Current Exhibitions Archives – Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara

Upcoming Exhibition – ABSTRACTED by Carolyn Hubbs

**Upcoming Exhibition - ABSTRACTED by Carolyn Hubbs**

September 7 – November 2, 2024

Opening Reception Friday September 6, 2024 5 – 7 p.m.

The Architectural Foundation Gallery

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to announce the opening of ABSTRACTED, an exhibition of abstract paintings based on plein air sketching in the Santa Barbara environs.

An opening reception will be held at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara on September 6th from 5-7 pm.

Carolyn Hubbs will give an informal walk-through of her exhibition on September 28th and on October 19th at 2 pm.

In her first solo show in Santa Barbara, Carolyn Hubbs presents vibrant abstract paintings in acrylic—jazzy compositions that evolve from her sketches of favorite locations in and around Santa Barbara. Her drawings simplify and reconstruct the natural spaces she observes outdoors. In the studio she transforms them into playful, complex rearrangements of shapes, colors and rhythms that move in and out of the picture plane. The exhibition includes several of Hubbs’ field sketches and corresponding paintings.

“Outdoors, I look for the strongest element (rhythm, color, line, shape) in the ‘scene’ that catches my interest and then develop everything else around it. Back in the studio I study my notes and then start to make a painting by rearranging everything and playing with the interactions of colors and rhythms. I like to use disruptions and disjunctions to give the whole picture movement. The picture is complete when, finally giving into the poetics of the unpredictable, I have built a whole new image that resonates with me. Sometimes they look totally abstract; sometimes more like landscape!”

Hubbs graduated from Mills College with a B. A. in art history and studies in photography and printmaking. Later, she studied at U.C.L.A. Extension School with Charles Garabedian. Her eclectic influences include jazz pianist Bill Evans, the 15th c. artist Sassetta, Stuart Davis, and Ellsworth Kelly as well as artist/teachers Colin Fraser Gray and Rick Stich. She has exhibited internationally, in Los Angeles, at the Elverhoj Museum in Solvang, and at Sullivan Goss Gallery in Santa Barbara.

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara office and gallery are based in the historic Acheson House at the corner of Garden and East Victoria Streets in Santa Barbara. Gallery hours are Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. and by appointment.

Top Image Shown:

Tree Creating Itself
Acrylic on Board
10″ x 10″

Bottom Image Shown:

Tide Lines
Acrylic on Board
10″ x 10″

Current Exhibition – TIMELY by Joan Rosenberg-Dent and Caroline Kapp

**Current Exhibition - TIMELY by Joan Rosenberg-Dent and Caroline Kapp**

June 1- August 24, 2024

Opening Reception Friday May 31, 2024 5 – 7 p.m.

The Architectural Foundation Gallery

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to announce the opening of TIMELY, an exhibition of porcelain, mied media and photography by Joan Rosenberg-Dent and Caroline Kapp. An opening reception will be held at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara on Friday, May 31, from 5-7 pm.

The porcelain sculpture of Joan Rosenberg-Dent and the experimental photographs and drawings of Caroline Kapp reflect and correspond with each other in remarkable ways. These artists first met by chance at the Channing Peake Gallery while picking up their work from a previous exhibition. Arriving at the same time in the Gallery, they observed their work hanging side by side and were struck by the strong visual resonances. After exchanging emails, then studio visits, over time they began to shape the idea of a two-person, collaborative exhibition.

“We found conceptual and visual similarities in our past creative works, as well as in our current themes. We were each independently exploring new work related to the concept of time: how time shapes our lives; how we shape the time in our lives; how time can leave visible marks on us and our surroundings. We asked the question: if our past work displays such an uncanny connection, what might future collaborations look like?”

Joan Rosenberg-Dent received her Master of Fine Arts degree at Cranbrook Academy of Art. She has taught at many universities including Pennsylvania State University, University of Michigan, and was Chair person of Ceramics and Glass at Ohio University. She currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council, School of Art and Design, at the University of Michigan. Her work is in several permanent museum collections.

Caroline Kapp is a visual artist known for her quietly surreal photographic compositions that combine experimental and digital processes. She studied at Cornish College of the Arts (BFA, Visual Arts) and the University of Washington (MFA, Photomedia). She has exhibited photography and video work nationally and internationally and has been selected as resident fellow at several institutions.

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara office and gallery are based in the historic Acheson House at the corner of Garden and East Victoria Streets in Santa Barbara. Gallery hours are Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. and by appointment.

Top Image Shown:

Caroline Kapp
Detail from Ellipse No. 2
Archival inkjet print
2018

Bottom Image Shown:

Joan Rosenberg-Dent
Birth / Infinity
Porcelain
2024

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.

Color Notes by Jimmy Miracle

March 12 – May 9, 2019

The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara is pleased to announce the opening of Color Notes, an exhibition of oil paintings by Jimmy Miracle. A reception will be held at The Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara on Friday, March 15 from 5-7pm. All are welcome.

Color Notes highlights Miracle’s everyday wanderings around his neighborhood in Goleta and his fresh eye for color. Seeking neither picturesque nor unsightly subjects, Miracle freely paints his immediate surroundings with an open mind—landscapes, parking lots, isolated figures, and interiors. He paints from both memory and observation with an immediacy and vitality of color. These small, intimate paintings are a celebration of the senses. They represent commonplace encounters imbued with human experience and perception. They all eschew the technological filters so often used today and instead rely on the first-hand experience of places and people. Miracle continually experiments in search of fresh, vital, visual approaches within the contemporary artistic dialogue. His recent oil paintings in Color Notes highlight a little-known aspect of his unique artistic career.

After receiving a B.A. in studio art from Belhaven College (Jackson, MS), Miracle spent ten years working and exhibiting his paintings and installation art in New York City, Washington, DC, and Germany. A recent graduate of UCSB’s MFA program, Miracle is currently a Teaching Fellow at the University. As a recipient of a “Humanities in the Community” grant from the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center (UCSB), he is co-creating and exhibiting with artists who experience mental illness.

An oil painting workshop will be led by the artist on Saturday, April 27, 2019 from 1-3pm (Cost: $30) at the AFSB Gallery. To purchase a ticket, please visit the Architectural Foundation’s website.