Oceanside Museum of Art hosts 5th Artist Alliance Biennial

Speaker 1: (00:00)

The Oceanside museum of art opens its fifth artist Alliance biennial on Saturday, the jury to exhibit was conceived to elevate the voices of Southern California artists and celebrate the best work from the museum's artist Alliance, KPBS arts reporter, Beth Amando speaks with professor of fine art and curator, Alessandra Matama, who was selected as this year's juror and artist duke Windsor,

Speaker 2: (00:25)

Alessandra, explain a little bit about what the Oceanside museum of arts artist Alliance biennial is about.

Speaker 3: (00:32)

This is an exhibition that takes place every couple of years, and this is their fifth exhibition and it's a juried exhibit. So artists who belong to the artist Alliance, uh, of the Oceanside museum of art submit the work and then the work they invite a juror. In this case, it was, it was me and, and they select, they narrow it down from all of the submissions. And so it's an exhibit that has many different types of artwork, many different artists for this year. I had to review close to a thousand entries and I had to narrow it down to, I narrowed down to about 60 works that were included in the exhibition. So it was a very difficult job because to go from 900 to 60, you can imagine.

Speaker 2: (01:23)

So as the juror for this, what were you looking for in the art?

Speaker 3: (01:27)

I'm a curator. So I'm always looking at artworks and artists and visiting their studios. And I really look at the unique vision that they have, the way that they deal with different topics or theme, and also what is innovative about how they approach a particular technique or media. And so I think that artists filter many ideas and filter the world world for us. And so I'm, I'm looking for examples that are really striking

Speaker 2: (02:02)

And duke. One of your pieces was selected for this exhibition. So how does it feel to be a part of this artist

Speaker 4: (02:08)

Alliance? It's, it's very exciting because number one, for an artist, when you enter in exhibitions, you never know whether you're going to even be selected as part of the process and to be part of this, this exhibition with a lot of my artists call league that I've known for many, many years, it's really exciting to be part of that, uh, that exhibition and I've juried exhibitions and 900. I have to say, Alessandra, that is a daunting test. I've I think the most I've ever had to deal with was 300, but I can understand how difficult that is and to be ex accepted with that many pieces of works is really exciting to be part of. So it's wonderful

Speaker 2: (02:47)

And duke, because this is for radio. Can you describe what your piece of arc that was accepted is or what it looks like?

Speaker 4: (02:55)

My standard or typical, uh, genre, an area of work is urban city scapes. The ubiquitous alley, most of the times is what I've been focusing on because of its, it has its own drama. It has its own allure. It has its own mystery behind it. And the piece that I have in, in, in the exhibition is a nocturnal view of this scene, basically in a, uh, under the, under this golden light, in a nighttime scene, in an alley with vehicles in the driveway. And you know that there are people there, even though you don't see figurative images in it, you know, that, that, that there's someone there and you're the voyeur you're, you're looking at this scene and it's titled parked under a golden night because I also embellished the scene with this golden sky utilizing gold leaf as a process that I have been incorporating in lots of my work lately. And that gold is this radiance that offers this honoring of this V of this scene of this view, which kind of reflects the same type of iconic view. Uh, like the say for instance, the, uh, Russian icon in the Byzantine icons of the past, uh, utilizing gold in that way of honoring and, uh, the radiance of this, of this scene

Speaker 2: (04:18)

And Alessandra, when you were looking through all this art, were you struck by any like themes that kind of came out or were you looking for something that kind of linked all of the works that were going to be shown?

Speaker 3: (04:30)

I was, uh, noticing different themes that were surfacing as I was looking through the works. And some of the things that I really notice was landscapes, both urban landscapes and natural landscapes that captured, uh, beautiful or sublime moments. I think that during the pandemic time we were all isolated and, uh, I took a lot of walks around my neighborhood and I could see what duke was talking about. You know, you turn the corner and suddenly the sun is setting and this beautiful sky and you see this alley illuminated and it's just a really wonderful gift. And I, and I think it was also about very much this artist pointed out how important it is to be present, right. How I, it is to be in the moment. And then the other topic that I saw coming through was about connection and, and then coming out of the pandemic, you know, uh, embracing and, and caring for each other. So those were, uh, some of the themes that I saw come across and

Speaker 2: (05:39)

Duke, you are in a unique situation be cuz you have not only a work in this exhibit, but you are also having a solo exhibit at the Oceanside museum. And so will people get a sense of what your solo show is like based on this one piece or are they kind of completely different?

Speaker 4: (05:58)

Uh, I would have to say they are completely different. Uh, the only connection you will see will be the goal leaf in the show of course is called, uh, nothing's impossible, uh, which deals with our food icon that we have, which is the American food icon is the hamburger. And it, us kind of go back to the pandemic mode where we were also looking for comfort food, looking for something to, uh, take our mind off of, of what's been going on. And so, uh, I think this has been a, it was a poignant exhibit to try to, to create. So the only connection you're gonna see is the goal leaf. And for

Speaker 2: (06:33)

Both of you, how does it feel to be getting back to person shows where you can actually have people see the artwork up close and personal, as opposed to, you know, I, I know there's been some virtual exhibits and gallery shows

Speaker 3: (06:49)

For me, it's so exciting. I mean this last semester we actually went back in person for the museum studies class. And I actually, I had the student in the gallery learning how to hang the work, handling the art pieces, doing the lighting. And there's nothing, you know, there was no way to do that virtually. Um, and I just think that wonderful to be able to see works in person, you don't get a sense of the scale or the texture or the luminosity. And like for example, with Dukes, you beautiful paintings, you know, the, the gold and, you know, the reflective qualities. A lot of those things don't translate well when you're just doing it virtually on our website. And then another thing for me is the beauty of being with people in the space. So it's super exciting for me to go back into the museums and into the

Speaker 4: (07:36)

Galleries. Uh, and the other thing too is, is, is also being able to see your work, not inside your studio. You know, you can't see the whole show until you get it into a space somewhere and being able to do that and then see the reaction of the guests that look at the work. It's just one of those experiences you can't get virtually, but also getting back into the, through the art side, it is just wonderful just to be back, to see people and see their reaction.

Speaker 1: (08:05)

That was Beth Amando speaking with duke Windsor and Aandra, Matama the Oceanside museum of arts artist Alliance biennial opens on Saturday and runs through may. First of next year.