Brand Library Art Galleries
Glendale Public Library
1601 West Mountain Street
Glendale, CA 91201
Telephone: 818-548-2051 / Fax: 818-548-5079
www.brandlibrary.org
Media Contact: Cathy Billings, Gallery Manager, 818-548-2713
PRESS RELEASE
The Brand Library Art Galleries is pleased to present Circle in the Square: Artworks by Yesung
Kim, Barbara Kolo, Susan Sironi, Luke Van Hook, and Cheryl Walker.
On view: August 2 – September 5, 2008
Reception and Dance Performance: Saturday, August 2, 5-8 p.m.
The obvious unifying motif for these diverse Southern California artists is the circle, or to be
precise, the circle in the square. Kim’s mixed media works create seemingly elastic circles out of
string, while Sironi’s Glass Curtain installation is made up of rigid antique optometric lenses and
her paintings hide broad circular forms in the detailed application of paint. Van Hook has spent
several years contemplating and building upon Giotto’s rumored “perfect circle” and Kolo paints
huge canvases that depict the forms and shapes of the natural world using the tiniest of colorful,
round stipples of acrylic paint. Walker invites the viewer to participate in her artwork by adding,
removing, or repositioning circular vinyl pieces. But beyond the circle theme, their work
demonstrates a shared interest in perception, light and color. What the viewer perceives when
viewing the work up close is very different from what can be seen at a distance. Our perceptions of
how certain materials should behave are shattered, as when Kim’s tightly coiled natural brown
string takes on unexpected reflective properties. We are forced to perceive the world according to
the artist’s desire, as in the case of Walker’s layers of transparent vinyl in varying hues and Sironi’s
Glass Curtain, which magnifies, telescopes, and otherwise distorts whatever is seen through it
(often her own paintings or the work of other artists). Certainly their approach to the artistic process
is similar; inherent in all the work is a certain meticulous, tenacious commitment to method and
form. The viewer senses the temporal in these works of art and can easily imagine the hours spent
welding lenses, the painting of each circle or dot, the cutting of each piece of vinyl and the slow
winding of string.
Yesung Kim (Upland) was born in Seoul, South Korea and holds MFA degrees from Chung-Ang
University and Claremont Graduate University. Kim’s mixed media pieces are seductively simple.
Ordinary brown packing string is deftly applied to a painted canvas creating organic shapes that
shimmer and reflect light. At times these shapes appear to be on the brink of an amoeba-like
division as they spread and expand, dropping off the edge of one canvas and continuing on
another. Kim cites the natural world and light and color as the underlying themes that both inspire
and permeate her work. Following solo shows at the Seoul Museum of Art and the Seoul Arts
Center, Kim’s work was most recently exhibited at the San Bernadino County Museum’s Multi-
Media Mini Show. More information about Kim’s work can be found on her website:
www.yesungkim.com.
Barbara Kolo (Santa Monica) earned her BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
Kolo particpated in a successful two-person show at the Brand Library Art Galleries in 1999 and we
are pleased to present nearly ten years later a new body of work that connects to that which was
here before. In those works and these, her focus is on representing organic materials. The current
large scale acrylic on canvas works are saturated with color; the stippled application of paint
creates organic shapes and patterns representative of the natural world. The subject matter is
open to each viewer’s interpretation; where one may see a birch forest at dusk, others may see the
bold aesthetic of pure color and abstraction. Kolo has had recent solo shows at Topanga Canyon
Gallery and the Off Rose Gallery in Venice, California. More information about Kolo’s work can be
found on her website: www.barbarakolo.com.
Brand Library Art Galleries. Media contact: Cathy Billings, Gallery Manager, 818-548-2713 (page 2 of 2)
Susan Sironi (Altadena) earned her BFA at California State University, Long Beach. This
exhibition will showcase Sironi’s recent paintings as well as her Glass Curtain installation which is
comprised of conjoined antique optometric lenses. Her paintings are about texture, color, and
process. Small dabs of oil paint are painstakingly applied to aluminum, building up an intricate,
thorny surface. Highly textured and multi-hued when viewed up close, this surface belies the
minimalist color-field appearance of the work at a distance. In the artist’s own words, “texture and
color play equal roles in these works. They…set up contradictions within each piece. Paintings that
seem to invite touch and intimacy are also reserved and autonomous. Time and process are
weighed against a static and minimal structure.” Sironi’s work was most recently seen in the Brea
Art Gallery’s Made in California exhibition, at the Chouinard School of Art Gallery, and the Orange
County Center for Contemporary Art. More information about Sironi’s work can be found on her
website: web.mac.com/susansironi/susan_sironi/Welcome.html.
Luke Van Hook (Inglewood) earned a BFA at Otis College of Art and Design. For several years,
Van Hook has been exploring in his work Giotto’s fabled “perfect circle”. Over time the singleminded
focus on the perfection of the circle has been subsumed by the artist’s interest in the
aesthetic and expressive qualities of the circle. New works depict ritualistically repeated circular
brushstrokes on canvas, hemp, and other materials. Van Hook states that he began “as a
challenge to myself to see if a perfect circle was possible; these circles have now morphed into [a]
study in patience.” The sense of time and the marking of time is inherent in the meticulous
application of paint. The viewer can appreciate these temporal qualities but is also compelled to
bring their own interpretation to the work: are these circles pure abstraction? Combined do they
conceal deliberate shapes and forms? Or are they perhaps a secret code or language? Van Hook
has exhibited at TAG Gallery, Focus One Gallery, and the Bolsky Gallery. More information about
Van Hook’s work can be found on his website: www.lukevanhook.com.
Cheryl Walker (Los Angeles) earned her BA in art in her home state of Minnesota, and her MFA
from California State University, Long Beach. In this exhibition Walker will be creating two large
site-specific installations of vinyl, oil pastel and natural and artificial light. Walker explains that the
driving force behind her work is “human interaction and improvisation in response to a natural
phenomenon or situation.” Trained as a painter, Walker’s installations have some of the qualities of
painting—when viewed head-on the suspended layers of vinyl can appear to be two-dimensional
because of their transparency and the cut shapes and forms applied to the vinyl are reminiscent of
brushstrokes—but removed from the wall these works are thrust into what she calls an “interactive
field of play”. The fluidity of the material she works with and her interest in collaboration between
the artist and viewer have inspired Walker to create works that can be transformed into
performance pieces by dance, music, and in-situ art-making. In this exhibition, a dance
performance will take place at the opening reception and throughout the exhibition viewers will be
encouraged to physically interact with the work by moving or adding vinyl forms to the installation.
Walker has exhibited extensively in Southern California and has presented collaborative installation
performances at MOCA, REDCAT and Angel’s Gate Cultural Center.
Brand Library Art Galleries is located in northwest Glendale, easily accessed via the Golden State (5) or
Ventura (134) freeways. Hours are Tuesday and Thursday, 12-9 pm; Wednesday, 10 am-6 pm; and Friday
and Saturday, 10 am-5 pm. Admission to all events is free and open to the public unless otherwise
stated. There is ample free parking. Call 818-548-2051 for additional information.
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