HAPPENINGS

Black & White

with Henry Asencio, Steve Barton, Michael Flohr, Walfrido Garcia, Christopher M., Hisashi Otsuka, Steven Quartly, and Daniel Ryan

January 2014 EC Historic Gaslamp Gallery • RSVP to pr@ecgallery.com • (800) 204-0062

There is something nostalgic about black and white art. Newspapers, photographs, and television all provided a way to capture and preserve life without using color. Photographers experimented with color cameras as far back as 1839, long before their commercial release in 1907. Newspapers introduced color for the first time in 1897, but did not use it regularly until the late 1970s. Similarly, television did not acquire color until 1953. Still, while media continues to progress, color has never completely replaced black and white imagery. Nowadays, it is used as an artistic choice rather than as the result of technological limitations. Artists choose to draw, paint, photograph, and film in black and white because they want to convey a certain message that color cannot provide. Black and white art creates its own mood, whether a feeling of antiquity, an emphasis on light and form, or a delineation of a different perspective. Whether it is to enhance the subject matter with greater contrast or to achieve a cleaner, more formal look through negative space, artists choose not to use color for a variety of reasons. Black and white art sends its own extraordinary message separate from that of color works — a message that may be shared or different for each person. It is entirely up to interpretation. This January, join your favorite artists at the Black and White Show to see the brilliance of their work when stripped of color. A gathering such as this can only be attended in style, so we encourage guests to share in the theme by wearing black and white attire for this black tie event!

EXCLUSIVE COLLECTIONS GALLERIES 9