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Synergy: SoLA Gallery Advisory Council
November 10 – December 22, 2018
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 10, 2018, 6-9 PM
SoLA (South LA) Gallery is pleased to announce Synergy, a group show exhibiting works by the members of its own advisory council. And not just any advisory council, but an advisory council made up entirely of women artists of color. Since its recent move to the neighborhood, SoLA Gallery has relied on its dedicated committee of women to introduce them to the community of South LA, which includes the neighborhoods of Windsor Hills, View Park, Leimert Park and Inglewood to name a few. The advisory council has brought artists and patrons from the neighborhood to SoLA Gallery, as well as offered guidance on its educational and creative programming initiatives. All council members call South LA home and find inspiration in the area’s vibrant, diverse culture.
Curator’s Thoughts
“Synergy means that the combined power of a group working together is greater than the total power achieved by working separately. I chose the word because it applies to the artists who are showing their work in this exhibit, and it applies to their relationship with SoLA as members of its advisory council. We are all black female Los Angeles artists whose work is both culturally and universally significant. We have enjoyed contributing to the gallery in whatever ways we can, because we want to help its efforts to engage and reflect the South LA community in which it is located.”—Sharon Louise Barnes
Synergy will run in conjunction with juried show Interplay: Craft, Art & Design. A gift gallery will debut for the month as well, featuring local and international handmade works, including Sierra Leone Bags, made in Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa; candles by Adesina Cooper; alebrijes, Mexican folk sculptures from Oaxaca; ceramics by Carolyn Laliberte and Lena Wolek; and clarinet key necklaces by Ben Zask. A special thank you is owed to Grilled Fraiche of South Los Angeles and Sip and Sonder of Inglewood. These local businesses will provide appetizers and pour over coffee, respectively, during the opening reception on November 10. Synergy and Interplay will be on display during the Community Open House November 10 and 11, 11am-4pm – additional information available at southbaycontemporary.org.
Curator :
About the Artists
Sharon Louise Barnes is an inter-disciplinary mixed media artist (as well as curator of the show) who investigates how process and materials create meaning. Her work is abstract, and it frequently integrates materials found on the streets of Los Angeles. Barnes lives very close to SoLA Gallery: it is her community, so she is happy when a gallery can both enhance and reflect its cultural community. For more on Sharon Louise Barnes, please visit: www.sharonlouisebarnes.com and on Instagram @sharonbarnes4702
Rosalyn Myles uses various mediums (to include recycled objects, film, fabric, wood and language) to explore social, personal and political issues erupting from the discourse of modern American culture. “No matter the medium I find myself using,” Myles said, “I am always mining society’s perpetual stories about women and what it means to be a person of color in the United States of America.” She is currently working on installations set to debut in cities across the country. For more on Rosalyn Myles, please visit: www.ourprimeproperty.org/rosalyn-myles.html
Kris Metoyer was directly influenced by the creation, development, and ever evolving evolution of Hip Hop culture while growing up in Los Angeles. Her piece, which consists of African textile and plastic CD cases, focuses on three iconic female emcees (Queen Latifah, Mc Lyte, and Lauryn Hill). “The presence of women within the genre was a game changer for me,” Metoyer said. “They gave me a voice, made me feel like anything was possible, and that I mattered.” For more on Kris Metoyer, please visit: @artkristicali on Instagram
Holly Tempo is known for her paintings and site-specific works. The pieces selected for Synergy are ephemera from a previous installation, Cardboard Revival, a reworking of an installation touching on the conflicting realities of homelessness and gentrification. Tempo uses graffiti and cardboard scraps to “create a space that is a reflection on approaches to housing that share a neighborhood in spite of their ideological incompatibility.” For more on Holly Tempo, please visit: www.hollytempo.com and on Instagram @hollytempo.
Lisa Diane Wedgeworth makes work informed by the memories and personal narratives that exist at varying levels of her consciousness and those she collects from observing others in public spaces. Her work takes form as painting, video, performance, and collected oral histories. From 2015-2016, she exhibited emerging artists in her studio-based project space, PS 2920, formerly located in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. For more on Lisa Diane Wedgeworth, please visit: www.lisadianewedgeworth.com and on Instagram @ldwstudio
3718 West Slauson, Los Angeles, CA, 90043
