Westmont art exhibit deals with climate change
The Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art features two artists whose work responds to climate change.
The exhibition, “Entangled: Responding to Environmental Crisis,” runs through March 25 and highlights the artwork of Madeleine Tonzi, a New Mexico painter, muralist and printmaker; and GATS (Graffiti Against the System), a well-known anonymous Bay Area artist, who draws on the urban environment as a source of inspiration.
“Madeleine addresses the landscape in ways that stimulate the viewer to think more seriously about what is at peril in nature today,” said Judy L. Larson, R. Anthony Askew professor of art history and museum director, who has followed Ms. Tonzi’s career since she was a student at Santa Barbara City College.
At right, This is a museum site-specific installation by GATS (2023). At left, “Below and Surrounding,” acrylic on canvas, by Madeleine Tonzi (2022).
“Her work is focused on “capturing the essence of ephemeral moments and is a reflection of her investigation into memory and place and the relationships we form with the various environments we experience,” according to Google.
Now based in Los Angeles, Ms. Tonzi was born in Santa Fe.
“Her aesthetic inescapably echoes her time spent in the high desert landscape and simultaneously gives way to her experiences traveling and living in California,” according to Google.”Finding both solace and discomfort in the places that she goes, Madeleine creates vivid abstract representational landscapes, both organic and architectural, utilizing a distinct visual language in order to emote what can not always be put into words as we move through time and space.”
GATS (Graffiti Against the System) is a multidisciplinary artist known for totemic works that challenge ideas about ownership, authority and power, according to Google.
“GATS emerged from the Bay Area graffiti scene in the 1990s. Their tags were inspired by the aesthetics of punk and hardcore and artists like Ed Templeton and Gee Vaucher.
“In the mid-2000s, they came up with the pseudonym GATS and began painting their trademark masked face with blank eyes on buildings worldwide. The character is an omnipresent witness for the artist, intended to remind passersby that they are not alone. GATS also paints their emblem on all kinds of found and personal objects, including skateboards, books and tools.”
“Street art and graffiti are non-traditional media for many urban artists, who respond with directness and vigor to the world around us,” said collections manager Chris Rupp. “I believe that’s the greatest strength of street art — its unmediated directness. GATS is a master of communicating to the masses without written word.
“The current environmental crisis is something that affects all of us. Street art, like murals and graffiti, offers everyone access to the art world. Art becomes part of our everyday lives. We’re lucky to have Madeleine Tonzi and GATS come together to create pieces that will start conversations about how we can take on this challenge of protecting our fragile environment.”
email: mmcmahon@newspress.com
FYI
“Entangled: Responding to Environmental Crisis,” runs through March 25 at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. The museum is open from 10 a.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. It’s closed on Sundays and college holidays. For more information, call 805-565-6162 or visit westmont.edu/museum.
Hashimoto Contemporary and Harman Projects sponsor the exhibition.
