Xanadu: The Gallery at Hotel Indigo
The “Xanadu” exhibition at The Gallery at Hotel Indigo Santa Barbara is a resplendent romp through Californian popular culture edified by international artists like Russell Young and featuring glimmers of Central Coast gems, Cassandria Blackmore and Beatrice Wood.
“Xanadu” captures the bright lights of Hollywood legends in Young’s oversized enamel screen prints, diamond dusted portraits of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and a young Clint Eastwood. But, while pop, these are “dark hangs,” says co-curator Frederick Janka. Young’s images portray an underlying darkness, morbid tales of suicide, drugs and violence, culminated in the image, “Sharon Tate Baby Doll.”
RUSSELL YOUNG, How the west was won and where it got us, 2019, oil based ink, oil paint, enamel, acrylic paint and tar on linen
RUSSELL YOUNG, Marilyn Portrait, California, 2014, enamel screen print with diamond dust on linen
In the balance between light and dark, is the exhibition’s inspiration—the 1816 poem, “Xanadu,” by Samuel Coleridge, which culled its imagery from chronicles of a palace built by thirteenth-century Emperor of China Kubla Khan. Coleridge describes a “pleasure-dome,” “gardens bright” and “sunny spots,” but also a “sunless sea,” “caverns measureless to man” and enclosing “walls and towers.”
Janka and co-curator John Connelly have taken advantage of the hotel’s unique gallery spaces to play with the dark and light sides of “Xanadu.” The downstairs halls present imposing images that guide the viewer down the corridor like Coleridge’s dark and sinuous streams. However, the clever choice of Young’s sparkling celebrities, overlays a sense of kitsch that references the 1980s cult film “Xanadu” starring Olivia Newton John.
Upstairs, the hotel’s atrium brings out a sense of rapture. The light-filled space holds vitrines with ceramic vessels by Beatrice Wood that face Cassandria Blackmore’s shattered reverse painted glass, “Citron Field.” The materials are light, delicate and highly reflective, immersing the viewer in fresh air and euphoria.
BEATRICE WOOD, 22 pc. Gold Lustre Tea Service, ceramic
CASSANDRIA BLACKMORE, Citron Field, 2016, Reverse Painted Glass
GARY LANG, Glitter painting #123, 2019, Acrylics and glitter
Visible from the main stairwell, Ruth Pastine’s three pastels from her series Counterpoint anchor the exhibit. Primary colors with dark edges, reminiscent of film, pull the two spaces—dark and light—together. The red, yellow and blue “Counterpoints” are pleasure-domes for the eyes.
The exhibition taps national and international artists and regional work. That interaction is intentional and the curators hope that it not only creates dialogues, but also supports local artists. The gallery is open to the public and visited daily by hotel guests who seek the art collector’s experience. Many works in the exhibition are on sale with proceeds benefitting the Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation.
RUTH PASTINE, Counterpoint #27 (Blue), Counterpoint #19 (Yellow Violet), Counterpoint #26 (Red), 2011, Pastel on paper. Photo: Two Fish Digital
XANADU. Photo: Two Fish Digital
“Xanadu” features artists Cassandria Blackmore, Matthew Brannon, Paul Demuro, Cameron Gainer, Gary Lang, Ruth Pastine, Enoc Perez, Aaron Spangler, Wolfgang Tillmans, Russell Young and Beatrice Wood. The exhibition is on view from August 1, 2019 to February 1, 2020 at Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation, The Gallery at Hotel Indigo Santa Barbara.
Cover image: RUSSELL YOUNG, Sharon Tate Baby Doll X3, 2011 enamel screen print with diamond dust on linen
