The Lehua gallery

The Lehua Gallery Welcome to the gallery where words are read, pictures are seen and art is felt. Located on the Big Island of Hawaii where even on an island, through art, the world can come to you. My Husband and are a part of a small group of local art collectors called the Art Inklings. We opened a small gallery in the country side of Waimea 15 years ago in hopes of sharing some of our passion with the community. We cycle through various exhibits, a mixture of local independent artists as well as prominent assemblages such as this one. This collection has been a collaboration with other groups across the nation and we are honored to share it with you. Please enjoy.

These pieces from a broad variety of places and times are connected through the use of language. Each artist has a story to tell whether a personal narrative, a sales pitch, or a mere observation of the world around them. Some are introspective and imaginative, others are an extroverted projection of what they see day to day but all have given us the invitation to take a closer look if we chose. I hope you enjoy this collection of artists and pieces, which employ the use of words to more compellingly tell you their stories if you have a mind to hear them. This includes: George Braque: Violin and Pipe ‘Le Quotidien’ Ann Niu: Solitude Kurt Schwitters: Opened by customs Zhang Huan: Family tree Ed Ruscha : Dead End Mario Merz: Continent to continent Joseph Cornell: Naples Richard Estes: Pressing George Grosz: Berlin street scene Jules Cheret: Carnival 1892

ARTIST Georges Braque Violin and Pipe, 'Le Quotidien' Date: 1913; France * Style: Synthetic Cubism Genre: still life Medium: chalk, charcoal, collage, paper Dimensions: 106 x 74 cm Location: Georges Pompidou Center, Paris, France Tags: musical-instruments, cigarettes-and-pipes, newspapers References: ( http://www.theartstory.org/artist-braque-georges.htm#important_art_header ) http://www.abcgallery.com/B/braque/braquebio.html Biography: French painter, collagist and sculptor Georges Braque is, along with Pablo Picasso, renowned as the co-founder of Cubism, which revolutionized 20th-century painting. In his work, objects are fragmented and reconstructed into geometric forms, fracturing the picture plane in order to explore a variety of viewpoints. “The hard-and-fast rules of perspective … were a ghastly mistake which…has taken four centuries to redress,” he said in 1957. Merging aspects of the sculptural with the pictorial, Braque ...

ARTIST Ann Niu Solitude - Haze , From the series Haze series Date: 2014 Medium: Acrylic on canvas Dimensions: 78 7/10 × 78 7/10 in 200 × 200 cm References: (https://www.ahalife.com/profile/2591/) Biography: Using fluid, gestural lines, Ann Niu builds upon calligraphic tradition to tell stories both personal and universal. Niu’s work draws upon her multicultural upbringing in places such as Japan, China, Korea, and the United States. Incorporating elements of traditional Chinese ink painting and Western oil painting, the artist works in both oil on canvas and watercolor on rice paper. Her representational and calligraphic compositions, which draw from street art and Abstract Expressionism, are rendered with energetic brushstrokes and in vivid colors and thin washes. Emblematic of her larger body of work, Niu’s “Scholar Stones” series features free-spirited gestures that filter traditional techniques through a modern lens. Grounded in Chinese tradit...

Artist Kurt Schwitters Date: 1887–1948 Original title: Zollamtlich geöffnet Medium: Paper, printed paper, oil paint and graphite on paper Dimensions: Support:331x253mm frame: 523 x 421 x 29 mm Collection: Tate Reference: http://www.tate.org.uk/art Biography: Associated with the Dada movement, painter, poet, and mixed-media artist Kurt Schwitters is best known for his collage and assemblage works in which he transformed appropriated imagery and text from print media into dynamic and layered compositions. Schwitters studied at the Dresden Academy of Art with Otto Dix and George Grosz, and after showing in Berlin in 1918 was introduced to Dadaists Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Höch, and Jean Arp. It was at this time he began making assemblages from materials found discarded on the streets of his home city, Hannover, intending to reflect the ruined state of German culture; he called the works Merzbilder after the German word “Kommerz,” as in Merzbild ...

ARTIST : Zhang Huan Family Tree Date: 2001 Medium: Nine chromogenic prints, calligraphy ink Dimensions: 49 1/2 × 39 in 125.7 × 99.1 cm Edition of 8 + 2AP Reference: http://www.pacegallery.com/artists/527/zhang-huan   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/3646417/Viewfinder-Family-Tree-2001-by-Zhang-Huan.html Biography: One of China's best-known performance and Conceptual artists, Zhang Huan's more recent work has consisted of sculptures and paintings that reference the history of his native China, from significant political, intellectual, and religious figures to anonymous portraits and landscape scenes. For his two- and three-dimensional works, Zhang frequently uses both common objects and unusual organic materials, including feathers, cowhides, and for his 2005 sculpture Donkey, a taxidermied donkey. Particularly evocative is Zhang’s use of incense ash, a material that epitomizes both detritus and religious ritual, with which ...

