Well it’s time for the Weekend Update…..and Saturday is the day to get out there and enjoy some great art parties.

At Bergamot Station, Skdimore Contemporary Art hosts an opening reception for artist Dennis Ziemienski. His new show is entitled “Cocktails” New Paintings.

The Pick of the week is this Saturday, Santa Monica Art Studios hosts a group show.  Artist Brooke Harker is one of the artists featured in Saturday’s exhibition.

Harker most recently showed her work as part of a group exhibition at Destroy Rebuild Repeat Gallery in Santa Monica. As I write this, she is on her way to NYC to connect with New York’s thriving art scene.

I had a chance to catch up with the busy artist and ask her some questions about what she will be showing….

Harker explains, “I lived in Tokyo one summer and worked for the Tokyo American Embassy with children. In my free time, I prided myself in wandering the city, getting on subways not knowing where they were going, and taking photos. My camera at the time was not digital…so developing 20 rolls of film upon return to the states was quite a treat. It was exciting to see what I had captured. Generally the reunion with images brought a mix of feeling that I had discovered treasure, then the disappointment of learning that I had not captured everything that I had seen with my eyes on film. “Tokyo Night 1″ drew inspiration from one of my many photos from that summer, taken out the window of a moving vehicle.”

See imaage: “Tokyo Night 1,” ink, oil and acrylic on canvas, 36″ x 36 ” by Brooke Harker 2012

Harker admitted she was excited to show her work at the Santa Monica Art Studios. “I have always wanted to show at the Santa Monica Art Studios,” says Harker. “I love the work of so many of the artists who show or have shown there and have returned many times over the years to see the works and progress of many of the artists. Besides the facility itself being beautiful, I enjoy being able to see so much art in once place, only parking the car one time and be part of the crowd of bustling art patrons and a lovely atmosphere.”

Santa Monica Studios is home to over 30 artists, painters, printmakers, photographers, sculptors and mixed media artists. Its annual art walk takes place on March 16th and offers an eclectic mix of art.

Additional artists include: Lyle Carbajal, Rachel Furman, Dara Isaacs, Cristina Parovel, Isaura Sanchez, Robert Stark, Patrick and Adam Wilkinson.

Also on view in Arena 1 is another group show featuring the students of Laguna College of Art and Design.  At the end of each spring semester the MFA students mount a group Thesis Exhibition in the Los Angeles area. The MFA Thesis Exhibition is a visual statement representing the culmination of each students’ graduate painting and drawing research and contains work that centers around their particular conceptual objectives.

The exhibitions will be held from June 1-12 and from June 15-25. Artists include: Junghwa Hong, Kirsten Van Mourick, Chris Slaymaker, Timothy Robert Smith and Eric Almanza (June 1 – June 12) and Robin Cole Smith, Alla Bartoshchuk, Evgenia Willis, Robin Hextrum and Regina Jacobson (from June 15 – June 25). The opening reception for the 2nd exhibition will be held on Saturday June 15 from 6-9pm.

Major works from each artist’s series will be exhibited in addition to drawings and small painted studies. This exhibition contains work of the highest professional quality in the discipline of representational painting and drawing.

The exhibition runs through June 25th.

What: Opening reception
Where: The Santa Monica Art Studios, 3026 Airport Avenue in Santa Monica 90405
When: Saturday June 1st, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Website: http://www.santamonicaartstudios.com/