TLuMartinGallerieshis Thursday, the Laguna Beach art walk takes place. In conjunction with the event, Lu Martin Galleries holds a reception for a solo exhibition titled “Into The City” featuring the art of Brooke Harker. If you can’t make it Thursday, there is also an additional reception this Saturday November 7, 2015. Harker will be doing some live painting at the Saturday event from 2:00pm to 6:00pm. Jennifer Verge’s art will also be on view. See more details at the bottom of this article.

See additional info from the gallery: Brooke Harker is a contemporary American artist based in Los Angeles, California. Her lively paintings of cityscapes are characterized by energetic strokes layered in ink, acrylic and thick oil paint on canvas to display playful expressions of urban and coastal scenes.

BrookeHarker1See image: Brooke Harker, “Corner of Pearl” medium: ink, oil &acrylic on canvas, dimensions: 90″ x 60″ x 3.75″

This current collection entitled “Into The City” is the culmination of her artistic endeavor to express on canvas the big city environment, the amplitude of its energies, and the curious activities of its inhabitants bustling underneath a canopy of concrete. As an artist sketching and photographing in cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Tokyo, or Hong Kong, Brooke first allows her senses to simply observe and absorb. Among the visual cacophony she eventually finds herself attracted to specific details, accentuating those with her brush, while quieting others: streetlights, signs, colorful backpacks or purses, interesting passersby. Brooke never knows what will catch her eye, although she is predictably excited when cyclists, umbrellas or taxis pass through her compositions, for they especially stoke her imagination. Behind each detail, Brooke imagines a personal story and wonders about the lives associated with them. Sometimes she doesn’t need to imagine, as random people often approach her and volunteer their personal stories, which she loves!

“To me painting is essentially storytelling. I come from a background of theatre, and painting is another form of theatre in creating illusions with line, color and texture. I think the story in any painting is not only in the image it represents but in the life required to convey its energy.” – Brooke Harker

SBrookeHarker-Paintingee image: Brooke Harker painting Ghent, Belgium inspired by the photography of Steve Lammertyn

“Brooke Harker looks at the world with a very sharp eye. She describes what she sees as so many networks of structures, setting up a web of impressions that reveal both the strange and the familiar in ordinary and spectacular places alike. In this way, Harker gives these places a new texture and a new consistency…one we never saw before — but may have sensed down deep. Brooke Harker’s approach to the image of a city – of any environment, actually, but a city’s most particularly – insists that our experience of a place emerges from a wealth of phenomena, smaller and larger, interacting and giving one another a reason to exist.” – Peter Frank – Art critic, curator

For more info about artist Brooke Harker, see her website

LuMartinGalleries-JenniferVerge-2014-In-theMomentJennifer Verge will be showing five works at the gallery. She said she is excited to show her work and will be in attendance at both the Thursday and Saturday event.

See image: Jennifer Verge, 2014 In the Moment Acrylic Mixed Media on Panel 48 x 36-2

“This painting was inspired by a conversation with a friend. Sometimes everything you want is on the other side of what you are afraid of, we confuse fear with exhilaration. Take the leap…live in the moment and enjoy every second!!!”

To find out more about the art of Jennifer Verge, visit her website.

What: Opening reception
Where: Lu Martin Galleries, 372 North Coast Hwy. Laguna Beach, CA 92651
When: Thursday, Nov 5, 6-9pm & Saturday, Nov 7, 2pm-5pm
Phone: 949-494-8074
Website: LuMartinGalleries.com