On Wednesday, July 29, Art Scene West’s premiere exhibition Reawakening...to the Beauty of the West Coast went live on both our website and Artsy.  After a Zoom reception for our artists, we began featuring works and hosting charity livestream artist talks on Instagram.  Our first Connoisseur article illustrated the ideas and intention we put forth for the exhibition as well as providing an overview of the show…  Now let us wander through the creative mindsets of our Reawakening artists.

Contrary to when Caspar David Friedrich or Thomas Cole were painting landscapes, it is a mark of modern times that our natural scenery may be marred with the footprints of man’s industry, unfortunately including plastic and other waste.  It is also a sign of the ubiquitousness of our species that we have encroached greatly upon the wild spaces and homes of the animals living there.  Luke Gumaelius and Rachel Rothberg’s (our first two featured artists) artistic practices seek to not let us forget our impact while at the same time celebrating the beauty of the natural environment and adaptability of the species we share the world with.