July 7 through August 24, 2011
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 7, 7-10PM
Amanda Beckmann’s beautifully rendered collages-on-board are like spending a long, lazy afternoon in the best second-hand store imaginable, leafing through dog-eared books and magazines, stroking old silk Rooster® ties and the Bakelite cabinets of vintage radios, picking up gold-leafed barware and imagining the cocktails they held. Beckman’s works are a kaleidoscope of color, texture, depth, and form. They’re intricately composed and transport viewers into the sub-conscious wonderland of this modern-day hunter and gatherer.
Many artists work as a therapy against their childhood trauma. Not Beckmann. “Sunday evenings we would gather in the living room,” she says. “Dad would blast Dark Side of The Moon, and Mom would hand out paper and crayons. As I create a piece I can still feel the free, innocent awe that permeated our house.” From Crayola® crayons and Pink Floyd, Beckmann moved to collage to satisfy her ancient and modern selves. “Of all the mediums I’ve tried, collage satisfies the hunter, gatherer, organizer and artist in me. I love cutting up glossy magazines and catalogs, hunting through thrift stores for vintage dictionaries and science manuals.”
Beckmann’s process is meticulous. She spends hours cutting shapes – wings, legs, petals– from source materials including home and garden and design magazines, science manuals, vintage postcards, etc.
“Failure Is An Option,” at Bermudez Projects – Downtown LA, is the artist’s first solo exhibit, and in it she transforms 20th century nostalgia into 21st century modernism, with more than 20 small and large scale artworks, including a series of never-before-seen works on paper. T
