Show Preview | Young Masters

Santa Barbara, CA
Waterhouse Gallery, May 14-June 7

This story was featured in the May 2016 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art May 2016 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

Kyle Ma, After Feeding Time, oil, 19 x 20.

Waterhouse Gallery mounts its inaugural Young Masters exhibition this month, highlighting new works by gallery artists who have displayed remarkable talent and quality in the early stages of their careers. The show offers a broad range of themes and styles, from traditionally painted subjects to more contemporary interpretations. “There is so much young talent out there, it is truly amazing,” gallery owner Diane Waterhouse says of the 12 painters selected for the show.

Young Masters opens Saturday, May 14, and runs through Tuesday, June 7. The gallery hosts a reception for the artists on opening day from 4 to 7 p.m. The show features paintings from the youngest segment of Waterhouse’s stable, including Jonathan Ahn, Suchitra Bhosle, Mark Boedges, Casey Childs, Alexander Chistov, Jacob Dhein, Sung Eun Kim, James Kroner, Kyle Ma, Jason Sacran, Hsin-Yao Tseng, and Albin Veselka.

By far Waterhouse’s youngest artist at 15 years old, Ma paints open-air scenes ranging from cityscapes to rustic vistas. Ma has a special attachment to the outdoors, and his paintings are often informed by the love of nature he developed as a child in rural Taiwan. He brings three oils to the show featuring pastoral landscapes composed with his loosely painted yet articulate brushwork that simultaneously defines and abstracts his subjects. “Painting to me now is an extremely passionate experience,” says Ma. “I paint as much as I can and hope that I can communicate with the viewer what I see and how I feel each time that I pick up a brush.”

Sung Eun Kim, Golden Moment, oil, 18 x 24.

Sung Eun Kim balances tightly rendered areas of realism with expressionistic brushwork to produce high-contrast, visually compelling images of his San Francisco home. “I get my inspiration from the lights and geometric landscapes that create such fascinating compositions and perspectives,” he says. Young Masters presents four of Kim’s most recent cityscapes that reveal the dramatic, dynamic effects produced through the juxtaposition of ambient and man-made light, shadows, and reflections on urban structures and the landscape that surrounds them. The paintings have a narrative quality as well, each freezing one fleeting scene in the ongoing bustle of the city.

With a firm grasp on contemporary realism, Alexander Chistov contributes four new oil paintings to Young Masters. Inspired aesthetically by the Santa Barbara coastline, and intellectually by the extraordinary aspects of the familiar, Chistov strives to “capture a mesmerizing moment during the course of a day.” To realize this goal, he paints in stages, methodically applying layer upon layer of paint and varnish to achieve the sleek, vibrant impression of photorealism. In turn, his paintings create a sensory experience that delves beyond appearance to recall the sights, smells, sounds, and feel of each scene.

Waterhouse is excited to recognize and further establish this next generation of painters in the art world. She says, “We want to be able to help and guide these young artists, give them credibility and a good start. We want to support them in their growth.” —Elizabeth L. Delaney

contact information
805.962.8885
www.waterhousegallery.com

Featured in the May 2016 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art May 2016 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.