Sergott Contemporary Art
Hung Viet Nguyen, Ancient Pine #13, 2016, oil on panel, 48” x 60”
LA Art Show 2017 Catalogue
Introduction To mark the beginning of 2017, SCA is proud to present our esteemed collection of emerging and established artists from the U.S., Mexico, and South America, during our 4th year as a participant at LA Art Show (BOOTH #808).
Exhibiting Artists Joe Caroff
Maidy Morhous
Liam Dean
Hung Viet Nguyen
Nina K
Tatewaki Nio
De La Torre Brothers
Robert Pendleton
Mauricio Garrido
Fred Ploeger
Emily Halpern
Momilani Ramstrum
Peggy Hinaekian
Karrie Ross
Beliz Iristay
Jiela Rufeh
Barbara Kolo
Deanne Sabeck
Jeffrey Laudenslager
Alan Soffer
Echo Lew
Joe Caroff b. U.S.A.
“Caroff’s work is about the vital inner world of the artist as well as a response to the broader world and current events. Often suggestive narrative elements seep into abstract forms. Color accents the monochromatic. Forms define negative and positive space. Lines interface and rise from the surface. Through his work, Joe Caroff strives to unify diverse aesthetics and influences to create a unique internal harmony. His intuitive process – guided by the interaction between line, color and space – defines the direction of each work as it evolves.” – Tracy L. Adler, Director of the Ruth and Elmer Wlin Museum of Art
Fable, 2010 acrylic and Arches on board 23” x 30” (framed)
Gestures 7, 2012 mixed media 19” x 19” (framed)
Gestures 8, 2012 mixed media 19” x 19” (framed)
Liam Dean b. U.S.A.
“Despite wielding such a clear aesthetic throughout a varied catalogue of work, Liam has no formal training as a painter. In 2009, while writing his first novel, he was inexplicably called to purchase a canvas and paints from a local art store and began painting in the living room of his Philadelphia apartment. He has been a professional artist ever since. Over the last seven years, Liam’s work has been displayed and sold in galleries, design showrooms, restaurants, and private businesses. In 2016, Liam moved his studio and collection to the West Coast, and can now be found making and showcasing his work at Naivasha Studio & Gallery in the vibrant North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. What began as a prescription for writer’s block unfurled into a sophisticated body of work expressing a style which confidently stands apart from what is typically regarded as “Abstract”. To date, he has made and sold over 500 original paintings, capturing the admiration and loyalty of private collectors across the United States and internationally.” –Artist’s website
Pompeii, 2016 mixed media 31.5” x 49.5”
Infinity, 2016 mixed media 25.5” x 78”
Nina K b. Croatia, lives and works in the U.S.A.
Nina K’s work has been described as “explosive”. A burst of passion sweeps over the expanse of canvas with a sense of color magnetism. Her developed technique of thick layers of oil color is applied until her vision is achieved in rich textures and dimensions. “Color, combined with my love of design and texture, is what has always inspired me to paint,” she says. This inspiration is drawn from a “kaleidoscope of colors found in nature, vivid blue skies, turquoise oceans and majestic orange sunsets [that] enlighten my expression.”
SPECTRUM, 2016 oil painting 68” x 54”
De La Torre Brothers b. Mexico, lives and works in both Mexico and the U.S.A.
“Brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre were born in Guadalajara, México (1963 & 1960), where they grew up until a sudden family move to California in 1972. They are presently living and working on both sides of the border with studios in Ensenada, Mexico and San Diego, California. Jamex started flame-working glass in 1977, attended California State University at Long Beach, and received a BFA in Sculpture in 1983. Einar started work with glass in 1980, while also attending California State University at Long Beach. In the 1980s, they ran a flame-worked glass figure business while also developing their assemblage style of work. In the early 90s, they began working collaboratively as studio artists; later in the decade, they began work in installation art with participations in Biennales such as inSITE and Mercosul (Brazil). In the year 2000, the brothers began their work in public art; they now have six major projects completed. They have exhibited their work internationally, participating in exhibits in France, Japan, Canada, Germany, Venezuela, and Brazil, as well as the US and Mexico.” –Mindy Solomon Gallery
East Block, 2016 Lenticular print (ed. of 6 commissioned by the University of Notre Dame) 52" x 40"
Miclantecuhtli, 2011 archival print, resin casting, and mixed media 48" x 36"
Tara’s Temple, 2011 archival print, resin casting, and mixed media 48" x 36"
Mauricio Garrido Chile
The world of the visual artist Mauricio Garrido is surrealist, exuberant, complex and dark all at the same time. Garrido’s work has been categorized as neo-Baroque and takes on various forms of expression, such as sculpture, collage, textiles and video art. His work reviews codes of representation throughout the history of art, and is particularly centered on the figure as allegory as a method of synthesized narration. The idea of found materials has been present as a way of transitioning towards an existence of a visual operandi. His work is made from the collection of found papers in the diverse regions of the world where he has travelled especially to find them. Recently, those papers were collected by the world and his art took the form of a trip. His artwork has been exhibited in Europe, Asia and Latin America and can be found in important public and private collections. He is currently preparing a monumental showing of his work at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chile (MAC Quinta Normal).
Pin Ups 4, 2003 collage 12” x 17” Calypso, 2015 collage 44” x 32.5”
Parsifal, 2015 collage 44” x 32.5”
Emily Halpern b. U.S.A.
“My paintings map my inner world. My process seeks to open the locked door of the unconscious through methods suggested by Surrealism. I use a square format that negates hierarchical narrative composition, whether top-to-bottom or left-to-right. As I work, I frequently rotate the canvas in order to disorient the view, helping new directions emerge and facilitating my stream of consciousness approach. Color is used to reconstruct different moods and to connect to fragmentary, cryptic narratives. My goal is to create "nowhere" spaces with an absence of horizon lines and populated by what psychoanalyst Carl Jung referred to as archetypal imagery such as flying and floating contraptions, rocks and snakes. The mark varies from heavy and textural to a light touch befitting the content of the piece. My intention is to engage by slipping away, leaving gaps for viewers to fill as a springboard for their own imaginations.” – Artist Statement
Parallax, 2016 oil on linen 41" x 41"
Falling In Love With Icarus, 2016 mixed media, oil paint, and resin on panel 16" x 16"
Tightrope Walking for People With Complicated Lives, 2016 oil paint and resin on panel 16" x 16"
Shipwrecks and Soulmates, 2016 mixed media, oil paint, and resin on panel 16" x 16"
Peggy Hinaekian Hinaekian is an internationally recognized artist whose works consist of a variety of mediums ranging from oils, acrylics, to collage, monotypes and etchings. Most notably, her etchings were distributed by Christie’s Contemporary Art, London, Edition de Francony, Nice, and Stuio Arco of Rome. Since then she has embraced abstract art and produced a great number of paintings on canvas along with collages on paper. She has exhibited extensively in Switzerland, France, England, Spain, Germany, Italy, Norway, Austria, Japan, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Canada, South Africa and the United States. Before pursuing art as a profession, Hinaekian was a fashion designer in Boston and Manhattan. As an artist, she is a multi-faceted creator with a deep interest in color—indeed, her hues can be seen as allusions to the natural wonders of the landscapes she has experienced during her worldwide travels. Hinaekian has a fascination with creative imagery and considers herself as a color field artist; she describes the nostalgic character of her work as atmospheric, poetic and quiet. She tries to breathe movement into her “abstract landscapes” (blue and earth colors) and “quiet collages” (where the dominant color is red, blue or black) to guide the viewer into the paintings and making them wander into a different reality.
