Gianna Vargas Canvas, Paper & Wood
October 20 — November 13
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Canvas, Paper & Wood opens October 20, 2021 at TAG Gallery, 5458 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036. TAG is open 1pm-7pm, Wed-Sun
I was inspired to create this body of work because of a painting that hangs in my house. I admired this work because the artist painted it only using greyscale. The artist happens to be my brother-in-law, and he also happens to be color blind. I wondered what it would be like to paint without color. This question challenges my artistic process because when I paint, I speak with color. I consider my use of color essential to my identity as an artist. Therefore, it was both terrifying and exciting to create this body of work with a limited color palette.
Not surprisingly, when I reduced my range of colors, I found that I became more interested in the texture of my paintings. I varied the medium and sizes of each painting to study how the paint interacted with the surface. I used similar techniques on canvas, paper, and wood panels to apply paint on different surfaces. Each theme was repeated in pairs or groups of three to demonstrate a gesture or paint application slightly differently. I purposefully used groupings to experiment.
What became evident from this process was the amount of restraint I had to use to make the work successful. Color can be a valuable tool to create emotion and drama, and when I limited my color palette, I had to work leaner. I was careful with my gestures and deliberate in my choices. As a result, the work in this show is intimate and subtle.
About the Artist: Gianna Vargas is an artist living in Venice, California. Born in England, Gianna has lived and studied in the United States and Australia. She relocated to California to study art and science at Scripps College and Claremont Graduate University.
Currently she divides her time between teaching science at Brentwood School and painting at her studio in the Hawthorne Arts Complex.
About the Gallery: TAG is a fine art gallery located on Museum Row in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1993, the gallery represents award-winning contemporary Southern California artists working in all mediums and styles.