Art Beat: September gallery + exhibit openings

Art exhibits on display in September around San Diego include Celestial Magic, Hunger and [A] Portrait of People in Motion.

9.1-21: Quirky Times, an Art Exhibition

The San Diego Watercolor Society’s experimental art show focuses on quirkiness this month, juried by award-winning artist Carol Mansfield, who creates acrylic paintings on paper or canvas, facilitating a kind of conversation between the artist and the image as it develops.

San Diego Watercolor Society, 2825 Dewey Road, Building 202, No. 105, San Diego, 619.876.4550, sdws.org

9.6-30: Celestial Magic

Inspired by the wonders above, artist June Rubin focuses her mixed-media work this month on creating images like a runner racing through a purple sky filled with gems, or a tree formed of a collage of paper and gems beneath glittering clouds.

June Rubin Studio/Gallery, 2690 Historic Decatur Road, Barracks 19, Studio 214, Liberty Station, 858.229.4571, junerubin.com

9.6-12.15: Masterpieces of Italian Drawings From The British Museum

This first-time collaboration between the Timken Museum of Art, the University of San Diego and The British Museum in London features dozens of drawings and prints focused on birth, death and resurrection by 16th- and 18th-century Italian art masters like Parmigianino, Agostino Carracci, Luca Giordano and Domenico Tiepolo.

Timken Museum of Art, 1500 El Prado, Balboa Park, 619.239.5548, timkenmuseum.org

9.14-10.6: Hunger

Artist Mishanthrope describes her work as “beautifully grotesque” and is heavily inspired by horror manga, art nouveau and blackwork, a kind of embroidery that generally uses black thread.

Thumbprint Gallery, 920 Kline St., La Jolla, 858.354.6294, thumbprintgallerysd.com

9.24-10.17: Brightest Beacons, Blindest Eyes

Contemporary art photographer John Brinton Hogan creates layered landscape portraits of the western United States, including and then removing the human subjects and adding elements like glitter and other textures and colors.

Mesa College Art Gallery, 7250 Mesa College Drive, FA103, San Diego, 619.388.2829, sdmesa.edu

Through 9.11: Chromatic: Grounding With Color

Artists Katie Ruiz and April Rose make deliberate use of rich, vibrant colors and patterns that focus on the power of women. Ruiz, a Chicana artist, paints women who occupy lush landscapes and who are enveloped in blankets with indigenous Mexican designs; Rose uses techniques like weaving and creating with clay, inspired by nature to transform its iconic elements like rainbows, eyes and faces.

Mesa College Art Gallery, 7250 Mesa College Drive, FA103, San Diego, 619.388.2829, sdmesa.edu

Through 9.23: The Journey

Whatever the medium — painting, sculpture — artist Andre Desjardins is focused on inner peace, fulfilment, and offering a break from the demanding world to celebrate slowing down and enjoying the simple pleasure of being alive.

Arredon Art Gallery, 501 W. Broadway, Suite 800, San Diego, 858.454.1231, arredonart.com

Through 11.17: [A] Portrait of People in Motion

During a yearlong residency at the New Americans Museum, artist Kerianne Quick invited San Diego residents to share objects related to their story of international or domestic migration here. The result is a re-creation of their journeys that incorporates all of those items along with digital photography, 3D scanning and printing, and audio recordings of each participant’s story.

New Americans Museum, 2825 Dewey Road, Suite 102, Liberty Station, 619.756.7707, newamericansmuseum.org