Complications in Color

Member Preview: Saturday, August 2, 5-6 pm
Public Opening: Saturday, August 2, 6-9 pm
Art Walks, 6-9 pm: August 2, September 6, October 4, November 1

Complications in Color will mark the 100th birthday of Karl Benjamin (1925-2012), legendary Claremont painter and visionary of the 1950s hard-edge abstraction painting movement. The exhibition will celebrate the beauty of abstraction while revealing its deeper complexities in the work of Florence Arnold, Karl Benjamin, June Harwood, Rachel Lachowicz, and Terry O’Shea.

Sponsored by Gould Asset Management LLC, Complications in Color will open with a public reception on Saturday, August 2 from 6-9 p.m.

THE EXHIBITION

Traditionally, abstract art has been discussed in terms of pure form, often overlooking its psychological and political dimensions. While Benjamin and his fellow Abstract Classicists (as they became known following a 1959 exhibition at LACMA) were celebrated for their innovative approach to painting, talented women artists faced roadblocks to recognition in this male-dominated canon. Florence Arnold and June Harwood’s contributions to the genre demonstrate excellence in this field that has been too often overlooked. These three painters are masters of distilling relationships between colors and forms down to a vibrational dynamism. Rachel Lachowicz introduces a feminist lens to geometric abstraction and Terry O’Shea expands the parameters of abstraction through his sculptural work in resin.

GALLERY