JP Long, Jason Newsted

Micaela Gallery proudly presents, JASON NEWSTED and JP LONG, a two-persion exhibitions introducing paintings by Jason Newsted and sculpture by JP Long.

An internationally recognized musician for his work with Metallica from 1986 to 2001, Newsted is a multi-awarded Grammy winner and 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. In 2005, Newsted found a new means of artistic expression with paint. With characteristic well known intensity, Newsted's turn toward the act of painting and new focus became a source of solace and strength. Using expressive paint and imagery, his work possesses visceral energy, visual harmony, and successfully combines color with composition. Drawing inspiration from his childhood family farm in Michigan, where he learned about beauty, life and death, Newsted's work is also formed by the powerful music of his rock star heritage.

Working with blown glass and steel, JP Long's work captures a feeling of sumptuous matter in motion. Influenced by modernist geometry, Long's work evokes organic imageries that reference naturally occurring events, such as energy, force, and magnetism. His sculpture, based on refined aesthetics, studied discipline, and meticulous skill, is owed to formal training in jewelry and metal art at CCA, as well as apprenticeships with prominent San Francisco Bay Area sculptors. Long's work is intimate, playful, and beautiful. His sculpture studies shape, volume and pressure, possesses extraordinary compositional design, and is imbued with abstract yet familiar notions of time and place.

This exhibition of work by two complementary artists presents subdued visual strengths that are powerful and pleasurable to view.

Opening Reception:

Thursday, May 6, from 5 to 7.30 pm.

Exhibition:

May 4 through June 27, 2010

Images:

Above: Jason Newsted. Absenthe Won, 2009. Acrylic, ink, dry pastel on canvas, 70 x 70 in.

Right: JP Long. Edge 16, 2010. Steel, blown glass, 86 x 30 x 16 in.

A print exhibition catalog, PDF exhibition catalog, photographs and high resolution images are available upon request.

All images are courtesy of the artists and Micaela Gallery, and protected by all copyright/trademark laws everywhere. Copyright 1997-2010 Micaela and Micaela Gallery are copyright/trademarks of Micaela Gallery, LLC and protected by all copyright and trademark laws everywhere.

Congratulations, Weston Lambert!

It's always great to have fun and talented friends around, but it's especially great to work with artists who are fun, talented and generous. Weston Lambert is such an artist, and I'm still thankful to him for all his help at our exhibition in 2008 for SOFA Chicago.

A graduate of the University of Hawaii's sculpture program in Manoa with high honors, Weston wrote to me this afternoon with the news he received a full scholarship to Pilchuck this summer, as well as a full-ride scholarship for the MFA program (glass scupture, I'm presuming, since he didn't quite say...) at Tulane University in New Orleans under professor Gene Koss. Weston will be starting in August, and joins another Micaela Gallery artist, Michelle Knox, another full-ride MFA awardee at Tulane!

Bravo! Go!

SCOPE Basel 2010

Delighted to announce we'll be presenting Micaela Gallery artists at SCOPE Basel 2010!

We look forward to an excellent fair and hope you'll join us for beautiful art, a warm hello and good conversation!

Exhibition ends May 1

On May 1, Micaela Gallery's current exhibition, featuring paintings by Lorraine Peltz and Nicole Schmoelzer, and a multi-media installation by Silvia Levenson, will come to a close.

The exhibition essay, written by Maria Porges, was placed online by ArtSlant, and is published in Peltz' exhibition catalog. Sabine of Art Moco, also wrote a short review, lightly referencing Lorraine Peltz' occupation with the feminine agenda in our daily conundrum.

Image: Lorraine Peltz. Chandelier Yellow, 2010. Oil and acrylic on canvas. 40 x 40 in. Singular.

Nicole Schmoelzer at Villa Montalvo

SEEING LIGHT: A collection of new works by Nicole Schmoelzer
Opening Reception: Friday, April 9, 6 to 8 p.m.

Painter and Lucas Artists Residency Fellow Nicole Schmoelzer presents a collection of new works in the Project Space Gallery at Montalvo Arts Center, in a solo exhibition entitled Seeing Light. Schmoelzer, a native of Switzerland, has always been interested in light and the ideas of luminosity, brightness, and transparency. This focus is central to understanding Schmoelzer's body of work, which comprises compositions of brightly colored abstractions that derive from layers of paint upon a single surface.

Since arriving at the Lucas Artist Residency Programs in mid-January, Schmoelzer has been creating a series of works on canvas and paper that reflect shifts in the California light that have captured her throughout her residency. Montalvo's environment has led to new experimentations in her work as Schmoelzer has not only paired colors in new ways, but also investigated the contrast between light and dark, allowing more grey and black to inhabit her compositions. These new works still feature her vibrant colors and signature style of complex paintings that result from layers of ink, oil, and watercolor on one surface.

Schmoelzer, who describes her staining process as a balance between experience and "coincidence," will offer a talk-back during the opening reception on April 9.

Nicole Schmoelzer's painting, "Staining," 2010, on view in Seeing Light at the Montalvo Arts Center's Project Space Gallery. Schmoelzer will be present at an opening reception on Friday, April 9 from 6pm - 8pm. The exhibition runs through June 6.

Seeing Light
April 9 - June 6
Project Space Gallery
Thurs-Sun 11am-3pm

Montalvo Arts Center
15400 Montalvo Road
Saratoga, California 95070
http://www.montalvoarts.org