Exhibitions on view: February 26 – April 22, 2012
Opening Reception: February 25, 6:30 - 8 pm
Flights From Wonder: Christopher Chiappa, Liz Craft, Martha Friedman, FriendsWithYou, Jon Pylypchuk, Carolyn Salas, Mindy Shapero, Shinique Smith, and Phoebe Washburn
"The process of scientific discovery is, in effect, a continual flight from wonder." - Albert Einstein
"The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives." - Albert Einstein
From religious figures, such as Buddha and Jesus Christ, writers and intellectuals like Proust, Huxley, and Balzac, to scientists like Albert Einstein, we are continually reminded to cast aside our adult prejudices and approach the world from the point of view of a child. This is so because of the belief that a childlike view opens up our imaginations, allows for greater degrees of discovery, and encourages our curiosity, compassion, and wonder.
From the science laboratory to the artist’s studio, this childlike perspective forms the inspiration for Flights from Wonder at the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum (CAF) from February 26 - April 22, 2012. CAF will transform its large gallery space into an experiential, interactive contemporary arts museum for children of all ages (including the child in every one of us.) Artists include Christopher Chiappa, Liz Craft, Martha Friedman, FriendsWithYou, Jon Pylypchuk, Carolyn Salas, Mindy Shapero, Shinique Smith, and Phoebe Washburn
This exhibition is designed to empower audiences to think, play, and create through participatory experiences, engaging art-making activities, captivating artistic performances, and in-depth educational opportunities. It will inspire alternative ways to see the world through the field of art. With this exhibition, we will be posing a series of questions such as: How do children react and relate to the art of our time? How do we experience contemporary art and what can we learn from children? How do contemporary artists relate to children in their practice?
Special thanks to: The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, New York, NY, Casa Magazine, Santa Barbara, CA; The Daily Sound, Santa Barbara, CA; Jon and Lillian Lovelace, Santa Barbara, CA; Montecito Messenger; Santa Barbara Independent; Santa Barbara News-Press; Wayne McCall & Associates, Santa Barbara, CA; and X-TRA, Los Angeles, CA.
Bloom Projects: Afruz Amighi,Suspended City
Suspended City explores the often ignored and unmonumental architecture of poverty and desperation. A growing landscape of refugee camps, and their make shift tents, dot the borders of the Middle East. In Amighi's work these structures manifest as large graphite drawings, hovering in space, in a realm of permanent dislocation. Above the drawings an installation mimicking the night sky hangs. The stars are arranged in the Kufic Arabic script spelling out the Quranic surah for solace.
Afruz Amighi was born in Tehran, Iran and lives and works in New York. Amighi received a B.A. in Political Science at Barnard College and a M.F.A. from New York University in 2007. She has completed a residency program at the School of Visual Arts in New York and was selected for the Aljira Center for Contemporary Art Emerge Program in collaboration with Creative Capital (2006). Amighi will create an on-site sculptural installation at CAF based on her series of tapestry-like work inspired by Persian rugs.
Special thanks to:The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, New York, NY, Susan E. Bower Exhibition Fund, Santa Barbara, CA; Casa Magazine, Santa Barbara, CA; Brush & Associates, Santa Barbara, CA; Santa Barbara Independent; Santa Barbara News-Press; and Wayne McCall & Associates, Santa Barbara, CA.
Press Release
ADMISSION IS FREE
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Friends With You, Rainbow City Luminato, 2010, Mixed media, Dimensions variable, Courtesy the Artists
Martha Friedman, Noodle, Cast polyurethane, pigment, rope, steel, 40 in. x 43 in. x 11 ft. (height variable), Courtesy the Artist and Wallspace, New York, NY
Afruz Amigi, Locket, 2010, Stainless steel and base metal chain, 102 x 18 in., Courtesy the Artist and Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY
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