GLENDALE, CA.- Featuring the work of seven contemporary artists, Shaping Gravity: Abstract Art Beyond the Picture Plane, now opening at Forest Lawn Museum, brings abstract art into new dimensions for a mesmerizing and interactive exhibition that challenges notions of what abstraction can be. The seven artists in the exhibition — Jen Stark, Michelle Jane Lee, Rema Ghuloum, Shane Guffogg, Christine Nguyen, Sarah Ippolito, and Molly Larkey — are all connected by their ties to Southern California and bring unique aesthetic and philosophical approaches to abstraction. The exhibition includes sculpture, painting, augmented reality, and interactive video projection with artworks ranging from vibrant and kaleidoscopic to serene and meditative.

Shaping Gravity includes artworks that address how abstraction intersects with a number of themes, including conceptions of nature, technological innovation, and artistic tradition. A highlight of the exhibition is the work of multimedia artist Jen Stark, whose hypnotic creations utilize irregular, organic forms and a dynamic color palette. Her sculpture, 4 x 4 x 4, takes a pulsating pattern and renders it in three dimensions. This large polychrome work evokes an imploding topographical map. Digital Paint is an interactive video projection, which Stark created in collaboration with CutMod. Utilizing paint rollers and motion-sensing LiDAR scanners, visitors can make their own virtual contributions to the artwork.

Michelle Jane Lee is primarily a painter, but she often includes sculptural elements in her work, making them appear visceral and tactile compared to traditional paintings. Wave On (Blue), for example, features precise geometric forms superimposed on an undulating surface that resembles an excavated terrain. In sharp contrast, Rema Ghuloum’s paintings eschew distinct forms in favor of an alluring yet hazy opacity. She begins by pouring acrylic paint onto the canvas, then slowly applies thin layers of oil paint. Ghuloum sands each layer between applications, allowing the artwork to evolve through a process of building and destroying. The finished paintings feature fields of bright color and dark chromatic valleys that engulf the viewer.

Shane Guffogg embraces notions of artistic tradition and innovation simultaneously. He relies on the same techniques used by Renaissance masters, applying up to 100 layers of translucent oil paint to create the sensation that his work is illuminated from within. The gestures and flowing ribbons in his paintings act as visual representations of the subconscious. His painting, Saper Aude #7, can be experienced using a free Augmented Reality smartphone app. The app, which was created in collaboration with ADLR Studio, causes ribbons within the painting to unfurl and expand, as they appear to move beyond the artwork and into the viewer’s space. Guffogg said, “My interest in the world of science led me to begin working with Augmented Reality. The smartphone functions as a portal into a fourth dimension, beyond the three-dimensional world inhabited by the viewer and the painting.”

Christine Nguyen blurs the boundaries between works on paper and three-dimensional sculpture to create large-scale installations. Her art incorporates a range of natural and synthetic materials such as salt crystals and spray paint. Shaping Gravity also features two artists who create sculpture in-the-round. Running the gamut from soft pastels to bright yellows and electric blues, Sarah Ippolito’s organic forms evoke alien plant life and undiscovered sea creatures. Molly Larkey’s architectonic figures resemble statuesque letters, but defy recognition as the artist manipulates positive and negative space.

Exhibition curator, James Fishburne, PhD, said, “With Shaping Gravity we aim to challenge conventional notions of abstract art. People often find it intimidating and difficult to understand, but this exhibition makes abstraction accessible and fun while maintaining its depth and thoughtfulness. With interactive elements and incredibly beautiful works of art, viewers will be able to engage with abstraction’s many facets and forms.”

Shaping Gravity is Forest Lawn Museum’s first fully nonfigurative exhibition. It complements Forest Lawn’s renowned collection of figurative sculptures, paintings, and stained glass windows exhibited across six Southern California locations. Viewed in this context, the exhibition unites art across centuries and styles through an exploration of form, function, and dimensionality. Forest Lawn Museum first opened in 1952 and is now comprised of three galleries and a gift shop. The renowned permanent collection of sculpture, stained glass windows, mosaics, and architecture is spread across Forest Lawn’s six Southern California locations. Forest Lawn’s founder, Dr. Hubert Eaton, wrote in his Builder’s Creed that our park should be “a place where artists study and sketch; where school teachers bring happy children to see the things they read of in books.” In that spirit, selections of Forest Lawn Museum’s permanent collection of photographs, paintings, and bronze and marble sculptures are on display in the museum’s front gallery. Forest Lawn Museum typically dedicates two galleries to world-class rotating exhibits, which focus on topics ranging from aerial photography to puppetry to stained glass. Forest Lawn Museum is located adjacent to the Hall of Crucifixion-Resurrection, which houses the Crucifixion, a 195-foot wide by 45-foot high painting by Polish artist Jan Styka. Other notable pieces in Forest Lawn’s collection can be found in the Great Mausoleum, including the Last Supper stained glass window by artist Rosa Caselli-Moretti, the Poets’ Windows, and marble replicas of Michelangelo’s Moses and Pietà.

Forest Lawn Museum
"Shaping Gravity: Abstract Art Beyond the Picture Plane"
October 19th, 2023 - March 10th, 2024