First Contemporary Mosaic Show in the LA Area Opens

This summer, the West Coast is hot, hot, hot with fine art mosaic exhibits. No sooner does "Cutting Edges" in Oregon close than "Tesserae: The Art of Mosaics" opens in Long Beach at the 2nd City Council Art Gallery + Performance Center (2CC). The exhibit runs from June 27th through August 5th.

This is the first-ever juried all-mosaic exhibition in the Los Angeles area. 122 entries were received, 51 of which were selected for the exhibition. We've seen the list of artists represented, and it includes some of the finest from across the US.

An Artist Reception, open to the public is slated for this Saturday, July 11th from 7 - 9 p.m.

Juror Lillian Sizemore (http://www.sfmosaic.com/) tells us that this show has been in the making for over a year. The effort was spear-headed by two Long Beach mosaic artists, Luz Mack-Durini (http://www.l-durini.com/) and Dawn Mendelson (http://www.daybreakmosaics.com/).

"The goal of this exhibition is to create dialogue between artists making mosaic in all types of media. Materials like asphalt, polymer clay, Chiclets, electronic transistors and found objects adopt an ancient opus, while the more traditional materials of tile, smalti and stone are manipulated into gestalt moments of personal expression." says Sizemore.

Top Left: "Paradigm Shift", Brian Felix. Lower Left: "East Wind" Dawn Mendelson.
Right: "Gelato" Carl and Sandra Bryant.

The grouping above is an example of what juror Sizemore saw as strong "themes" that emerged as she put together the exhibit. "I pushed the images together - POW!! It really spoke to me about the concept of dispersal and ephemera -- How time flees in a split second (desire dashed - ice cream cone hits hot pavement!) over centuries or moment by moment. Each of these artists is dealing with this concept in innovative and personal ways."

But wait! There's more! (I've always wanted to type that.) Just as in Lake Oswego, organizers have created a holistic mosaic experience. Beyond the exhibit, there are workshops that offer great opportunities for gallery-goers to experience making mosaics for themselves.

"Working on a mosaic is at once painstaking and joyful", says Sizemore. We couldn't agree more. Here is the workshop schedule. More information can be found through the links below. If you're interested, hurry. There are deadlines looming.

• July 11/12 and 18/19 "Mosaics from the Mind's Eye: Mandalas" Instructor: Lillian Sizemore
• July 14 and 21 "Pique Assiette Mosaic" Instructor: Dawn Mendelson

• July 26 and August 2 "Community Mural for 2CC Garden" Bi-lingual English and Spanish workshop facilitated by Dawn Mendelson, Luz Mack-Durini and Lillian Sizemore.

Here is another work from the exhibit. "Life is Like A Ferris Wheel" by Wenia Lee, former Mind's Eye student.

The artist's statement: "Through the making of this mandala, my perception was changed. Life is like a Ferris wheel - I go up and I come down. I am given the chance to see the world from many points of view." Materials: Porcelain, millefiori, found rods, stained glass, glass rods, glass marbles, glass beads, found heart stone."


Logistics and links:

2nd City Council Art Gallery + Performance Space is located at:
435 Alamitos Avenue, Long Beach, CA
(562) 901-0997
Hours: Wednesday - Sunday Noon to 5 p.m.
http://www.2ndcitycouncil.org/
Cheryl Bennett, Director

For information on workshop dates, costs, and deadlines, click here

Brian Felix: http://www.briansmosaicworks.com/
Carl and Sandra Bryant: http://www.showcasemosaics.com/

Enjoy -- Nancie