PHENOMENA - PST ART: Art and Science Collide - Saturday 4-8PM

Kelsey Brookes, Mescaline (cobweb formation), 2019, acrylic on canvas, 96” x 72”

Charles Arnoldi
Natalie Arnoldi
Ryland Arnoldi
Kelsey Brookes
Alex Couwenberg
Franco DeFrancesca
Lawrence Gipe
David Lloyd
Ed Moses
Jeff Overlie
Melanie Pullen
Jennifer Wolf

William Turner Gallery, - is pleased to present Phenomena, the second of two exhibitions in partnership with the Getty initiative PST ART: Art & Science Collide, which explores the intersections and influences between art and science.The exhibition will run from November 16, 2024 - January 11, 2025.

Art and science both originate from an intrinsic curiosity about the natural world. Historically, artistic depictions of natural phenomena, whether through meticulous observation, or fantastical interpretation, have often highlighted the delicate balance between the forces of nature to both inspire and to imperil. This dual narrative continues to resonate today, as contemporary artists and thinkers explore themes of the environment, climate change, and humanity's role in shaping the Earth’s future.

Phenomena features a range of work, from representational depictions to abstract expressions,  celebrating the power and visual splendor of the natural world as a resource for creative expression and investigation. For centuries, artists have pictorially documented their observational studies of natural phenomena and the world around us. Manuscripts such as Natural History (77 CE) by Pliny the Elder and The Book of Miracles (1552), chronicled divine wonders and horrors in illustrations, often serving as warnings of the consequences of human deeds upon their environment and the mysteries of the natural world. Utilizing these extraordinary codexes as a genesis for Phenomena, the exhibition explores related themes.

In the 16th century, “cabinets of curiosities” or “wonder rooms” in Europe served as spaces to showcase collections curated for the artistic and scientific interests of their patrons and served as precursors to museums. With missions to both amuse and enlighten, “cabinets of curiosities” functioned as sources for entertainment and educational resources, thus intersecting art and science. In the late 19th century, scientific inquiry shifted from museums to university laboratories bifurcating the two discourses. Phenomena merges the two disciplines as they once had been integrated in the cabinets of curiosities.

Artists in Phenomena: Charles Arnoldi, Natalie Arnoldi, Ryland Arnoldi, Kelsey Brookes, Alex Couwenberg, Franco Defrancesca, Lawrence Gipe, David Lloyd, Ed Moses, Jeff Overlie, Melanie Pullen, Jennifer Wolf

Charles Arnoldi, Rare Breed, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 80" x 63”

Charles Arnoldi (b. 1946), has long drawn on nature for his many and varied series of abstract works. Fire-blackened tree branches, lush Hawaiian foliage and the stone walls of Machu Picchu - all inspired important bodies of work. Emphasizing flattened forms of often brilliant color and pattern, Arnoldi interprets nature through a fauvist palette. Natural objects are rendered in terms of riotous colors, textures and shapes, suppressing a sense of atmosphere or literal figuration, to create wonderfully complex and compelling compositions.

With a career that has spanned over forty years, Arnoldi is one of the most prominent painters in southern California. Arnoldi’s work resides in numerous collections and museums throughout the United States, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Guggenheim, Bilbao, Spain. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Arnoldi lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

Ryland Arnoldi (b.1988), an emerging artist based in Venice, California, engages in large-scale acrylic painting as a means of autobiographical exploration, examining and reinterpreting past impressions. His work draws heavily on iconic imagery of landscapes and natural forms, aiming to evoke the tranquility and introspective quality of time spent immersed in the natural environment. Arnoldi employs vibrant, contrasting color palettes to construct abstract yet dynamic compositions, meticulously balancing organic intricacy inherent in the surrounding natural world. Ryland Arnoldi lives and works in Venice, California.

Natalie Arnoldi (b. 1990) grew up in Malibu, California, where she developed a passion for the ocean, which became the inspiration for both her scientific and artistic pursuits. While conducting a full-time career as an artist, Arnoldi simultaneously achieved a PhD in Marine Ecology at Stanford University, where she also received Bachelor’s and Master's degrees.

As a painter, Arnoldi works prolifically, when not engaged in research in places like Palau, and other far reaches of the ocean. Her compositions are ambitious, often quite large in scale, and evoke the vastness, power and mystery of nature, while driven by overarching environmental narratives and concerns. This duality of science and art was well represented, and received, in her two recent solo museum exhibitions, at the Bakersfield Museum and the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, in Bakersfield and Pacific Grove, California.

