"Out In NoHo" ~ Celebrating "PRIDE" Through Art

Monday, 28 May 2007 23:09

NOrth HOllywood, CA – June is nationally dedicated as Pride Month, honoring our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. NoHo Gallery LA honors and celebrates this designation with the group exhibit "Out in NoHo." The show marks the return of internationally acclaimed artist Thom Bierdz' with his new works of controversial male nudes. Evolving from devastating family tragedies, Thom is truly an artist redeeming himself through his art. The Gallery is also proud to exhibit the works of Brian Burchfield, Patrick Finley, Mona Gable, Linda Kish, Tom Lasley, Lynn Marlowe, Gina Raphaela, Hector Silva and Ariel Vargassal, from June 8 – July 7, 2007.

Art is Thom’s way of overcoming horrendous tragedies. The brutal murder of his beloved mother at the hands of his paranoid schizophrenic brother in 1989 ended Thom's 20s and his three-year gig as a regular on the soap opera The Young and the Restless. Most of his 30s were spent in silent catharsis as he labored intensively over his art, motivated by the primal desire to make sense of the matricide. In 2000, another blow would enter the artist's life when his other brother, in a paranoid depression, committed suicide. Thom's need to express his inner fears became an obsession. "Each painting became an earnest attempt to make sense out of the senseless; to make something beautiful out of something tragic," says Thom.

What emerges from Thom’s personal journey onto the canvas is at times heartbreaking, haunting and profoundly affecting. Thom's body of work ultimately proves to be an uplifting and inspiring experience of transcendence, a compelling testimony on the resilience of the human spirit.

Thom Bierdz' best-selling MEN IN TREES series of paintings depicts classic male nudes amongst the leafless limbs of a metaphorical tree of life. Thom elaborates: "Stripped of camouflage or defense, the bare branches and figures suggest a netherworld between dreaming and waking - awareness and unconsciousness - life and death. The men inhabiting these personal purgatories struggle, pray, contemplate and rejoice; they are icons of our individual journeys and interaction with the infinite. Each viewer's perspective determines whether the rich amber atmosphere glows with fire or reflects the light of rebirth. Through painting and writing, Bierdz sheds and shreds his psyche - exposing and laying it bare as the bodies and branches on these canvases. Censorship would corrupt their beauty. There are no fig leaves for the soul."

"Consider statues going back to Roman and Greek times," says Gallery Director Daniel DeBevoise. "No fig leaf there. Millions of men, women and children from all countries flock to view these ancient marvels, stark naked and beautiful. Covering their 'private parts' would be considered a violation of national treasures. But, in our society today, it's taboo to put a (dare we say) penis on a male nude and show it in the media. That's what prompted me to take up avante-garde artist T. Alunni's suggestion concerning Thom Bierdz' frontal nude works: "Well then, censor it literally." So be it!

NoHo Gallery LA, 5108 Lankershim Blvd., was created to give all artists of all mediums a platform in which to promote their work. The Gallery's goal is to see art in every home and artists successfully immersed in their art. NoHo Gallery LA, a division of NoHo Communications Group, Inc., is housed in the historic Lankershim Arts Center, built c. 1939 as a DWP building, renovated by the City of Los Angeles and is now a designated historic landmark. The Center is also home to the award-winning Road Theatre Company making it a true center for the arts. The NoHo Arts District is home to more than 20 theatres, diverse art galleries, public art, professional dance studios, music recording venues, annual festivals, international dining options and a myriad of clothing and specialty shops. NoHo is "Where the Arts Are Made." For more information on the NoHo Arts District, visit: www.nohogalleryla.com and : www.nohoartsdistrict.com