Spring Green, 2015 mixed media 22" x 44"
Blue Window I, 2015 mixed media 10" x 10"
Golden Sunset I, 2015 mixed media 10" x 10"
Blue Window II, 2015 mixed media 10" x 10"
Blue Window III, 2015 mixed media 10" x 10"
Golden Sunset II, 2015 mixed media 10" x 10"
Blue Sails Under Blue Cloud, 2015 acrylic 40" x 40"
Red Desert with Yellow Sky, 2015 mixed media 36" x 36"
Beliz Iristay b. Turkey, lives and works in Mexico and U.S.A.
Born in Izmir,Turkey, Iristay graduated from Dokuz Eylul Fine Art University with a focus on Turkish Ceramics Arts. She moved to both USA and Mexico in 2005. In her work, Beliz often uses the venerable traditions of her home country(s) and combines them with contemporary techniques. She collects the subject materials for her work from the traditions and politics of the countries she is living in. Iristay now passes on her ceramic knowledge by teaching in her studio in EnsenadaMexico. As an artist, she continues to explore new ways to develop her work in different forms. Iristay has shown her work internationally in Usa,Turkey and Mexico. She has been nominated for several arts grants and public art projects in San Diego, CA, as well as in Izmir,Turkey. Currently, she lives in two locations: Baja California, Mexico and in San Diego, California with her family.
El Belis/ Luggage, 2016 Mexican hand made, fired brick 12"x 6"x 2.5"
Barbara Kolo U.S.A.
A quiet stillness to Barbara Kolo’s work evokes a time of reflection. Inspired by natural forms and influenced by impressionist, Aboriginal, and Asian art, she developed a graceful meditative visual language using dots or circles and lines. The paintings grow organically, with any resulting symmetry and order happening in the moment. In her “Obsession Series,” she repeatedly hand stamps ink or acrylic paint circles with different degrees of pressure, creating imperfections and variation that show the artist’s hand. Each dot or circle is then counted with tally marks that become part of the image. The total tally is the title of the work, and reflects the name of the series. On first sight, viewers are excited by the dizzying array of dots and then, the quietly meditative quality of Barbara’s work.
Blythe Spirit, 2016 acrylic on canvas 48” x 60”
Jeffery Laudenslager b. U.S.A.
“The work I do today is kinetic sculpture that consists of geometric shapes which are joined and balanced so that wind alone will activate them. And there is a sort of history to the development of this current work. I began using the figure as a basis of early work and that quickly became quite abstract, but the gestural, human qualities remained. An extended period of "illusionist" sculptures played with masses that defied gravity and retained a bit of narrative quality to them as well. I became increasingly interested in the levitating appearance of discreet parts that made up the entire sculpture. I wanted to see things float and move. My last 15 years of artistic production have been devoted to making my art practice as precise, visually satisfying, seductive and, well, yes, beautiful as I can achieve.” – Artist Statement
OVAL RIPPLES, 2016 stainless steel and titanium 8.2’ x 4.22’
Echo Lew U.S.A.
“After several hours of preparation, I use just a single shot to complete each image. During an exposure time of approximately one minute, I manipulate lights in front of the camera to create ‘Light Drawings.’ Sometimes I invert the positive image to a negative one on a computer but otherwise the ‘Light Drawings’ are not manipulated. Sometimes I put the same positive and negative images side-by-side in the finished piece. . . I became curious about the effects of lights in motion. Could this become the basis of a new kind of drawing? I experimented with cameras and lights until I was able to spontaneously tap into decades of drawing experience while the camera’s shutter was open, bringing life to a series of ‘Light Drawings.’ The technique originated in 1914 when scientists Frank and Lillian Gilbreth used small lights and an open shutter to track the motions of factory workers. My light drawings are inspired by Jackson Pollock and Cy Twombly, whose paintings are composed with spontaneous actions, performances traced in time. I have been an abstract painter for many years, concerned with line, shape, composition and concept. Digital photography allows me to expand creatively while using an ultracontemporary medium with limitless potential. Art for me is an experimental adventure, a profound form of play.” – Artist Statement
Rhythm #2 (ed. 1,2, of 6), 2012 photography of moving lights, printed on Fine Art paper 24” x 30”
Land Sketch #1 (ed. 1/25), 2012 photography of moving lights, printed on Fine Art paper 20” x 57”
Blue Dream, 2016 photography of moving lights, printed on Fine Art paper 58” x 91”
Maidy Morhous U.S.A.
