Flux Art Space in Long Beach held an artists’ reception on Sunday, Dec. 8 for its new “Small Works in Flux” art exhibit.
As its name suggests, Small Works in Flux showcases small works of art in a shifting curation.
“I made a point of asking for work that was 8 inches or smaller,” Betsy Lohrer Hall, Flux Art Space curator, said. “The idea was that it’s going to be a rotating exhibition over the next few weeks. So, this is the first installation. Then, the works that [are] old will go to new homes, and other works will come in their place, and it’s going to shift and change. I couldn’t have this many artists in the space if the works were bigger.”
Betsy hopes that having smaller, more affordable pieces available for purchase close to the holidays will encourage people to buy them as gifts.
[aesop_image img=”https://signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/hmongnewyearsandsmallworks-051.jpg” panorama=”off” align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”The artists’ reception for ‘Small Works in Flux’ art exhibit at Flux Art Space on Sunday, Dec. 8. The goal was to showcase miniature works of art to encourage people to buy them this holiday season.” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]“Part of the idea with holiday shows is [that] small works are more affordable,” Betsy said. “People can buy them for themselves or as gifts.”
Many of the participating artists were present at the reception to talk to attendees and each other about their artwork.
Adrienne DeVine’s wire art piece “One Step Two Step,” is one of the small works of art being showcased. DeVine noted that her wire pieces are meant to be suspended, as the movement adds to the effect of the artwork.
“They could be on the wall, but I like to suspend them,” DeVine told the Signal Tribune. “And then they capture the cast shadows [at] different times of day. So you see the forms, see the shadows. The shadows actually become part of the work. It’s fascinating to me.”
DeVine is a Pasadena artist that creates works of art out of wire that often use spiral patterns and incorporate other elements such as stones and raffia within them. She will be doing another showcase at Flux Art Space in April 2020.
Richard Dumas Hall, husband of Betsy, is also exhibiting a series of pieces in Small Works in Flux titled “Out of the Ashes,” consisting of hand forged steel pieces. Hall has worked in the steel industry and has been sculpting for three decades. His familiarity with steel work later inspired his artwork.
“I’ve been making sculptures since the 80s,” Richard told the Signal Tribune. “And I used to work in the steel industry, fabricating high-rise buildings. So I know a great deal about steel fabrication. And when I discovered that heat would help alter the surface or the nature of the steel, I became quite interested in blacksmithing because my background was in clay sculpture and casting bronze. But it’s such a long laborious process that I found that there was a certain immediacy in working with steel, because I could realize the shape and the form without going through the nine or 10 steps I had to get through to get a bronze sculpture.”
The exhibit showcases works of art by over 60 Southern Californian artists in a wide range of mediums such as textile, photography, wax, collage, drawing, painting and metal.
Flux Art Space was opened in October 2018, and works to promote a wide range of artists in both solo and group shows.
“I wanted to invite a cross section of artists,” Betsy told the Signal Tribune. “From artists who are just starting out, to artists who are well established and have been showing in museums and internationally. I wanted to connect artists with each other, and also sort of highlight artists in Southern California. A lot of them are from Long Beach, but a lot of them are also from other parts of the Southern California region.”
