| From August 27 - September 24, 2005, The Folk Tree Collection is pleased to present mixed media and assemblage work by DAVID KIETZMAN & JANICE LOWRY. The artists use both new and recycled materials from everyday life to create their provocative images, which address personal as well as global issues. A reception for the artists is scheduled for Saturday, August 27, from 2 - 6 P.M. DAVID ANDRES KIETZMAN'S two dimensional mixed media pieces are created with anything the artist can get his hands on, from stencils to acrylic paint, from scotch tape to pastels, from post-its to marker. He was born in Pasadena, and recently returned here after spending two years exploring Central America. While there, he lived in Honduras, taught art and graphic design, and exhibited his work. Prior to this journey, Kietzman studied art, graphic design, and education at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, where he received a B.A. and his teaching credentials. As a graphic designer, he has worked primarily with the non-profit sector and illustration media. He is also developing youth-based community programs in the Los Angeles area and is the creative director of akdesign, where through his socially active and deeply personal approach to design, he explores ideas of individual freedom and cultural boundaries. The artist says, "My work focuses on my life, the people around me, and the issues that I believe in. My work attempts to show the viewer a different perspective on subjects that are rarely discussed in media...When I design, I want to feel the art, feel the statement I want to present, and have some kind of loose control over the direction of my piece...Creating good design is a struggle reflected in life. Life is a struggle, and in my opinion, it is the struggle to be real. That in itself is the reason design should reflect life and have meaning. My goal is to find creative solutions to life." JANICE LOWRY was born in Phoenix in 1946, began painting in 1966, and in the 1970s was represented by Elaine Horwitch Gallery. She moved to California in 1973 to attend Art Center College of Design on a full scholarship, first completing her undergraduate studies and receiving her M.F.A in 1980. In 1983, her work was reviewed in Artforum Magazine. Lowry has taught at colleges in southern California and is an active illustrator, designing book jackets, posters, and images for magazine articles and advertisements. She feels lucky to be able to spend most of her time in her studio, creating assemblages with constructed and found elements, further transformed by their placement and by painting and sanding. The first hints of her assemblages go back to when she was an art student and needed an inexpensive solution to framing. So, she started building her own, eventually filling the frames with her three-dimensional compositions. As for her themes, the artist writes,īThe family I was born into gave me an inheritance of images that I can use for a lifetime.ī Her tools include a sander, drill, jigsaw, and hammer, along with more traditional art supplies. Lowry's studio is filled with books and her personal journals, which are often the inspiration behind much of her work, as are the shrines of Mexican folk art. Like her pieces, these are highly symbolic. Another powerful influence has been Frida Kahlo, who was the subject of her Master's thesis in 1979, before the artist became famous in the United States. Lowry usually starts with an idea and then finds appropriate materials, most often those with some history. "I look for pieces that can be changed, something that can be turned into a metaphor that transcends what it is." The work of Kietzman and Lowry have been brought together for this show because of their shared interest in Latin American art and culture, their background in design, and their affinity for found objects. The Folk Tree Collection is located at 199 S. Fair Oaks Avenue, minutes walking distance from the Gold Line's Del Mar Station (and just fifteen minutes from down Los Angeles off the end of the 110 freeway) near the heart of Old Pasadena. Gallery hours are: M-W, 11-6; Th-Sat, 10-6; Sun, 12-5. For further information, contact Gail Mishkin at (626)793-4828. |
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