This Thursday December 29, enjoy a closing night art party for the “December Group Art Exhibition” from 5:00pm – 8:30pm. If you haven’t noticed, there’s a new gallery at Bergamot Station Arts Center. Beyond the Lines Gallery, which opened in October, has been attracting lots of attention with its lively art parties (for both opening and closing events) which also feature live music…and you know Mama’s a big fan of that.

I love that gallerist Brittany Davis is a talented artist as well. “I have always loved putting things together and creating little sculptures of some sort since I was a child,” explained Davis. “I really started creating art in 2011, when I went into the Fine Art Sculpture Program at the Academy of Art in San Francisco.”

For the last couple of years, Davis has been producing and curating pop shows throughout Los Angeles. I asked her what she thought about during pop-ups versus owning her own gallery. She replied,“There are things I really enjoy about having pop up events that are very, very, different from running a gallery. And I may still have some pop up events in the future. But running a gallery and having control of the space all the time puts me in a much better position to properly show all the artwork and represent the work.”

Artist Stephanie Visser will feature four works in the group exhibition. The holidays always bring to mind family and Visser told me about how her art is intertwined with her hometown experiences. This past summer, Visser returned to her home in Lake Michigan. She was invited to participate in an exhibition which featured four other artists that grew up there. “As an artist it was fascinating to see just how our place of origin had and still affects our artistic voices even though all of us were in decidedly different genres and live all across the united states. The big body of water and the difficult long months of intense winter drove all of us inward. Obviously not much else to do in 20 below temperatures and 10 feet of snow that easily lasted from November to April.”

Stephanie Visser, Inception #6, untitled, 72×48

Visser is currently working hard to complete a new series that she has dubbed the six. She said she is hopeful that she will complete all six large works by the end of the year…or perhaps …just in time for Christmas! http://stephanievisser.com/

Another artist that Davis is excited about is Rude Calderon, a stone sculptor. Davis said she was amazed by his work and how he creates them. “Stones have so much life to them in their textures and colors. Breaking figures out from within them. They will take your breath away to see in person.”

An established artist, Calderon has been in the art biz for over thirty years working in various media. “Painting was my first objective the first years of art education, but I also worked clay, assemblage and found objects, as well as multi-media installation where I incorporate stones and carved sculptures.” Calderon cited the work of contemporary Mexican sculptor, Javier Marin as a big inspiration. http://www.rudecalderon.com/

On view: December 3 – December 29

What: Opening reception
Where: Beyond the Lines Gallery, Bergamot Station, (G8), 2525 Michigan Avenue, SM, 90404
When:  5:00pm – 8:30pm – Thursday, December 29, 2017

2022 Update: Beyond the Lines Gallery has closed its doors along with its website.