Archived Exhibition

20 November – 23 December 2008.
Reception: Thursday 20 November, 5:30-7:30 pm

Klari Reis
Molecular Vision

Initially inspired by the observation through an electron microscope of her own cells’ interaction with prescription drugs, Reis’s work now teeters between the representational and the abstract.   Varying in scale from the diminutive to the very large, and carrying as titles drugs brand names such as Cefaclor and Rifadin, Reis’s work offers contemporary reference to the controversial issues related to the use of modern pharmaceuticals.  All of this she narrates in optical vibrations of bright colors and dynamic organic forms, some more visceral than others, on a high-gloss reflective surface.  While the luminous paintings seem to glorify the discoveries of modern medicine, the tension between the organic quality of the shapes represented and the synthetic nature of the medium and the surfaces communicates ambivalence and resonates with concerns on the use of biochemicals. 

The procedure and materials necessary to execute the paintings are consistent with the artist’s intent to integrate science and art.  Epoxy polymer is a synthetic plastic similar to resin, with elastic and UV properties, that Klari mixes with acrylic binders and pigments before applying them on aluminum panels.  
Dressed in protective garb and using a respirator, Klari works in layers quickly and decisively, pouring and dripping onto aluminum panels.  Highly toxic upon application, once dried, the epoxy polymer is nontoxic and virtually impenetrable.  The effect is significant to the artist’s work, evoking artificiality because of its smooth sheen and brilliant color. The aluminum surface offers an additional reflective component to the work, and suggests a clinical, yet high-tech backdrop.  Her final coat, a heavy layer of ultraviolet filtering plastic, smoothes the surface and protects the painting from light damage.

Klari Reis, born in Palo Alto, Ca, received her M.A. in painting from the City and Guild of London Art School in 2004.  Klari is currently painting in her native Northern California, where the presence of many of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies and research institutions serves as her muse.  Her work has been exhibited in Italy, Germany, Spain, France, England, the USA, Japan, and most recently and successfully in China, Shanghai, and Seoul, South Korea.

Her work is included in major private and public collections in Europe and in the US.  This is Klari Reis’s first solo San Francisco exhibition.

and in the Salon:

Carol Paxton Juliano
Remedy in Rebus.

With deft technique and a keen sense of color, Paxton Juliano produces highly distinctive encaustic panels depicting various degrees of “pentimentos” in lustrous wax, as well as most impressive high-reliefs of Crassula plants in wax.  This body of work represents all living entities in their efforts for survival.  Emerging from dust, dirt, and despair in search for light and sustenance, they reveal in their marred structure the consequences of the environment in which they struggle.  One single white specimen with its waxy buds and its unspoiled state gives us testimony of what was at the beginning, what might have been.

Carol Paxton Juliano, born in Montreal, Canada, is a self-taught artist who lives and works in the Bay Area.