Luckman Project 2011 | Spotlight

Students’ artworks are ‘Here Tomorrow, Gone Today’

A dozen CSULA students collaborate with visiting artist on Luckman Project

MFA student’s painting makes ‘Statement’ at Colonnade Gallery

Cal State L.A.’s Carlos Flores, who is a recipient of the University’s 2011 Statement Magazine’s award for best art, has his painting—Like Those Who Came Before Us—on display at the Colonnade Art Gallery throughout the month of June.

The piece reflects the passing down of traditions and the loss of innocence in the process of acculturation. “Traditions are handed down to us, from generation to generation, by our forebears,” said Flores. “We unknowingly take on these traditions without, in most cases, ever questioning them.”

Like Those Who Came Before Us features an image of a toddler unwillingly being made up by her mother. Flores noted, “The little girl looks upset as lipstick is forced on her lips without her wanting it. She stands there reluctantly as her mother’s culture is transmitted onto her.”

Additionally, Flores has exhibited his work regularly around the Los Angeles area and had his first solo show at the Cal Poly Pomona Downtown Center in 2006. He has also been featured at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles and the Latino Film Festival in San Diego.

Flores, who is currently working on his Master of Fine Arts at CSULA, said, “I would like to thank the staff of Colonnade Art Gallery, its manager, Ann Rockenbach, and specially its president, Ron Pettie, for the marvelous honor they have bestowed upon me, and the opportunity to exhibit my work at their venue.”

Statement Magazine, an award-winning student literary magazine, is sponsored by the English Department and the College of Arts and Letters at CSULA, and features fiction, poetry, drama, creative non-fiction and artwork of CSULA students.

The Colonnade Art Gallery is located at 2421 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. For details, call (626) 239-3153.

Pictured: Visitors at the opening reception for the 2011 Luckman Project exhibition. (Photo by Lenny Rusch.)

With creative insights and inspiring artistic approaches from celebrated local artist John Souza, a group of four graduate and eight undergraduate students at Cal State L.A. created new works, resembling “the marking of time, eradication of place, and longing for humanity,” for display at the Luckman Gallery on campus.

Entitled, Here Tomorrow, Gone Today, the exhibition features artworks by Diana Madriaga, Betty Pietak, Dominic Quagliozzi, Zoëe Sciarrotta, Ryan Copriviza, Vanessa Garcia, Kit Hoffman, Jena Johnson, Jennifer Lee, Michelle Lopez, Wayne Michels and Michael Rascon.

The Luckman Project, which provides select CSULA students with direct interaction with a professional in the field of contemporary art, invited Souza to be the visiting artist this year to work with the advanced Art students.

According to CSULA’s Art Professor Elizabeth Bryant, “John [Souza] is a highly respected inter-media artist with an extensive professional resume who is also active in the wider Los Angeles arts community as a curator and an educator. This is an exciting opportunity and honor for our students to work with such an accomplished artist and produce a project for a well-regarded professional art space.”

Picture of Los Angeles artist John Souza. (Photo by Lenny Rusch.)
John Souza

During this past spring quarter, Souza conducted regular group and individual meetings to facilitate the students’ projects and to give ongoing feedback and technical assistance. He also appointed each graduate student to mentor two seniors, and worked with the Luckman staff to design the layout and installation of the finished art.

“The artists developed their own modus operandi, which was instantaneous and synchronized with a plan to complete each phase of the project through its conclusion,” Souza stated in the project catalog. “We know they have learned something because they have grasped the order and relationships that exist among the parts of a show as well as the dynamic relationship between those parts and the total fine arts environment.”

On display until July 2, the students’ works include the Winchester Bride couture collection, Google 65 Roses video projection, Water Way and Water Melon painting, Deconstruction/Reconstruction ceramic pieces, the Plastic Surgery acrylic, liquid water pump, and more. Also, student-produced catalogs of the exhibition are available at the Luckman Gallery, which is open Monday through Thursday and Saturday, from noon to 5 p.m.

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