Friday April 2 – May 30, 2010
Opening Reception: Friday, April 2, 6-10pm
HAPPY is pleased to present new photographs by Corina Gamma in our main space. In “Layers of Separation” Gamma continues her investigation of the landscape. Employing her signature pure, opaque style, these winter tales (complete with bundled-up skiers) are atmospheric, illuminated sanctuaries. Gamma’s wicked sense of formal structure re-position these seemingly innocent weekend snapshots as suspenseful melodramas. Huddled figures eagerly await their fate as they are passively strung along, feet dangling from a ski lift cable that may or may not lead them to fun and frolic. Gamma’s figures yearn for freedom but are momentarily stuck in an empty world, encumbered by their uniforms and hoping for the best. Their fleeting moments of closeness, watched over by some unseen force, are soon to be forsaken for the perfect slope. Corina Gamma was born and raised in Switzerland and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. Her work can currently be seen in “State of Mind” at the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego. She is a graduate of Claremont Graduate University (MFA) and University of California, Riverside, CA, (BA) and currently teaches fine art photography at Long Beach City College. http://www.gammasphere.net/
Opening Reception: Friday, April 2, 6-10pm
HAPPY is pleased to present new photographs by Corina Gamma in our main space. In “Layers of Separation” Gamma continues her investigation of the landscape. Employing her signature pure, opaque style, these winter tales (complete with bundled-up skiers) are atmospheric, illuminated sanctuaries. Gamma’s wicked sense of formal structure re-position these seemingly innocent weekend snapshots as suspenseful melodramas. Huddled figures eagerly await their fate as they are passively strung along, feet dangling from a ski lift cable that may or may not lead them to fun and frolic. Gamma’s figures yearn for freedom but are momentarily stuck in an empty world, encumbered by their uniforms and hoping for the best. Their fleeting moments of closeness, watched over by some unseen force, are soon to be forsaken for the perfect slope. Corina Gamma was born and raised in Switzerland and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. Her work can currently be seen in “State of Mind” at the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego. She is a graduate of Claremont Graduate University (MFA) and University of California, Riverside, CA, (BA) and currently teaches fine art photography at Long Beach City College. http://www.gammasphere.net/
In our project room is a site-specific installation by sculptor Rochelle Botello. “Yesterday’s Combover” is an imaginary world where girls can offer their hair to their dog, boys with hairy faces can ride bikes and men can play dress up. This animated world is filled with humorous and absurd scenarios that exploit extremes and contradictions; humor and tragedy, perversion and pleasure, fragility and brutality, control and letting go. By capturing traces of experiences both real and imagined, Botello crafts stories that address issues of identity, intimacy and sexuality. Constructed in bright color combinations and decorative patterns in unexpected juxtapositions, the sculptures are pieced together with everyday materials such as paper, duct tape and cardboard. Botello creates heartbreaking yet comic vignettes that gently expose the complex and contradictory nature of everyday life. Rochelle Botello was born in Denver, Colorado and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. She is a graduate of Claremont Graduate University (MFA) and the University of California, Santa Cruz (BA, Sociology). http://www.rochellebotello.com/
