A Look Inside the Topanga Canyon Gallery

”Oh, how nice it would be if we could only get through into Looking- glass House! I'm sure it's got, oh! such beautiful things in it!” --Alice, in Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

Sometimes there’s more to the art world than meets the eye. For instance, looking closer at the Topanga Canyon Gallery will reveal an intriguing mélange of contemporary artists from beyond the local community.

“We attract artists from Topanga, the Valley area, the Westside and even the Palisades,” said member Robyn Feeley.  “There are over 40 artists in the cooperative, with work ranging from glass and ceramics, jewelry, oil, pastel, acrylic and water color paintings.”  Established in 1989, the Gallery chooses members through a juried process.

The current exhibition, entitled “Through the Looking Glass”, features works from Feeley (who lives in Topanga), Fae Horowitz (Santa Monica), and Susan Haskell (Santa Monica Canyon).  These three disparate artists brainstormed a concept that could unify their individual styles.

 “We wanted to find a cohesive theme for our show, and not just be three artists of different media in a featured show,” said Horowitz.  “Susan's work is glass, my pieces all have glass as either the subject matter or a part of my process, and Robyn went for a more literal Alice in Wonderland interpretation.  All in all, I think it came together quite nicely.”

“ ‘Life Through the Looking Glass’ explores the way these three distinctively different artists view the world around them,” Feeley said.

Admittedly the most whimsical of the group, Feeley’s pastels often feature animals. For this exhibit, she’s created Topanga Underground, a series of Lewis Carroll-inspired images with frogs, rabbits and other woodland creatures set against a six-paneled window frame.  In addition, there’s an homage to Magritte, plus a pair of parrots named after a famous Agatha Christie detective.

Among the items on display by Haskell is a Matisse-inspired fused and slumped bowl with copper-laden images of infants; three glass sheets depicting Three Women; and a series of ‘tunnel’ paintings.

 “Even though glass is my medium, I did a series of tunnels that evokes a feeling of going through, of drawing you in,” she said. “Together, all my pieces pull together the theme of the exhibit.”

Haskell, who teaches art at Santa Monica College and the Canyon Charter Elementary School, was a former member of the Palisades Art Association and considers herself a resident of the Palisades.

Fae Horowitz describes her work as photographic, but the click of the shutter is only the beginning of the process.  

“Depending on where the image takes me, I will hand color a print, or add digital processes before printing, or do both,” she said. “I also enjoy alternative printing processes - printing on glass, fabric or metal.  The final image becomes a sum of all of these parts. I call them "Artographs"' because I think that best describes the entirety of the process.”

For the current show, Horowitz compared her camera lens to a kind of ‘looking glass’.

“Whether shot from a passing car, through a window or reflected from a building, the last fading bits of a rainbow or reflections of a cluster of raindrops just before the wind scatters them away, my goal is always that the finished piece not look completely contextual, but rather that it encourages viewers’ own interpretation of what they are seeing,” she said.

Horowitz and Feeley produced other shows together at the Topanga Canyon Gallery, including “Silent Witness”, which examined society’s tendency to ignore unpleasant realities.  Horowitz included hand-painted photos of Auschwitz while Feeley painted three monkeys in the famous “Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil” poses.

 “We purposely theme our shows to inspire us to create an entire new body of work each year,” said Feeley.

Art lovers from across the Southland attended the exhibit’s opening reception, including historian Eric Dugdale, a member of the Pacific Palisades Historical Society. 

"I was drawn to the opening at the Topanga Gallery by Robyn's new work and to see Susan Haskell, a Palisadian famous for her painting of Santa Monica Bay seen through the McClure Tunnel, and her work on murals near Sunset Boulevard in the Palisades," Dugdale said.  

 “Eric has been a collector of mine for well over five years and a great supporter of the arts,” Feeley said.  “We draw and eclectic crowd from outside Topanga, such as Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Venice and Woodland Hills.”

 Horowitz believes the Gallery stands out as a one-of-a-kind art space for dedicated professionals.

“We are a true cooperative,” she said.  “We are diverse in our talents and styles, but united in our goal to maintain an interesting venue for the public and at the same time have a consistent, professional outlet for our creativity.  Every show is a product of collective inspiration, planning and execution.” 

“The people are so wonderful and they encourage others to try new things,” Haskell said.

“The Topanga Canyon Gallery is unique from other galleries due to its lush location, quality of the artwork, and the cooperative nature of our gallery,” added Feeley.

 “Through the Looking Glass” is on view at the Topanga Canyon Gallery through May 29.   For information, call 310 455-7909. The Gallery is located in Pine Tree Circle, 120 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd and is open Wednesday through Saturday 10AM to 6PM and Sunday, 11AM to 5PM.

 In June, members of the Topanga Canyon Gallery will be part of the community’s annual Studio Tour, where artists open their homes and workplaces to the public.  For more information contact the gallery.