Local Art Redefined
Webster defines art as the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. We have gathered a small group of local artist who have expressed their own definition of what art means to them; what inspires them, what projects they currently are working on, and what are their future plans. As you discover or perhaps rediscover these artists, you will see how they interpret their expression of art.
CHRISTOPHER GEORGESCO
As a child, Christopher Georgesco was encouraged to pursue his own artistic talents by his father, internationally recognized architect Haralamb Georgescu, known for midcentury architecture treasures in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, most notably the Chi Chi Club in the 1960s. In 1972, Christopher had his first solo show at Newspace Gallery in Los Angeles, launching a stellar career that is still going some 40 years later.
Today, his impeccable sculptures and paintings can be found in the public collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, the Palm Springs Art Museum, the Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert, the Grand Hyatt Tokyo plus universities and corporations around the world. Locally, his works are prized by art collectors in some of the finest modern homes in the Valley, from La Quinta to Palm Springs.
www.georgescoart.com
BRUCE KIMERER
Bruce Kimerer moved to the California desert from New York nearly four years ago. Back east, his work focused on the landscape, mostly portraying moody views of the Brooklyn waterfront and the rolling hills of rural upstate New York. Once here, his work changed dramatically. Gone were misty atmospheres and soft edges. A brightness and clarity emerged. Although his current work no longer resembles traditional landscape painting it is a direct response to the light, the color and the geometry of the Palm Springs environment. Bruce has exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York as well as gallery venues in D.U.M.B.O., Brooklyn.
www.brucekimerer.com
brucekimerer@gmail.com
DEBORAH MARTIN
Deborah Martin (b. Boston 1961) is a contemporary American realist painter based in Sky Valley CA. Martin’s work often utilizes specific sites as a form of psychological excavation. Her poignant imagery offers a hauntingly intimate elegy for small town American roadsides.
Much of her practice emerges in collaborative conversation with writers and poets, taking form through exhibitions and publications. She is recognized for several pivotal bodies of work: Home on the Strange: In Search of the Salton Sea (Salton Sea, CA), Narrow Lands (Provincetown, MA), Back of Beyond (Wonder Valley, CA) and America (US.)
Martin’s paintings appear as illustrations in the book Building Provincetown written by New York Times Reporter David Dunlap (2015). Her work also appears in the book Home on the Strange: In Search of the Salton Sea a collaborative project written by Amy Sather Smith (2009.)
Currently, Martin is documenting small towns located in remote areas of the desert where the arid landscape is both vast and unpredictable. In the body of work titled Back of Beyond, Martin immortalizes a 21st century desert struggle against destruction. The publication based on this series of paintings is a collaborative effort between Martin and the Los Angeles Poet Nicky Sa-eun Schildkraut.
Martin is a recipient of the 2011 Orlowsky Freed Foundation Grant sponsored in part by the Lilian Orlowsky and William Freed Foundation Grant and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM). Her work is included in PAAM’s permanent collection and has appeared in numerous publications including art ltd., Palm Springs Life, Angeleno Magazine, Blue Canvas, Provincetown Arts, AEQAI, and New American Paintings Magazine among others.
Martin received her BFA and BS Masters of Arts in Teaching, Art Education from The Museum School of Fine Arts, Boston and Tufts University.
www.deborahmartinfineart.com
deborah@deborahmartinfineart.com
SALLÉ
“As a child, I learned to see my subjects and reproduce their likeness. As an adult, I’ve learned to intertwine what I see with what I feel.” – Sallé
Expressive Impressionism is an accurate description of self-taught artist, Sallé Kirby. Painter, print maker and photographer are the vessels used in illustrating her work. Sallé was born and raised in New Jersey, she moved to California in the early 80’and the Coachella Valley within the pass six years.
Sallé’s work is an explosive layering of vibrant, bold, intense color. Her brush stokes are reminiscent of Post Impressionist like Vincent van Gogh and Edward Munch. Portraits, human figures and nature are her muse of inspiration while working with paint mediums of acrylic, watercolor, oil and oil pastels.
salleandart@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/salleandart
CHAD STEPHENS
Using common card stock Chad Stephens creates a three-dimensional world of comic book heroes and villains, from Superman to Catwoman, to designer bags, from the Birken bag to Chanel. While his work may be full of whimsy, it is carefully constructed and created. In his studio Chad cuts tears, sands, shreds, paints and manipulates paper in varying weight to create these fanciful artworks.
“I was inspired by the work of Ron Chespak,” Ron Chespak died in 2005 at the age of 45 from liver disease. He had operated the 1254 Art Gallery in Laguna Beach and the Ron Chespak Gallery in Palm Springs. Chespak won many awards and was recognized world wide for his unique use of paper. Chespak’s work has been shown at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, to the Olly-O children’s book. With Chespak as my mentor, “He released in me the notion that paper, as sculpture, was just as powerful as paper covered in words. I do not carry on his legacy , but I carry on the ideal that Chespak set in motion: That creativity knows no bounds and paper knows no limits.”
The paper sculpture of Ron Chespak combined depth and comosition with stark white objects. “ Mine, strong vivid color and use of bright neon, pop art colors.” The work is graphic and bold but relatable to all. “I spend many hours creating each piece. I do not simply ‘cut’ paper. The images I chose evoke many emotions – mostly positive, joyful ones. Recognizable and iconic, my work is meant to evoke joy and what makes life fun.
Chad has taken the same paper and created wearable art. His super hero costumes have the look of leather and satin. “The costumes continue my quest to take paper beyond something on a pad. I love what I do. I love that my work brings a smile to people. I love that I can take the ordinary and make it extraordinary.”
www.gallery446.com
www.facebook.com/chad.stephens.1276
