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In response to the need for more exhibition opportunities, the Manhattan Beach Art Center is programming a few Pop-Up exhibitions throughout the year. The first will include 29 artists from all regions of California. The show will include installations, video art, sculpture, paintings, book art, and much more. The show will also include a music performance by Los Angeles musician, Michael A. Bell.

 

Exhibition Dates: January 4 through January 8, 2017
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 7th from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Artists: Julia Chavez, Jane Castillo, Joan Diwa, Jamaal Hasef Maghann, Gabriel Rojas, Michelle Sin, Diega, Jacalyn Lopez Garcia, Max Presneill, Margaret Lazzari, Alicia Vogl Saenz, Patricia Esquivel, Brian D. Tripp, Chuck Hohng, Jose Lozano, Kristan Marvel, Joe Carrion, Nori Shirasu, Francesco Siqueiros, Scott A. Trimble, Terrill Cascia, Eilen R. Stewart, Amelia Amell, Dave Tourjé, Dianna Franco, Marianne Sadowski, Jacqueline Dreager, Ruth Trotter, Tom Simmons

Special Gallery Hours
Wednesday, January 4th: 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Thursday, January 5th: 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Friday, January 6th: 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Saturday, January 7th: 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Sunday, January 8th: 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

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Very Cinematic Narrative
Opening Reception: Friday, January 13, 2017 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Exhibition Dates: January 13, 2017 to March 12, 2017

An exhibition of kinetic artwork by William Sandell and cinematic oil paintings by Cynda Valle.

The City of Manhattan Beach Cultural Arts Division invites the public to the opening reception of Very Cinematic Narrative, an exhibition of kinetic sculptures by William Sandell and oil paintings by Cynda Valle. The opening reception will be held on Friday, January 13, 2017 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM at the Manhattan Beach Art Center (MBAC), located at 1560 Manhattan Beach Boulevard, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266.  There is ample parking behind the center and admission is free.

Cynda Valle is a prolific oil painter, instructor and self-described ‘late bloomer’ who chronicles human life from the unique perspective of present time, culture, place, and her own personal viewpoint within it. “I find the most ordinary moments of the most ordinary domestic circumstances to be infused with undercurrents of surrealism, luminosity, and pattern that always remind me of the fragile poignancy of life,” said Valle. “I try to ‘catch’ and freeze these moments on canvas with oil paint.”

Valle has been excited to exhibit her work at MBAC ever since she attended a previous exhibit, Family Plot – featuring works by Kelly Berg, Any Moses and Ed Moses. “At the opening, I noticed lots of other baby boomers like myself,” said Valle. “To have arrived at the age we have…many of us have harbored a secret dream to make art since young adulthood, but the necessities of life meant we've had to defer the gratification of pursuing that dream full time, ‘til now...”

Valle is looking forward to meeting a whole new crowd of "Baby Boomer Dream Seekers" and potential new students of classic oil painting through MBAC. “Our class motto: ‘If Not Now, When?’” said Valle. “No more delayed gratification!”

As a child, William Sandell was mesmerized by the dioramas at the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History, the Rube Goldberg cartoons in the Sunday comics E-rector sets, Lincoln Logs, Legos, the game Mousetrap, and watching The Little Rascals inventing things on television.

“I was always building gadgets,” said Sandell. His passion eventually lead to a prolific career as an Art Director for Hollywood films such as RoboCop, Total Recall, Air Force One, The Perfect Storm, and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World for which he received an Oscar nomination.

Away from the film set, Sandell creates unique and engaging pieces of kinetic art in his large artist studio in Downtown Los Angeles. Sandell’s sculptures evoke the ancient and weathered carnival games from old traveling circuses, and are propelled into movement by springs or motors. “I like art that reaches out and waves to you,” said Sandell. “I like noisy art. My art squeaks, rattles, I’m one step away from a hoarder.”

Sandell looks forward to seeing his assemblages presented at MBAC, and cannot wait to see the public’s reactions to his odd, strange and whimsical kinetic sculptures. “I know from experience, that young or old people [will be] fascinated by them.”

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2017 Why I Heart Manhattan Beach
The Why I Heart MB City Hall Exhibition showcasing original artwork that depicts what people love about Manhattan Beach. These artists are all residents of Manhattan Beach, students of Manhattan Beach schools, or enrolled in a City of Manhattan Beach Parks and Recreation art class.

