Perhaps the most exciting development in recent years to take place on the local art scene — where developments are rare, needless to say exciting ones — has been the effort on the part of the South Bay's few legitimate are venues to organize cooperative exhibitions around a central theme. This effort first took shape a few years ago with the "Apron Strings" exhibit. While this first effort was flawed, it was an impressive debut of a spirit of cooperation that had great potential.

Now comes "From the Neck Up," a collaborative exhibition brought to us by the Manhattan Beach Creative Arts Center, the El Camino College Art Gallery, Torrance's Joslyn Art Gallery, Angels Gate, the Palos Verdes Art Center and the San Pedro Art Association. What follows is a run-down of the exhibitions. More information will be added as it comes in.

Manhattan Beach Creative Arts Center
This venue has been on something of a roll of late, something that continues with its participation in "From the Neck Up." Through April 11, Manhattan Beach will host "Portraits: Faces in Contemporary Society." The gallery is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2 to 6 p.m., Wednesdays from 2 to 8 p.m., and Saturdays from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

As the title implies, this show focuses on the potential of portraiture. "Through the act of portraiture, artists in this exhibition express their perspectives of people while capturing the dynamics and complexities of contemporary life," says curator Megumi Sando.

Historically, portraits have recorded resonance and truth about people while revealing their identities and even psychological conditions. Portraits also idealize and aggrandize authority figures emphasizing their social and material success. "In either way, portraits convey the human experience and organizational life from historical, social and cultural contexts," explains Sando, "and this exhibition is a wonderful sampling of these types of expressions."

Ted Fisher and Dough McCulloh have documented and archived faces of people in California. The source material for their installation was gathered from two large-scale "sampling" efforts, including the photographing of 20,558 visitors to the L.A. County Fair in 2001, and a number of three-hour 1,000-portrait sessions with people focused on presentation of self. "Our idea," says Fisher, "was to create a real, hands-on approach to determine what digital photography, databasing, sorting and screen presentation might change about the nature of the photographic portrait. We've been surprised by the results and we think this is exciting new ground." For this exhibition, the artists designed a special structure, in which the viewer will see image projections of an enormous number of faces o the wall. At the same time, they can participate in a photo-taking session with a digital camera. These new faces will be added to the artists' digital archives.

With her "Missing Persons" series, Harrison Storms does not depict any particular body or face. The faces embedded in the surfaces create an obscure dream-like atmosphere and avoid a clear definition of the person. The image is a culmination of past recollections, reflections of this fleeting moment, and projections into the future. "Moment by moment," says Storms, "we remember ourselves and sense the edges that separate us as illusions."

Portraits of hockey players by Linsley Lambert answer questions about who our society's heroes are. Described as today's aristocracy, professional athletes are often admired and worshipped. Following the methods of Holbein, Reynolds and Warhol, Lambert portrays the players in traditional ways, like solemn religious figures. by glorifying hockey players, she tries to encapsulate the power and universality that portrait painting can convey. "As I have become familiar with the diverse personalities populating hockey," explains Lambert, "many players appear to embody fundamental archetypes ranging from the mythological to the Christian to the Arthurian."

Photographer Nancy Webber has developed a unique series of pair-portraits for the last couple of decade, in which she juxtaposes faces of well-known paintings in art history and faces that she sees in her daily life. "Too often, we look at art in intimidating edifices like museums," says Webber. "I see art on the street all the time, and I hope that by showing what I see, I am making the older work more alive and accessible."

Martin Sorrondeguy is a multi-media artist. In his teens, he started taking portrait photographs of artists, punks and people from his neighborhood in Chicago. He recent series, entitled "Punks with their Parents," not only looks at the relationships between parent and child, but also attempts to look at our society's "other" in a more humanizing way.

Torrance Joslyn Fine Arts Gallery
Because the Joslyn is closed for a massive renovation, organizers have worked out a deal to present "Toothsome" in a commercial space at the Del Amo Fashion Mall. The hours for the exhibition are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

In "Toothsome," curator Kristina Newhouse focuses on artists who construct their work from edible materials or depict food in their compositions. Playfully exploring how the lush visuality of food ultimately conflates its desirability, the artworks of "Toothsome" are a celebration of consumption.

John Ahr is fascinated with the ancient cultures responsible for renowned "Wonders of the World" such as the Great Pyramids of Giza. by reconstructing the famous structures in junk food of negligible nutritional value, the artist makes commentary on how we consume information about them. Ahr is a teacher of 2-D and 3-D design at Cal State University Los Angeles.

