LBCG Annual Exhibit Review – EYE ON ART

By Nancy Berkoff

The Long Beach Creative Group is celebrating its fourth show in the new (this year) gallery space. The former studio of Rod Briggs, the gallery is an opportunity for this talented and local-art-scene-involved group of Long Beach artists to display their current works.

The building is divided into two galleries, a small lobby space and the larger, main space. The lobby space is dedicated to the Rod Briggs permanent collection. As always, Briggs’s representation of Long Beach spaces is breath-taking. The selection “Waning Storm Clouds Over Long Beach” brings the scene into action.

Greg Fristsche, a Native California landscape artist and curator at LB Community Theater Gallery, presents three oil-on-canvas pieces, with his lush violet-blue hues incorporated into each. Frische’s selections recall the Laguna Beach plein air academy of the 1920s.

Marka Burns explained her mixed media piece, “Simone.” “I had been thinking about Monet’s depictions of water nymphs at Giverny. Monet believed, as was popular at the time, that water nymphs resided on the property. I’ve taken this idea and imagined what Monet might have seen.”

“Day Trip to Catalina” requires active engagement to appreciate the multi-faceted, textural piece.

Donald Tiscareno, recently with a show at Utopia, has selected three acrylic-on-canvas, playful pieces, with one selection very reminiscent of Matisse. The shapes and colors of the pieces are organic and light-hearted.

Dorte Chrisjansen, recently seen in the Open Studio Tour and at Hoson House in Irvine, retired from CSUF, presented several exquisitely detailed and richly-colored mandala-like pieces.

Michael Daniel, former owner of the Stone Rose gallery and a long-time Long Beach college art teacher, selected four pieces not previously shown in Long Beach. The representational pieces have an amazing clarity, combining illusion and realism. Daniel has selected unrelated objects, such as dice and an animal skull, and created a thread through the selections.

The LBCG Annual Show is on display through Dec. 7 at The Long Beach Creative Group gallery, 2221 E. Broadway, near Kennebec Avenue. Hours are 6-8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 1-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Call 562-438-7933 or go to www.facebook.com/LongBeachCreativeGroup/ for information.