Riverside Art Museum

We have some exciting new photos documenting the installation of RAM’s upcoming show All Around, opening Saturday, August 14th.  The show features internationally renowned Italian painter Marco Casentini, who has recently become a Southern California resident.  In All Around, Casentini’s paintings move off the canvas and become enveloped in an entire installation view, as Marco and assistants have worked to paint the entire Art Alliance gallery as a backdrop for his work.  The painted walls complement his brightly colored geometric compositions and add a new dimension to his singular works.  The gallery already looks fantastic - don’t miss this one!

Veora Erwin’s exhibit, “Collage-Texture, Color, Construction” will be on display at the Riverside Art Museum from April 2nd through May 30th. Erwin recently visited RAM, bringing with her, work and ideas for her upcoming show. Erwin discussed her work and vision with RAM Adult Education Curator Lee Tusman and intern Courtney Lokken.

Veora Erwin is a warm hearted woman full of life and experience. Though Erwin didn’t start working as an artist until age 44, her love of art can be traced back to her childhood. Once her own children were grown, Erwin decided to explore her creativity by pursuing her love of fine arts. With her passion for art and the desire to learn the necessary skills, Erwin decided to enroll in local art classes. Beginning with drawing classes at RAM (then located at the Art Center), Erwin studied painting, printmaking, and weaving. With the unfortunate discovery in the 1960s that she was allergic to paint, Erwin was determined to seek out alternative mediums. In doing so, Erwin concentrated her efforts on creating intricate collage work which became her niche.  

Erwin’s unique collages are composed of a variety of materials such as found objects, keepsakes, as well as purchased items. Like old patch work quilts, many of the materials found in Erwin’s collages have stories behind them. Most of the fabrics used in her pieces belonged to her mother or came from personal clothing items. She shared one story about keeping a fallen leaf that had landed on her plate while out to coffee with a friend one afternoon. Later, Erwin featured this special leaf in one of the pieces, set to be on display during her exhibit.

It is clear that Erwin takes great pride in her work. She stays true to herself by creating one-of-a-kind personal works. Erwin’s informal method is fashioned in the comfort of her own cozy living room. Erwin shared that it was her grandchildren who first inspired her to work at a card table rather than her formal studio. In this way, Erwin is able to create intimate works surrounded by the people and items that she treasures most. With the intent of free interpretation, Erwin allows her works to stand as they are, with no explanation or forced message. Her use of strongly contrasting texture and color allow the viewer to come up with their own ideas and conclusion.

“Collage-Texture, Color, Construction” is set to open April 2, 2009 with a special reception, open to the public, on April 25th.

Last Saturday, RAM christened its new exhibitions with a celebratory reception. Jeff Soto: Turning in Circles, Painting in Southern California: The 1980s, Driven to Abstraction and Neo-Expressionism. If you missed it, you have until February 21, 2009 to check them out. The night was particularly special in that it was also Riverside Art Museum’s goodbye to Director Daniel Foster. At the beginning of the reception, Daniel Foster spoke to the overflow crowd about the exhibitions, and thanked the Board and Museum Staff for their efforts during his tenure. Senior Curator Peter Frank spoke about the exhibitions and thanked Daniel for his work at RAM and offered good wishes he begins work as the new CEO/Director of the Community Foundation. Jeff Soto talked about the Riverside connection of his artwork and thanked his family and friends. With a huge turnout, tasty snacks provided by Saffron’s, great art and a keg that tapped out before 8pm, it was certainly a successful and fun night to remember. Below are some photos of Saturday’s reception taken by RAM intern Amanda Holguin.

The Carlson brothers adjust a Jeff Soto piece temporarily on display on the RAM lawn exculsively for the night of the reception.

Jeff Soto: Turning in Circles, located downstairs in the Art Allience Gallery.

 Goodbyes and warm wishes go to Daniel Foster.

Senior Curator Peter Frank shakes hands with Daniel Foster. 

 Micah Carlson, Daniel Foster and Lee Tusman.

 Daniel Foster and artist Jeff Soto.

Jeff Soto’s book Storm Clouds is available in the RAM gift shop.

The lobby floods with excited art patrons.

Driven to Abstraction II.


Beyond Baby Tattooville Installation Medley from Riverside Art Museum on Vimeo.

