{"article":{"id":218600,"heading":"Circles in the Square","author":"Barbara Kolo","created":"2008-06-28 13:43:23","modified":"2013-11-11 00:53:47","last_modified":"Mon, 11 Nov 2013 07:53:47","article":"

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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