the tallest building in the basin. The vantage point of his ethnically diverse E. 21st Street neighborhood just south of Downtown, and the cultural undulations of the time, deeply influenced his artistic, musical, and spiritual life. From an early age, Wong was collecting images, painting and making things, more often than not reflecting a societal underbelly, an underdog or outsider perspective. In high school, he won a contest for a poster he created regarding illegal detainment. Shortly thereafter, he was arrested and jailed for peaceful protesting the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. When the Watts riots were in full swing, Wong was studying at Chouinard Art Institute with master abstract expressionists Emerson Woelffer and Matsumi Kanemitsu. Woelffer taught him the spiritual aspect of the intent and execution of painting. From Kanemitsu, he learned a respect for the qualities the tools and methods bring to the work. Gary Wong’s work is an exploration into the intrinsic qualities of paint and the internal dialogue of American abstract painting.
The reason I paint is as old as Mankind itself: the need to make mark, to leave a message. I have previously worked in the layering of recognizable figures and images with words. I found myself becoming disinterested in people’s interpretation of the images in my work. I was more interested in the grounds, the surface, the texture and its visual richness. I began eliminating the figure or any recognizable subject through my synthesis of stories, myths, ancient history, poems, and songs as written. The purpose of which is to bring focus to the purely visual aspects of the text without the interjection of one’s psyche’s interpretation of that which is
recognizable. The word conversation comes to mind, the visual energy of story told again and again. The marks, once made, inform the next and the next, and the once silent dialogue develops into a conversation.
Exhibition: COQUELICOTS
Exhibition Dates: Saturday, March 14, 2020 - May 23rd, 2020 (Extended due to COVID 19)
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 14, 2020 6-9pm
Eastern Projects Gallery is pleased to announce Coquelicots, Frank Romero’s third exhibition at Eastern Projects, running from Saturday, March 14th to Saturday, May 23rd, 2020. The opening reception takes place on Saturday, March 14, 2020 6pm-9pm. This event is free and open to the public.
Argenteuil is approximately 650 kilometers north of Mirmande, France where Frank and Sharon Romero have their home overlooking the Rhone river and the distant mountains of the Ardèche.
While living in Argenteuil during the summer of 1873, Claude Monet painted one of his earliest plein aire impressionist paintings called Coquelicots, or poppy fields which is on display in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. According to the Orsay’s handbook,
Monet showed Poppy Field to the public at the first Impressionist exhibition…, in 1874. Now one of the world’s most famous paintings, it conjures up the vibrant atmosphere of a stroll through the fields on a summer’s day.
As his collectors know, Frank and Sharon have spent years visiting and living in France spending most of their time in the south from St. Remy to Mirmande as well as enjoying the charms of Paris.
In the summer of 2019, Frank noticed that brilliant red poppies or coquelicots were growing in and around Mirmande. To his knowledge the poppys hadn’t been in Mirmande before, at least not that he had seen. He was excited by their intense color and beauty and spent hours painting them in a variety of contexts. Why the poppy’s hadn’t appeared before 2019 is anyone’s guess–perhaps a small benefit of climate change.
These Coquelicots paintings form the basis of his current exhibition at Eastern Projects.
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