A video flip book providing a behind the scenes look at the installation of “Beyond Baby Tattooville”, currently exhibited in the Member’s Gallery here at RAM through October 25, 2008.

RAM is hosting the 88th Annual Exhibition of the National Watercolor Society. Although the works share a common medium, the techniques and style vary. The show features an exciting mix of styles with photorealism and abstract contemporary pieces alongside more traditional plein-air works. The NWS show features a number of award winning works, with five top winners and additional honors. The National Watercolor Society Purchase Award with Silver Star was awarded to Soon Y. Warren of Texas, for his work, “Feeding Time”. This work features aggressive koi fish surging from a glistening yet sinisterly dark pond, toppling over each other in a struggle to be fed. A stirring rush of movement is implied by the strong diagonal forms of the fish and the curvilinear designs of the splashing water. Although this may sound like a chaotic scene, the composition is carefully balanced with whimsical dancing ripples in the dark water, a delicate contrast to the mayhem of the heavy fish. Artist Soon Y. Warren comments on his concept behind the painting, “In nature, every living thing echoes the human fabric of life. The koi, which usually give an impression of serenity and peaceful tranquility, are as fierce as any other creature when it comes to fulfilling the primary call of Mother Nature, hunger. These koi resonate the aggressive drive as we all have to nourish ourselves… aqua-media gave me a great deal of flexibility to represent the colorful koi beneath the water’s surface without losing sensitive, delicate, and fine details of the parts of the fish above the waterline. Transparent watercolor, by its very nature, provided the ability to create the image, layer by layer.”

Come visit the 88th Annual Exhibition of the National Watercolor Society open now through November 1, 2008.

Last night was downtown Riverside’s Art Walk, which takes place each 1st Thursday of the month. Here at RAM, we held a free printmaking demo in the RAM Printmaking Center. Print makers, Chick Curtis and Mary Grinyer presented their printmaking techniques, processes and creativity to the public. Chick and Mary also answered questions and provided visitors with artistic advice. Many visitors enjoyed learning about the printmaking process for the very first time. Artists of different mediums enjoyed learning about the selection of soy based inks and the monoprint method. Both Chick Curtis and Mary Grinyer participated in the Monothon14 event and their works can be seen downstairs in the Member’s Gallery along with other Monothon14 artists until August 16, 2008. This kicks off our new Riverside PrintMakers group and print making open studio. The first meeting of Riverside PrintMakers is on Thursday, August 14, 2008 and will be held each second Thursday of the month from 7-9pm.

Monothon 14 has been a great success so far. Friday night was the Auction and Reception. The Members Gallery was full of people. Daniel Foster, Chick Curtis, Lee Tusman and Michael Bernbaum all spoke. About half of the prints were sold, and the remaining prints are all available for purchase during the run of the exhibit. If you haven’t seen the show yet, make sure you come on down before it closes on August 16th. Thank you to all of the artists, printers, volunteers, and to our Coordinator Chick Curtis and Volunteer Coordinator Jorge Fernandez.

Below, check out a video of Monothon 14, filmed by intern Brianna Bakke.

Monothon 14 at Riverside Art Museum from Riverside Art Museum on Vimeo.

Last Saturday, we had three new exhibitions open here at RAM. Downstairs, in the Art Alliance Gallery, “Painting’s Edge 2008″ opened and a great number of contributing artists were in attendance. “Painting’s Edge 2008″ is a group exhibition featuring artists from Idyllwild Summer Arts Institute. Painting’s Edge carries a number of works that seek to push the medium beyond canvas. This exhibit includes works from artists Ben Weiner, Barbara Moody, Wendell Gladstone, Roland Reiss and more.

Upstairs, in the Bobbie Powell Gallery, LA artist Kristi Lippire’s ”For The Birds” solo exhibition took flight. Many visitors were taken with Lippire’s “Twittering Machine”. “The Twittering Machine”  is an interactive installation of a sparkling flock of geese assembled from colanders. The geese are attached to a wheel which allows the visitor to bring the flock to life.

Katrin Wiese’s show “Eine Klein Psychodrama” opened in the De Vean Gallery. Wiese’s surreal paintings are filled with crowds of stylized outlandish characters abiding in mystical landscapes. Wiese’s paintings are also for sale, a price list is available in the De Vean Gallery.

All photos by Spencer Eakin.



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