A pick for ArtHop: Fresno State graduate art show at M Street Gallery. Plus: lots of holiday shopping!
By Donald Munro
When you say that someone sees life through rose-colored glasses, the implication is usually that the person is naive or overly simplistic. Or does it have to be as negative as that? A “half-glass-full” type of person might not agree. (Isn’t it interesting how many idioms there are on the topic?) While you could say that an overly optimistic attitude can blind a person, it’s also true that an overly pessimistic person can miss the good in a situation.
Tarynn Abrahamson’s ‘Bed Rot (red) & Habromania (blue)’
The theme intrigued the Fresno State art students in this semester’s graduate studio seminar class, says Stephanie Ryan, their professor. The result is “Rose-Colored Glasses,” which holds its opening reception as part of December ArtHop at the Fresno State Graduate Art Studios at M Street (1419 M St.). The event is 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 7.
ArtHop is the monthly open house of galleries and studios in the downtown and Tower District neighborhoods. A full list of participating venues can be found at the Fresno Arts Council website.
In the Fresno State show, the 17 participating students (plus Ryan) took a wide view of the topic, just as you’d expect artists to do.
“We were interested in the idea that the saying itself can have multiple interpretations, depending upon one’s own view leaning towards positive or negative outlooks,” Ryan says.
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Among the artists represented is Angel Lesnikowski, whose large apocalyptic painting (pictured below) and sculpture (a taxidermied chick in a bottle with red glasses) shows a distinct criticism of humanity’s seeming death drive, Ryan says.
Lesnikowski writes in her artist’s statement: “The intended purposes of chicken eyeglasses were to prevent aggressive pecking, cannibalism, and feather pecking. In the case of the “rose colored glasses” concept, you blind the chickens from reality so they don’t destroy each other because of them being ignorant to each others presence.”
Brandi Nuse-Villegas has several pieces focusing on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and homelessness. “For so many who have become unhoused, they don’t feel part of Mayor Dyer’s ‘One Fresno,’ “ she writes.
Idaly Rodriguez (whose painting is pictured at the top of story) puts a twist on the positive light normally received by the 21 Catholic Missions in California.
“Hidden away behind locked gates lay unmarked mass graves of tens of thousands of Native Americans who were forced to work and live on these Mission Grounds where they were subjected to inhumane conditions and treatment up to their deaths,” she writes.
The exhibit also features the work of Tarynn Abrahamson, Bobby Brown, Corbin Callaway, Eduardo Fabian, Robert D. Maldonado, Kassandra Murillo, Alan Ramirez-Aguilar, Eddie Reveles, Sherril Royse, Mckenna Schroder, Analisa Torres, Andrea Torres, Andrew Turner, and Alexander Verdugo.
It continues through Jan. 15 in the main gallery.
Shannon Bickford’s ‘Serendipity III’ (collage)
Elsewhere: lots of holiday shopping
December ArtHop is a prime time to find distinctive, unique, locally sourced gifts that you can’t find with an Amazon click.
“Yes, we are exhibiting quality small works with the thought of offering them for holiday buyers,” says Shannon Bickford of Fig Tree Gallery, one of several ArtHop venues with shoppers in mind. The title of the show is “December Small Works.”
A quick look at the ArtHop schedule shows lots of other galleries pushing the shopping theme:
• Clay Hand Studios offers “Giftables.”
• Downtown Artist Gallery offers an “Affordable Art Sale” featuring such artists and authors as Patricia Wakida, Julia Tinker, Carol Tikijian, Mas Masumoto, Lee Herrick and Brynn Saito.
• Scarab Creative Arts features a holiday gallery exhibition featuring 30 of its artists.
• Chris Sorensen Studios & Gallery features a “Studios Members Show.”
• Clay Mix is hosting a “Holiday Exhibit and Sale.”
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