Art Deco: Glamour in Harmony

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Photo by Robert Landau

by Dale Youngman

On display at the Groundfloor Gallery

The Art Deco design movement is widely considered to have originated in Paris in 1925, at an exhibition entitled “Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes” that first brought wide-spread attention to the ornamental and elegant style trend. It impacted every area of design, especially architecture and furniture, but was also highly influential in industrial, automotive and airplane design. Fashions and jewelry also became more glamorous as a result of the distinctive styling and signature repetitive motifs in pattern and fabrication. In our current exhibit at Groundfloor Gallery we honor this still–stylish artistic era in a group show featuring sculptor Misha Frid, painter Randolph South, and photographer Robert Landau.

Misha Frid was born in Moscow in 1938. His family soon realized he was extremely gifted, and sent the 6 year-old to study violin at a prestigious school for gifted young artists. After six years, he persuaded his father to enroll him in the Art School, housed in the same building. Misha says he was “born an artist” and later graduated with honors from the Moscow State Art College and the University of Fine Arts.

His early training instilled in him a love of music, especially classical, which is evident in his work, much of which incorporates musical instruments. He says the shapes often remind him of the shape of women, his favorite art subject. His work, now seen in many prestigious museums, has received international recognition. When he left Russia in 1972 with his wife and young sons, his art was declared a national treasure, and by law could not be removed from the country.

In the new world, his talent again brought him success, affording him the opportunity to work with Erte, then 80 years old, and one of the most recognizable artists and masters of Art Deco. This influence can be seen in the sensuous lines and fluidity in the bronze sculptures that are now Misha’s predominant medium. “Sculpting is the Rolls Royce of art – the most difficult, time consuming, and most expensive.” He explains the process …”One starts with the concept – a sketch – then creates the actual model in clay. The clay model then goes to the foundry for a plaster mold. Hot wax goes into the mold, then bronze is poured into the wax. The bronze is then cleaned, polished, and receives a hot patination all done by hand…sometimes taking months or years to complete.” But he says, “Bronze lives for thousands of years. Now many of my sculptures live around the world, and play their music to many people.”

Painter Randolph South was also a child prodigy; his mother started saving his drawings when he was only 3. “I never considered any other career,” he says. “The life of a visual artist can embrace many forms. I have created sculpture, motion graphics, paintings and photos.”

He grew up in South Carolina, where it was very conservative in dress and architecture. His high school however, had great art teachers. His first show was during high school at the Greenville Museum of Fine art, after winning local and national art contests and a National Scholastic Competition. This propelled him into Atlanta College of Art, then University of South Carolina, and finally Otis Parsons.

He began collecting Art Deco objects from antique stores around the South, and then in college, a friend showed him catalogs from the aforementioned 1925 Paris Exposition. It was, he says, a “revelation.” He now travels, going to Paris or Brussels for extended research, taking in the architecture, as those cities “contain great work from the era.” He also researches Art Deco artists in libraries, often being inspired by old works. He paints mainly in oil on canvas, but also uses airbrush, an invention of the 20’s. He has recently begun working digitally, which allows him to create much larger works as giclee prints. “I love to work big,” he explains, “It’s a new way to see.”

Robert Landau is one of LA’s preeminent architectural photographers, shooting such spectacular iconic Deco monuments as the Griffith Observatory, the Eastern Columbia Building, the Wiltern Theater, and the Hollywood Bowl. He was born and raised In Los Angeles, and considers the city itself to be a major influence in his work. “I have been preoccupied with the self-assigned task of describing and defining the elements in the Los Angeles urban landscape that make the city unique.”

The son of an art dealer, Landau grew up surrounded by great California art. But when he first started taking photos at age 16, he was living near Sunset Strip, and it was the enormous hand-painted rock and roll billboards of his music idols that captivated him. (He is currently working on a book about that period.)

Beyond that topic, Landau prefers to shoot the “urban landscape and the expression of contemporary living culture.” His attraction to Art Deco style is from a purely aesthetic standpoint - he finds the shapes “intriguing and pleasing, seeming to emanate from some organic basis that combines nature with geometry. There is a sense of human beings having hand-crafted the elements.”

From the sensuous grace of Misha’s sculpture, to the bold sophisticated paintings of Randy South, and the icon-capturing eye of Robert Landau, we hope this exhibit “like all good architecture that endures, transports you back to its own period.”

 

ART DECO - GLAMOUR IN HARMONY is on view at the Groundfloor Gallery 433 South Spring Street, DTLA. Special closing reception with the artists on August 26 from 7-10 pm. Exhibit hours are Wednesdays through Fridays 1-6 or by appointment through daleyoungman@me.com

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