An accomplished printmaker as well as sculptor Maidy Morhous was born in Upstate New York. She currently creates out of her studio in Del Mar thirty minutes north of San Diego, California. Morhous received her Master of Fine Arts degree while continuing studies at Stanley Hayter’s Atelier 17 in Paris, France in the mid-1970’s. Before returning to the States she traveled to Italy to study casting techniques at the Marinelli Foundry, in Florence. Morhous became fascinated with how bronze; a cold hard metal could take on such a soft sensuous appearance, and has since worked exclusively with bronze as her form of creative expression.
Empty Dreams, 2016 Bronze 21” x 7” x 14”
Zip It!, 2015 Bronze 17” x 11” x 4”
Phases of a Woman, 2015 Bronze 37” x 15” x 2”
9-5, 2016 bronze 53” x 15” x 21”
Hung Viet Nguyen b. Vietnam, lives and works in U.S.A.
Hung Viet Nguyen was born in Vietnam in 1957. He studied Biology at Science University in Saigon, Vietnam, then transitioned to working as an illustrator, graphic artist and designer since settlement in the U.S. in 1982. He developed his artistry skills independently, studying many traditional Eastern and Western forms, media and techniques. Nguyen’s complex, labor intensive investigations of oil paint reveal a methodical mastery of texture. While portions of Nguyen’s work suggest the influence of many traditional art forms including woodblock prints, Oriental scroll paintings, ceramic art, mosaic, and stained glass, his ultimate expression asserts a contemporary pedigree. Nguyen’s paintings have been exhibited at galleries, cultural art centers, and museums, juried by museum curators/directors [ Los Angels County Museum of Art (LACMA), Laguna Art Museum (LAM), Museum of Contemporary Los Angeles (MOCA), Museum of Latin America Art (MoLAA), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA), Torrance Art Museum (TAM), UCLA Hammer Museum of Art]. Honors include the Juror’s Choice Awards, 2013, and the San Diego Art Institute Biennial International Award Exhibition, 2015.
Ancient Pine #13, 2016 oil on panel 48” x 60”
Personage #6, 2016 oil on panel 12” x 12”
Sacred Landscape #20, 2016 oil on panel 30” x 24”
Sacred Landscape II #21/Sakura #3, 2016 oil on canvas 48” x 84”
Personage #7, 2016 oil on canvas 12” x 12”
Tatewaki Nio (b. Japan, lives and works in Brazil)
More than 15 years have passed since Nio chose to live as a foreigner in a distant land far from his birthplace in Japan. The size of the cultural difference between Brazil and Japan is glaringly apparent by the fact that is day in one place while it is night in the other. This was one of the differences that attracted him to Brazil and made him take root there. As with many tourists the cultural differences provoked unfamiliar glances and got Nio interested in photography. In the beginning his work focused on regional elements such as folklore, the backcountry, and Carnival. Photographing these issues was a process of confronting a Brazilian audience with a foreigner’s observation. Over time, his Portuguese improved, but he will never achieve the proficiency of a native speaker (which often makes him the butt of jokes). Disappointed in his progress in learning the language, he recognized the possibility photography has as a means of communication. Since then, more than capture specific moments, his interest is to communicate with others through photography. Today, more than differences, Nio is interested in points of connection with and between others. Starting from a point of commonality, he hopes his work will result in two-way dialogues.
