Louisa Benhissen, Social Landscapes in California and Other Works

Louisa Benhissen Social Landscapes in California and Other Works

Louisa Benhissen Social Landscapes in California and Other Works

Ar t Space on Main Depar tment of Ar t School of the Ar ts California State University, Stanislaus

300 copies printed

Louisa Benhissen - Social Landscapes in California and Other Works March 4–April 1, 2017

Art Space on Main Department of Art School of the Arts California State University, Stanislaus One University Circle Turlock, CA 95382

This exhibition and catalog have been funded by: Associated Students Instructionally Related Activities, California State University, Stanislaus

Copyright Š 2017 California State University, Stanislaus All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the publisher.

Catalog design: Brad Peatross, School of the Arts, California State University, Stanislaus Catalog printing: Claremont Print, Claremont, CA Catalog photography: Courtesy of the artist.

Photographs included are used under the permission of the artist.

ISBN: 978-1-940753-27-0

CONTE N T S Director’s Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Artist’s Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Essay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Land Without People. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Time On Your Hands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Black & White Drawings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Americana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

People. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Places. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Curriculum Vitae. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

D IRE C TO R ’S FO R E WORD Louisa Benhissen’s Social Landscapes in California and Other Works represents a chance to view the powerful work of Louisa Benhissen. With a rich and extremely varied view of the world, Louisa gives us glimpse of lives that are far from ordinary. The paintings in this exhibition show us one the regions most accomplished painters. In addition to her being a thriving professional artist, Louisa is also a passionate teacher of other artists.

A few years ago, the University Art Gallery’s exhibition titled Close to Home featured the work of the faculty of Merced College and Modesto Junior College. Through this joint exhibition a new program of solo exhibitions of our colleagues was created. Louisa is one of our colleagues from Merced College.

I have had the opportunity to interact with many of the students who received an excellent education in the arts from Merced College. Many of these students have worked with Louisa and have discussed how instrumental and supportive that she was in their arts education. I am very excited to be able to exhibit her work for others to enjoy.

I would like to thank the many colleagues that have been instrumental in presenting this exhibition: Louisa Benhissen for the wonderful opportunity of exhibiting amazing work; the School of the Arts, California State University, Stanislaus for the catalog design; and Claremont Print and Copy for the printing of this catalog.

Much gratitude is also extended to the Instructionally Related Activates Program of California State University, Stanislaus, as well as anonymous donors for the funding of the exhibition and catalogue. Their support is greatly appreciated.

Dean De Cocker, Director Art Space on Main and University Art Gallery California State University, Stanislaus

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ART IS T ’S STAT E M E N T My artistic intention is to document contrasting interactions between people, which gives my work its narrative element– I enjoy letting a story unfold in my art. Having experienced my father’s native Africa and growing up in London, exploring its urban chaos and ethnic mix, as well as being an avid traveler in adolescence, sparked my fascination with people.

From the surroundings they create for themselves to the ensuing relationship with their environment. It is an ecological study using the medium of oil paint. My subject matter started with everyday American society and culture in California suburbia–its inhabitants’ anxieties, repressed emotions and subcultures, as seen through my foreign eyes. After painting still life scenes, whose objects reflected my newly adopted country, I followed with my series, Time on Your Hands. It deals with the confined space of a strip mall and its existence as a place of escape from social reality and its consequences. The works are as much about the aesthetically interesting space of the nail salon–the harshly lit artificial environment with its candy-like knickknacks–as the customer and the crew of nail technicians. I wondered if I could capture in paint the sense of time one devotes to receiving a manicure and investigate the environment and the people involved in this suburban ritual of femininity.

Amusingly, this detailed grooming has assumed the impression of a surgical procedure. Also interesting, is the extreme contrast between the lives led by the nail technician and her sitter who are joined in a highly tactile situation for an hour or two; a break for the Californian who is usually in their own personal space. Therefore the issue of containment is also central to my subject and I am using the nail salon and strip mall as a microcosm through which to make a statement about society and generational changes.

This work led to the Service Industry series, where I followed a group of Indian women training to be nail technicians at a night class in London. My more recent series deals with lives and environments in the Central Valley of California, a place of paradox: drought stricken yet one of the most agriculturally rich areas on earth; the flatlands of the valley and the adjacent peaks of the Sierra mountain range; the juxtaposition of natives and tourists. Land Without Tourists, is my first painting exploring how 21st century people experience and interact with the rugged and hostile natural environments in the Sierra. Is a direct, profound connection and transcendental moment experienced or not? The issues of containment and time arise again in my work: paradoxically we are restricting and limiting our involvement with wild and open spaces.

