WHITE BALANCING

 

PRESS RELEASE BY CAROL CHEH

 

In color photography, “white balance” refers to the process of removing artificial color casts that can obscure the natural white hues of a subject. Elements in our atmosphere —sunlight, candlelight, reflections from nearby objects—can taint an image and make pale skin appear dark, or white snow appear green. While the naked eye can easily sort through the various color temperatures at play, the photographic image needs manual adjusting to achieve results closer to what we see in nature.

The noise of artificial color casts can be likened to the overloaded art scene in which we currently find ourselves. The art world is “hot” right now, and because of that, renegade color temperatures are off the charts. The fair circuit is all the rage, auction prices are headline news, and here in Los Angeles, trendy new galleries are opening every week. Blue chip stars continue to reap success while a bevy of young hopefuls tries to follow in their footsteps. Sometimes, the clamor to be seen in such a scene can produce disingenuous and derivative results, more redolent of a desire to become an “art star” than a passion for making art.

 

White Balancing, a pop-up group exhibition curated by L.A.-based art advisor Hayley Miner, aims to press the reset button and return viewers to a more direct experience of works by emerging artists that the curator finds genuinely exciting. Held in a 16,000 sq. ft. raw warehouse space located in El Sereno—a neighborhood adjacent to, but at a healthy distance from, the rapidly gentrifying downtown area of LA—White Balancing is a show that is driven by pure passion. As Miner says, “Joseph Campbell reminds us that ‘awe is what moves us forward.’ Because of these artists’ work, I was propelled to mount a show so that others can be awed too.”

 

 

Although the ten artists in this exhibition have highly varied practices, there are certain qualities that emerge in all of their work: honesty, joy, exquisite craftsmanship and attention to detail, and a depth of inquiry that consistently reveals the heart and soul of the human experience. Together, they create a visual environment that is unrushed and contemplative, inviting viewers to recalibrate their worlds through aesthetic pleasures as well as the questions and discoveries that lie just beneath the surface.

 

The mysterious beauty of objects comes to life in the work of Dwyer Kilcollin, Nicholette Kominos, and Kristan Marvell, who all wrest unexpected wonders out of the sculptural materials that they focus their formidable talents on. April Street, Debra Scacco, and Kelly Kleinschrodt gamely take on the residue of subjective personal histories, plunging their minds and bodies into the creation of artworks that are steeped in emotional and bodily remembrances. Christopher Reynolds and Matthew Farrar are more sly and selective in their presentations, turning a curious and critical eye onto iconic books and monumental architecture, respectively. Meanwhile, Emma Gray and Leslie Nix, two representational painters, revel in the impish spirit of their subjects, letting them inhabit colorful worlds where they are free to be the unalloyed versions of themselves.

 

CONTACT INFORMATION: Hayley Miner HM@HayleyMinerArt.com www.HayleyMinerArt.com (310) 245.4522

Hayley Miner is a curator and art advisor based in Los Angeles. Carol Cheh is a writer based in Los Angeles.