Debut

Carl Berg Gallery is pleased to present a group show this summer titled Debut. This exhibition will feature the works of 8 emerging artists that are new to the L.A. art scene and for several of the artists, this will be their first show in Los Angeles. This exhibition was not curated with any particular theme I n mind but rather as a showcase of new and exciting work. We are enthusiastic to present the works of these compelling artists.

The artists included in the exhibition are Sarah Cromarty (mixed-media), Erin Marie Dunn (drawing/mixed-media), Sherie’ Franssen (painting), Jessica Minckley (drawing and sculpture), Alexandra Newmark (drawing and sculpture), Nathan Redwood (painting), Maeghan Reid (mixed-media), and Julie Rofman (painting).

Sarah Cromarty received her BFA from Art Center, Pasadena. She creates non-traditional paintings that reconstruct the aesthetics in absence of a formalist/anti-formalist view of painting. Her work was recently featured at the LA Weekly Biennial curated by Doug Harvey at Track 16 Gallery and she was featured in two solo exhibitions over the last year, at Sixspace Gallery (2005) in Los Angeles and this year at Bucket Rider Gallery in Chicago.

Erin Marie Dunn recently moved to Los Angeles from Rhode Island where she attended the Rhode Island School of Design. In a technique she has developed several years ago, Dunn creates fantastical drawings on flocking paper, creating narratives that are culled from her vivid imagination.

Sherie’ Franssen is a graduate from Cal State University in Long Beach and she was recently featured in “OsCene in Contemporary Art and Culture” an exhibition at the Laguna art Museum curated by Tyler Stallings.” Franssen’s paintings are derived from a culmination of the exploration of figurative painting, landscape and abstraction. Born out of the tradition of representational painting Franssen’s new work has evolved into looser and more abstracted narratives that often combine landscape with figuration.

Jessica Minckley, received her BFA from Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles. Minckley first came on the L.A. scene in the “Rogue Wave” exhibition at LA Louver Gallery last year. She has also featured in “Letters to You” which was curated by James Elaine at the Bolsky Gallery at the Otis College of Art and Design. Since those exhibitions Minckley has expanded her artistic dialog and will feature new a drawing and two sculptures for the exhibition.

Alexandra Newmark, received her MFA from Bard College, New York and was a 2005 Pollock-Krassner grant recipient. She is the only artist in the exhibition who does not reside in the Southland. Newmark is a New York-based artist who creates large insect-like sculptures made from mohair yarn. Her use of this material serves to create a state of inconsistency between the material and its subject matter. She will create a sculpture and drawing installation in the front window space of the gallery.

Nathan Redwood, a graduate from the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, moved to the Southland after a residency at the Skowhegan program in Maine last summer. At Skowhegan he developed a new group of paintings that served as an impetus for his current body of work. In these new works, Redwood has developed large-scale paintings on canvas using a unique painting technique whereby he is able to create very spontaneous gestures, almost watercolor-like, while at the same time following a very complex narrative.

Maeghan Reid, a recent graduate from Claremont Graduate University creates mixed-media works that are constructed from a variety of odd materials. She often includes linoleum tiles, fabric and other found materials and combines them with photographs. She photo-documents her travels and collects materials that she eventually uses in the construction of her work.

Julie Rofman is a recent graduate from Cal State University at Long Beach. The paintings by Rofman consist of self-envisioned spaces where non-structural elements converge and collect. In these imagined landscapes, the viewpoints changed by shapes, colors, and textures. This body of paintings investigates partially abstract environments of manufactured ruins taking on new life in an imagined world.