L.A. Confidential - October 2009

The Gallerist: Native Angeleno Heather Taylor is part of the reason the Culver City art scene is alive and thriving. By Victoria Namkung

As the Co-Owner and codirector of the contemporary art gallery Taylor De Cordoba - which is part of the vibrant Culver City Art District on South La Cienega - Heather Taylor wears many hats. In addition to discovering new talent and representing LA artists such as Kimberly Brooks, Jeana Sohn, Claire Oswalt, Frohawk Two Feathers and Chris Natrop, Taylor throws some of the best opening parties in town (which are always open to the public). We caught up with the gallerist to talk art, fashion and food.

Chris Natrop - Cloud Machine Exhibition - Miami

Chris Natrop to exhibit new work at Diana Lowenstein Fine Art, Miami, FL. He will be showing new acrylic sculpture and a film in their project space. Cecilia Paredes will be exhibiting in the main space.

PRESS RELEASE
Originally from Milwaukee, Chris Natrop is an installation-artist based in Los Angeles. He earned his BFA at the Art Institute of Chicago. He has had solo exhibitions and been included in group exhibitions throughout the country. His work has been featured in publications such as Art in America and the New Yorker. Natrop was the 2007 recipient of the Pulse Prize from the Pulse Art Fair in New York.

While known primarily as a cut paper artist, Natrop has begun integrating a variety of other material into his work. Transparent plastics, video projection and multi-channel audio are often employed alongside works of intricate, hand-cut paper to create fully immersive environments within gallery and museum spaces. The viewer is encouraged to enter these room-sized installations to directly experience the realm the artist has set up where elements of light, shadow and form coalesce into a fully unified world. Most of the individual components are hand-cut in the artist’s studio and then custom-arranged for a particular exhibition space. For his works on paper, each piece is spontaneously created without the use of patterns or pre-drawing—this stream-of-consciousness approach is, in fact, the crux of the artist’s practice. Graphic silhouettes emerge from a meditative-channeling activated by the repetitive practice of cutting paper. Natrop works on enormous sheets of Lenox 100 drawing paper stretched out vertically on his studio wall. Wielding a standard utility knife, he spontaneously cuts away at the paper to create a hybrid of landscape imagery. Natrop’s free-form process of “knife drawing” reveals the negative space by removing the emptiness in-between forms. Often an amalgam of things previously observed, the graphic nature of the work becomes a freeze-frame of Natrop’s own direct surroundings revealing the artist’s particular sense of place. In many cases one feature will be multiplied over and over, resulting in a dense layering of a single element. A multiplicity of water droplets, crawling vines or cracks in the pavement may be rendered and reworked within each installation.

Emotional forces further contextualize the work within this structure: feelings of anticipation, apprehension, disorientation or joyfulness often encapsulate the work’s inherently myopic narrative. This fusion between internal, emotional space and the external, physical landscape continue to be the framework for much of Natrop’s practice.

Chris Natrop in INFINITY group exhibition

"Infinity", curated by Andrew Schoulz, is a group exhibition of artists whose practices or aesthetics relate to the many facets of the infinite. The Vastness of this concept will be explored through painting, drawing, photography, and 3D multi-media installation. The subject matter as well as the medium will vary greatly. Some artists work may be a more literal representation of this subject, suggestive of such things as mathematics, space, time, technology, abstraction, pattern, or repetition, while others have chosen to address the opposite or "finite", such as fragility, mortality, the temporary, and even doomsday scenarios.

The show features original work by:

Ryan Travis Christian
Richard Colman (appears courtesy of New Image Art, LA)
N. Dash
Noah Davis (appears courtesy of Roberts and Tilton, LA)
Chris Duncan (appears courtesy of Baer Ridgeway, SF)
Andres Guerrero
Joseph Hart
Andy Diaz Hope (appears courtesy of Catherine Clark, SF)
Xylor Jane (appears courtesy of CANADA, NYC)
Butt Johnson (appears courtesy of CRG gallery, NYC)
Chris Natrop (appears courtesy of Taylor de Cordoba, LA)
Aaron Noble
Hilary Pecis (appears courtesy of Triple Base Gallery, SF)
Andrew Schoultz (appears courtesy of Roberts and Tilton, LA)
Ryan Wallace (appears courtesy of Envoy Enterprises, NYC)

Opening Reception is Saturday, October 10th, from 7-10pm.

