Opening Reception: Abstract Trompe L’oeil

Exhibition Dates: September 20 – November 14, 2019

Opening Reception with the Artist: Friday, September 20, 5-7 pm

Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Gallery

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to announce the opening of Abstract Trompe L’oeil, an exhibition of oil paintings by Paige Patterson Wilson.  An opening reception will be held at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara on Friday, September 20, from 5:00-7 pm. All are welcome.

Abstract Trompe L’oeil highlights Wilson’s deep interest in the interplay of colored surfaces. Her previous paintings were conventional still life paintings depicting recognizable objects with reflective, transparent surfaces that appear as small abstractions. Creating these paintings led her to the idea of creating purely abstract still life paintings. At first glance, her new work appears to be flat, hard edge, geometric and abstract. Upon closer observation, viewers are drawn in by the illusion of depth.

To create these unusual paintings, Wilson first constructs an abstract “still life”—a three-dimensional composition of opaque, translucent, and transparent papers, and colored gels.  After arranging lighting above to create a kaleidoscope of reflections, she paints the “still life” from direct observation, challenging herself to create the illusion of three dimensions and transparency using only opaque pigments.

Although the paintings are formal compositions, they evoke futuristic cities, outer space, and science fiction settings. Surface flatness and the illusion of depth coexist simultaneously, creating spaces where the interplay and fusion of saturated colors, abstract shapes and imagination magically coexist.

Wilson received her BA in 1979 from San Francisco State University where she studied with Robert Bechtle, a photo-realist painter. She completed her MFA in 1982 at UCSB where she studied with Ciel Bergman and William Dole. She has maintained a studio and residence in Santa Barbara for 40 years and has participated in many group exhibitions and several solo exhibitions. She currently teaches art classes at SBCC School of Extended Learning.

A workshop to demonstrate the process of setting up an abstract still life and translating it to a painting will be held on Saturday, October 26, from 1-3 pm (Cost $30.00) at the AFSB Gallery. To purchase a ticket please visit the Architectural Foundation’s website.

Hole In The Wall by Michael Long

Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Gallery

July 19 – September 12, 2019

Opening Reception: Friday, July 19, 5-7 pm

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to announce the opening of Hole in the Wall, an exhibition of assemblage works by Michael Long. A reception will be held at The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara on Friday, July 19 from 5-7pm. All are welcome.

Hole in the Wall is a capsulized study into unnoticed aspects of the physical world as well as the dark corners of Michael Long’s mind. Blending aspects of real, typically local, architecture with images from his imagination, Long creates unique assemblage boxes that emit a preternatural vibe. He draws from the twin wellsprings of his recurring childhood dreams, nightmares, and memories and his careful observations of actual buildings in Santa Barbara. These small, precisely constructed works are eerie reminders of forgotten spaces – both interior and exterior – surreal architectural fragments that evoke curiosity and a myriad of associations and feelings in viewers.

AFSB Art Gallery – NEW SHOW

Warner Smith exhibit AFSB

OPENING RECEPTION TONIGHT!

Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Gallery

Opening Reception: Friday, March 15, 5-7 pm

INSIDE: Photographs of Decommissioned Prisons in Australia

decommissioned prisons Australia - AFSB

By Brett Leigh Dicks

May 18 – July 12, 2018

Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Gallery

Opening Reception: Friday, May 18, 5-7 pm

INSIDE is an exhibition at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara of compelling, black and white photographs documenting Australian prison facilities that have surpassed their use-by dates.  The Opening Reception with the artist will be held on Friday, May 18 from 5 – 7 pm. All are welcome.

Empty prisons are eerie places where the walls do speak. Etched into the stones is the passing of successive generations of inmates.  Photographer Brett Leigh Dicks demonstrates that every prison has its own history, character, and stories to tell and so too does every cell. But old prisons are not just a reminder of the past, they can also help guide the future.

Brett Leigh Dicks was born in Sydney, Australia and currently resides in Santa Barbara, California. Through fine black and white photography, he investigates the landscape and the tenuous ties it shares with human history. His work has been exhibited in Australia, Europe, and the United States and hung beside photographers as diverse as Ansel Adams, Jeff Bridges, Max Dupain, Lewis Morley, Yoko Ono and Hiroshi Sugimoto.  He is currently a finalist in the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards.

