Opening Reception: Friday, February 26, 2010 at 6:00 PM
Exhibition Dates: February 27 to March 15, 2010
Guest Curator: Ann Martin
Artists: Jessica Alley, Mike Gaines, Simon Ouwerkerk, Tracey Weiss and Marlene Sanaye Yamada

The Cultural Arts Division of the Manhattan Beach Parks and Recreation Department presents a new exhibition titled Southern Exposure 2, featuring painting, ceramics and sculpture by six artists who reside in the South Bay. The focus of the exhibition is abstract art.

• Jessica Alley’s work is fueled by accidental discoveries from intuitive impulses. To reveal a variety of textures and surfaces, she first piles layers of plaster, tar, ink, paint, metal leaf and graphite on her canvas and then wipes, sands and scratches the surface.
• Abstract expressionist Mike Gaines works with a combination of and interplay of expressive brushwork, scribbles and drips and palette knife applications, along with collaged papers and fabrics-layered in muted color blocks and shapes.
• The white sculptures of Simon Ouwerkerk, constructed of steel, bond and house paint, form mostly abstract organic shapes that may resemble something natural or unnatural.
• Craftsmanship is important to Linda Jo Russell. She creates contrasts using controlled marks juxtaposed with free and organic shapes. These gestured shapes are created by a subconscious “pull” and made to appear accidental.
• Attempting to obscure the line between painting and sculpture, Tracey Weiss has constructed ceramic sculpture that looks like painting. The minimal surface treatments of those paintings makes them to be seen more as objects, taking the viewer’s attention from the surface to the entire “object,” which allows the painting to be seen as sculpture.
• Marlene Sanaye Yamada’s work celebrates freedom of spirit through purity of color and brush strokes, light and environment. Her meditative work evokes a mood or an emotion.

For further information, contact Ann Martin, guest curator, at (310) 545-4039 or Megumi Sando, gallery curator, at (310) 802-5440. Digital photos of some of the works are available.

Visit our Gallery
Manhattan Beach Creative Arts Center
1560 Manhattan Beach Boulevard
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
(310) 802-5440

Gallery hours
Tuesday and Thursday - 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Wednesday - 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Saturday - 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Sunday, Monday, and Friday - Closed