HAPPENINGS

GLORIA LEE Love and Sunshine October 18 - 19, 2014

EC Laguna Beach Gallery • RSVP to pr@ecgallery.com • (855) 372-8213

t is an exciting time of year for us here at EC Galleries as the seasons change and people seek ways to bring the beauty of the outdoors in. Art collectors have the opportunity to not only collect works of art that catch the eye, but also have a great deal to say from an artistic standpoint. The expressive floral paintings of Gloria Lee are the perfect example of this combination. This October, Gloria Lee will exhibit a body of work in Laguna Beach that showcases the purest elements of beauty and expression that cannot be missed! In his 1952 essay, “The American Action Painters”, art critic Harold Rosenberg coined the term “action painting” which identified the canvas “as an arena in which to act... what was to go on the canvas was not a picture but an event.” For these new American action painters, such as Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline and Willem de Kooning, creating an event through the painting process meant revealing the essence of themselves in a precise moment and over their entire existence. Their collectors purchased not an object, but the artists in themselves. Its physical form is the battleground over

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“Te lone artist did not want the world to be different, he wanted his

canvas to be a world.” — Harold Rosenberg

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which the artist struggles and revelations are conceived. Over half a century later, artists still find action painting to be a liberating expression of the self. While its purpose and context have changed over many more years of art history, artists today have found new ways to comment on this historic turning point. Gloria Lee is one of these contemporary artists who has been able to use action painting to great success in the art world today. Physical expression ties into Lee’s personal history, having spent many years studying and teaching dance and fitness. As an artist, she uses painting to explore movement even further. The canvas is an extension of her body, carefully balancing discipline and intuition. She splatters paint in various colors onto the canvas, sometimes never even allowing her brush to touch the surface. The result of her work is simple. The bold colors and spontaneous movement of the paint take precedence over a specific message. The viewer can surrender to the pure essence of the work and take pleasure in the aesthetics. The beauty of florals are a respite from everyday distractions. Flowers are a gift, a token used for communicating appreciation and raw emotion that

OFF THE EASEL MAGAZINE – FALL 2014