Technological distraction and efficiency has fostered self-obsession and detachment from “slow” time which results in a superficial “non-experience”. Can we still encounter a sublime moment or are we numb?

Louisa Benhissen

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E SS AY James Galvan once wrote that the real world is “indifferent, unburdened.” He was referring to the uninhabited natural world far removed from human influence. Having been raised in a very isolated natural environment, I tend to reference things through a similar filter and I can recall travelling with my family through the flatlands of the San Joaquin Valley when I was young thinking, How could anyone live here?

When I look at Benhissen’s Land Without People, I can’t reconcile the imposition of humanity on nature. The girls at the waterfall are tourists glued to their phones and Land Without Tourists only confirms our society moving away from the natural into something more phony: ready, set, smile. I brush aside these tacky interventions the same way I roll my eyes at the blonde in the Time on Your Hands section or the obnoxious mom cackling on her cell phone in the restaurant last night.

By the time we reach Nail Appointment and Nail Fetish the natural world is completely obliterated. Instead, we face things as superficial as personal grooming and telephones (again). In the former the real world is hyper-interpersonal; the woman not only talks on the phone–she stares at it, and the dog stares at her staring at the phone.The computer and TV screens in the background suggest we aren’t far from even more natural wonders, and the trash can between them allow plenty of room for some well-deserved irony. Other images in Time on Your Hands reveal a serious industry dedicated to fingernails! But listen to me doing it again; my condescending attitude is simply the fact that I am unable to allow the human world to be as real and authentic as Galvan’s. I’m still seeing what I want to see.

The truth is that my thoughts about fellow humans are as flawed as what I conclude about them. Yet narratives captured in images like Benhissen’s can help us do one thing that is proven to be biologically programmed into our primitive minds–empathize. To gather real meaning from experience, I have to look at people as more than snobs in salons or lost fools clogging natural environments I feel belong to me and Galvan. If I am to reconcile my own arrogance, I have to reimagine these narratives apart from the surroundings I so despise–not slap them together just because they occur in the same place.

To live here I have to apologize to Galvan and tell him there are more real worlds than just his. If not, then I’m the one who becomes indifferent, unburdened. And then maybe the two girls in Benhissen’s waterfall are having the time of their lives and maybe one will become a geologist who will someday defend the natural world from self-absorbed consumers like me. Or maybe the people in Land Without Tourists are involved in a deeply complicated moment and the awkwardness is part of a desperate attempt to cling to something less painful than the truth. Maybe the blonde can only forget her cancer momentarily at the salon where she doesn’t feel so alone, or perhaps the Service Industry woman I want to identify as a victim of class economics is actually a mean boss other employees hate. Aren’t these made-up backstories as valid as the snap judgements my liberal mind makes with such ease?

Images like Benhissen’s help me find empathy through narrative and replace arrogance with a desire for discovery. They remind me that if I’m not willing to at least try, then perhaps it is me who should be judged.

Jory Taber

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Land Without People

Yosemite Falls Through a Screen, oil on linen, 40” x 30”, 2016 7

Land Without Tourists, oil on linen, 30” x 40”, 2015

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Day of the Dead: Central Valley, CA, oil on linen, 20” x 30”, 2014

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Time On Your Hands

Service Industry, oil on linen, 30” x 40”, 2011

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L.A. Nails, oil on linen, 30” x 40”, 2009

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You’re Doing it All Wrong, oil on wood panel, 24” x 16”, 2008 12

Nail Candy, oil on wood panel, 20” x 16”, 2008

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Nail Appointment at Allington House, oil on canvas, 40” x 30”, 2008

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Nail Fetish in British Bathroom, oil on canvas paper, 16” x 12”, 2009

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Black & White Drawings

Nail Fetish, graphite on paper, 2009

Admiration, graphite on paper, 2009

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Nail Inspector, graphite on paper, 9 ½” x 14”, 2008

