March 19–April 30, 2022
Opening Reception: Friday, March 18, 6:30–8:30 PM
JOSEPH CLAYES III GALLERY
Lynn Criswell / Michael Bishop: Shuffling the Familiar / Now Not Then
Northern California–based artists Lynn Criswell and Michael Bishop, whose two-dimensional and three-dimensional work is distinct yet complementary in both style and content, present their most recent works in Shuffling the Familiar / Now Not Then.
For the past 11 years, Lynn Criswell and her husband, artist Michael Bishop, have divided their time working in studios in Istanbul, Turkey, and rural Chico, California. Criswell’s painting process generally begins with a sequence of clusters of semi-clear events, routine observations, and at times, what appears as random thoughts and images, somehow connected or left out of previous works. Each new work begins with an assembly of her graphite sketches, hand-engraved sheet lead images, painted silhouettes, and a stabilizing horizon line. Criswell holds an MA from California State University, Chico, where she taught part-time for many years.
Michael Bishop graduated from San Jose State University in 1978 with a split emphases MFA in drawing and sculpture. That same year, he received a one-year teaching position at California State University, Chico and later became Department Chair, a position from which he retired 37 years later as Professor Emeritus. He describes his studio time, “I can’t put a time or place to when a work begins and when it’s finished as I used to. I’ve embraced studio-multi-tasking over the years, being more comfortable with projects that demand more headspace, and more stretches of time for clarity. The studio is just big enough so the works in progress can sit out and catch my attention.”
The exhibition can be viewed in the Joseph Clayes III Gallery at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library (1008 Wall Street, La Jolla, CA 92037) during open hours, Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
ROTUNDA GALLERY
Lenore Hughes: The Light That Never Goes Out
Over her 45-year career, artist and author Lenore Tolegian Hughes has focused on finding new meanings for the big questions in life by combining classic divine images with contemporary secular pop images. She comments, “Candle wax has long been associated with daily life and ceremonial rituals. These Vessels of Grace, are inspired by the same candles we arrange on birthday cakes for the making of a wish; candles which were used in ancient days to light the way in the dark, to illuminate the pageantry of Roman processions … in recent days the lights seem to have gone out, and our wishes for things to return to normal are taking their time to come true. Since we are being forced to go inside, why not go deep inside? Into the one light that never goes out, the light deep in the soul that guides us toward eternal light.”
Hughes received her BA in Education at Cal State University Los Angeles, and MA in Theology from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.
Vessel of Grace I, 2021, mixed media, 10x 6 inches
The exhibition can be viewed in the Rotunda Gallery at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library (1008 Wall Street, La Jolla, CA 92037) during opening hours, Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.