Hallucinatory oil painting "Disperse"

 

My 2022 oil painting, Disperse, captures a hallucinatory moment of a nighttime landscape — between the silhouettes of two monumental and interlocking trees, a group of tiny figures scurrying by, running away from their familiar ground, their fates, their tormentors or captors. The specificities are intentionally omitted, so as to leave the viewers to interpret freely and to fill in the missing details, though the title does hint at diaspora stories in the headlines of late.

 Disperse, oil on canvas, 20"x30", 2022

This piece will be part of the juried exhibition "Within Sight or From Imagination" at GearBox Gallery, 770 West Grand Ave, Oakland, CA 94612 (August 10 - September 9, 2023). Juror: Jeremy Morgan.
Opening Reception: August 12, Sat., 1 to 4 pm | Juror’s talk: September 2, Sat., 2 pm

My Favorite Paintings at Oakland Museum of California

Oakland Museum of California has many wonderful oil paintings created by Californian artists in the middle of 20th century. The best example was Bruce McGaw's Figure (c. 1956-57), a portrait of a strangely lit bust, whose held up and inward facing hands were both awkward and eloquent, and it was quite a challenge to determine the spatial relationship between those arms and his eerie looking face. The pale tan face and right hand, interrupted by dark shadow of his featured, and framed by dark background, gave him a ghostly look, which was reinforced by the greenish tone on his left hand. A small patch of red on his left sleeve, and a thin stripe of red on his collar and shoulder over the navy blue uniform, added exciting notes to this muted monologue.


Figure, c. 1956-57, Oil on Canvas, Bruce McGaw

My second favorite was Spring Nude (1962) by Nathan Oliveira. This painting had layers upon layers of paints, and the effect of the interplay of visible paints from various layers were thrilling. In the middle of the canvas, superimposed amidst these layers of red, pink, purple, blue, yellow and green hues, was a dark silhouette of a figure, which could be either a man or a woman, either frontal or rear view, and this addition completely changed the outlook of this otherwise abstract work, and the patterns of the background became a fantastically colored beach, and the painting became an evocative figure study in an unusual, almost mythic setting.


Spring Nude, 1962, Oil on Canvas, Nathan Oliveira

My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 151: My Favorite Paintings at Yale University Art Gallery
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List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

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Architectural Wonder - the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland

Recently, I chanced by Lake Merritt in Oakland and noticed a plaza equipped with a nice little fountain, in front of a glass paneled cylinder building, whose rather dull fortress shape at first failed to impress me then as I walked to the other side of the street, the building suddenly became mightily impressive, with half of its cylinder back-lit and bulk became candy-like translucent and visually engaging.



Later, on the same day, I was told that the intriguing structure was a cathedral, Cathedral of Christ the Light, and it also had an interesting interior warranting a visit.  As soon as I entered, I was quite stunned by the bold, simplistic yet intricate patterns created by many architectural elements - lattice walls, geometric "columns" and boat-shaped ceilings, etc., just underneath the class panel skins.  I had a strong feeling that I was inside the hull of a gigantic ship - Noah's Ark, perhaps? 













The cathedral was definitely one of the kind and its modernistic features strangely generated as much spirituality as conventional ones if not more.

















Even the chairs and paneled dividers reiterated the patterns of the cylinder walls and their simplistic beauty and eloquence was simultaneously humble and ethereal.













There were other elements of interests in the cathedral, but they paled somewhat comparing to the basic building structures.













I was encouraged to visit a crypt at the lower level, Crypt of the Holy Angels, which had air of comforting and mystery, with many juxtaposing interesting visual elements throughout its long corridors.

















Reproduction of Michelangelo's Pietà

This amazing cathedral building helped to change my perception of Oakland, the poor cousin of its more glamorous San Francisco across the Bay. 

It is safe to say that even if "there is no there there," Oakland still boasts some architectural gems, such as the Cathedral and several others from earlier era, such as the Sears Department Store, I. Magnin Building and Paramount Theater, all of them I walked by on my way to BART (subway) station from Cathedral of Christ the Light.


Sears Department Store


I. Magnin Building


Paramount Theatre


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Opening of "Free Art" at Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland

Downtown Oakland at Sunset

If people still believe that "there is no there there" in Oakland, they ought to visit Pro Arts Gallery, located at 150 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, for bountiful of offerings.

Last Friday, Pro Arts opened its innovative Free Gallery Exhibit to allow patrons to "grab a piece or two artworks offered for free, as part of the Free Utopian Projects". Well, actually, it was limited to one piece per patron.  May local artists donated their works for the exhibit.  Two portraits of mine were included in the exhibit.

I arrived at the gallery around 5:40 pm on March 1, Friday, but had to wait outside with other artists and patrons ready to stake their claims, till 6 pm when the gallery opened again, at which time patrons could go in to pick up works they'd like to bring home.  The offering were large and very beautiful, not a dump as someone might have feared for. 

The works were broadly grouped into several sections - installations, crafts, paintings and drawings on the walls, seemingly haphazard but quite an eclectic installation in its own right.

















Exhibition Dates: February 26 - March 29, 2013
Preview: Tuesday, February 26 - Friday, March 1
Artists' Reception and Free Art Launch: First Friday, March 1, 6-8pm
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Friday, 10 - 5pm and Saturday 11 - 4pm
Entry: Free

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