Closer Inspection, graphite on paper, 6” x 8 ¾”, 2008 17

Drawing for L.A. Nails, graphite on paper, 9 ½” x 14”, 2009

Drawing for Neon Box, graphite on paper, 6” x 9 ½”, 2009 18

Drawing for You’re Doing it All Wrong, graphite on paper, 9 1/8”x 6 1/8”, 2008

Drawing for Nail Candy, graphite on paper, 9 1/8” x 6 1/8”, 2008 19

Americana

Americana, oil on canvas, 20”x 16”, 2004

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People

Self-Portrait, oil on canvas, 10” x 10”, 2009

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Portrait of Ira, oil on canvas, 14”x 11”, 2009

Study of man facing light, oil on canvas, 10” x 10”, 2008 22

Study of medieval model, oil on canvas, 20” x 16”, 2008

Study of hipster, oil on canvas, 14” x 12”, 2008 23

Study of man with walrus moustache, oil on canvas, 14” x 11”, 2008

Model in green scarf, oil on canvas, 14” x 11”, 2008 24

Study of large-eyed model, oil on canvas, 24” x 18”, 2008

Study of Earl, oil on canvas, 24” x 18”, 2006 25

Study of two strangers, oil on canvas, 24” x 18”, 2006

Friends, oil on canvas, 18” x 24”, 2007 26

Study after bath, oil on canvas, 24” x 18”, 2006

Allen the Faithful, oil on canvas, 18” x 24”, 2004 27

Places

Mezzanine at St. Vibiana’s Church, oil on canvas, 16” x 20”, 2008

Doorway at St. Vibiana’s Church, oil on canvas, 2008

Venice Beach in April, oil on canvas, 11” x 14”, 2008

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Woman on sofa at The Brewery Studio, oil on canvas panel, 14” x 11”, 2008

The Brewery Corridor, oil on canvas panel, 12” x 9”, 2008

The Brewery Foyer, Watercolor on paper, 14” x 11”, 2009

Studio in Venice Beach, oil on canvas, 14” x 11”, 2008

L.A. Warehouse Kitchen, Watercolor on paper, 11” x 14”, 2008

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LOUISA B E NHI SSE N CURRICULUM VITAE BORN Harrow, Greater London, U.K. RESIDES Merced, CA, USA EDUCATION 2006–2008

2002–2006

2001–2002 2000–2001

1993–2000

Laguna College of Art and Design, Laguna Beach, CA, USA M.F.A. Fine Art, Drawing and Painting Laguna College of Art and Design, Laguna Beach, CA, USA B.F.A. Fine Art, Drawing and Painting California State University, Fullerton, CA, USA Camberwell College of Art (part of the London Art Institute), London, UK B.T.E.C. Foundation in Fine Art, Drawing and Painting South Hampstead High School, London, UK

TEACHING EXPERIENCE 2015–present Faculty Co-Lead of the Fine and Performing Arts department, Merced College, Merced, CA 2009–present Professor of Art, tenured, at Merced College, Merced, CA 2009 Visiting artist, South Williamsport Area High School, South Williamsport, PA 2007–2008 MFA in Drawing and Painting Teaching Assistant, Laguna College of Art & Design, Laguna Beach, CA RELATED EXPERIENCE 2016 Curator, Merced Multicultural Art Center, Merced, CA 2007–2008 Assistant Director of Sales, Verna Glancy Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA 2005–2007 Assistant Gallery Director, Contemporary Chinese Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2017 Social Landscapes in California and Other Works, Art Space on Main, California State University, Stanislaus, CA.

Social Landscapes in California and Other Works, Merced Multicultural Arts Centre, Merced, CA 2016 California Journey: South to Central, Merced College Art Gallery, Merced, CA 2015 Expatriation, Hiram W. Johnson State Office Building, San Francisco, CA GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2016 Dia de Los Muertos, The Neutra Institute Museum and Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

California Fine Art, California State Fair, Sacramento, CA

Salon at the Triton, Triton Museum of Art, Charlotte Eyerman, Ph.D, Juror, Santa Clara, CA 2015 Faculty Exhibition, Merced College Art Gallery, Merced, CA

Laguna College of Art and Design Annual Collectors Choice Juried Art Auction and Fundraiser, Laguna Beach, CA

