 "Music for Camille, Study 1" by Paul Benavidez. Ventura County Reporter Art & Culture A Feast for the Eyes A review of the Ventura Music Festival's art exhibition, Impressions by Stacey Wiebe  ike top-notch wine paired with a delectable meal, fine art and music are two of life's little blessings that complement each other well.And so it stands to reason that the musically themed Impressions art show, which precedes the 2007 installment of the annual Ventura Music Festival, titled "Impressions: A Celebration of French Music and Art," is digested with comparable ease. The traveling show features 12 local artists who've taken the theme of auditory art and transformed it into visual interpretations limited only by their imaginations. Though the Ventura Music Festival takes place May 3 through May 13, the art show, which opened in December and will close March 29, whets the palate and leaves viewers wondering what musical feasts will be presented for subsequent devouring. Impressions, which opened March 7 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, is a collection of various mediums and emotions reflective of both music and the power of individual interpretation. In "Music for Camille, Study 1," a still life of dry pastel over pen and ink, artist Paul Benavidez rendered a disassembled clarinet atop a stack of books that embody creative and intuitive arts, as well as scientific and political knowledge. The book on top of the stack is about French impressionist painter Camille Pissarro, while another is Failed States, a book by Noam Chomsky about the failures of the United States government. Still another book appears to be Seen/Unseen: Art, Science, and Intuition from Leonardo to the Hubble Telescope, by Martin Kemp. Benavidez's piece is ethereal in its beauty and suggestive of the blending of concrete reality and hidden knowledge, and that the act of creating music is reflective of several different disciplines and subjects. The somewhat impressionistic piece is offset by the realistic details and is all the more challenging and loaded with meaning because of them. In "The Composer," an oil on masonite by Dan LaVigne, the artistic process and joy of accomplishment is communicated in brilliant detail that, not unlike Benavidez's work, blurs the line between reality and a visual interpretation of how reality can feel. The composer in question in LaVigne's piece is none other than French composer Claude Debussy. Through the glass in a pair of spectacles resting on a table in the painting, the viewer can see the words "Clair de Lune," written in black ink across the top of a finished piece of music. The words are magnified through the spectacles in what is one of the most visually pleasing details of the painting. Another detail that eloquently combines aspects of the imagination and the material is the clear reflection of a wine glass in a nearby container. Crumpled sheet music in the background suggests the work that went into the composition, while the completed work and subsequent celebration suggested by the wine glass and the doffing of the spectacles highlight the joy of creation. Not all of the pieces are as obviously related to music, but are, as the show's title states, impressions of art — musical or otherwise — that represent the creative potential of the human spirit.  For more information about the Ventura Music Festival and the Impressions art exhibition, visit www.venturamusicfestival.org or call 648-3146. A Night at the Moulin Rouge, featuring French wines, gourmet food, cabaret entertainment and a live auction of the 12 pieces of art to benefit the Ventura Music Festival is scheduled for March 31 at the Ventura Beach Marriott. March 8, 2007 Ventura County Reporter 700 E. Main St., Ventura, CA 93001 http://www.vcreporter.com/article.php?id=4385&IssueNum=114 Copyright ©2006 Southland Publishing. All rights reserved. |
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