Exhibition Dates: February 21st through March 16th
Opening Reception: Friday, February 24th at 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM outside City Council Chambers located at Manhattan Beach City Hall
Exhibition Location: Manhattan Beach City Hall, 1400 Highland Avenue, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Monday through Thursday, 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM; Alternating Fridays 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (closed every other Friday).

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SOMOS LOCOS Pop-up Art Show
The Manhattan Beach Art Center, City of Manhattan Beach Parks and Recreation Department, and California Locos presents: SOMOS LOCOS, an ephemeral extravaganza bringing together the best in street, skate, surf and punk in four days of art, athletics and music. Download the California Locos poster (PDF).

Exhibition Dates: March 16th through 19th
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 18th from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Gallery: Manhattan Beach Art Center
1560 Manhattan Beach Boulevard
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Marine Avenue Skate Spot Dedication
Saturday, March 18th from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Marine Ave Park
1625 Marine Avenue
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Live Concert
Saturday, March 18th from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Manhattan Beach Art Center Parking Lot
1560 Manhattan Beach Boulevard
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

SOMOS LOCOS Opening Reception and Book Signing
Saturday, March 18th from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Gallery: Manhattan Beach Art Center
1560 Manhattan Beach Boulevard
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

SOMOS LOCOS is the latest stop on the California Locos pop-up tour of evolving exhibitions and historic cultural events. The Manhattan Beach Art Center will host a group show of original art works, rare ephemera, and fresh surprises from the original LOCOS artists: Chaz Bojórquez, Dave Tourjé, John Van Hamersveld, Norton Wisdom and Gary Wong.

These legends of rebellious art will also be present for the dedication and opening of Manhattan Beach’s new Skate Spot at Marine Avenue Park, where pro skaters will christen the city’s brand new safe and legal spot for budding skate enthusiasts.

The skate spot dedication will be followed by a live concert event at the Manhattan Beach Art Center Parking lot, featuring food trucks and live music from Steve Alba's PowerFlex 5, Charlie Chan and the SOBs, and Los Savages.

“SOMOS LOCOS is not just an art exhibition, it’s an event!” said Martin Betz, Cultural Arts Manager for the City of Manhattan Beach. “We are trying to emphasize the unique relationship between artist, musicians and the classic Southern California (SoCal) experience of music, art, food, and drink that makes SoCal - and by inclusion, Manhattan Beach - such an amazing place to live,”

Concluding the festivities will be the formal reception of SOMOS LOCOS at the Manhattan Beach Art Center. The exhibition also sees the release of both a new Dusters skateboard, with an original LOCOS design by Duster's Creative Director, Nano Nobrega, and a hardcover book release with essays by art scholars Charlotte Eyerman, Jim Daichendt.

The exhibition will be introduced by distinguished art critic Shana Nys Dambrot.

About California Locos
California Locos brings the work of five of the most compelling visual artists working in Los Angeles today: Chaz Bojorquez, Dave Tourje, John Van Hamersveld, Norton Wisdom and Gary Wong. Together and separately, these forces of artistic nature embody the innovative, lively, and rebellious spirit of Los Angeles.

Rather than suggesting a cohesive or coinable L.A aesthetic, California Locos presents a collision of visions – a kaleidoscopic perspective of the urban art experiences through highly individualized and expertly crafted works of art: from loose and spontaneous performance painting, to deliberate psychedelic graphics and painterly street graffiti. What unifies these artists is their shared conviction that being raised in this sprawling metropolis fundamentally and distinctively informs and guides their art.

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Mira Costa High School 17th Annual All Media Art Show

Mira Costa High School returns to the Manhattan Beach Art Center for its 17th Annual All Media Art Show, a culminating event for the Mira Costa Art Department that features select work of students from the 9th through 12th grades, showcasing their experimentation and exploration in a variety of artistic media.

Exhibition Dates
March 24, 2017 through April 2, 2017

Opening Reception
Friday, March 24th from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Manhattan Beach Art Center
1560 Manhattan Beach Boulevard
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

“For many students, the annual show at the Art Center is their first time showing their work in a public space,” said Kate Martin, Art teacher at Mira Costa. “It is a great introduction to the art world and hopefully inspires them to participate in more shows and exhibits.”

High school student Oia Walker-van Aalst, whose art piece Ghost won 3rd place during the 2016 Art Show, said she feels honored to have had the Art Center display her work, and thankful that the center supports the young artists of the community.

