Olga Seem
dal 19/10/2006 al 24/11/2006
Segnalato da
19/10/2006
Olga Seem
Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles
Botanical Transformations. The selected paintings and drawings reflects her ongoing exploration of forms from nature which include seeds, pods, plants at their various stages of development.
Botanical Transformations
Renowned Californian painter Olga Seem will have her first solo exhibition with Couturier Gallery of a new body of work titled Botanical Transformations. The selected paintings and drawings reflects her ongoing exploration of forms from nature which include seeds, pods, plants at their various stages of development. The exhibition opens October 20 and continues through November 25.
Though the work is overtly figurative, it also incorporates elements of the abstract and non-objective. Seem’s paintings and drawings maintain an abiding fidelity to both clarity and structure even though subjects are altered or distorted into combinations of natural botanical form, wedded through the use of both organic and geometric forms.
“The odder the plant, the more interesting is to me… I do not look for perfection. I find “beauty" in mutated forms…I look at early botanical texts, that contain photos and ink drawings detailing the structure of a given plant. Many of the drawings use a variety of techniques and it is specifically those that utilize pontillism that appeal to me the most though not exclusively. I characterize these maks as the DNA of the plant."
The exhibition is comprised of two series; “Duality" and “Tamarindo". The “Duality" series is a group of acrylic on canvas paintings where the surface is divided with the top third reflecting a part of the image seen in the bottom two thirds. The paintings in the exhibition are reminiscent of early Seems’ works from 1990/91 where the surface was divided in half horizontally.
The “Tamarindo" series are graphite pencil drawings of the tamarind, a tropical fruit. The interior of this organic pod contains a skeletal armature housing pellets of fruit were no two are alike. In Seem’s work the fruit and basket-like armature have been removed and the resultant drawings resemble small sculptures comprised of the individual parts.
Her works incorporate various media including acrylic, alkyd, and/or oil (in paintings), and ballpoint and ink pens, graphite pencils, as well as mixed mediums in drawings where she might also apply pastel and charcoal pencil work on an acrylic base.
Olga Seem was born in Los Angeles, California in 1927. She obtained a Bachelor Degree in 1949 and a Master Degree in 1963 both from the University of California at Los Angeles. She is been awarded with the Fresno Art Museum, Distinguished Artist for 2004, The Pollock-Drasner Foundation Artist Grant in 2002, and the E.D. Foundation Artist Grant in 1989 and 1993. Her works can be found in private collections such as Achebach Foundation for Graphic Arts, San Francisco, CA; Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA; Albuquerque Museum of Art, Albuquerque, NM; Everson Museum, Syracuse, New York; Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA; The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Artist’s Reception: Friday, October 20, 7-9 pm
Couturier Gallery
166 N. La Brea Ave. - Los Angeles
Gallery hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 11am-5pm