Time is Now for ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ Harris Art Gallery Exhibit Showcasing the Work of Artists Ruby Osorio, Macha Suzuki

Macha Suzuki's Love and Dance

Autumn is a time of transformation, a period when days grow shorter, weather turns erratic and most living things show signs of age. Such change creates an environment of mystery as what was once vibrant and clear alters to become muted and dim.

In the upcoming exhibit “Tomorrow Never Knows” at the University of La Verne’s Harris Art Gallery, the works of Los Angeles artists Ruby Osorio and Macha Suzuki reflect the metamorphosis of time. Linked by a figurative thread, their efforts yield objects and images that heighten anticipation while revealing quiet mysteries.

“Tomorrow Never Knows” will be on display from October 27 through November 24, 2009. Located in the university’s Landis Academic Center, the Harris Gallery is open to the public Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by appointment. Admission is free.

Within the dreamlike parameters of Osorio’s works on paper, images morph and transition, creating environments where animals and ornamentation adorn female figures. Her pictures seamlessly employ gouache, acrylic, ink, watercolor, collage and air brush to set an atmosphere where fictional narratives flow effortlessly. Appearing to conceal intimate secrets, owls, swans and peacock feathers become extensions of female personalities. Averting their gazes, these women with avian accompaniment seem to be deeply immersed in thought, meditating on another time or place.

Ruby Osorio's Serenity

Osorio earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her work has been exhibited in galleries in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and London, with recent solo shows at Cherry and Martin in Culver City and Vamiali in Athens, Greece.

Suzuki’s craftily assembled and detail-oriented sculptures present curious narratives framed in dazzling spectacles. For him, coolness can be defined as slick street cred coupled with a spiritual introspection. In “Fail 2009,” yarn is carefully woven into the center of a trompe l’oeil web of tree branches spelling out the word fail in bright hipster orange. Contextually out of place – like an urban tagger at a boy scouts camp – the message becomes a comforting notion: it’s going to be all right.

Born in Tokyo, Suzuki now lives and works in Los Angeles. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Azusa Pacific University (where he serves as an adjunct professor of Art) and a Master of Fine Arts from Claremont Graduate University. Represented by Sam Lee Gallery of Los Angeles, he has had recent solo exhibitions featured at the Kravets/Wehby Gallery in New York and at Biola University in La Mirada.

Opened in 1996, the Harris Art Gallery is recognized as a distinctive space for the exhibition of contemporary art by professional and student artists. Its mission reflects the institution’s commitment to diversity and quality in education by developing excellent contemporary art exhibitions for the university and local communities, providing students and others access to the wider art community, and confronting a diverse range of ideas as expressed through contemporary art and fostering a discourse around these issues.

To learn more about the “Tomorrow Never Knows” exhibit or the Harris Gallery, call (909) 593-3511 ext. 4763. For directions to the university’s main campus and parking information, visit www.laverne.edu/about/maps-directions.