LA JOLLA ART SHOW REVIEW

Upon entering the gallery the first work that caught my eye was pieces by Anton Arkhipov. Anton’s pieces were original oil paintings that had no lack in color scheme and variation. Most of his paintings illustrated scenes where his figures were performing specific actions. Even though the paintings were framed separately all of them seemed to include the same characters and compile one big story for the viewer to interpret. Anton’s mixed media piece titled “Tryst Alfresco” was among my favorite piece in his collection. The painting showed a bright red car with two pairs of legs (one male and one female) sticking up above the body of the car. In the air were champagne bottles, glasses, hats and clothing implying that this couple was in some way celebrating a joyous occasion. Also featured in the gallery were three bronze sculptures done by Anton. The bronze pieces took on a completely different style than his paintings, so it was interesting to compare the two. It is interesting to note than when artists go between mediums their style is subject to change.

            The sculptures that caught my eye after venturing further into the gallery were works by Pascal. Pascal works mostly with mahogany wood and creates incredible pieces that force the viewer to change their perception constantly. Pascal plays with the texture and feel of the wood in comparison to tile, metal and other forms to create very clean, precise looking pieces. It seemed as though Pascal cured the wood different ways or was altering it in some manner because he was able to achieve so many different effects on what seemed to be the same piece of wood. Certain pieces of his almost looked as though they had been covered in acid or something related to that and then altered as the artist deemed fit.

            Another featured artist in the gallery was Michael Nisperos. Michael worked with oil on canvas and had five of his pieces featured in the gallery. Michael had a recurring motif in most of his paintings that resembled something that looked like a stick figure. This motif seemed to take over his large works, but seemed small and irrelevant in his smaller works. Overall, Michael was my favorite artist in the gallery. His use of space in relation to the canvas seemed to complement all of the colors he was using. His finished works seemed to be complete and whole.