Starting THIS Week….LA Art Party will now post weekend events on THURSDAY at NOON….We are adjusting our schedule to help you plan your weekend early. Summer is over kids…and this weekend is THE busiest weekend of the year!  So get out there!

Our Pick of the Week takes place this Saturday, POW-PR Lezley Saar - Monad - Cellestial BridgeSeptember 6th at Merry Karnowsky Gallery.

This gallery knows how to throw a fun art party. Offering cutting edge art, MK Gallery attracts an intelligent younger art crowd, who appreciates the true value of collecting. YOU Must RSVP for this one…and do it quick. There is always a line to get in this popular gallery.

RSVP Essential to RSVP@mkgallery.com

See image: Celestial Bridge, Acrylic and digital photos on fabric on board, 20×16″

Here’s MK Gallery’s take:

Merry Karnowsky Gallery presents Lezley Saar’s latest exhibition “Monad.” In this exhibition, Saar brings vibrant color and her classical Victorian figures into concepts of philosophical truth and metaphysical reality.

Gottfried Leibniz defined Monad as “an unextended, indivisible and indestructible entity that is the basic or ultimate constituent of the universe, and a microcosm of it.”

Lezley Saar’s latest exhibition, “Monad,” depicts mixed media paintings of Victorian women traversing the galaxy on colorful, human-cell planets. The women’s expressions in Saar’s mitochondrial universe are tinged with melancholic resignation.

SePOW-Sat-Sept7-MKGallery-LezleySaar1e image:Not Born Under a Rhyming Planet, Acrylic and digital photos on fabric on board, 24×18″

Both the reversal of scale and a contradictory sensation of stillness while traveling through space prevails in the stories of these fictitious, cell-bound ladies. Pairing these women from a bygone era with the minutely detailed, quasi-technical renderings of magnified human cells evokes an equilibrium upheaval. Using a disparity of mediums (fabric, acrylic paints and digital photos) augments the Surrealism in the composition.

This series stems from mysticism and metaphysics, specifically Madame Blavatsky’s “Secret Doctrine” published in 1888, which espouses the belief that the microcosm and macrocosm are connected. From the individual human cell, to a human being, to earth, to the solar system, to the universe, there lies a common paradigm of a living organism. In other words; as above so below.

There are also several collages depicting surreal, biological musings that explore the theme of the interconnectivity between all beings.

Also on view is a group exhibition featuring Caleb POW-MKGallery-SashieBrown, devNgosha, Hell’O Monsters, Seonna Hong, Travis Louie, Nathan Ota and Masakatsu Sashie; Parallel Universe.

See image: Masakatsu Sashie, Oneway, Oil on canvas, 25.5 x 21″

Sometimes complex and ambiguous surrealism speaks most clearly to the reality we experience everyday. In the exhibition ‘Parallel Universe’ a group of 9 artists have delved into the dark and engaging space of alternate worlds, portraying unusual settings and fantastic scenes in a retro-modern style. Tapping into the influence of modern technology in the age of media takeover, these pieces hold a contorted mirror to the world in which we live.

Imaginary spaces filled with oddities, mythical creatures, and a personalization of machinery, wash through the canvases to create a compelling tapestry of the modern age. Many of these artists have incorporated technological signifiers into the landscapes of their environments, examining how innate it has become to our everyday lives. Pieces can be viewed as a cultural allegory, reflecting the artist’s interpretation of the world today, prompting a personal reflection on the part of the viewer. Nature is also present, entangled in sweeping brushstrokes and tangled abstraction.

EPOW-Sat-Sept6-MerryKarnowsky-Caleb Brown Otter City 2ach artist has been influenced by several factors in the process of creating these pieces. Graffiti artistry, Japanese history, and American Popular Culture are just a few of the outstanding themes expressed in varying degrees. Step into the multiple universes — both layered and parallel to our own – that these artists have opened the doors to.

See image: Cale Brown, Otter City 2, oil on canvas, 25×28″

RSVP Essential to RSVP@mkgallery.com

What: Opening reception
Where: Merry Karnowsky Gallery 170 S. La Brea Ave. (In the Art 170 Building), LA 90036
When: 8:00 pm – 11:00 pm  – September 6th 
Phone: 323.933.4408
Website: http://www.mkgallery.com