Natalie Arnoldi, Splinter, 2015, oil on canvas, 92" x 80”

Kelsey Brookes (b. 1978) utilizes Heinrich Klüver's concept of "Form Constants" referring to universal patterns in visual perception that recur during altered states of consciousness, such as those induced by substances like mescaline, or during near-death experiences. Klüver identified four basic patterns: tunnels, spirals, lattices, and cobwebs, which he believed were deeply embedded in the human psyche, possibly linked to the collective unconscious. In these works, the merging of science, psychology, and art offers a fascinating glimpse into the mechanics of the brain's visual processing during altered states, where abstract mental "cobwebs" are rendered in intricate, mesmerizing forms. These paintings explore how the mind perceives reality differently under the influence of psychoactive substances and how these ancient, deep-seated visual templates emerge from the brain's inner workings.

Brookes has had solo exhibitions in La Jolla, Los Angeles, New York, Detroit, London and Berlin. His work was featured as the cover art for the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 2012 “I’m With You” record and The Flaming Lips’ 2013 “Stone Roses” LP. KELSEY BROOKES: Psychedelic Space is the first monograph of the artist’s artwork and examines three years of work and four solo exhibitions. Brookes has work in the permanent collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the Frederick R. Weisman Foundation, and in many important private collections. Brookes currently lives and works in Southern California.

Alex Couwenberg, Satellite, 2024, acrylic & spray on canvas, 72” x 66”

Alex Couwenberg (b. 1967) is a Southern California-based artist whose paintings are deeply influenced by the rich cultural and visual environment of Los Angeles. Drawing inspiration from modernist philosophies, his work reflects the mid-century aesthetics and design principles that defined the region, particularly between the 1950s and 1980s. Couwenberg's art pays tribute to key movements like Hard-edge abstraction, the "Finish Fetish" (known for its slick, polished surfaces), all prominent in the post-war Southern California art scene. In Satellite Couwenberg references the spacecrafts which emerged during the Cold War in the Space Race. These objects which orbit the Earth, document it and its relation to the solar system and the universe at large.   

A graduate from Art Center College of Design and The Claremont Graduate School, Couwenberg’s paintings have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.  His work can be found in public, private and museum collections around the world, which include the Frederick R. Weisman Foundation, the Long Beach Museum of Art; Lancaster Museum of Art and History; Laguna Art Museum; Crocker Museum of Art, and the Daum Museum in Missouri.  In 2007 Couwenberg was awarded the prestigious Joan Mitchell Foundation Award for his achievements in painting. Couwenberg lives and works in Southern California.

Franco DeFrancesca (b. 1967) is a multidisciplinary artist who explores the intersections of art, science and technology through his work. He employs digital imaging techniques to bridge the gap between photography and painting, creating vibrant, colorful, and minimalist compositions. Quoting from electro-optic modulations of atom crystal structures, DeFrancesca blends traditional art forms with modern technological processes.

The artist’s work has exhibited in Canada and the United States and is included in various private and corporate collections throughout North America. An attendant of OCAD and University of Guelph, DeFrancesca has exhibited in Canada and the United States and his work can be found in corporate and public collections world-wide, including Cenovus Energy Inc.; Repsol, Encana and Enbridge Inc. (Calgary, AB); Rodin Law Firm Litigation Counsel (Calgary, AB), amongst others.

Larry Gipe, In Commemoration of Gardi Sugdub (Vanishing Islands), 2024, oil on canvas, 96” x 72”

Lawrence Gipe’s (b.1962) painted image of the vanishing island Gardi Sugdub Island (crab island) is a composite of three different drone photographs taken by news media. While some buildings remain constant, between the three images (taken only a year or two apart at most) there's a notable shuffle between structural shapes and colors, which have shifted... for 100 years it's been the home of the fiercely independent Guna people. The victim of climate change, overpopulation, and its own basic remoteness, Gardi Sugdub is a canary in a coal mine.

Born in Baltimore, Gipe has had 70 solo exhibitions in galleries and museums in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Munich, Berlin, Düsseldorf (Kunstverein Düsseldorf.) Currently, he splits his time between his studio in Los Angeles, CA, and Tucson, AZ, where he is an Associate Professor of Studio Art at the University of Arizona. Gipe has received two NEA Individual Fellowship Grants (Painting, 1989 and Works on Paper, 1996.) A mid-career survey, 3 Five-Year Plans: Lawrence Gipe, 1990-2005, was organized in 2006 by Marilyn Zeitlin at the University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona. 

David Lloyd (b. 1955) is a Los Angeles artist who describes his current work as exploring the sublime and the ridiculous in equal parts, a combination of “serious mysticism and f-d up pseudo-science” that comments on the overabundance of competing didactic languages in our current social and political landscape. Though primarily known as a painter, Lloyd incorporates a wide range of media in pursuit of his conceptual goals, ranging from collage, fiberglass and resin, various kinds of paint, xerox transfer, water based medium, spar varnish, dirt, and used synthetic boat sails.  

