A diverse show works by local artists Rebecca Gomez and Allen Koehn will be on view and available for purchase Sept. 22-Jan. 15 at Epiphany Wine Cellars, 2974 Grand Ave., Los Olivos.
The title of the exhibit, Outside the Box, refers to the artists’ use of art media in unusual and perhaps unexpected ways. Koehn’s images reflect realism, while Gomez’s works lean to abstraction. But all the pieces combine media in ways that make the finished work unique to some degree.
Koehn’s photographic art is based on digital photos that have been printed on archival art rag paper, affixed to a stretched canvas base.
The photo pigments have been fixed into the paper with an unusual technique using a specialized UV protective varnish in many coats that is absorbed into the paper. Then the works are coated with an acrylic matte medium, resulting in photographic work that’s as resilient as a finished painting.
The process allows the piece to be framed without matte or glass, in this case in floater frames, which allows one to take it in much like they would experience artwork in other mediums.
These archival mixed-media prints can hang without limitations sometimes imposed on photographic work, in that they are UV protected and won’t fade in strong light and have a tough surface not subject to damage without protection by glass.
The subject matter in the artist’s work incorporates a unique vision, lending enhanced meaning, deepening how one observes scenes and objects.
With regards to his mixed-media work, Gomez said: “There are many layers in my work, and often some transparency. While my work may appear to be disparate in style or execution, it is actually all part of an exploration of subjects or objects that can never truly be captured in a fixed way.
“Whether representational or abstract, the pieces are about asking questions, attempting to see beyond the surface, looking for openings, connections.
“They celebrate not what we know and the limits of knowing, but rather the beauty of mystery and the impossibility of fixed knowledge about the manifest world,” she said.
The show includes some pieces from the artist’s Shadow Series, which incorporates black-and-white digital photography as one of several layers in the finished artwork — again, an unusual approach. Other works involve a mixed range of painting and drawing media.
The exhibit introduces Epiphany Cellars as a venue supporting the efforts of the Santa Ynez Valley Art Association (formerly the Artists Guild SYV), a nonprofit arts organization to showcase local art and artists.
The organization coordinates and manages the art without borders installations in cooperation with local venues that support the arts. A portion of art sales at these exhibits benefits the organization, and these collaborative efforts as to keep art alive and accessible in the Santa Ynez Valley.
For more information on local arts, or to subscribe to a free monthly online eZine on local arts, visit www.santaynezvalleyarts.org.
— Rebecca Gomez for Santa Ynez Valley Arts Association.