“One of the most important aspects of art is the final stage, when the art is presented to other people,” said Walker-van Aalst. “The exposure an artist gets in a show is important for critique and publicity, but a show is also beneficial to its host community.” She added that having her work in the Art Center brought it to life, allowing it to live in the community through conversations around art.

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StART Projects Art Exhibition: There Is No Pretense Here
Exhibition Dates: May 19, 2017 through May 21, 2017
Opening Reception: Friday, May 19, 2017 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

The exhibition, There Is No Pretense Here, is a cumulative show displaying art by students who participated in StART Projects. The program was designed for students to develop an art practice outside of academia in a studio environment.

For six months the students have been on a journey that demanded dedication, time and hard work. They have learned to develop conceptual ideas and transform them into objects or images. The students explored diverse subject that range from environmental issues to character design. Each artist has a unique interpretation and expression of what it means to make art. The exhibition and catalogue show the achievements and collective energy of the students.

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TIME4ART Presents
Dance of Thought
artwork by Shane Guffogg

An exhibition envisioned by Homeira Goldstein, Chairman of the Board, TIME4ART.

Exhibition Date: April 12, 2017 through June 11, 2017
Opening Reception: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 from  6:00 PM to 8:00 PM with program beginning at 7:00 PM
Closing Reception and Artist Talk: June 11, 2017 from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM

Download a copy of the Dance of Thought invitation (PDF).
Download a copy of the Press Release (PDF).

Media Contact TIME4ART
Carmen Mentges
(310) 379-5800
(310) 720-8720

Homeira Goldstein and TIME4ART with support of the Manhattan Beach Art Center are thrilled to present “Dance of Thought” an exhibition featuring selective work consisting of oil paintings, pastels and glass sculptures by nationally and internationally celebrated Los Angeles Artist, Shane Guffogg.

Dance of Thought Press Release (PDF)

Envisioned by Homeira Goldstein, the exhibition explores light, time and space providing an archetypal link to our deeper empathetic to reflect on the dance within. It also draws attention to the web of endless and continuous lines depicting dance between chaos and order.

Immersed in the cool school, Southern California traditions of light and space, and synchormism, an art movement founded in 1912 by two American artists, Stanton MacDonald-Wright and Morgan Russell based on an approach to painting that analogized color to music, Guffogg is a painter of poetic thought and romantic abstraction – his works fuse color, movement, spirit and form into a sophisticated whole.

Guffogg states: “I think of – At the Still Point of the Turning World – as a state of mind when all is one and past, present and future are one. It is a moment of being, not thinking. When I stand in front of this painting, it shimmers and breathes and by-passes my ability to intellectualize why it exist or how it is working, and instead goes around my intellect and hovers at that perfect moment between chaos and order. That is the still point that is time and without time, that is thought and without thought.”

“I started painting as a realist, but found the reality of paint being applied to canvas via brush was more interesting than trying to make something look like something else. The first something became my subject: the visual depiction of an intangible world that lay just beyond reach. This painted reality is ultimately a series of questions that makes the understanding of the answer plausible.”

Born in 1962 and based in Los Angeles, Shane Guffogg was raised on an exotic bird ranch in San Joaquin Valley, California. His interest in painting began at a young age during his travel to Europe and the Soviet Union when [he] was exposed to the Masters. He graduated from Cal Arts with his BFA and interned with Gary Stephan in NYC. He then was a studio assistant to Ed Ruscha from 1989-1995. In the late 80s, his work began exploring the iconography of Ancient, Classical, Renaissance, Modern and Contemporary cultures and the relationships among the various times and peoples before he started exhibiting and writing his initial draft of a manifesto about the current state of painting, which became the corner stone for Pharmaka in 2003.

Guffogg exhibition “The Observer is the Observed,” currently shown at the Museum of Modern Art Baku, Buku, Azerbaijan, was opened in 2015 at the Academy of Fine Arts Museum St. Petersburg, Russia and will be on global tour traveling to the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, Russia and at Palais de Tokyo Museum, Paris, France.

Shane Guffogg is in the collections of: The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, C.A.; Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, C.A.; Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, C.A.; Duke University Museum, Durham, N.C.; Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, C.A.; and Jumex Art Foundation, Mexico City, MX.

This exhibition is present by TIME4ART, a non-profit art education organization in Manhattan Beach, California, with a mission of enhancing cultural art awareness in the South Bay and Greater Los Angeles.
“Our heartfelt thanks to Manhattan Beach Cultural Arts Division for their spirit of comradery and community.”

