LAGUNA BEACH, CA.- Laguna Art Museum presents Timothy J. Clark and ex·pose: macha suzuki, which is on display November 4, 2012 through January 20, 2013. Also on display are highlights from the museum's permanent collection of California art curated by new executive director Dr. Malcolm Warner, and a new exhibition in the museum’s Young Artists Society Gallery called Permission to Play and featuring sculptures by children with life-threatening illnesses.

TIMOTHY J. CLARK
November 4, 2012-Janaury 20, 2013
On the upper level of the museum is an exhibition of watercolors by Timothy J. Clark curated by Laguna Art Museum’s Curator of Early California Art, Janet Blake.

Clark (b. 1951) is an internationally-recognized artist who has studios in Capistrano Beach, New York City, and West Bath, Maine. He is a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts and the Chouinard Art Institute, and has garnered a reputation as both a painter and teacher of watercolor. He is a faculty member of the Art Students League in New York City and has taught at numerous other institutions including the University of Hawaii at Hilo and the National Academy School in New York. He also conducts painting workshops at locations in the United States and Europe. Watercolor magazine named Clark one of the “20 Great Teachers in America” in 2006 and again in 2009.

Clark’s watercolor and oil paintings are in many public and private collections, including the National Portrait Gallery, The Butler Institute of American Art, and the Farnsworth Art Museum. An inveterate sketcher, within days of the 9/11 attack, Clark created a sketchbook of drawings at Ground Zero, that was acquired for the Museum of the City of New York.

”Clark’s watercolor paintings are exquisitely rendered and infused with color and light, recalling the work of late-nineteenth-century artists John Singer Sargent and Winslow Homer,” said Blake.

The exhibition will feature landscape, still life, and figural works.

EX·POSE: MACHA SUZUKI
November 4, 2012-Janaury 20, 2013
The next artist featured in Laguna Art Museum’s new contemporary art program ex·pose is Macha Suzuki (b. 1979). Curated by Laguna Art Museum’s Curator of Contemporary Art, Grace Kook-Anderson, ex·pose features rotating exhibitions focusing on one emerging or mid-career artist at a time. The program aims to present a diverse range of artists working in all mediums, and encourages participating artists to take the opportunity to create new work. ex·pose kicked off in summer 2012 with ex·pose: peter bo rappmund.

Macha Suzuki’s installations convey a sense of narrative that is familiar, highly attractive, yet also dark and disruptive. His sculptures are highly crafted from a mixture of materials that includes epoxy clay, fluorescent lights, plastic, and Bondo.

“Combining representation and abstract forms, he suspends figurative elements in a place of fantasy, with bright colors and glossy surfaces,” said Kook-Anderson.

Suzuki’s current work, including his Laguna Art Museum show, deals with the notion of failure. Rather than grieving, the artist accepts and celebrates growth resulting from experience and the freedom to fail.

“I tell stories, real life stories about my experiences: what I have done, what I have seen, and what I have heard,” said Suzuki. “I do not necessarily convey these experiences factually. Instead, I dress them up with elaborate fabrications some would call lies.” Suzuki was born in Japan and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. In 2006, he received an MFA in sculpture from Claremont Graduate University and a BA in studio art from Azusa Pacific University, California. His recent solo exhibitions were featured at Sam Lee Gallery in Los Angeles; the Kravets/Wehby Gallery in New York; Cypress College in Cypress, California; and Biola University in La Mirada, California. Suzuki’s work has been included in numerous group exhibitions at d.e.n. contemporary art in Culver City; the Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard, California; Gallery Lara in Tokyo, Japan; the Torrance Art Museum in Torrance, California; and the Harrison Center for the Arts in Indianapolis, Indiana.

THE PERMANENT COLLECTION
November 4, 2012-April 28, 2013
Laguna Art Museum’s collection consists of over 3,500 works from the early nineteenth century to the present day, with significant examples from all periods of California art. It is some time since the highlights of the museum’s own collection of California art have all been displayed together in the main-level galleries. On show this fall is a selection curated by the museum’s new Executive Director, Dr. Malcolm Warner—who joined Laguna Art Museum in January from the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, where he was deputy director. Among the most familiar images are paintings by members of the artists’ colony that flourished in Laguna Beach in the early years of the twentieth century, notably The Old Post Office by Joseph Kleitsch (pictured left); The Golden Hour, Laguna Beach by Frank Cuprien; Spring in the Canyon by William Wendt; and Laguna Beach by Clarence Hinkle. In addition, the oldest known oil painting to have been created in California (San Gabriel Mission, c. 1932, by Ferdinand Deppe) will be on display. Later developments are represented by paintings and sculptures from Francis de Erdely, Hans Burckhardt, John McLaughlin, Lorser Feitelson, John Altoon, Billy Al Bengston, Craig Kauffman, DeWain Valentine, John McCracken, Roger Kuntz, Ed Kienholz, and Llyn Foulkes. The display also features some privately-owned masterpieces of California art that appear as “special guests” among the museum’s own holdings, along with some museum pieces that have been recently acquired or restored.

”I’m still relatively new to the museum, and taking the lead in selecting this permanent collection show is a wonderful way for me to get to know the collection,” said Dr. Warner. “Hopefully I can bring a fresh eye to the process and bring out some unexpected gems as well as the familiar favorites.”

PERMISSION TO PLAY
November 4, 2012-Janaury 20, 2013
On display in the Young Artists Society Gallery this fall is Permission to Play, featuring CoachArt student work inspired by ex·pose artist Macha Suzuki. CoachArt was founded as a nonprofit in 2001 with the mission to improve the quality of life for children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses—and their siblings—by providing free lessons in the arts and athletics. For this exhibition, Laguna Art Museum’s Curator of Education Marinta Skupin and Development and Outreach Associate Jennifer Gardiner, along with artist Macha Suzuki and CoachArt staff and volunteers, worked with outpatient children between the ages of ten and eighteen from Children’s Hospital Orange County and Millers Children’s Hospital, Long Beach, to create papier-mâché sculptures. A special opening reception for student artists and their guests will be held at the museum on November 4. Studio space and supplies for the art-making workshops were generously donated by Brushstrokes in Tustin.

The Young Artists Society Gallery is located on the lower level of the museum’s gallery space and features artwork and exhibitions from K-12 students from various Orange County schools and non-profit groups throughout the year. Students in the Young Artists Society Gallery exhibitions receive recognition and value for participating in artistic activities, and are introduced to the inner-workings of the museum. This program is a hands-on process that can include concepts of exhibition development, coordination, and installation. This program provides a direct connection between the young artists, their families, and Laguna Art Museum.