Exploring Space

Ron Davis, 1983

Long Beach Museum of Art

I love brunch with a view and that's exactly what you'll get when you visit Claire's at the museum. This isn't a Claire's yelp review, but it's truly amazing to me how many people, like myself, have enjoyed a day at Claire's yet never stepped foot inside the museum that shares its walls. The restaurant has a rustic, clean feel to it and, to go with the artsy vibes, there is a stunning giant fountain, which is a work of art in itself, right in the middle of the patio. This was my first time visiting the museum, which was equally as impressive as the restaurant, minus the killer cocktails.

There were not many silkscreen prints and only tad bit more lithographs. A few of those lithograph pieces were created by Ronald Davis.

Ron Davis is an American artist born in 1937 in Santa Monica, CA, but raised in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He attended the San Francisco Art Institute from 1960-64 and the Abstract Expressionism movement of the time would have an influence on many of his pieces. A lot of his work is associated with Geometric Abstraction. Like the three below:

"Disc Slab", Lithograph 14/22

"Black Disc", Lithograph 14/21

"Copper Block" Lithograph, edition 14/33

For those of you who may not know what a lithograph is, let me explain. I don't know too many details as I've never used this method but, to create a lithograph, no etching is required like it is in most printmaking. The artist uses a set of greasy crayons or pencils to draw a mirrored image of the original work onto a smooth stone tablet, which is then imprinted onto paper. It definitely requires a much different process than we learned in Art 70. 

All three of these pieces are totally on the opposite scale of anything I would usually be drawn to, or even create myself. They are black and white and all contain geometric shapes within a sort of vast space. I find it interesting that this appears to be a series, all connected by the colors and geometric shapes. The first two are obviously almost identical, except the colors are somewhat reversed. "Disc Slab" feels lost, while the "Black Disc" feels like it is closer to the viewers reach. The last piece "Copper Block" is my favorite. It reminds me of those abstract pictures you look at for a while until an image appears within it. Its background is printed with ink and the geometric shape almost looked like an actual piece of copper that has been cut to look 3D. The copper block is just floating in space. Then there is a thin slice of copper floating further up from the block. 

I enjoyed these pieces as well as many others I saw. The printmaking medium is super intriguing and one that can be explored from many avenues.