As we've mentioned before, the El Camino College Art Gallery is an often-overlooked gem in the South Bay art scene. And no exhibition proves this more than the current show of work by Peter Liashkov, entitled "Outside In/The Body Unearthed." The show runs through Dec. 15. A reception will be held Nov. 30 from 7 to 9 p.m., and more interestingly, the artist will join Pen Tsou for a "performance drawing" at the gallery on Nov. 28 at 1 p.m.

While Liashkov enjoys using different media for his work, his subjects remain the same – people, real people. Even though his pieces often don't carry the names of the models, for the artist this is important information, and he seeks to capture the essence of his subjects.

"Models have been of extreme importance to me," the artist says. "Their presence embodies narratives that transcend time and place."

Susanna Meiers, the gallery's curator, says in her press materials that Liashkov is something of a storyteller.

"Peter Liashkov is a raconteur who tells tales of the human condition, combining virtuosic drawing and painting skills with unflinching observation," she says. "Whether painting on glass or drawing on Synskin (a synthetic vellum), the use of real individuals as subjects is of critical importance to the authenticity of his work."

Liashkov will bring a variety of pieces to the El Camino show, everything from small scale faces painted on glass to giant nude portraits. Work from his "Corpus" series features glowing abstractions of the human figure. Other work, from his "Campo Santo Series," depart from the human figure to map an Italian cemetery.

To view some of Liashkov's work, including some that will appear at El Camino, visit the artist's website at www.liashkovart.com.

(Nov. 22, 2006)

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