Bergamot Station Arts Center

6 Pages 1464 Words

The Bergamot Station Arts Center at Santa Monica constantly displays art works to those who wishes to be exposed to art. This makes Bergamot Station a perfect place for art students to gain a slice of the contemporary art scene.
The collective works by the artist Laura Lasworth titled, “The Gray”, was on display in the Hunsaker/Schlesinger Fine Art Gallery on March 25th. The gallery is located at one of the corners of the plaza and seems rather distant and alienated to the rest of the displays. Interestingly, this alienation and perhaps loneliness was echoed by Lasworth’s works inside the gallery. The Hunsaker/Schlesinger gallery itself, even compared to other galleries in the plaza, is rather small, and the display area conveys a sense of closeness. The size of the displaying area made the personal touch in the works even more pronounced. The gallery was quiet, with few audiences, perhaps a result of being distant to the main cluster. The gallerists worked quietly in the back room leaving the viewing area undisturbed. The main entrance to the gallery remained closed after each guest entered, thus separates the gallery from the rest of the world. Perhaps this is intentional as to create an overall artistic experience. In the gallery, the viewers emerge themselves to the surreal world that Lasworth created.
The works exhibited by Lasworth were mostly paintings consist of very dull and desaturated colors. Black, white and gray, were used heavily, and worked fittingly to the winter sceneries found in many of the paintings. Some of the works were almost grayscale. The painterly bush strokes and the use of few, but soft colors reflected a feminine impression on all of the works. The subject matters were presented through a surrealistic manner and mostly consist of large areas of emptiness.
With the exception of a few, most of the works are small, easel-sized paintings, bordered in simple, black framings. The dimens...