5 New Artists on the Map

Natalie Arnoldi, Alec Egan, Matt Lifson, Jake Kean Mayman and Jacob Melchi

It can be said that our “future heritage” exists in the fine art selected for the 5 New Artists – On The Map exhibit. Internationally renowned artist Guy Dill generously agreed to curate the show for the Heritage Museum. Working with an exciting group of young artists, Guy created a unique show, which opens October 25, 2013 and will continue until February 23, 2014.

The work of Natalie Arnoldi, Alec Egan, Matt Lifson, Jake Kean Mayman and Jacob Melchi ranges from the abstract to the narrative, includes a wide spectrum of painting methods, originates from varying references and incorporates a diverse set of explorations.

On the surface there might seem little to connect the group. Lifson’s scenes from life – passengers walking away from an airplane or a room’s objects – interrupted by the abstract; Arnoldi’s canvases of familiar symbols, a shark’s fin, a road, the bursts of fireworks distanced by mists; Egan’s hilarious in-your-face-artwork-rebellion: self-portraits of white heterosexual male; Melchi’s small abstracts carefully ruminated on foreground and background, line and shape; and Kean Mayman’s unnerving-romanticization of nefarious Cold War figures which are part of a larger body of work.

What brought them to the exhibit is simple. Dill, who pursued rigorous training as a painter, turning to sculpture only after he left Chouinard Institute of Art, admires each for their ability to lay down paint.

Graphic designer Cris Dawson created a catalogue to accompany the exhibition, containing interviews with the curator and artists by award winning writer and communications strategist Tibby Rothman. She has written over one hundred pieces for the “LA Weekly” and profiled some of Los Angeles’ most celebrated artists and archtects.

Photographer Jeff McLane beautifully documented the works in the exhibition and provided portraits of the artists and an insight into their creative process. McLane’s photographs will be on display in the museum’s downstairs gallery.

This exhibition was funded, in part, by grants from The Wells Fargo Foundation, The LLWW Foundation, Copyland Los Angeles, the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Department, Tom and Mary Ann Hays, Dawson Design, Pamela Singleton, Helen and L. O. Harding, DLR Electric, Dermot H. McQuarrie, The Victorian/Calamigos Ranch, Grand American Inc., as well as generous corporate, foundation and private individual donations.