‘Pop’ Art

Robert Dunahay, an artist friend of mine, read my last blog (my ode to a toaster and lament that I still lacked one in my new apartment). Before I left Palm Springs this past weekend on the final leg of moving personal possessions (as opposed to public possessions, which I doubt the city council and local citizens would appreciate my relocating outside their sphere of influence and enjoyment), Robert stopped by and presented me with his painting of a toaster (shown here).

These days, Robert’s portraits of palm trees are in high demand, especially in Palm Desert (Christian Hohmann Fine Art) and Santa Monica (Skidmore Contemporary Art). I have a couple signed copies of poster prints of his Palm Series. But my personal favorites are his abstract compositions, of which I own three. My new “San Diego Collection” includes my first “pop art” (toaster/pop, get it?). Though it was painted in 2009, it does bear the elements of the Pop art movement in subject matter and style.

I think Robert’s work belongs in San Diego, not just in my apartment, but also on the gallery scene. In any event, I’m just now getting out to see what local galleries are showing. I find the anticipation of discovery exciting. You never know what you might find when you explore the art scene. I especially enjoy conversations with artists — learning what they think and how they combine their skills with materials and techniques.

This coming weekend, I’ll be checking out the James Rielly show at Scott White Contemporary Art in La Jolla. The show is titled When I was young I would sit in the bath and ideas would come to me, now I am old I sit in the bath. The title alone intrigues me. According to Rielly’s bio, he is heavily influenced by Dadaism and Surrealism — both of which I find compelling in their layers, so I’m all the more intrigued to see and hear what he has to say.

As time goes along, I hope to find that San Diego cultivates its share of installation and performance art (especially something Laurie Anderson-ish). Perhaps you know of one of Anderson’s early performance art pieces when she stood on/in a block of ice wearing ice skates (with the blades frozen into the ice) and played the violin until the ice melted. If you know of any such events, please send an email to janice@sdhg.net.

Janice Kleinschmidt