'Earthscapes' at NoHo Gallery

Los Angeles, CA - NoHo Gallery LA celebrates mother earth with ART - a group show honoring Earth Day this April by featuring the beauty of nature and the importance of preserving it for future generations to appreciate. Earthscapes features the Plein Air oils of landscape artist Michael Denering as well as the original, non-digital Dune photographic abstracts of Alan Sahakangas. The exhibit will also highlight the works of James Fiorito, Paul Fuentes, Donald Hanson, Ron Husmann, Nicki La Rosa, Sharon Weaver, Carol W. Wood and more. A Free, Public Reception will be held on Saturday, April 5 from 6:30-10:30PM with the exhibit running April 5 - May 2.
 
Michael Denering
A native Southern Californian, Michael has spent many years hiking through the Mojave Desert, learning about the quiet beauty that each season brings. From its extremely cold winters to the devastating heat of summer, he has learned to love the vastness and subtle changes that make this wilderness so special.  
 
The fields of tiny flowers in spring that make up the blankets of color and the subtle changes in the rocks that make the hills in the high desert presents a difficult challenge to capture artistically. These areas are filled with wild life including some unpleasant characters along with the desert folk that make this harsh wilderness their home. With the continuous movement of civilization, the desert is being occupied. With the settling of people comes the key ingredient to change the landscape - Water, a life source itself. Michael has followed this trail from the desert floor to the surrounding hills and into the High Sierras where man-made lakes and the changing of river flows has influenced the natural landscape for the purpose of civilization. He feels that his work will be a life-long study documenting what he sees and trying to portray the beauty that is pushed aside for the concrete damn or the collected river flow for the power that man needs.
 
He started his art career in the Advertising field at 20 years old, working for ad agencies throughout the Los Angeles area. He went from artist to art director in a few short years. After eight years he needed more color and to be closer to the fine arts field. He went to work at CBS television and painted sets and artwork for television. Leaving CBS he moved on to theatre and painted for the Dorothy Chandler and the Mark Taper Forum doing plays and opera. During the 1980s he moved to the motion picture field and has worked for Warner Bros. Scenic Art deptartment since 1985. During those years he has painted Billboards and Stage Backings for films like Ghostbusters, Dracula, Batman, The Green Mile, Spiderman, What Dreams May Come, Time to Kill, Toys, Jurassic Park, Planet of the Apes and several 100 others.  
 
Alan Sahakangas
Alan was two years old when he discovered camera and film. The first encounter was propping open an unattended camera and exposing undeveloped vacation photos. Alan's endeavor to share what he sees traces to these humble beginnings. Alan was born in 1955 and the middle child of two older sisters and two younger brothers growing up in the San Fernando Valley. His mother and father were immigrants from Finland. Both met in art school and are the source for inspiration in Alan's work.
 
Alan is inspired by the work of Brett Weston and his pioneer father. Edward Weston and he often made pilgrimages to Big Sur to learn the origins of these important figures in the world of art. In contrast, Alan's black and white images are tightly composed to reduce the subject to its basic elements of light and contrast. Cole, another Weston photographer and heir to the legacy, once described Alan as "one damn good photographer." Alan's careful study of dune forms certainly portrays this sentiment.
    
About NoHo Gallery LA
NoHo Gallery LA 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.nohoartsdistrict.com