Elemental

Luna Rienne Gallery is pleased to present Elemental, a group show featuring painters Evan Venegas, Ivy Jacobsen Hitchcock, Sarah Coleman, and St. Monci (Michael Moncibaiz).

Opening Friday, March 25, 6-9PM
Showing through May 2, 2016

Elemental explores pure notions of color and form as they pertain to painting both geometric and organic shapes. Opposing styles of clean, architectural lines by Venegas and St. Monci; and ethereal, natural landscapes by Jacobsen and Coleman utilize a similar, simple color palette to achieve a reaction that is visceral as well as cerebral.

New York-based artist Evan Venegas uses imagery loosely based on the urban, industrial landscape that surrounds him. His creative process is rooted in the recognizable world but expressed by abstract shapes and vibrant colors. He seeks to create an experience that inspires a change in perception for the viewer. Born and raised in Queens, New York, he began his art education at Parsons School of Design, then moved to San Francisco to complete a BFA in Painting at the San Francisco Art Institute. He returned to New York in 2000.

Ivy Jacobsen, a California native, settled into the San Francisco Bay Area while studying art at San Francisco State University and the San Francisco Art Institute. She began her career as a full-time artist in 2005 and quickly emerged as a prolific fine artist with a unique process of incorporating magical realism into her whimsical landscapes. She currently resides in Santa Cruz, California with her husband and two children, and works out of her studio in San Francisco.

Sarah Coleman was raised in towns in Texas, Minnesota, and California, and noticed that each landscape possessed a unique effect, mood, and sky. These environments and their cultures shaped Sarah’s early life experience and began her interest in the emotional and intellectual impacts of atmosphere, weather, and illusion. She studied art at UC Santa Cruz.

St. Monci meanders through the purely gestural and technical applications of abstraction, utilizing his training in street and studio art. He explores the most fundamental elements of art and design, in color and form, and how these elements relate to each other and the viewer. Dynamic matrices of architectural and graphic elements create a visceral reaction to otherwise static elements of flat shapes. St.Monci was born in the United States and raised in Puerto Rico. He returned to earn his BFA and MF at New York State University Oswego and is now based in Rochester NY.