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We are honored to host seasoned artist, Robert Morgan, 83 year old Australian painter and graphic artist, throughout the month of March. “The Works of Robert Morgan” opens during 2nd Saturday Art Walk, March 9th from 6p-10p and will remain available for private showings. The show closes March 30th 6p-9p for Collector’s Night. This exhibition represents the culmination of over 60 years worth of amazing stories encountered by Morgan. Robert Morgan will be present to share his tales and insight into his life as a seasoned artist on March 9th.
“It was a splendid place and time! I’m sure we didn’t realize it then – doesn’t every young boy have four miles of water frontage to play about and run all over, a great expanse of water over which to adventure on, a rowing club and sailing club and our own fleet of tin canoes?”
The artist grew up by the shores of Iron Cove Bay in the western suburbs of Sydney NSW, Australia. The bay is part of the estuary system that feeds into the Parramatta River and on towards and under the harbor bridge into Port Jackson, Sydney’s Harbor. Someone was always building a watercraft on one block or another in the area – sailing dinghies and canoes – but usually something more ambitious, 30ft to 40ft ocean-going yachts, which took years to complete. Some of his earliest attempts at self motivated drawing and painting involved subjects from there.
The artist continues, “My formal art education was pursued spasmodically during the between stints on newspapers, magazines, art studios, advertising agencies etc. I attended the Julian Ashton School of Fine Art under Henry Gibbons and Sydney School of Commercial Art with William Holman.”
“The arrival in Canada had been planned with my wife, initially as the first stage of a grand tour working trip around the world. I was able to continue development through several opportune job situations in the Vancouver BC and Toronto Ont. Areas. One of these last had enabled the development of skills in design and presentation. That in turn led to taking time out to study at the Instituto Allende and to paint full time for another semester in San Miguel de Allende Gto. Mexico.”
“When we came out of Mexico to the Los Angeles area – My wife, children and myself, the painting continued anyway, through to a series of large abstract works in synthetic media. Then it became apparent that it was time to move back into regular remunerative work. There followed several years of work on architectural graphics programs, mostly of the more pragmatic kind – until, I found myself assigned to design for a project utilizing more wall space than most artists would dream of handling in a whole lifetime.”
Rob’s years of painting must have been preparation for something. As a Designer within a large professional Architectural Office, he designed the graphic walls of the secure below plaza level spaces and other large walls of a large national bank. Total wall areas were in excess of 35,000 square feet!
It seemed he was on his way, but circumstances changed again and there followed several difficult but still interesting years. During that time, outside of some unforgettable projects which included directional graphics in the Los Angeles Zoo, he designed and coordinated an ambitious extension of the exhibits for the public tour of Lawry’s California Center. On a personal level, he also developed a modular panel system for large graphic walls. Conceptual Designs for exhibits at George C. Page Museum, La Brea Tar Finds, were produced, while consulting with the Architects of that project.
Across the road was Museum Square where he was also heavily involved in the revamp form Prudential Building that it once had been. He had also picked up on his association with Electrical Advertising – Park Plaza near Palos Verdes, Alamedas Bay Harbor at Long Beach, Studio City Plaza on Ventura Blvd., and Arbor Faire in Fresno area, are some of the new or ambitious makeovers which utilized his design skills as an employee or independent consultant.
On more recent painting efforts: The artist is quoted, “Since becoming even more aware of the strong painting themes manifest along Pacific Rim coasts, the focus of my painting activity has been the development of suitable techniques to exploit that material. That and the potential interchange between developed hand skills and refined technology is what excites me!”
Bio by Robert Morgan 2013
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Robert Morgan will be with us during 2nd Saturday Art Walk to discuss his work. We hope to see you there. This will be a very special show unlike any you have experienced here in Pomona.
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Featuring photographer, Ian Elston, a gifted and detailed engineer who has worked with Edison, Boeing, Northrop Grumman. His eye for detail has made him a worthy candidate for capturing the meticulous facets of a moving dancer. As a distinguished graduate of the University of Southern California and the Art Institute of California – Orange County, Elston has had the honor of photographing numerous subjects, including the USC Repertory Dance Company and USC Chamber Ballet Company. He will be exhibiting a collection of images from these groups.
We are also honored to have with us, students from the renowned School of Arts and Enterprises. Auditions are being held to showcase the talents and creative movement of these exceptional High School students. Those chosen to participate will be showcasing within the LOFT during Art Walk. Come out and support these young dancers.
Along with the Art of Movement exhibit, we are proud to present the Art of Marissa Merida. Marissa is a sophomore at the School of Arts and Enterprises and recently was honored to be chosen as Artist of the Season in Visual Arts. She will be displaying a collection of paintings and drawings. Marissa is one of our amazing interns at the LOFT and we are ecstatic to give her an opportunity to show.