*Facebook Event Here*

Rosemarie Gebhart: Unseen and Unheard: Accidental Musings

Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Gallery

Opening Reception: Friday, March 16, 5-7pm

“Unseen and Unheard: Accidental Musings” evolves from Gebhart’s background in science and art history.  Her organic compositions resonate with sumptuous textures and images, meandering line formations and color transparencies.  Each work on paper is a unique, one-of-a-kind viscosity monotype—a printmaking technique that lends itself to the creation of luminous effects, chaos, and turbulence. Over the last decade, the topography of the Southwest influenced her horizons, undulating lines and explosions of color.

Educated first in the health professions, Gebhart then went on to learn art history and printmaking.  After attending Immaculate Heart College, she earned a BA in Art History at the California State University in Los Angeles, followed by art classes in Santa Barbara and workshops in traditional etching techniques at Crown Point Press in San Francisco.  She makes annual visits to Santa Fe to develop her skills in printmaking and is a Docent at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

FACEBOOK Event Here.

KDA Gallery Opening & Holiday Party

Kids Draw Architecture: Gallery Opening & Holiday Party

December 4, 2017 – January 7, 2018

Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Gallery

Opening reception: Sunday, December 3, 2017 2-4 pm

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to present you the annual Kids Draw Architecture Gallery Opening & Holiday Party.

This year KDA sketched La Cumbre Jr. High school and the Santa Barbara Cemetery.

The exhibition will feature a collection of drawings from KDA’s 2017 program showcasing a representative cross-section of illustrations from all age groups and drawing abilities.

The AFSB Gallery is located in the historic Acheson House at the corner of Garden and East Victoria Streets in Santa Barbara. Regular gallery hours are Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 pm and by appointment (please contact the Executive Director at 805-965-6307).

Art Gallery Reception and Show

Stretch: Wall Sculpture and Paintings by Barbara Flanagan

barbara-flanagan-festoon_habeo

July 1 to August 7, 2017

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Gallery   

Opening Reception: Friday, June 30 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

Artist Demonstrations/Conversations on Saturdays: July 1, 8, 29, and August 5 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.  Visitors of all ages are invited to stop by for demonstrations and conversations about Art, Architecture, and Beyond.

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to announce a new solo exhibition: Stretch: Wall Sculpture and Paintings by Barbara Flanagan. The exhibition consists of innovative wall sculptures made with industrial aluminum and colorful paintings formed with synthetic liquids.  “Stretch” refers to the uncanny malleability of Flanagan’s various materials and to her unique experiments, which are designed to provoke neural surprises, both tactile and visual, while evoking a range of feelings.

Festoons, Flanagan’s aluminum wall sculptures, have their beginnings at a New England mill that custom rolls and slices aluminum into strips—typically, for a minimum order of 13,500 linear feet.  Based on her prototypes, metallurgists at the mill provide technical assistance on alloys, temper, gauge, edge, and finish.

More mercurial are Flanagan’s painting projects made with synthetic coatings of many colors, transformed by casting, pouring, and curing, then playfully layered into intriguing compositions that challenge the formalities of traditional paintings and archival paint formulas.

Flanagan lives and works in downtown Santa Barbara, overlooking the new Lagoon District and equidistant to East Beach, trails, and art venues. “Visitors to my studio tell me my outdoorsy life shapes my art making. Sounds right. I ocean swim, grow food, and make art–my favorite kinds of work/play, all very sensory. Immersed in the cold Pacific, an unpredictable wilderness, I’m awed, humbled, and overwhelmed. In my garden, I collaborate with my plants, as I prune, feed, and coax them to bear fruit. In my outdoor studio, I pour, squeeze, and bend industrial materials–mimicking the gorgeous sinuosity of nature–as I pretend to control the process. In fact, I’m always surprised by the results, for better or worse, and that’s the condition I seek: hard-won suspense with a chance of joy.”

Flanagan holds a Masters of Architecture from Yale University, a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Certificat in sculpture from ENSAD (École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, in Paris). For over thirty years, she has worked as an independent writer and product designer while making her own art. After her early years as an architectural designer in San Francisco and L.A., Flanagan was invited to write about design and architecture for The New York Times and Metropolis Magazine. She has contributed to a dozen national publications and published two books on design. Since 2002, Flanagan has designed products for the MoMA’s Design Store (NYC).

For more information, please see: barbaraflanagan.com and freshpaintart.com.

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara Gallery is located in the historic Acheson House on the corner of Garden and East Victoria Streets in Santa Barbara at 229 East Victoria Street. Regular gallery hours are Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. and by appointment (please contact Amy Collins at 805-965-6307).