Neo-Andina #031 (ed. 6 + 2AP), 2015 inkjet print on cotton paper 32� x 40�
Neo-Andina #032 (ed. 6 + 2AP), 2015 inkjet print on cotton paper 32” x 40”
Neo-Andina #034 (ed. 6 + 2AP), 2015 inkjet print on cotton paper 32” x 40”
Robert Pendleton Robert Pendleton has pursued his interest in fine art photography since childhood, but only recently entered into the realm of digital photography and began exhibiting his work. His technique of expanding dynamic range by selectively colorizing discrete ranges of luminosity leads to enhanced, at times even ambiguous perception of depth, and is sometimes described as “painting with photography.” Robert is currently collaborating with a software engineer to develop new tools to facilitate the manipulation of luminosity in digital images. Robert Pendleton MD, PhD is an Ophthalmologist from La Jolla, California who pioneered the technique of ultrasound-laser vision.
Digital Divide, 2016 digital photograph, ed. 1 of 20 23” x 42”
Round Corner, 2016 digital photograph, ed. 1 of 20 42” x 17”
Moon Plane, 2016 digital photograph, ed. 1 of 20 42” x 14”
Fred Ploeger b. USA, lives and works in France
“Bassac is a medieval French village set in the midst of the Charente River vineyards. Living here I find myself surrounded by an inexhaustible source of visual stimulation. At the heart of it is an 11th century Abbaye that has known periods of sustained prosperity and periods of utter destruction, the remnants of which are left upon her walls. As a contemporary American artist whose primary focus has been in non-objective abstraction, I found it necessary to employ a classical drawing technique that would allow me to interpret this ‘old world’ subject matter that surrounds me. Essentially I am drawing stone walls; vertical surfaces with recesses and protrusions: some with blocked-in windows and doors, others with major renovations to accommodate modern accessories that make it difficult to date the original structure. The only things that remain from an earlier period are the stones themselves. Past configurations are lost to new uses. All in all it is a fascinating study in entropy.” – Artist Statement
Stone Walls & Rothko 16118, Bassac, 2016 oil pastel/paper 8.5” x 10.5”
Stone Walls & Rothko 16141, Bassac, 2016 oil pastel/paper 8.5” x 10.5”
Stone Walls & Rothko 16097, Bassac, 2016 oil pastel/paper 12.5” x 16”
Momilani Ramstrum b. U.S.A.
As an artist, Momilani uses intuition, inspiration, discipline and madness. In each painting, she strives for exquisite detail as well as movement through the piece as a whole. Her visual art is influenced by musical improvisation, with the interplay of lines creating dissonance and resolving into consonance. She creates many layered-textures, enlivened by contrasting sections, and varied forms. Her use of color is bold with entwined and distinctive, twists and complements. She draws inspiration from her photography of nature, the desert, trees and plants and the vibrant interplay of shape and light. Her visual images are created through a process of internal dialogue with the painting – she watches the play of colors and shapes, sometimes for hours. Layers are begun, and a painting allowed to form itself over weeks or months of reflection. As a composer and inventor, she holds a patent for her MIDI glove which she created to control the computer in realtime. She has a Ph.D. in electronic music and performs unique improvisations using voice interacting with a MIDI glove controlled computer. She performs and gives presentations at seminars, festivals and conferences in California, Hawaii, Singapore, Taiwan and Japan.
Wishes of the Heart, 2016 mixed media on canvas 24� x 48�
Navigating Unknown Destinations, 2016 mixed media on canvas 35” x 49”
Dawn’s New Beginnings, 2016 mixed media on canvas 23” x 47”
Jiela Rufeh U.S.A.
