Past Shows
2019
Edward Weston: Perpetual Existence
January 18-March 1, 2019
Azusa Pacific University is proud to present “Perpetual Existence,” an exhibition of prints from internationally known photographer Edward Weston. The exhibition consists mostly of portraits Weston did while working in his studio in Glendale and printed by his daughter-in-law Dody Weston Thompson. The collection is on loan from the Inland Empire Museum of Art.
Marcus Doyle: Wanderlust
January 18-March 1, 2019
Marcus Doyle is an internationally recognized artist and adjunct faculty member at Azusa Pacific University. His work has been widely exhibited in galleries throughout the UK, Europe, and the United States. In addition to his commercial representation, Doyle has produced three photography books: Night Vision, By Coastal, and most recently, The Flowery Room. His photography work consists mainly of landscapes and the environmentally challenged areas within them.
2018
Through the Iris: Twenty-five female visual artists
October 9-November 2, 2018
Through a variety of mediums, the exhibition depicted the personal journeys and narratives of 25 artists and graduates of APU’s Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program. “Threads of meaning weave through the work to reveal themes of home, refuge, longing, reconnection, discovery and transcendence,” explained Kim M. Reiff, curator of the exhibition. The exhibit traveled to several venues before closing at Azusa Pacific.
Tina Linville: love is an action word
September 4–28, 2018
Tina Linville’s work combines the tendencies of collecting and arranging with textile construction processes to transform everyday objects and materials. What is ordinary becomes mysterious and out of undervalued parts comes an indelible whole.
Dion Johnson: Feel the Sky
January 12-March 2, 2018
Dion Johnson’s retrospective covered 10 years of the artist’s evolving linear compositions. Watch a video of the exhibition. In the exhibition essay, Catherine Wagley wrote: “Johnson is circumstantially a digital painter, but free from the pessimism and the burden of perfection—endowed with an analog attitude, maybe.”
2017
peckingnets: Untitled
October 10-November 3, 2017
A collaboration by Jordan Ruffin ’14 and Hannah Lee, peckingnets parse through the social and political construction of whiteness, examining ways that white supremacy is embedded in culture through everyday language, objects, and images.
Sush Machida: Shibui Wabisabi Yabai Iki
September 5-29, 2017
“Sush Machida’s new paintings all start with wood. More accurately, they start with what appears to be wood but is actually beautifully applied paint on wood panels that have been sanded and primed so that their surfaces are smooth. … Paradoxically—and delightfully—Sush’s brand of artifice is not opposed to Realism, to the peculiar pleasures of representation, or to the fascinating magic of trick-the-eye illusionism. Instead, literal depiction and poetic resonance intermingle in his promiscuous pictures.” — David Pagel, exhibition essay excerpt
Macha Suzuki: Anthem (for the End)
February 28-March 17, 2017
“[Europe’s The Final Countdown], a goodbye to earth from a narrator who may never return, is the soundtrack for Macha Suzuki’s exhibition, and perhaps an appropriate theme song for his practice: a hit that allows optimism and anxiety to coexist fairly peacefully.” — Catherine Wagley, exhibition essay excerpt
Monique Prieto: Revival
January 13-February 17, 2017
“In our current culture that is immediate and thrives on images that lie just above the surface, Monique Prieto’s artistic practice has maintained the complexity of image making by giving us what we want and countering that with what we need.” — Christina Valentine, exhibition essay excerpt
2016
Moira Hahn: Natural Selection
October 18-November 18, 2016
Moira Hahn’s densely layered, tightly detailed watercolors are filled with political and social commentary, Eastern and Western religions, and humanistic animals. Her imaginative paintings seamlessly re-animate stylistic conventions of Edo period (mid-nineteenth century) Ukiyo-e woodblock prints with contemporary conceptual issues, rendered with striking technical precision.
Mark Dean Veca: The Mundane and the Sublime
September 6-October 7, 2016
“Narrative and nonsense come together in Veca’s abstract images, which run the gamut from graffiti-style murals to sketchbook-page drawings and include, in between, immersive, room-size installations, billboard-scale acrylics on canvas, and domestically sized pen-and-ink drawings.” — David Pagel, exhibition essay excerpt
Tim Hawkinson and Patty Wickman: Staring Off in the Same Direction
January 15-March 11, 2016
The exhibition by husband-and-wife artists Tim Hawkinson and Patty Wickman launched a semester-long artist residency program. Wickman’s highly refined narrative paintings contrast with Hawkinson’s playful sculptures, while both explore the human condition. In their unique ways, each invites viewers to reflect on and embrace the embodied nature within themselves, replete with inherent peculiarities, frailties, and limitations.
