GRAND GALLERIES CLOSING 2008-09 SEASON WITH DRAWINGS AND PAINTINGS

BLOOM!:  PAINTINGS BY LOU BAKALIAN

CONTROL:  DRAWINGS, PAINTINGS & PRINTS BY CURTIS BARTONE

Bloom! presents a grouping of paintings by local artist, Lou Bakalian.  Her colorful expressionistic works blend abstraction and surrealism into bold design. 

Tablets by Lou Bakalian

Lou Bakalian of Stockton is a painter primarily working in large format oils.  Ms. Bakalian began her artistic career as a graduate of the Academy of Art, San Francisco working in fashion illustration in New York.  Upon returning to the west coast in the 1970’s, Bakalian became a self-taught painter.  She has exhibited for over 25 years, and after her retirement in 1996, began to work in a new methodology under the guidance of Professor Mario Moreno at San Joaquin Delta College.   Moreno, a celebrated abstract painter of the Central Valley who has worked with migrant farm workers, gang members and inmates, was influential to challenging Bakalian to reinvent herself as an artist.  She re-emerged as an intuitive colorist referencing the landscape and agriculture of Northern California in her dynamic works.

Bakalian states, “Even at my age, these paintings feel all new to me.  Moreno’s knowledge inspired me to grow from my previous art experiences.  The shapes I see on my canvas are from music and nature and the work is now about my exploration of successful modern art.”

CONTROL features a body of thematic works by Curtis Bartone exploring human encroachment into wilderness and art’s ability to define and control nature.

As the Grand Galleries are a unique visual arts learning environment, CONTROL offers a special interactive hands-on activity that invites participants to learn about metal point drawing.  Gallery visitors can try their hand with the materials that Bartone uses in his works and take their creation home with them.

Chosen by Curtis Bartone

Curtis Bartone of Savannah, Georgia is celebrated for his illustrative silverpoint and graphite drawings, printmaking and paintings.  Mr. Bartone holds a B.F.A. in painting from Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, OH, and M.F.A in painting from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.  He has traveled extensively abroad including Italy, Iceland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Zambia, and New Zealand. Bartone taught at the Savannah College of Art and Design from 2001 to 2006 and has been exhibiting professionally since 1990.

He is represented by Byron Roche Gallery and Printworks Gallery, both in Chicago.

Bartone states, "My work focuses on the uneasy relationship between human beings and the natural world, exploring the idea of wilderness and how it has changed from being a real place – mysterious, unknown, and pristine – to a distorted fiction. Savannah is a good place for me to live and to make art. The landscape and wildlife of the low-country contrasted by the rampant development/destruction of marshes and woodlands has become integral to my art."

Ms. Bakalian and Mr. Bartone will be present at the Opening Reception and the public is invited to meet them and learn more about their creative processes.