First Pour by Lola
SLATE Contemporary Gallery
473 25th St.
Oakland, Calif.
Eye-popping colors of tinted, layered resins in organic shapes ooze an unreal light. Some soothe, watery; others evoke an Instagram logo enlarged, tripled, glowing without internal illumination.
The seemingly natural shapes of the pieces of resin belie the hours of physical labor employed to make these pieces in First Pour, a vibrant and cheery wall art series by Lola hosted at downtown Oakland’s Slate Contemporary Gallery.
The solo exhibit occupies the gallery’s main room; the space also contains a smaller, fuller, and more eclectic room of works by a number of other artists as well.
Lola built “First Pour” improvisationally. As the artist states online, “in the beginning I stand before a white panel, considering my first pour. This path leads to a constant discovery, a new evolution. Sometimes the layering is a spontaneous exercise while other times it is an experiment in composition. It is an intuitive process. The evidence is in the colors.”
And colorful they are. Most so bright they edge on neon, like Shag 7 of the trio pictured above, or the diptych Pretty Please, featured front and center. However, others displayed more subtlety, from the muted greens, slate blues, and teals of Equinox to the just-slightly-off-kilter lines and deepening layers of cobalts in Rock Steady. Lola’s capacity to go all out on some pieces while maintaining restraint of color or form with others creates a balanced room of works: The wild tempers the simple, and vice versa, to great effect. The results are clearly complex and thoughtfully made, but lend a casual and carefree air, their simplicity and clean execution leaving them relatable to a variety of audiences.
Dollies with huge canvases lined up sideways, small shelving units both horizontal and vertical, work like someone’s most prized records or the tchotchkes of a lifelong multidisciplinary artist. Smaller resin works mingled with stippled paintings and wooden carved sculptures, crystals hung from above the doorway next to a large ink bleed print, and three unassuming but highly detailed black wire sculptures hung. Were they Asawas? There was no sign to say. (Thrilled at the idea and super curious, I have since learned that they are by D’lisa Creager).
The largest and dreamiest piece to pull attention amidst that cacophony of artistic voices was Patrick DeAngelis’ Daybreak: Composition of two chords with cross-complementaries, a moody, emotive mammoth of oil on canvas at 60x70 inches. The surface is glossy with the texture of thick rolled paint, tacky and tactile, but also so smooth and cool looking it cried out to be touched (I of course did not). The deep deep blue blacks at the edges and center burst of sunrise and are both perfectly blended. The hues, so easy to veer pastel, cliche, drab, or garish and unnatural, straddle the line of the real and too-real, the imperfection of reality captured perfectly in an imperfect media.
Gallery Hours are Saturdays from 12 – 5pm, Open late every First Friday from 12 – 8pm, + by appointment