Isabel Anderson views her "portrait" paintings of items such as cake, Jello and cheese toast as the descendants of Symbolist and Pop Art. By isolating these images in the center of an undefined color field, they are transformed, becoming lofty signifiers of the have-it-now character of our fast food culture. Anderson is a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles-based fine arts magazine Art Scene.

Clare Crespo utilizes her skills in crocheting and sewing to craft whimsical renditions of such classic American food as the cupcake and the Sunday ham dinner. She is the author of the popular cookbook/picture book, "The Secret Life of Food."

Christian Mounger creates neo-Gothic wallpaper patterns and tiles from extreme close-ups of foodstuffs such as olive loaf lunch meat, Fruit Loops and purple cabbage. Deliciously wonderful to ponder, these works stem from the artist's desire to understand the role of decorative arts in contemporary culture as well as how history, oral tradition and popular culture influence the identity of the places we inhabit. Mounger is a faculty member at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.

Gus Harper explores the vital energy of the macrocosm in his extreme close-up paintings of fruit. Starting from a realistic point of reference, Harper then moves even closer to his subject so that a whole new world is revealed. Harper is a member of LA Artcore and has participated in several exhibitions throughout the Los Angeles area.

Ian Doyle's digital work documents the interior contents of a refrigerator in a decidedly non-digital way.

El Camino College Art Gallery
El Camino's contribution to "From the Neck Up" begins March 24 with "About Face: Artists' Interpretations of Masks." The show runs through April 25 in the gallery. This group show will feature mixed media, installation, sculpture, photography, ceramics, painting, drawing and digital media. A reception for the artists will be held March 27 from 7 to 9 p.m. A lecture is planned, as is a mask making workshop, but the dates and times have not yet been made available. Check here for more information.

Palos Verdes Art Center
The Palos Verdes Art Center's contribution to "From the Neck Up" is "Hat's Off!" The exhibit, which celebrates the art of the hat, will begin April 4 and run through May 10 in its Beckstrand Gallery. The Palos Verdes Art Center is located at 5504 W. Crestridge Rd. in Rancho Palos Verdes. The free exhibition is open from 1 to 4 p.m. daily.

The exhibition will open with a free Mad Hatter's Tea Party and reception for the artists from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 4. Also, there will be a free docent-led tour of the exhibition at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 12.

Fanciful or functional, hi-tech or high-crowned, classical or contemporary, warm or whimsical, feathered, furred or felted — hats cover the head in myriad creative ways, offering protection from the elements, establishing rank and dazzling with fashion. To tell the story of the hat, curator Scott Canty, the Art Center's exhibitions director, has enlisted the design talents of 42 artists. They include persons who have focused on millinery throughout their careers and artists with established reputations in other media.
Canty's instructions were: "Be a little crazy and have fun." The result is a multi-media celebration of the hat in all its crowning glory.

Included are actual hats made of both traditional (felt, fabrics, straw, feathers, beads and ribbons) and non-traditional (egg shells, sheet metal, a television tube, candles, wire and clay) materials. Accompanying these are photographs, paintings and prints depicting the wearing of hats in various cultures and eras.

Participating artists include Aoki, Pebe Paul Bader, Elias Bou-Assi, Lindy Bossler, Joan Brown, Calvin Burtley, Sharon Cahn, Ellen Cantor, Jean Clad, Allan Conrad, Steve Craig, Nancie Doughty, Kay Durden, Pauline Falstrom, Lila Finlay-Gutierrez, Gabrielle, Candice Gawne, Douglas Golightly, Anne Green, Anita Hopkins, Ursula M. Kammer-Fox, Elizabeth Lanzer, Jacqueline S. Marks, Beverly Metcalf, Jay McGregor, Kelly McMahon, Susanna Meiers, Michael Lewis Miller, Jan Napolitan, Jennifer Newman-Skrentny, Lois Olsen, Viola Rawcliffe, Eia Radosavljevic, Pam Reid, Gwen Sandvick, Judith Solomon, Barbara St. John, Dorothy Taylor, Nancy Webber, Joyce Weiss, Fay Wynn and Virginia Wyper.

Those wishing more information about PVAC exhibitions and programs should visit the organization's site for updates.

Angels Gate Cultural Center
Angels Gate's offering is called "The Art of Thought," and is being curated by Kim Abeles. The show is up now and will be in the main gallery through April 6. Check here for more information.

San Pedro Art Association
Information about the San Pedro Art Association's exhibit is not yet available. We'll add it when we find out more. In the meantime, you may find more information at the associations website.

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