Landscape Through the Eyes of Abstraction on View Through July 31, 2022

(Thousand Oaks, Calif.) – A multi-media group exhibition exploring contemporary interpretations of the classic landscape will go on view February 18, 2022 at the California Museum of Art Thousand Oaks (CMATO).

Featuring works by nationally and internationally renowned artists Luciana Abait, Kim Abeles, Charles Arnoldi, Laddie John Dill, Cynthia Ona Innis and Claudia Parducci, Landscape Through the Eyes of Abstraction explores landscape from a conceptual perspective, inviting viewers to develop a more nuanced understanding of landscape as a genre, and to contemplate humanity’s complex relationship with the natural world.

The works on display span paintings, video, installation, mixed-media, sculpture and photography. The exhibiting artists offer a provocative and inspired perspective on a subject that has remained a fixture in the history of art, stretching the boundaries of traditional landscape art while questioning the environmental attitudes, perceptions and values of our time.

The exhibition will feature new iterations of work by Dill, Parducci and Abait.

Landscape Through the Eyes of Abstraction is on view through July 31, 2022.

“CMATO is presenting a selection of installations, video, photography, sculpture and paintings by some of the most exciting contemporary artists working today. Landscape Through the Eyes of Abstraction invites contemplation of the concept of landscape art – one of the most ancient of subject matters that continues to evolve,” said Lynn Farrand, Senior Curator, CMATO. “With the natural world rapidly changing around us, and the fabric of our landscape evolving, these artists provide important examinations of our surroundings, making this a timely moment to think more critically about what the earth is and how we live with it.”

Featured Artists:

• Luciana Abait: Abait is a visual artist working with mixed media and installation to create site-specific work focusing on climate change and mysterious landscapes to explore themes of human presence and absence. Her artwork has been featured both nationally and globally, with solo shows at Mackey Gallery in Houston, the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles International Airport, Grados de Arte Contemporaneo in Buenos Aires and Taikoo Place in Hong Kong. Abait is currently a resident artist of 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica, Calif.
• Kim Abeles: Abeles' installations and community projects cross disciplines and media to explore biography, geography, and environment. Experimentation with unusual materials and new processes are central to her art. She has created artwork in conjunction with a unique range of collaborators such as the Bureau of Automotive Repair, Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, California Science Center, natural history museums in California and Colorado, and the Lakota Indians of South Dakota. Abeles received her M.F.A. in Studio Art from the University of California, Irvine, and is Professor Emeritus at California State University, Northridge. Her work is in public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art Library Collection, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Berkeley Art Museum; Sandwell Community History and Archives, UK; and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, Richmond, Virginia.
• Charles Arnoldi: In a boldly graphic and colorful aesthetic, abstract painter and sculptor Arnoldi employs a wide range of abstract visual language, from hard-edged geometric compositions to fluid, lyrical linework. He often incorporates tree branches and plywood in creating dynamic arrangements which simultaneously suggest architecture, Modernist painting and tropical plant life. Arnoldi has been widely exhibited in the U.S. and abroad, including the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Museum of Modern Art. His work can be found in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., LACMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, among others.
• Laddie John Dill: A central figure in the California Light and Space movement, Dill has been crafting light and earthy materials like concrete, glass, sand and metal into luminous sculptures, wall pieces, and installations since the 1970s.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1968, Dill worked with artists such as Robert Rauschenberg and Roy Lichtenstein, and in his pursuit of alternatives to painting, was inspired by environmental artists such as Robert Smithson and Dennis Oppenheim. His work is owned by many private collectors and can be viewed in the permanent collections of more than 25 museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others. Dill has been recognized with Guggenheim and NEA Fellowships, and has lectured at UCLA, UC Irvine, Art Center in Pasadena, Otis Art Institute, and numerous universities and art institutions across the United States.

• Cynthia Ona Innis: Innis is a visual artist, currently living and working in Berkeley, Calif. She received a BA from the University of California at Berkeley and a MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. Her mixed media paintings are included in the permanent collections of the San Jose Museum of Art, the collection of the US State Department Art in Embassies, the Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Among awards she has received are two James D. Phelan Awards, one for printmaking and another for painting, a MacDowell Colony Fellowship and residency, a Kala Fellowship and residency and a 2014 Sustainable Arts Foundation Award. Innis has been a visiting art professor at the San Francisco Art Institute, the University of California at Berkeley, San Francisco State University and the Maine College of Art.
• Claudia Parducci: Parducci’s work spans a multi-disciplinary practice that includes drawing, painting, and sculpture. Since receiving her MFA from CalArts in 2006 Parducci’s work has been shown in Los Angeles, nationally and internationally, most recently at MAAAC Museum in Cisternino, Italy. Based in Los Angeles, Parducci uses the image and idea of architecture to convey both the collapse and chaos of war as well as to communicate endurance and survival. The architectonic structural underpinnings have led her to create art that speak of instability and loss and in recent works to convey metaphors of hope and endurance.

Programming

As part of the exhibition’s run, CMATO will feature lectures and art-related programming for the community to engage with the works on view:

• The exhibiting artists will participate in a panel discussion on Thursday, March 17 at 6:00 PM, moderated by Debra Herrick, editor and co-founder, LUM Magazine.
• An environmental discussion led by the national environmental conservation organization, Citizens Climate Lobby, will take place Thursday, April 21 at 6:00 PM at the Museum.

Additional program information will be posted on www.cmato.org.

Landscape Through the Eyes of Abstraction and related programming is generously supported by CR Print and HomeHelpers.

CMATO is open to the public on Thursday from 2:00-6:00 PM and Friday through Sunday from 12:00 to 6:00 PM. General admission is free; a $6 donation is suggested.

ABOUT

The California Museum of Art Thousand Oaks (CMATO) is a contemporary art museum that engages, educates and enriches our visitors and our community through the visual arts.

Established in 2008, the Museum showcases established and emerging artists, with a unique focus on participatory art. As part of its mission to connect people to creativity, ideas and to each other, CMATO features rotating temporary exhibitions, guest artist lectures and educational programs that foster participation in, and an appreciation for, the visual arts. To learn more or to become a museum member, visit www.cmato.org

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