Tuesday, January 14, 1997
ART:
UCLA alumnus featured in a retrospective highlighting diversity
of style, spiritual questioningBy Vanessa VanderZanden
Daily Bruin Contributor
Beyond the world of the known lies the spiritual, a domain in
which artist Louie Lunetta seems equally at home. His work, ranging
in medium from watercolors to oils, resins to acrylics, shows the
mystic side of the various countries he has travelled to. Spanning
38 years, a retrospective of his wares currently decks the walls of
Santa Monica’s First Independent Gallery (FIG).
He received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at UCLA,
later taking his knowledge to the far-reaching lands of Mexico,
Ghana, Spain, Italy, Sicily, France and Ireland. He used these
experiences to create a unique collection back in California.
The art represented in FIG’s show, "Louie Lunetta: From Dante to
Buddha," reflects a fair sampling of the artist’s arsenal. His
focus on religious symbols from various cultures provides a common
thread through the gallery’s two-room show space. Lunetta employs
the full use of materials at his disposal to capture the full
essence of religious art. Yet, his pieces transcend the bounds of
strict theological order. Unsure exactly where his next move will
take him, Lunetta’s work moves through the years with
thought-provoking grace.
One particularly eye-catching etching, "Heaven, Purgatory, and
Hell," portrays the three states of existence in three horizontal
panels. Moving top to bottom from blue to red, black-inked beings
flail their wispy arms in exasperation, slipping through the
spatial boundaries. While the frame depicts carvings of naked souls
floating through the blue air, one gets the sense that any state of
being proves equally relevant.
Yet, his most overwhelming piece, tacked in three massive canvas
sections to a white wall, shows a different, more menacing view of
life and the afterlife. Its gray, dismal background projects stark
scenes of a tattered Jesus looming on the cross. The practically
shredded canvas suggests foggy visions or thoughts. Clearly, the
role spirituality plays in this piece proves less soothing than the
aforementioned work, and even its title, "Conquest of Mexico,"
feels belligerent.
However, the oddest group of works in the gallery comes from the
days Lunetta spent in Ghana. These brightly colored splatterings of
gouache make up intricate patterns of nearly every shocking color
of the rainbow. They shout out with vigor, creating a less dim and
violent world than the days depicted from Mexico.
The following pictures settle down into a more tranquil state,
echoing Lunetta’s study of Tai Chi. Various representations of
stone Buddhas sitting isolated in a patch of barren desert dominate
the walls of the room. In a sense, it is this state of spiritual
calm which the rest of Lunetta’s pieces strive to achieve.
Yet, the variation in artistic mood between works provides an
infinitely more pleasing display than an installation whose pieces
all tie strongly together. And in a 38-year career, one would hope
to have accomplished as much diversity as Lunetta.
First Independent Gallery
"Louie Lunetta: From Dante to Buddha" runs from Jan. 8 to Feb.
1.