Saturday, February 26, 2011

Linda Kunik Solo Show Exhibition at Gallery 825 Opened Sat. Feb 26, 2011


Linda Kunik Exhibition in Los Angeles, California Gallery 825
Solo Show Feb 26, 2011
Photo by Ginger Van Hook@2011


Linda Kunik with Flora Kao Solo Show Exhibition 2011
Photo by Ginger Van Hook©2011
Linda Kunik, Solo Exhibition 2011
Photo by Ginger Van Hook©2011
Juna Amano, Marjan Vayghan, Linda Kunik, Ginger Van Hook and Katherine Semple.
Juna Amano, Marjan Vayghan, Linda Kunik and Ginger Van Hook ©2011


Juna Amano, Marjan Vayghan, Linda Kunik and Katherine Semple attend Linda Kunik's solo show
in February 2011 at Gallery 825, Los Angeles, California


Reception: 6-9pm, Saturday, February 26, 2011
Admission: Free
Location: Gallery 825: 825 N. La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90069

Show runs through March 25, 2011.

For information call 310.652.8272 or e-mail gallery825@laaa.org.

To slightly modify a quote by Jose Bergamin, a Spanish writer, essayist, poet and playwright: "To be hungry and eat is the perfection of sensuality rarely achieved." Linda Kunik's provocative Ripe exhibition features close-up, abstracted C-prints of heirloom tomatoes, at their most sensual, and at their most sexual. The photos are not an end in themselves, but rather serve to unfold a more complex knot of concerns about life, pleasure, sensuality and sexuality.  Vegetables have a sensuality all their own, but Kunik skillfully exaggerates their sensual characteristics in this new body of work.


Los Angeles Art Association proudly presents Fast Living, an all-media exploration of self-indulgence juried by Elizabeth East, Director - LA Louver, opening at Gallery 825 on February 26, 2011.  In addition to Fast Living, artists Susan Arena, Linda Kunik and Dan Monteavaro will also be featured in solo exhibitions.
Linda Kunik poses beside her sensual red tomatoes at her exhibition on August 15th, 2010
at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Photo by Ginger Van Hook©2010



“…My vision is for everyone to have their own garden, large or small and if that is not possible, to raise enough awareness for the people to shop locally and support their local Farmer’s Markets…” Ms. Kunik states as she points to the five large gardens she created in the back yard of her home, replacing flowerbeds and lawns in order to plant vegetables, herbs and fruit trees. Kunik wanted to give back to her community, raise awareness of the need for personal gardens and utilize the artistic medium to make her statement. “My work has always referenced the land. From my early days as a watercolorist painting landscapes to later works making paintings of deforestation or global warming; the beauty and fragility of the earth has been a recurring theme. Combining my agricultural practice with my art-making seems to be a natural evolution.”

  The prospect of jumping into an artistic adventure to produce homegrown fruits and vegetables with a group of fellow artists was contagious. Thus the enthusiasm carried this labor of love into the summer as Ms. Kunik worked with a group of artists to bring in soil, create raised beds and began to fill them with the seeds of tomatoes, carrots, spinach, lettuce, corn, and a variety of herbs, citrus fruits and assorted vegetables. Some of the artists participating in Plant It Forward include Juna Amano (Painting & Sculpture), Marissa Magdalena (Installation, Performance and Drawing), Ofunne Obiamawe (Photographer), Michiko Smith (Painting) and Ginger Van Hook (Photographer) as well as the new artists joining every week.





Artist Linda Kunik, (center holding poodle Leelu) with Artist Juna Amano, (left) and Artist Marjan Vayghan (right)
pose for a picture while working in the garden at Plant It Forward Linda Kunik's Starving Artist Project.
Photo by Ginger Van Hook©2010
Linda Kunik's Heirloom Tomatoes as they are harvested from her garden.
Photo by Ginger Van Hook©2010
Linda Kunik's Plant it Forward Garden begins it's yearly growth spurt.
Photo by Ginger Van Hook©2010
Harvest time at Linda Kunik's garden Plant It Forward.
Photo by Ginger Van Hook©2010
Artist Marjan Vayghan, (left-right), Artist Juna Amano, Artist and Founder of Plant It Forward Linda Kunik,
Leelu the poodle resting in Linda's arms and Artist Ginger Van Hook. 2010