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Cross Town Traffic - Art Auction and Benefit
Presented by SOLA and the Manhattan Beach Art Center
Saturday, June 17, 2017 from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Manhattan Beach Art Center
1560 Manhattan Beach Boulevard
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Contact: Sharyl Holtzman, ( 773) 398-9009 or email
Peggy Zask, (310) 429-0973 or email

Crosstown Traffic Postcard (PDF) Crosstown Traffic Press Release (PDF)

South Bay Contemporary SoLA (SBC SoLA) and Manhattan Beach Art Center (MBAC) invite you to join us for this special inaugural event, hosting our first collaborative fundraiser, including an online art auction with a reception/exhibition on Saturday, June 17, 2017 at the Manhattan Beach Art Center Gallery.

Our organizations share a mission and commitment to the arts, its integral part of community , the diversity of culture and current issues; a mutual desire to educate, cultivate and bridge the South Bay and Los Angeles communities. This event is a step toward that mission.

SBC/MBAC invited artists who have been supporters and exhibitors of both organizations over the years. These include many well established and emerging artists from both the South Bay and Los Angeles regions. Nearly 100 original works of fine art will be on display for bid online and on exhibition the night of the event. These works range from Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture, Photography, Digital art and include Beach City favorites such as Margaret Lazzari and Dan Janotta, well known San Pedro artists Ray Carofano and Candice Gawne, LA Socio Political Artists, Kim Abeles and Mark Steven Greenfield and many more.

We will offer refreshments sponsored by local establishments reflecting the lively street scenes in the city and beach communities, music and a giving tree for art education. This is a fantastic opportunity to buy outstanding contemporary art at auction prices and support art education programs for both SBC SoLA and MBAC.

Cross Town started in March 2017 when SBC SoLA joined with artist & patron Linda Jo Russell, moving from the South Bay to a storefront gallery space on Slauson Avenue, just north of Inglewood and its burgeoning art scene. Director Peggy Zask notes, “there’s a lot of development going on here, and it’s exciting to be on the beginning edge of all that.” Says Russell, “The idea is, we’d like to bring the South Bay to Los Angeles, and Los Angeles to the South Bay. This is close enough [to the Beach Cities], and yet we’re in Los Angeles, and we want to expose people working in the South Bay to a larger scene.”

Mission and Artists
About South Bay Contemporary SoLA (SBC) is a non-profit organization connecting the South Bay and Los Angeles communities through contemporary art, with innovative projects and high quality exhibitions reflecting our diverse culture and today’s issues. Our vision is to develop a new, relevant contemporary art with local community interaction and international participation, with artistic and curatorial experimentation. SBC has recently moved to South Los Angeles (SoLA Gallery).

About Manhattan Beach Art Center The Cultural Arts Division develops and presents artistic and educational programs and exhibitions that directly relate to the contemporary urban life of its constituents. It seeks to create connections among artists, cultural organizations, community groups, businesses, visitors and residents that sustain and promote a thriving, diverse, creative city. This mission is grounded in a belief that learning about the arts is integral to human development and continual personal growth.

Participating Artists
Kim Abeles, Nick Agid, Amelia Amell, Hilary Baker, Lucy Blake Elahi, Brent Broza, Marka Burnes, Ellen Cantor, Ray Carofano, Arnee Carofano, Kate Carvellas, Michele Castagnetti, Chenhung Chen, Annie Clavel, Mary Ann Collins, Michael Davis, June Diamond, Laddie John Dill, Anita Dixon, Lynn Doran, Lore Eckelberry, June Edmonds, Edem Elesh, Lauren Evans, Kathi Flood, Shane Foley, Bob Francis, Michael Freitas Wood, Steven Fujimoto, Candice Gawne, Mark Steven Greenfield, Richelle Gribble, Geoff Guerrero, Cie Gumucio, Lynn Haggard, Chloe Hart, Shelley Heffler, Dan Janotta, Nate Jones, Beanie Kaman, Virginia Katz, Kathleen Kiefer, Robert Glenn Ketchum, Won Sil Kim, B Kniesley, Eva Kolasvary Stupler, Margaret Lazzari, Snow Mack, Narsiso Martinez, Karena Massengill, Siobhan McClure, Kirk Miller, Jim Murray, Barbara Nathanson, Hung Viet Nguyen, Ann Page, Da Aie Park, David Peters, Ann Phong, Max Presneill, Christine Rassmusen, Toni Reinis, Joan Robey, Anna Rodriguez, Karrie Ross, Linda Jo Russell, Yoshie Sakai, Blakeney Sanford, Cinta Segovia, Peggy Sivert, Chelsea Stambler, Michael Stearns, Laurie Steelink, Ron Therrio, Marie Thibeault, Michael Todd, Scott Trimble, Ruth Trotter, Nancy Webber, Tracey Weiss, Robert Witte, Lena Wolek, Monica Wyatt, Meeson Pae Yang, HK Zamini, Ben Zask.