Free Valet and Beverages will be provided.

Clare Vivier & Dream Collective Sample Sale

Clare Vivier Sample Sale
introducing Dream Collective

Thursday October 1st, 2009, 7-9pm

2660 S La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles
(310) 559-9156

The Sample Sale will feature timeless artisan handbags and accessories of Clare Vivier and introduce Dream Collective, the newest line of high end costume jewelry by Katherine Bentley.

rsvp to info@taylordecordoba.com

L.A. FASHION BLOOM IN SEPTEMBER ISSUE OF ANGELENO

Angeleno Magazine
September 2009

Gallerist-cum-fashionista Heather Taylor hosted a multi-designer installation at her La Cienega gallery to benefit P.S. Arts - spotted were local seam-stars Gregory Parkinson, Jesse Kamm, Clare Vivier, and Wren's Melissa Coker. (Pages: 84 & 86)

Claire Oswalt: Peril In Perfection
September 12 – October 31, 2009
Opening Reception: Saturday September 12, 6-8PM

The Chase, 2009

graphite, paper and wood
49''x74''

“…. yet it is possible to see peril in the finding of ultimate perfection. It is clear that the ultimate pattern contains its own fixity. In such perfection, all things move towards death.” - Dune, Frank Herbert

Taylor De Cordoba is pleased to present Peril In Perfection, a new series of sculptural drawings by New York-based artist Claire Oswalt. The exhibition will run from September 12 – October 31, 2009 with an opening reception for the artist on Saturday, September 12th from 6 - 8PM. This is the artist’s second solo show with the gallery.

With her jointed figures made from wood and graphite on paper, Oswalt continues to explore the push and pull between control and freedom. In the tradition of puppets and marionettes, these pieces are designed to be controlled and moved, yet here the subjects appear abruptly frozen in the moment. The fixity of these otherwise aggressive, passionate, dynamic and often violent scenes suggests “the artist” as a master of manipulation and calculation. Although they are put into a position that lacks control, the puppets place their trust in the artist and subsequently the viewer.

While her previous body of work highlighted the vulnerability of adolescence, here Oswalt depicts scenes of aggression among primarily male adults. In one piece, two men violently wrestle each other and in another, a struggling subject is doubled over in pain. At first glance these images seem loud and explosive, yet by restricting their movement these moments become quiet places of ordered beauty.

Claire Oswalt lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She was recently included in “Under The Knife,” a group show at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, CA. Articles and reviews have appeared in Artweek, Angeleno Magazine and Paper among other publications.

Taylor De Cordoba is located at 2660 S La Cienega Blvd in Los Angeles, CA and is open from Tuesday – Saturday, 11am-6pm. For additional press information, contact Heather Taylor at heather@taylordecordoba.com or (310) 559-9156.

L.A. FASHION BLOOM

L.A. FASHION BLOOM
Public Dates: Friday, July 10 - Saturday, August 8

Taylor De Cordoba is pleased to present L.A. FASHION BLOOM, a temporary fashion boutique installed in a contemporary art gallery setting. In lieu of a traditional "summer group show," gallery co-owner Heather Taylor has curated a selection of artfully installed pieces by five Los Angeles-based fashion designers:

Melissa Coker of Wren - clothing designer
Annie Costello Brown - jewelry designer
Jesse Kamm - clothing designer
Gregory Parkinson - clothing designer
Clare Vivier - handbag and accessory designer

All items will be available for purchase and a portion of proceeds will be donated to P.S. Arts, a local organization dedicated to restoring arts education in public schools. The designers will be featuring pieces from previous seasons in addition to debuting new fall items.

Some of L.A.'s most sought after design talent will transform the space from gallery into boutique. Local artist and Reorganica designer, Tony Brown, has created reclaimed wood store fixtures. Vintage lighting and accessories are courtesy Empric with floral landscaping designed by Holly Flora. L.A. FASHION BLOOM will exist for one month.