Art Seen

By Patricia B. Dwyer

6/5-7/6: “Dreaming In The Hippodrome” By Nicole Waszak
Distinction Gallery, Escondido
distinctionart.com
Local painter Nicole Waszak found inspiration for this exhibition of sugar, spice and everything nice while witnessing her three-year-old daughter discovering the world, which helped the artist reunite with her own inner-child.

6/8-7/27: “Spiral” By Gail Roberts
Scott White Contemporary Art, La Jolla
scottwhiteart.com
Most of this SDSU professor’s paintings are scenes that make statements about humanity, the glory of nature or humanity’s interaction with nature. “Spiral” will showcase Gail Roberts’ images of birds’ nests, referencing themes of accumulation and temporal existence.

6/8-7/27: “Even if the Lights Go Out” By Mara De Luca
Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla
quintgallery.com
See Los Angeles-based abstract painter Mara de Luca’s “elegies” series, which was inspired by 20th-Century Austrian poet Ranier Maria Rilke as well as today’s high-fashion advertisements - in other words, moody, contrasted pieces that use light and shadow to convey the conflict between good and despair.

6/8-7/7: “Werkaholic” By Keemowerks
Thumbprint Gallery, La Jolla
thumbprintgallerysd.com
Keemowerks is a National City street artist who will be showcasing his layered-stenciling skills on wood panels.

6/8-7/8: “Butterflies & Rebirth” By Hung Slonem
Madison Gallery, La Jolla
madisongalleries.com
This modern New York artist’s paintings look like awesome, kitschy treasures from Grandma’s attic. His color palette and use of patterns akin to 1960s linens and embroidery lend an aged appearance to the series. Garage and estate sale enthusiasts will love this show.

6/8-9/1: Approximately Infinite Universe
Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla
mcasd.org
Artists from around the globe will take part in this exhibition of playful, syfy Channel-looking images that make serious statements about real life. Think Orwell, with aliens. If you’re a Beatles fan, come hiss at Yoko Ono’s installation.

6/8-9/25: “Intersections” By Charles Arnoldi
Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside
oma-online.org
Charles Arnoldi hit it big in the 1970s with his rich, textural works, and he’s still at it today. This exhibition will explore 50 years of Arnodli’s career through things like hus sculptures made of sticks, relief pieces that involve a chainsaw and painted plywood, and vibrant abstract paintings.

6/15-7/13: B-sides
Rosewood Gallery, East Village
rswdsd.com
Street artists with varying forms of steez (that’s “style” plus “ease,” yo) will show off some of their most recent creations at one of San Diego’s latest and greatest purveyors of urban art and sneakers.

6/15-1/5: “Allied Craftsmen Today”
Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park
mingei.org
This exhibition will show 100 works from 37 current members of The Allied Craftsmen, a group of tinkerers formed in San Diego right after WWII, when craft was blossoming as an art form.

6/21-7/21: “Tangible Absurdities” By Troy Coulterman
Subtext Gallery, Little Italy
subtextgallery.com
This Canadian sculptor derives inspiration from those embarrassingly bizarre-o dreams that no one would dare recount aloud. His colorful wall-hanging sculptures celebrate the ridiculousness that seeps out from the subconscious in this exhibition of quite literal tangible absurdities.

6/30-10/6: “Selections For 60 Years” By Tony Delap
Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside
oma-online.org
“Minimalism” is a shmancy word for art that is pared down to basic clean lines and forms. it’s not art that tries to imitate the beauty of anything else (like a painting of flowers), but instead is its own beautiful object. Tony Delap is a southern California minimalist artist who makes beautiful objects inspired by optical illusions. Sixty years worth of his work will be displayed at this show.

6/29-9/8: “Masterclass” By Arnold Newman
San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park
sdmart.org
Arnold Newman is portraiture royalty. This exhibition will include roughly 200 black-and-white photographs of the estimated 8,000 Newman took throughout a career that spanned from the Depression to his death in 2006. Some of his more notable subjects include Marilyn Monroe, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and John F. Kennedy.