Paideia: South Bay Focus: Torrance Wrap

End of Day (2011) by Michelle Ardeshiri

The Torrance Art Museum's exhibit, South Bay Focus 2011, closed yesterday. It was a fun show, lots of interesting art, and much to think about in regards to curation and the premise of a community art gallery. Overall, I feel that this year has been good down here in Torrance, finishing with artistic gems from our local artists.

This blog owes a huge debt of gratitude to Torrance. Although I've got plenty of interests and opinions, I have a hard time focusing on a specific topic, a fact about which regular readers are well aware, but having a thought-provoking art institute along my daily travel route kept the fine arts as a regular topic on my mind. When I finally got Paideia into regular production, back in April, covering art shows became a prominent feature.

Have all of the 2011 TAM exhibitions been excellent? No, but the approach to curation was always worth considering. Given concerns of budget and resources, availability of artists, and community expectations, the manner in which Torrance has experimented with its exhibits has shown ingenuity and innovation. Special credit goes to the curator, Max Presneill.

Detail of Cascading Red (2011) by Nicolas Kolesnikow

I'm very thankful for the various exhibitions that have been displayed at Torrance this year; I look forward to next year's offerings. From Gateway: Japan to South Bay Focus, it's been fun.

And the art has been inspiring!