For Immediate Release

Three New Exhibitions Opening at Studio 391

Gualala, CA (Mendocino County) June 24, 2010 - Studio 391 is pleased to present three new exhibitions opening this weekend. California’s Pacific debuts new black-and-white photographs by Chip Hooper of the Sonoma and Mendocino Coast. Connections features new mixed media abstract paintings by Chris Henry. Nature Observed offers ceramic sculpture inspired from nature by Andy Rogers. The public is invited to join in celebrating the new exhibitions with an opening reception and artist reception on Saturday, July 3 from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Artist Chris Henry will be present. Wine provided by Fort Ross Vineyard and Winery.

California’s Pacific is a photography exhibition that will debut Chip Hooper’s newest large-format images from this ongoing series.  These new photographs were made on the Sonoma and Mendocino Coast, specifically Bodega Bay, Sea Ranch, Elk and Mendocino. Hooper works exclusively with a large-format 8x10 inch view camera. His ability to capture moments of water and sky radiate a palette of light that are both inspirational and transcendent. The combination of his technical mastery and pristine gelatin silver printing are remarkable.

Hooper began to envision his photographs of California’s Pacific as the first chapter in a larger project. He has since made it his goal to photograph every major sea and ocean in the world.
He continues to seek out new oceans to photograph, and in recent years has photographed extensively in New Zealand and Iceland.

Says Hooper of what photography means to him: “The process of creating photographs is a contemplative one. It is an exploration of my feelings as much as it is an exploration of what I am seeing. The best images always happen when what I am feeling becomes one with what I am seeing.”

He has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions worldwide in New York, Boston, Carmel, Canada, Japan, Portugal, and South Korea. His photographs have appeared in Black & White Magazine, Outdoor Photographer Magazine and many other photographic publications. His exhibitions have been reviewed in The New York Times, ARTnews, and New Yorker Magazine. Hooper’s works are in the museum collections of Cleveland Museum of Art, Microsoft Collection, Monterey Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Portland Art Museum, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. He resides in Carmel Valley, California.

Connections is a new series of mixed media abstract paintings by Sonoma County artist Chris Henry. These new abstract paintings on wood panels are bold in color and brushwork underscoring the movement and rhythm of each stroke.

Henry originally hails from New Jersey and is a former high school classmate of Studio 391 Gallery Director/Owner Carol Kozal. The two recently reunited by coincidence not social media as one might expect. Says Kozal about the recent reunion, “I was specifically seeking an artist from the region for this particular show. Not only did I find an artist whose works I was very much drawn to, but ended up reuniting with a former classmate that I used to take art classes with in high school. What are the chances?”

Henry, who initially started with representational images in his work quickly found himself doing large abstract works. His mixed media paintings begin by incorporating a word at the beginning of a new painting. Henry chooses a word that inspires him, writing or painting it on the newly primed panel and allowing that inspiration to guide him through the creation like a moving meditation. His use of pumice, glues, acrylics, metals and other materials have allowed him to create a unique style of painting that has become his trademark.

Says Henry about his technique “The work I do is the reflection of my evolution using primarily texture, line and words to communicate. Ideas come to me from everywhere. A shape in nature, something man made, or perhaps a color strikes me and the idea germinates while I gather my materials.”

Henry is constantly driven to create and continues to experiment with a variety of materials in search of the best means to express his creativity.  He has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Northern California. His paintings are in private collections in the United States. The artist resides in Sonoma County.

Andy Rogers is an artist that is fascinated with seeds, nuts, spores, fungi and sea forms. Nature Observed presents a collection of works that Rogers sculpts to resemble, but never copy, the objects he observes in nature. Working with a variety of clays and operating with an image of the finished work in mind, the artist creates unique works that incorporate an array of materials to give each piece a different quality. Rogers is not averse to dipping, spraying, brushing or airbrushing layers of slip, glazes, or stains to achieve surfaces saturated with color and texture.

“Beauty, for me, is the quiet, the growing, the naturally emerging vessels produced by the earth. I, in turn, push my creativity to develop new objects that could likely be found living and growing in nature,” says Rogers.

Rogers has participated in solo and group shows in the Midwest. He has exhibited in a number of high profile juried art festivals in the United States. Rogers has received several awards for his ceramic sculpture. His work has appeared in fine craft and art magazines. “Seed Pod,” one of his signature works, was featured in “500 Ceramic Sculptures: Contemporary Practice, Singular Works” published by Lark Books in 2009. The artist resides in Missouri.

California’s Pacific, Connections, and Nature Observed will remain on view through Sunday, August 22, 2010.

Studio 391 is a fine art gallery in Mendocino County specializing in photography, paintings, sculpture, ceramics, glass and mixed media by local, regional and nationally established artists. The gallery is located at 39102 Ocean Drive in Cypress Village, Gualala’s gallery district next to Placewares+Lyndon Design, Spindrift Gallery and Henley’s. Gallery hours are Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. For more information contact Carol Kozal at 707.884.9065, visit the gallery website at www.studio391.net or gallery blog at www.studio391blog.blogspot.com.

Contact:
Carol Kozal, Gallery Director/Owner
Studio 391
39102 Ocean Drive | Cypress Village
Gualala, CA 95445
707.884.9065
Email: carolkozal@studio391.net
Web: www.studio391.net
Blog: www.studio391blog.blogspot.com