Lloyd graduated with a BFA from CalArts in 1985, and began his career with a series of intelligent, near-humorous abstractions, turning towards the incorporation of imagistic referents several years later. Lloyd is included in the collections of the Orange County Museum of Art; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego and the Getty, the Orange County Museum of Art, Otis College of Arts and Design; has exhibited at Margo Leavin Gallery, Gallery Paule Anglim in San Francisco, Metro Pictures, and Milk Gallery in New York. Lloyd lives and works in Culver City, CA.

Ed Moses, Redyps, 2002, acrylic on canvas, 96” x 60”

Ed Moses (1926-2018) is a key figure in the postwar Southern California art scene, recognized for his innovative and experimental approach to abstract painting. As a member of the "cool school" of artists, Moses approached painting as an ongoing process of exploration, constantly seeking new forms, techniques, and expressions.His career began in the late 1950s, and he was one of the early artists exhibited at the legendary Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles—a hub for contemporary artists at the time. His art, spanning decades, reflects a continual evolution and has been showcased in galleries and museums across the world, solidifying his reputation as a pioneer of abstract painting.

He was the subject of a major retrospective at MOCA Los Angeles in 1996, and in 2014 he showed at University of California Irvine where he had taught in the seventies. On the occasion of his 2015 drawing show at LACMA of works from the 1960s and 70s, organized by Leslie Jones, director Michael Govan commented, “Ed Moses has been central to the history of art making in Los Angeles for more than half a century.” Moses’ work is included in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, The Hammer Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Jeff Overlie’s (b. 1968) Cellulae series is inspired by the exquisite forms that exist in science and nature, at levels often invisible to the human eye. Over twenty years ago, Overlie created pieces based on pollen slides prepared by his grandfather, botanist Dr. Wendell Bragonier. Today, he collects digital images taken by powerful electron microscopes. In them, he finds forms and archetypal shapes which he interprets into sculpture. After dimensional conceptualization, Overlie creates engineered studies that allow him to qualify the works for large-scale 2D and 3D forms. From there, he utilizes years of experience in production and art fabrication to paint or sculpt in stainless steel, aluminum, or carbon steel, wielded into the final realization. The sculptures invite interaction as fun and fascinating objects first, and as symbols of the beauty and wonder of science and nature second. Sensitive to sustainability and conservation issues, the works contain 70-80 percent recycled materials.

Overlie’s work has been shown internationally at galleries and museums such as the Riva Yares Gallery, in Santa Fe, NM; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Laguna Beach, California and the Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, California. He received a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1995 and completed fellowships with Beverly Pepper and Japanese master carver Takio Ogai at The Carving Studio in Vermont. He was born in Ft. Collins, Colorado, and lives and works in Southern California.

Melanie Pullen, Select Agent #3 (Biowarfare Anthrax Series), 2008, archival print, light box, 48.5” x 72.5” x 5” Ace Gallery Installation

Melanie Pullen’s (b. 1975) photographs of the deadly bacterium Anthrax are from her Violent Times series, entitled Biochemical Warfare. In this series, the micro-organisms of this potential war-agent are enlarged to a macro scale, and are depicted in beautiful technicolor hues, which belie their devastating capacity. Pullen utilizes her lens to contrast the beauty of the form with the lethality of the function, in a manner that emphasizes the irony of these qualities, as is so often the case at the intersections of man and nature.  

Pullen’s photography has been exhibited widely in major museums and galleries, both nationally and internationally. Her work is in prominent public and private collections including: Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Jacksonville, FL; The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Museo Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico; Howard Stein & the Forward Thinking Collection, New York, New York; Walker Art Center Museum, Minneapolis, Minnesota; The Rand Collection, Santa Monica, CA; The Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA. 

Jennifer Wolf (b. 1972) utilizes natural dyes and minerals in her paintings, often making them from materials collected on expeditions to various and distant locales. Wolf deftly unites natural dyes and hand ground pigments into transcendent compositions that capture a unique essence of the environments she has explored.  “It is my color palette, and focus on the fluid reactions of the paint that sets me apart and gives my work a naturally distinct feel at a time when the majority of colors come out of a tube.”

Unabashedly beautiful, Wolf’s paintings explore the elemental nature of color and texture. Wolf keenly controls the flow of her hand-made paints, isolating areas of lacy, textural pattern that overlap spaces of vivid color which blossom across the surface in energetic washes. Wolf’s compositions allude to the natural world in a manner that is both veiled and complex. Henry David Thoreau remarked in 1853 - “I have a room all to myself; it is nature,” - Wolf’s paintings feel like Thoreau’s room: immersive spaces that embrace the viewer in environments that could be under the sea, encased in clouds or inside the faceted walls of a gemstone. Jennifer Wolf is from Ventura, California where she lives and works. She received her BA in Art History from UCLA and her MFA from Otis College of Art and Design. She has had numerous solo exhibitions at William Turner Gallery.