MARTIROS ADALIAN
“The figures I paint do not have “recognizable” faces and are simply faceless. The presence of a face is a distracting element taking away from the motional statement of the body,” Martiros Adalian.
Martiros Adalian was born in 1972 in Yerevan, Armenia. Surfacing from a dynasty of artists including his father, uncle, and cousins, Martiros was destined to become a painter and began his career at just three years old. Always curious about the rhythm of life, its flaws and modern, sharp-edged manifestations, Adalian depicts images of the human body, its relationships with surroundings and responses to the phenomena in nature. “My figures are constantly in a state of flow or motion, partly because the human body is never static and is ceaselessly changing and evolving, and also because my own lifestyle and character, which are all about restlessness and change, are projected into my work,” Martiros Adalian.
Martiros Adalian’s poignant work embodies chilling scenery filled with feminine forms and disturbing creatures. His large pieces are painted on the floor of his studio with the help of anything but brushes, mostly sweeping brooms. His regal female figures are angelic, Heavenly type beings. Although they are beautiful, the women exude power by confronting the viewer with a straight forward gaze as though their innocence has been corrupted by something much darker. Martiros loves to work at night in a relatively silent atmosphere. His expressive subject matter combined with canvases of colossal proportions engage audiences into searching for meaning behind such weighted exploration of human emotion and the fluidity of movement.
Shannon Richardson. "My Drummer's Dream." Oil on Canvas. 20" x 16" || Shannon Richardson. "It Is Not So Easy To Fly." Oil on Canvas. 18" x 24"
SHANNON RICHARDSON
“I approach each work as I would see a memory: vague, cloudy, undefined, just the impression of how an experience felt…It is when two perceptions intertwine that I am able to separate myself from the memory and allow objective observation and imaginative interplay to connect which creates an experience of something tangible and beautiful, yet not quite real,” Shannon Richardson.
Shannon Richardson is a Portland based artist whose work reflects her honesty to the severity of life and an undeniable sensitivity to the human condition. She has experienced an exceptional story-filled life, which enables her to produce intense and honest work at an early age. These dream-like works are derived from real life anecdotes, although the reality of the circumstance is portrayed as a fairytale. Shannon transcends the boundaries between reality and memory with an element of the fantastic. Each painting becomes a template through which we can imagine our place in the world. While using her art to both define and obliterate her past, she is able to take some of the severity of life and turn it into something beautiful and tangible. Through her art she has learned to accept and even relish her own eccentricities and imperfections, so much so that we are made privy to the idea of the irregularity of life through the sometimes grotesque beauty in her figures.
"Each painting is like a private fable, a story from real life disguised as an imaginative child’s dream. The true catalyst of inspiration becomes buried beneath layers of paint, which creates a narrative between reality and fantasy. Like an infinite parade of characters, I am never alone in my studio, there is never a lack of company, and always something interesting to discover. The process is that of a passive observer and a wildly interactive performer. They become both reflective in their roots and projective in their narrative.” -Shannon Richardson
All of our artists’ work will inspire, provoke, engage and mesmerize.
JoAnne Artman Gallery is located at 326 N. Coast Highway in Laguna Beach and is open Wednesdays-Sundays from 11-5, and by appointment. Visit the first Thursday from 6-9 pm of any month to coincide with the Laguna Beach Art Walk. Street parking is available directly in front of the Gallery as well as the Downtown Parking structure located at Glenneyre Street. Take a stroll through the galleries and studios. See art come alive in North Laguna!