Crocker-Kingsley Competition and Exhibition, Gregory Kondos, Juror, Blue Line Arts, Roseville, CA 2014 Faculty Exhibition, Merced College Art Gallery, Merced, CA 2014 Dia de Los Muertos, Ruben Sanchez, Curator, Merced Multicultural Art Centre, Merced, CA 2013 Faculty Exhibition, Merced College Art Gallery, Merced, CA 2012 Faculty Exhibition, Merced College Art Gallery, Merced, CA 2012 Close to Home, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, CA 2011 Faculty Exhibition, Merced College Art Gallery, Merced, CA 2010 Faculty Exhibition, Merced College Art Gallery, Merced, CA 2010 Autumn Affaire, Merced College Learning Resources Center, Merced, CA 2009 Laguna College of Art and Design MFA Graduate Exhibition, Arena 1, Santa Monica, CA 2009 Los Angeles Secret Art Show, Wilshire Country Club, Los Angeles, CA. 2008 The Regent Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

Laguna College of Art and Design MFA Group Show, Elena del Rio, Curator, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Culver City, CA

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2007

2005

2004

Laguna College of Art and Design MFA Group Show, Peter Frank, Curator, Arena 1, Santa Monica, CA Brewery Art Walk, I-5 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Laguna Beach City Hall, Laguna Beach, CA Capturing the Force of Stillness Juried exhibit, Fairhaven Mausoleum, CA Brewery Art Walk, I-5 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Morningside Country Club, Rancho Mirage, CA Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA Solo exhibition at Bella Gallery, Lake Elsinore, CA Gallery 821 Annual Summer Show, Laguna Beach, CA The Best of the Best: An Annual Juried Exhibition, Laguna College of Art & Design, CA Open Studio Exhibition, Canyon Lake Art Association, Canyon Lake, CA One-man show at The Lighthouse Restaurant, Canyon Lake, CA The Best of the Best: An Annual Juried Exhibition, Laguna College of Art & Design, CA Gallery 821 Annual Summer Show, Laguna Beach, CA Open Studio Exhibition, Canyon Lake Art Association, Canyon Lake, CA

AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS 2016 Award of Merit in Oil Painting, California Fine Art, California State Fair, Sacramento, CA 2004 Best Sophomore Painting, Fine Art Award at The Best of the Best: An Annual Juried Exhibition,

Laguna College of Art and Design gallery, CA 1995–1998 Orchestral violinist with performances at St. Martins in the Fields, London, UK

Soprano in SHHS Singers:

Consecutive gold awards at the International Musical Eisteddfod, Wales, UK

Performances at the Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Buckingham Palace, the White House

and International Musical Eisteddfod.

Performance with Luciano Pavarotti BIBLIOGRAPHY 2011–present Exhibition coverage in Modesto Bee, Sacramento Bee, Merced County Times, Merced Sun Star.

2012 Close to Home, Catalogue, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, CA. 2009 Laguna College of Art and Design MFA Graduate Exhibition, Catalogue, Arena 1, Santa Monica, CA. 2005 Orange County Coast Magazine, First Steps, December.

2005 Entertainment Roundup, Visually Appealing Masterpieces, September.

2005 The Friday Flyer, Artist Reception, September.

2005 The Friday Flyer, Young Artist Making her Mark, April.

AFFILIATIONS Member, Tate museums, London, UK Friend, Royal Academy of Art, London, UK Member, American Association of University Women (AAUW) Member, Merced County Arts Council Member, Mariposa County Arts Council SELECTED COLLECTIONS Mr. & Mrs. Susan and Eliot Black, CT, USA Mr. Paul Dodd, Toronto, Canada Mr. Robert Waring, Leeds, UK Mr. Peter Reynen, NY, USA Liuzza family, Sicily Flick family, PA, USA Dr. Sherry Bell, CA, USA Dr. Benjamin Duran, CA, USA Mr. Trevor Fisher Esq. UK Channell family, London, UK

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AC K NOW LE D GM E N TS California State University, Stanislaus

Dr. Ellen Junn, President

Dr. Kimberly Greer, Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs

Dr. James A. Tuedio, Dean, College of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Department of Art

Dr. Roxanne Robbin, Chair, Professor

Dean De Cocker, Professor

Daniel Edwards, Assistant Professor

Jessica Gomula-Kruzic, Professor

David Olivant, Professor

Gordon Senior, Professor

Richard Savini, Professor

Dr. Staci Scheiwiller, Assistant Professor

Meg Broderick, Administrative Support Assistant II

Andrew Cain, Instructional Technician I

Jon Kithcart, Equipment Technician II

Art Space on Main

Dean De Cocker, Director

Nikki Boudreau, Gallery Assistant

This catalog is dedicated to the memory of Robert Charles King A writer, mentor and close family friend His infinitely wise advice encouraged “Make sure you keep painting�

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