ARTIST: Ed Ruscha Rusty Signs - Dead End Date: 2014 Medium: Embossing on paper Dimensions: 24 × 24 in 61 × 61 cm References: http://www.artnet.com/artists/ed-ruscha/ http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3714479&partId = Biography: Despite being credited with a Pop sensibility, Ed Ruscha defies categorization with his diverse output of photographic books and tongue-in-cheek photo-collages, paintings, and drawings. Ruscha’s work is inspired by the ironies and idiosyncrasies of life in Los Angeles, which he often conveys by placing glib words and phrases from colloquial and consumerist usage atop photographic images or fields of color. Known for painting and drawing with unusual materials such as gunpowder, blood, and Pepto Bismol, Ruscha draws attention to the deterioration of language and the pervasive cliches in pop culture, illustrated by his iconic 1979 painting I Don’t Want No Re...

ARTIST Mario Merz F rom Continent to Continent Date: 1985 Medium: Steel, glass, neon, clay, and metal cables Dimensions:m66 × 135 × 135 in 167.6 × 342.9 × 342.9 cm References: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/mario-merz-1623 Biography: A key member of the Arte Povera group, Mario Merz produced expansive mixed-media paintings, sculptures, and installations, through which he propagated an egalitarian, human-centered vision. Through art, he counteracted what he saw as the dehumanizing forces of industrialization and consumerism. Together with compatriots including Jannis Kounellis and Michelangelo Pistoletto , Merz eschewed fine art materials in favor of everyday and organic matter, like food, earth, found objects, and neon tubing. In 1968, he presented his first igloo, which became a motif in his work, representing the fundamental human need for shelter, nourishment, and connection to nature. By 1970, the Fibonacci sequence became central to his wo...

ARTIST A key member of the Arte Povera group, Mario Merz produced expansive mixed-media paintings, sculptures, and installations, through which he propagated an egalitarian, human-centered vision. Through art, he counteracted what he saw as the dehumanizing forces of industrialization and consumerism. Together with compatriots including Jannis Kounellis and Michelangelo Pistoletto , Merz eschewed fine art materials in favor of everyday and organic matter, like food, earth, found objects, and neon tubing. In 1968, he presented his first igloo, which became a motif in his work, representing the fundamental human need for shelter, nourishment, and connection to nature. By 1970, the Fibonacci sequence became central to his work, shaping the tables and spiraling forms for which he was known, and incorporated into his igloos and canvases. In these Merz sought limitlessness, against the confines of modern life. Joseph cornell Naples , 1942 Medium: Box construction Dimensio...

ARTIST Widely considered one of the seminal American artists of the 20th century, Joseph Cornell pioneered Considered a founder of the Photorealist movement, Richard Estes is best known for his paintings of city scenes in New York. Compiling his compositions from multiple source photographs, Estes reconstructs reality in highly convincing renderings. He often incorporates reflective surfaces, such as shop windows and shiny cars, yielding mirrored imagery that serves to enhance what the naked eye is capable of perceiving. In Double Self-Portrait (1976), for example, the artist and an entire street scene behind him are reflected in meticulous detail against the glass façade of a diner. Richard Estes: Pressing Date:1978 Medium: Acrylic on board Dimensions: 19 1/2 × 13 in 49.5 × 33 cm References: http://www.artnet.com/awc/richard-estes.html Biography: Considered a founder of the Photorealist movement, Richard Estes is best known for his painti...

ARTIST George Grosz Date: 1893–1959 Date: 1931 Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 32 x 23 5/8 in. (81.3 x 60 cm) Classification: Paintings References: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/george-grosz-1223 Biography: Draftsman and painter George Grosz is known for his caustic pen-and-ink caricatures of Weimar Germany. Influenced by Expressionism and Futurism in his early career, he was also strongly affected by his wartime experience and joined Berlin's Dada movement in 1918 as a stance of political commitment; he is also associated with the New Objectivity movement (Neue Sachlichkeit). After leaving Germany prior to Hitler's assumption of power, Grosz turned to romanticized nudes, New York cityscapes, and watercolor landscapes in a departure from his earlier social engagement. ( https://www.artsy.net/artist/george-grosz ) Statement: "I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous s...

Jules Cheret THÉÂTRE DE L’OPÉRA – CARNAVAL Date: 1892 , 1892 Medium: Original lithograph printed in colors on wove poster paper. Dimensions: 48 3/4 × 34 3/8 in 123.8 × 87.3 cm References: http://www.windsorfineart.com/jules-cheret/ Biography: The father of modern poster art and a critical figure in the development of the French Belle Époque style, Jules Chéret was the first artist to work with color lithography. Finding little success in France due in part to inadequate printing technology, Chéret moved to London and began designing perfume packaging for Rimmel during the 1860s. Rimmel became Chéret’s patron and financed his commercial lithography studio in Paris. Although Chéret had a talent for working with oil paint and pastels, he remains best known for his lithographs, which served as the exemplar of poster design and color theory during the late 19th century. ( https://www.artsy.net/artist/jules-cheret ) Statement: When Roger Marx, on...

Reflection: Going in search of good wasn’t hard, there are many remarkable pieces in every medium. But finding a collection that I could articulate a certain level of understanding seemed daunting. The process gave me more of an appreciation when I wander through galleries and think about the steps a curator might have taken to get there. It was challenging initially to find the right cites and resources. I ended up going to a bookstore to even get started, which I found interesting. The internet was a great tool once I had some direction but before that I found that the art world was a foreign one to me. I began by finding pieces that stood out to me initially then digging into the artist to find out whether they met any criteria I was looking for. This part was the most fun for me because I would automatically form an impression of the piece and then through research I could sort of test myself to see if what I got out of it was what the artist had intended or not. ...