"Abstracts of Nature"

Curated By: Liza Mitchell

Dates:
July 5th - Aug 7th 2009
Artist reception: Sat., July 11, 2009 6-9 PM

Contact:
Liza Mitchell
310-489-8998
liza4lov@aol.com

Location:
346 E. 3rd Street

Phantom Galleries LA invites you to view the natural abstracts of painter Jennifer Tenace. The bright colors of these large canvases evoke summer and lily ponds, breezes and the smell of flowers. The beauty of nature will surround you.

Artist Statement:
My work originates from a love and experience of nature. As I began painting with a desire to mimic certain physical characteristics of natural environments, I realized that, during the process of painting, I was actually feeling an experience of nature. Rather than painting something to appear like nature, I now seek to embody the living act of nature, with no separations between my self, my work and nature.

Because of this experience of nature within the process of painting, I associate my work with landscape painting , even though my recent works are abstract in appearance. I see how my actions through painting are an outlet for me to let go and play in my own created landscape. My art is more about the process of painting rather than a painting reaching a stage that is final, much as a landscape in nature is always alive, always undergoing a process of change – a building up of circumstances, events, influences and memories. In many ways, such landscapes reflect my struggles in life…to slow down, to put things together in a way that is direct and to live in the present moment. I strive to pu t it all down on the panel, allowing the painting to always be in the act of creation, as there is always a constant adding and taking away from the panel.

Each work becomes a model of a lifestyle for me, teaching me to pay attention to what is before me in the present and how to react based on instinct and feeling. As nature is always in the present moment, always in the act of, we are also acting upon our own moments and thus also always in creation.

Exhibitions

2009 Brand Library, Glendale, CA
2008 Idle Refuge, The Artery, Costa Mesa, CA
2008 Infusion Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, www.infusiongallery.com
2008 &nb sp;Tosti Studios Art Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA, www.tostistudios.com
2008 Contrasts, World Gallery Art, Costa Mesa, CA
2008 Matrix Fine Art, Albuquerque, NM, www.matrixfineart.com
2008 &nbs p;Abstract EXPOsure, January 2008 Juried Exhibition, www.abstractexposure.com
2007 20Maison Rouge Gallery, Chicago, IL
2007 small works, SCA Project Gallery, www.scagallery.com, Pomona, CA
2007 Rainey Fine Art Gallery, www.raineyfineart.com, Newport Beach, CA
2007 Pastel Project Gallery, Lake Elsinore, CA
2004 Sol Art Gallery, www.solartgallerycafe.com, Santa Ana, CA
2004 The Portrayer, Sol Art Gallery, Santa Ana, CA
2004 E Gallery, Pomona, CA
2004 Di Piazzos, Long Beach, CA
2004 La Luna Café, Huntington Beach, CA
2004 Centered on the Center, Huntington Beach Fine Arts Center, Huntington Beach, CA
2003 Ropage Salon, Laguna Beach, CA
2003 Angels Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro, CA
2001 Ekstrom Studio, Emerging Artists Exhibition, Laguna Beach, CA

Partners:

The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency is proud to partner with Phantom Galleries LA, not only to revive empty storefronts along our major corridors, but also to showcase the arts and build a sense of community and culture in our Downtown," said Craig Beck, Executive Director of the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency. LongBeachRDA.org