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South Bay Film and Music Festival Postcard (PDF)

South Bay Film and Music Festival
Exhibition Dates: June 22nd to July 1st
Opening Reception: Thursday, June 22nd, 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM

The mission of the South Bay Film and Music Festival is to present the community with an ongoing celebration of film, music and arts culture. The Festival was conceived in the fall of 2015 and completed its inaugural event this past June. On the heels of their first Festival, the team is gearing up for a series of Quarterly special events, which will combine film screenings, music performances and art exhibitions.

The City of Manhattan Beach and the Manhattan Beach Art Center are pleased to partner with the South Bay Film and Music Festival to present the community with an ongoing celebration of film, music and arts culture. For 2017, the Festival team presents a series of special events in Manhattan Beach, which will include film screenings, music performances and art exhibitions.

Windows: A Day in the South Bay
Exhibition Dates: June 22nd to July 1st
Opening Reception: Thursday, June 22, 2017, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Manhattan Beach Art Center
A youth photography exhibit showcasing the work of local student A youth photography exhibit showcasing the work of local students

7 in 7 Student Film Screening
Screening and Reception: Friday, June 23, 2017, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at the Manhattan Beach Art Center
A special screening of films by South Bay students, shot over seven days with a running time of less than seven minutes.

High School 911 Movie Premiere and Panel Discussion
Screening and Reception: Saturday, June 24, 2017 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Joslyn Community Center, 1601 North Valley Drive, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Premiere screening of the film High School 911, which chronicles the lives of the high school teenagers that run the only ambulance service in Darien, Connecticut. The filmmakers will be on hand to discuss the movie after the screening.

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Outside the Lines Postcard (PDF)

Older Adults Art Show
Exhibition Dates: July 7th to July 9th
Opening Reception: Friday, July 7th, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

This annual exhibition is a joint collaboration between the Older Adults Program and Cultural Arts Division and showcases the works of artists ages 55+. Artists are allowed to submit two pieces for consideration in this juried exhibition.

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Method Movement Memory:
Selected Works by Pamela Smith-Hudson, June Edmonds and Nicholette Kominos
Exhibition Dates: July 14th to September 10th
Opening Reception: Friday, July 14th, 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Artist Walk Through and Closing Reception: Sunday, September 10th, 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM at the Manhattan Beach Art Center

Additional Method  Movement  Memory events:

 

This exhibition is an exploration of the seemingly unrelated. Each artist comes from a vastly different experience and history yet they converge on an intuitive plane.

Pamela Smith-Hudson’s early influences derived from growing up in Southern California with the Art Poetry and the vibrant Punk scene of Los Angeles. Her unique vision was cultivated by exploring different cultures and artistic disciplines, which was nurtured by Pamela’s participation in UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Culture; her creative process is intuitive and spontaneous. Pamela applies a variety of techniques in her work such as printmaking, encaustic painting and mixed media drawing. Currently inspired by nature, she incorporates earth tones, texture, and the earth’s natural topography into her work.

Pamela Smith-Hudson studied Anthropology, World Art and Culture at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is currently an instructor at Otis College of Art and Design.

June Edmonds' vibrant, confidently impasto circles of radiant color are like controlled bursts of psychic energy, caught at various points in their unfolding; often cropped like a snapshot, offering a momentary, fragmentary glimpse of a much larger system and process. Citing the remarkable and rich ideographic Adinkra symbol system of the Ashanti, Edmonds' description of her work as "a doorway to memory" also reinforces its visual similarity to the dot-paintings of the indigenous Australians – the longest continuous visual art tradition operating in the world today. In the Circle/Curve Series, June explores how color, repetition, and balance can serve as conduits to spiritual contemplation and interpersonal connections. She is drawn to the shape and function of the circle because of its rich array of cultural and historical associations.

June Edmonds received her M.F.A. from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and San Diego State University. She also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine.