“I first began experimenting to create a new dialogue with my photography by combining my pictures with unconventional materials such as canvases made of weathered wood, sheet metal scraps, plexiglass, etc., and playing with the ancient method of encaustic. The encaustic medium captured my interest with its sculpture‐like qualities that come from building up layers of wax, embedding various media, and conversely subtracting and distorting the wax to create another type of texture. This medium suddenly broadened my ability, allowing me to express myself on multiple levels and imbue my work with layered narratives. By merging the image with the encaustic, it allows me the ‘push and pull’ of sculpting. Using it to bring focus to a space, or obscure a space, and to also literally scrape, carve, and mold the surface of the piece is a constantly dynamic process and brings the photograph back to a living, vibrant, organic state. Restraint becomes an important component in resolving the work; that neither the image nor the surface overpower the other. Through the repeated handling of the materials, the painting soon expresses the weathered feeling of the landscape and a hidden energy is revealed in my translation.” – Artist Statement
Awaken, 2016 encaustic, archival photo, and oils on wood panel 30" x 20"
What Can Be, 2016 encaustic, archival photo, and oils on wood panel 30" x 20"
The Magician encaustic, archival photo, and oils on wood panel 12� x 9�
Relic encaustic, archival photo, and oils on wood panel 12" x 9"
Cat Walk encaustic, archival photo, and oils on wood panel 12" x 9"
Gum Ball Alley encaustic, archival photo, and oils on wood panel 12" x 9"
iss Me encaustic, archival photo, and oils on wood panel 12" x 9"
Libertad encaustic, archival photo, and oils on wood panel 30" x 20"
Deanne Sabeck (b. USA, lives and works in USA)
“My light sculptures are created from pure light refracted into the brilliant colors of our physical world. Using dichroic glass, which divides the light spectrum, transmitting one color while reflecting its opposite, I create sculptural light paintings with forms and colors that continually evolve, appear and disappear in meditative patterns.” – Artist Statement
Into the Deep, 2015 stainless steel, dichroic glass
Karrie Ross Ross is a native to Los Angeles and has been exhibiting her work since the 1980s. Her art is included in corporate and retail collections in addition to installations around the world. Her curriculum vitae includes over 125 shows from 2010 – 2016: a three Museum traveling show 20142015, Italy, OAM and RAM; LAMAG, MOAH; as well as local and regional Southern California museums and contemporary art galleries. Ross also is available to guest lecture, and has been interviewed by a variety of arts entertainment shows — NEWs: written up in publications — Cartwheel, Hollywood Today, the Los Angeles Times, the Huffington Post, as well as reviews in videos. In the end, Ross is about the “seeing” of oneself and the knowing of ones personal energy. Her work is her on-going creative exploration and play.
Reaching 1, 2016 mixed media 36” x 24”
Reaching 2, 2016 mixed media 36” x 36”
Chaotic Burst, 2014 mixed media 30” x 22”
The One with Water, 2016 mixed media 30’” x 32”
Conversations with Mrs. Einstein, 2013 mixed media 30” x 22”
Alan Soffer Alan Soffer has been making art since 1973 in a variety of modalities. Originally, he was known for ceramic sculpture, particularly, religious ritual objects and later for work about ancient healing , deconstruction, and fragmented imagery. His work as teacher and curator continues to augment his primary passion for abstract expressionist painting which began in 1985. The work is clearly influenced by abstract expressionists of the past century and others such as Rauschenberg, Rivers, Frankenthaler, Motherwell, Chagall, Dubuffet, Keifer, Mondrian, and Polke. The body of work that defined Soffer in the early nineties was about ancient healing. The current emphasis on encaustics is a perfect marriage of his two loves- sculpture and painting. The other major direction of his work in the nineties was 'the life cycle', which was inspired through the teachings of Joseph Campbell. This work includes extensive treatment of creation theories, life and deconstruction, and finally rebirth. These subjects required research into science, primitive cultures and the ancient world of medicine and dentistry, before, digesting and expressing the most salient features visually. Soffer continues to find Campbell to be his most important mentor. The life cycle continues with his work in 2015, titled LIFE & DEATH. Moreover, his use of encaustics began in 1998 and continues to be an integral feature of his oeuvre. Reduction and distillation both buries and exposes bits of his images and sentiments infused in the multilayered paintings. Soffer's use of this ancient technique of hot pigmented wax, through its inherent translucency, supports his vocabulary for expressing space, a frequently explored theme.
Lacunae, 2011 encaustic and steel 36�
White Microcosm, 2011 encaustic and steel 36�
P.O. Box #239 Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067 (858) 756-2377 sergottart.com info@sergottart.com