Skidmore Contemporary Art celebrates two artists. Here is info on the artists by Michael Zakian, Director of Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art Pepperdine University.

“Bradley Hankey is a master at painting skies. As an artist, he has the rare ability to turn pigment into glowing light. His paintings are luminous fields that shine with a vibrant energy. They pulse and move, as if they were alive. Each painting captures a different type of light and was inspired by a specific sky, seen at a unique time and place. In Hankey’s hands, they become universal symbols of transcendent tranquility. They define the special beauty of Los Angeles.

These paintings reflect Hankey’s love affair with Southern California. A native of Oregon, he grew up under the dark, gray skies of the Pacific Northwest. After attending art school at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, he moved to the west coast and settled in Los Angeles. His deep affection for his adopted home is recorded in his art. Although each image began with something seen at a particular moment, he transforms his source into something timeless.”

“Clay Vorhes is fascinated by cake counters. When you go into a bakery, you are immediately confronted with a wide variety of enticing sweets. They are there to allure, delight, and tempt you. These paintings are about sumptuousness and extravagance. Cakes are always carefully decorated to seem more special, more appealing. Vorhes loves to paint these rich patterns of decoration. He lets the paint become frosting; frosting becomes paint. In this rich alchemical transformation, food and art become one.

Clay Vorhes, Bakeshop Case, 2019, oil on canvas, 36″ x 48″

Vorhes studied with famed painter Wayne Thiebaud, whose role as a caring mentor is seen in the art. These two artists are close friends and Vorhes has learned a lot from his guide. Thiebaud is a realist whose work is full of colorful invention. Vorhes absorbed the craft of painting but he also learned how to invent new shapes and colors to give vivid life to his paintings. His clever and creative variations of form lend his paintings a joyous charm and whimsy.”

On view: May 4 – June 8, 2019; Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 9—5pm

Where: Skidmore Contemporary Art (Bergamot Station, (B-4) 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica, 90404
Website: https://skidmorecontemporaryart.com