Lisa Adams & Kelly McLane Exhibit Feb. 18 – March 28

SMC Barrett Gallery Hosts Gallery Reception February 29 for “UNREALITY: Works by Lisa Adams & Kelly McLane”

Exhibit Runs February 18-March 28

SANTA MONICA, CA — The Santa Monica College Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery presents "UNREALITY: Works by Lisa Adams & Kelly McLane," a two-person exhibition of revealing paintings, drawings, and sketches.

The exhibition will be open to the public from Tuesday, February 18, to Saturday, March 28, with a free gallery reception on Saturday, February 29, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The SMC Pete & Susan Barrett Gallery is located at the SMC Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th Street (at Santa Monica Boulevard), Santa Monica.

UNREALITY, curated by artist and publisher Kirk Pedersen, showcases works that establish the relationship between the two artists and how their common areas of interest are uniquely mined. From early work to their most recent, the show focuses on the paths of each artist by highlighting their undeniable connections.

“My paintings establish a link between the realms of abstraction and representation, of the imaginary and the real, and finally of the natural and human-built worlds,” wrote Lisa Adams as part of her artist statement. “Rather than presenting a factual reality, my work operates between metaphor and pure imagination to successfully fuse these aspects into a new reality. Concrete questions about our place as humans in a natural environment are revealed through a variety of painting techniques and use of symbolic elements.” Adams, whose work has been represented by the CB1 Gallery in Los Angeles since 2011, has shown nationally and internationally for over 30 years. Her paintings are in the permanent collections of the USC Fisher Art Museum, Long Beach Museum of Art, San Jose Museum of Art, and others.

“It is my belief that we are increasingly troubled with the philosophies placing mankind at the center of the universe,” wrote Kelly McLane. “In my work are glimpses of radical change. Inconvenient truths are taken seriously and the birthing pains of a new romanticism often replace skepticism. Myths and symbols of Americana are blurred and entangled with those of the world both past and present, creating a multifaceted cultural lexicon ripe with possibility.” Currently represented by Denk Gallery, Los Angeles and previously by Angles Gallery, McLane has exhibited since the mid 1990s. Her works are in the collections that include the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Hours for SMC’s Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. All exhibits, gallery talks, and opening receptions are free.

For more information, please call 310-434-3434.