Art Passages presents MIXOLOGY April - June 2010 
Location:  651 Pine Street, Martinez CA, 9 - 5 Mon - Fri 

 

MIXOLOGY, named for its blend of poignant and inspiring works, opened to the public on Monday, April 5th at the AC5-sponsored gallery in Martinez.  The curator has gathered selected best works of six Contra Costa County visual artists into this amazing collection.  The goal in producing this show is to realize the mission statement of the AC5, which is to raise awareness and visibility of artists and their works in Contra Costa County for all members of the community.  In keeping with this mission, MIXOLOGY offers a diverse collection of fine art, unique and expressive each in their own way, but also in an overall synergistic way which creates a visually flowing and quite extraordinary journey for the viewer.  Note, some pieces are for sale while others are on loan from private collection.

The journey begins with a series of stunning photographs of dancers captured in states of what the artist calls “authentic movement” in various portrayals of emotion, movement and style, with unique visual treatments.  Moving next into a collection of acrylic paintings in bare, perhaps raw, stream-of-consciousness renderings, with textures and layers sometimes exposed, the meaning of which is completely open to individual interpretation, then coming around to a brilliant collection of vibrant oil on canvas works from a series titled “Rivers Stories” and rounding out the first gallery with a beautiful showing of textured works using found items and oil on canvas and wood board, truly unique.  Moving through to the next gallery the viewer will find a stunning series of a character study, rich and beautiful in color and emotional depth, followed by a mix of works from the front gallery, interspersed for a brilliant variation and yet perhaps they tell a collective story.  Finally in the meeting room gallery traveling to the right we find a beautiful collection of monotype print collages created in a process unique to the artist, producing rich, subtle and powerful works that soften and ease the mind.  Moving back to the opposite wall, we find a series of four photographs showing a different style from the same artist in the first gallery, and finally the end of the gallery shows a collection of graphic arts posters produced for a modern dance company spanning a decade of modern dance performances worldwide, which tells a unique story about modern dance.