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November 24 - December 28
Meet The Artist
Reception: Saturday, December 1 from 6:30-10:30PM
Free & Open to the
Public
November is the
start of the holiday season and a time to reflect on the
things for which we are most thankful. One local art gallery
is thankful for those artists who have used their art to
overcome personal tragedy & hardships in order to create a
"New Beginning" for themselves and art for all to enjoy.
NoHo Gallery LA's third annual "New Beginnings" group show
features Tommy Hollenstein, a quadriplegic artist using his
wheels to paint what his mind creates, a pathway of inner
expression that's inspirational for us all. The gallery also
introduces Bridget Duffy, a prolific naturalist painter
severely fractured by a climbing fall by the very nature she
loves to portray.
Also exhibiting are Christopher Voelker, Clara Berta, Daniel
DeBevoise, Giselle Jhunjhnuwala, Karl Johnson, Melissa
Lambert, Teresa Moore, William Cervantes and more.
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Tommy
Hollenstein
 Artist
Tommy Hollenstein takes viewers with him on a freedom ride
through vibrant color and motion. Using wheels for his paint
brush, Hollenstein’s abstract yet accessible style has been
compared to Jackson Pollock, liberating the confinement of
the canvas through “action painting.” As did Pollock, Hollenstein creates his paintings from a method working
above the canvas, resulting in direct expressions or
revelations that exhibit the unconscious moods of the
artist.
A native Angelino, Hollenstien is inspired by the Southern
California culture in love with its wheels as well as the
landscape. His work portrays a whimsical world of his own
invention layering vibrant colors applied by tire treads to
create the perception of fluid motion in static space. His
series of paintings offer a wide range of expression and can
contain up to 32 layers of form and color.
Art has been Hollenstein’s life passion. In 1985, at 24
years old, he survived a mountain biking accident that left
him a quadriplegic. His canine companion Weaver was the
inspiration in finding the road back to his art. It is a
continuing journey that is sometimes melancholy and
sometimes jubilant, but always inspirational. His paintings
depict a fluidity of movement with a wide range of color
that will appeal to everybody.
Tommy Hollenstein is a well-known member of the art
community here in Los Angeles. His shows are dynamic and
bring in a group of committed art enthusiasts and buyers.
During large shows he has even demonstrated his art for the
patrons. Tommy has been featured on many news shows,
documentaries, and in press throughout the country. His help
for charities and hospitals has brought thousands of dollars
to important causes and exposure for his art. Recently,
Tommy went on a trip to Boston and created a workshop to
share his techniques and inspiration to children with
disabilities. Tommy’s commitment to his art and the power of
his message insure a successful gallery showing.
Bridget Duffy
 "Here
is the site where I had my treacherous fall and slid into
the rock that caused my triple ankle fracture. It happened
late in the afternoon near the top of Mount Waterman. There
was no one around except for my fiancé who walked for many
miles seeking help. All the emergency phones had been ripped
out," says Bridget. "Night was upon us and we
were truly terrified."
Luckily, Bridget's fiancé, Bob Thorn, ran into Forest
Service workers and, with the help of the Montrose Search
and Rescue crew of 16, they managed to extricate Bridget
from her precarious plight, by stretcher and by night. Had
they not rescued her in time, she might well have died from
infection and exposure. Gratefully, Bridget is donating an
oil painting she just finished of the site to Montrose
Search and Rescue for saving her life. The painting is on
display at NoHo Gallery LA throughout the show.
Since her tragic fall, Bridget has vigorously painted 12
original artworks for "New Beginnings" - all accomplished
during her painstaking recovery with a multitude of casts
about her leg and the leg elevated most of the time.
"Nothing's going to keep me from my art!" she
emphatically states. "And you know something else, every
time I finish a painting and go on to the next one, I feel
stronger, more accomplished, empowered and most determined
to get back on my feet again." It's amazing what a heart
full of soul and a determined mind can do to healing the
body.
After earning her Fine Arts Degree Graduate from UCLA in
1975, Bridget has studied with the Masters in the art world,
is a prolific muralist, painter, designer and scenic artist,
working throughout the world and the entertainment industry
at most of the major studios. She has painted for ABC, NBC,
CBS, KCET, KTTV, KTLA, KCBS, FOX, Universal, Paramount,
Warner Brothers, and many others. Her artwork has even been
launched into Outer Space aboard NASA's Maiden Voyage
"Endeavor," giving new meaning to the saying: "The sky is
the limit."
Chris Voelker
 Chris Voelker’s
signature evocations of light and shadow are inimitable.
Like some surrealist noir poet with a camera, Voelker’s
photographs takes you into the gray areas and the dark
places of our human condition. Once described as "Hurrell on
acid," his investigations of the human form conjure images
that flirt with darkness but make love with light.
Voelker’s work are like the remains of a receding dream. His
images capture vestiges of a midnight world. We viewers
become as dreamers awake. Voelker is also a resident of
Otherness; a place we know as familiar but extraordinary,
comprehensible but unimaginable as well. The same may be
said of any true artist, but he is a quadriplegic and a true
artist both.
Chris Voelker is that rarity which is a life inspiring to
all who encounter it; the exertions required by his physical
disability may at first provoke awe in those who work with
him, but the impression fades quickly. It is his compassion
and integrity, his humanity and sparkling talent that endure
in the memory of anyone who knows his work, or has had the
privilege to share his world.
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