Art Walk-Pomona Art Colony

This was my first time ever experiencing Pomona's Art Walk and I have to admit I really enjoyed it. Who would've known living near this city that it had so much to offer from a artistic perspective. I had the oppurtunity to visit numerous galleries including the Soho, Latino Art Musuem, the Underground Pomona Art Colony, SCA Project Gallery, as well as the da. I have to admit though that nothing quite compared to the dA gallery. The dA is quite an experience, it seemed to be the main attraction of the art walk. Definitly the hot spot for taking in amazing art, good music, and let's not mention a relaxing glass of wine. This place was packed!!! It had a vibe like I have never experienced before, with people socializing and appreciating all the vibrant art around them. The dA was featuring the exhibit called, The New Tradionalists, featuring the work of 6 well established women artists who are located all over California. Two years before the dA had actually displayed the work of 6 male artists under the same theme, The New Traditionalists. Talking with other individuals at the gallery, they explained the theme New Traditionalists means uniting the past and the present together. All the artists featured have the appreciation of those who came before them, incorporate pop culture as well as there own imagery and conscious interpretation into their art work. After spending some time talking with a few people around me about the various artists on display it really helped me to appreciate the art and what their interpretations meant.

Leslie Brown, Birth of Consciousness

Leslie Brown was the main artist displayed that night and this is where I fell in love with her painting Birth of Consciousness. This immediately caught my attention as soon as I walked into the gallery. It had its own wall, in which it literally had the ability to simply take your breath away when first gazing upon it. It has a mysterious almost mythical quality to it and is three dimensional when viewing. It was one of the largest paintings displayed, taking over three panels. When speaking to a couple gentlemen they explained that Leslie is known for portraying her visions or dreams into her work. She is considered to have the gift of being able to be the interpreter of some sort of higher mystic power for the unconscious mind. This holds true to her work, when viewing different pieces it makes the viewer feel as if you are in fact within a dream. There are so many things going in her work that its hard to focus in on just one thing. The masked woman above adds a mysterious sexy and feminine aspect. The woman holding the crystal ball looks as if shes the one dreaming trying to see what happens next within this state of unconsciousness. The peacock is a symbol of regal and beauty, the man in the background is a guardian and symbol of strength, while the women looking down is almost the puppet master of the dream. I love how she has the deep blue colors which add a cold and insecure feeling, while transitioning to the center with the warm red hue which adds lust, admiration and security.

"I see, you see"....

Entangled by Leslie Brown

Another great piece by Leslie Brown, this is one of her prints that was selling for $350. She has pretty reasonable pricing I felt for the quality of work. More of a pop culture piece, I think this piece shows the relationship of ones inner self. Showing two women who are one in the same going thru ones inner struggle. It shows a calm beauty while in the background a frustrated woman entangled by a cord. The cord could symbolize life and depicts one putting her best face forward to the public while yet masking her problems. A dual personality at its best. When admiring this piece I had the oppurtunity to share my thoughts with a fellow admirer of the piece. Their view was different from mine in that they saw this piece as a work depicting what woman go through every day to look beautiful to stay true to societies expectation of what they consider beauty to be. The woman they felt looked frigid, untouchable, and uncomfortable yet she had a sleek and upper class demeanor. The woman in the back looked unkept, tired, and sad at having to go thru this process of beautification. The piece called out the entangled feeling of keeping up with society. Although, our initial views were different we agreed that this piece was in fact showing an interpretation of what we struggle through to please society.

All in all a great experience at the dA, I actually plan on revisiting for their next opening so there will definitley be more to come....