Opening | West Los Angeles College Art Gallery

Art Exhibition: "Newman's Subconscious" a group exhibition curated by Suzanne Adelman & Keith Walsh

Exhibition Dates: October 19th - December 4th, 2009.
Gallery Reception: Tuesday, Oct. 27th from 6:00-9:00 PM.

Gallery Hours: Mon.-Fri., 10:00am-4:00pm

This show will feature artworks by: Aaron Brewer, Kristin Beinner James, Suzanne Adelman, Pamela Jorden, Kristi Lippire, Christopher James, Tracy Miller, John Pearson, Ernie Ramirez,
Keith Walsh and Matt Wardell.

"Newman’s Subconscious"

In touching upon the issue of identity and shared consciousness, the objective of this show is to stimulate confusion and contemplation around it's subject matter: Newman’s Subconscious.

The group of artists selected in this show have the skills and sensibilities to articulate a range of viewpoints that highlight the confusion of the subject: Which ‘Newman’ are we speaking of? The artists may address the question of the subject by way of means not limited to formalism, popular imagery, high/low cultural juxtapositions, the esoteric, ephemera, spirituality, art history, and music. Some ‘Newman’ subjects may be living, some have passed on, others are fictitious. Regardless of their corporeality or not, each shares one that ultimately reflects a facet of America’s own character and culture.

Recent scientific research has shown that we can 'read' or enter each other's minds by way of reading expressions that set off a firing of mirror neurons. The brain is activated in the same way for both the subject and the receiver. As well, very specific areas of our brains have been mapped while picturing a variety of objects. Perhaps conscious or not, this mapping points to an amalgam of culture and shared identity within us. But then again...what exactly is a subconscious and who knows what is lurching in the neurological alchemy and accumulated warehouse of each other's minds?

Within this mediating capacity, between the process of the artwork and what the spectator brings to the gallery, art is therefore in the service of role-playing, exploring the nature of the self, and the nature of itself, as a mirror of shared consciousness.

West Los Angeles College Art Gallery
4800 Freshman Dr.
Culver City, CA 90230
310-287-4200
http://www.wlac.edu/