Nicholette Kominos takes much of her inspiration from abandoned places like vintage amusement parks and miniature golf courses. She creates shapes that recall the feeling of nostalgia and deterioration without the literal representation of the spaces that triggered the work. There is a sense of whimsy about these pieces that hint at a function that may have been lost and forgotten over time. Nicholette is intrigued by the contrast of manmade objects to the nature they inhabit. Even if the only natural element is the air and light around the piece, they interact with and change an otherwise all too rigid and geometric structure. Her work evokes the feeling of familiarity and sparks memories while intriguing the imagination.

Nicholette Kominos studied at Southern Illinois University in Studio Art and Psychology. She also has a Post Graduate diploma in Classical Greek from Trinity St. David, University of Wales, Lampeter, Wales, U.K.

Two locations are displaying artwork for this show
Manhattan Beach Art Center (MBAC) 1560 Manhattan Beach Boulevard Manhattan Beach, CA 90266	Manhattan Beach Library 1320 Highland Avenue Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Wednesday through Saturday 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM Sunday 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday, Tuesday, and Holidays Closed	Monday through Wednesday 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM Thursday 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Friday 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM Saturday 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM Sunday 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM Holidays Closed

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Time4ART presents Cosimo Cavallaro - Unidentified Space
Envisioned by Homeira Goldstein, Chairman of the Board, Time4Art
Exhibition Dates: October 18, 2017 through December 31, 2017
Opening Reception: Wednesday, October 18, 2017 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM; Program begins at 7:00 PM
Download the invitation (PDF).
Download the Press Release (PDF).

Carmen Mentges, TIME4ART Media Contact
(310) 379-5800 or (310) 720-8720

Homeira Goldstein and TIME4ART with support of the Manhattan Beach Art Center are thrilled to present “Unidentified Space” an exhibition featuring new works consisting of large sculptures by nationally and internationally celebrated yet controversial Italian/Canadian and presently Los Angeles based Artist, Cosimo Cavallaro.

Envisioned by Homeira Goldstein, the exhibition explores elements and spaces that push boundaries beyond the accustomed and familiar. Taken out of human scale, these large and massive inflated acrylic vinyl liner sculptures are melodramatic overemotional and exaggerated depicting the space between life and death. A space that could save lives but moments that no one wishes to experience.

Cavallaro states: “As a sculptor I have been playing with how objects occupy space in both time and in memory. One day while driving past a car accident, I noticed an airbag that had been deployed. I realized this was the moment I was trying to sculpt. A moment where captured air defines the object that is the space between both life and death. The purpose of this work is to focus our attention on that captured moment.”

Cavallaro has been marked in a select class of artists, such as Jacques David, Caravaggio and Francisco Goya as both fierce opinion and an unrelenting strength of vision speaking out in the name of personal freedom and standing firmly at the center of his own aesthetic. Ranging from “My Sweet Lord”, a nude life-size sculpture of Jesus created from dark chocolate, to “Cheese Chair”, “Cheese House”, “Twiggy”, “Jelly Beans” titled Love Your Beans, “Toy Parts” titled Lost and Found Cavallaro’s artistic creations often challenge social conventions normalcy and status quo. His cutting-edge Avant Garde experimental and unorthodox work have gained him national and international recognition as well as raising some eyebrows and creating controversies including an interview with Anderson Cooper of CNN and Bill Donohue President of the Catholic League.

The Son of Italian immigrants, Cosimo was born in Montreal in 1961. He was raised in Canada and Italy. He attended Dawson College and Concordia University both in Montreal. Gerald Roach became his mentor and took him to Nova Scotia to paint with him. Cosimo started working in the art department on movie sets after his school hours when he met Director Max Fischer (The Lucky Star) and soon became Max’s Art Director on several feature films. He then transitioned into a successful career as commercial TV Director in Canada in 1984 working for Boardwalk Pictures and for Derek Van Lint (Alien) in Toronto, Le Verseau and Cinelaund Montreal. Later he joined Emerald Films in USA and then set up his own production company, Figaro Films, wining many directing awards.

He has had many exhibitions throughout USA in NY, CT, IL, MA, FL, CA, IN, WY, MO, as well as in Canada, Germany and Netherland.

This exhibition is presented by TIME4ART, a non-profit art educational organization in Manhattan Beach, California, with a mission of enhancing cultural art awareness in the South Bay and Greater Los Angeles.

“Our heartfelt thanks to Manhattan Beach Art Center for their spirit of comradery and community.”
Homeira Goldstein