2015
John Bauer: BSOD
November 3-20, 2015
BSOD, stands for Blue Screen of Death, the error screen displayed in Windows as a result of a system crash. The title also refers to a blue screen, which in film and video, denotes a background in front of which moving subjects are filmed. Technology, film, the color blue and death are the conceptual underpinnings of Bauer’s exhibition.
Elonda Billera: Resist Convenience: a return
October 13-29, 2015
Echoing a century-old Duchampian spirit that an artist’s vision can transform even the most mundane material into a meaningful work of art, Elonda Billera Norris constructs intimate assemblages and precariously balanced sculptural installations using discarded domestic objects.
We Heart Japan (group exhibition)
September 15-October 2, 2015
Japonisme is alive and well, as shown through Japanese influence on contemporary artists from Los Angeles. With artists representing Latin, Thai, Filipino, and Native American ancestry, the exhibition, curated by Jay Lizo, reflected the diverse influence of Japonisme in Los Angeles.
Alex Couwenberg: Byways
February 17-March 6, 2015
Los Angeles-based painter Alex Couwenberg explores “process” and the “moment” through tightly controlled compositions of paint and mark making. Inspired by elements indigenous to his surroundings, Couwenberg references and suggests the aesthetics of custom car culture, surfing, skateboarding, and music, with the glossy sensibility of mid-century modernist design.
Jose Fernandez: The Pursuit of Giants
January 20-February 6, 2015
Jose Fernandez is a renowned costume designer and sculptor who created the superhero costumes for Black Panther, Wolverine, Batman, Spiderman, Catwoman, and many others. He has also designed helmets for musical artists, including Daft Punk and will.i.am.
2014
David Flores: GIFT
November 4-December 12, 2014
David Flores’ stained-glass style of painting is a culmination of a life in the arts. His interest in painting led him to create limited-edition vinyl toys and clothing, and it was not long before he experienced an explosion in popularity, as his work outdoors and aesthetic complemented each other perfectly. Watch Flores create a mural at APU.
Brent Everett Dickinson: There is Power in the Blood: An Indoor Earthwork
October 6-24, 2014
Brent Everett Dickinson’s work is created out of a truly decentralized studio practice that includes multimedia sculptural installations, sound composition, experimental processes, and film.
Lisa Adams: A Selection of Work 2010-2013
September 8-26, 2014
“Lisa Adams brings to the work an interest in laying bare sources of inchoate matter, the grist of art … that captures a pregnant, lovely pause of a moment that is not Here or There but somewhere In-Between.” — James Scarborough, Los Angeles critic, curator, and art historian
Tim Bavington: POPTIMIST
March 25-May 8, 2014
Music is the genesis of Tim Bavington’s paintings. Through synthetic polymer paint, Bavington acts as a translator between the aural and the visual as he transforms guitar solos, melodies, and basslines into vertical bands of color. Although Bavington has a method that designates sound to color and composition, his works remain open to intuition and decision-making, allowing for a distinct artistic presence. Watch a video of the artist.
2013
Judy Pfaff: The Art of Flower Arranging
October 21-December 6, 2013
Judy Pfaff’s innovative works include collage, drawing, and sculpture. Viewers are confronted with a mixture of flora, fauna, and structural systems that delicately navigate the space between happenstance and precision. Formed out of common materials, Pfaff turns Chinese paper lanterns, artificial flowers, bedsprings, and various papers and plastics into art.
Devon Tsuno: High Water
September 30-October 17, 2013
For over a decade, Tsuno has wandered the San Gabriel River drainage system documenting the disjunctive economic and topographic relationship between streams and rock quarries. Tsuno also oversaw a workshop and collaboration with APU students, using a large-scale format 60” x 84” screen print on handmade Japanese Kochi Mashi Washi paper. Watch a video of the exhibition.
Christian Hosoi: The Art of Christian Hosoi
September 16-26, 2013
Christian Hosoi, an all-American professional skateboarder, lived by the creed, “Skate and Destroy.” While he found his calling in skating at an early age, he also found himself in the midst of destruction. Hosoi was the subject of a 2006 documentary film, Rising Son – The Legend of Skateboarder Christian Hosoi, that detailed his success as a pro Vans skateboarder, drug addiction, and conversion to Christianity.