TAG Gallery Presents: Show 7

TAG Gallery presents 6 solo artists - from painting to fiber art, abstract figuratives to landscapes and expressionist narratives - unified by themes of hope, memory, and resilience.

About
Event Dates - June 18 - July 22,
Free Open Reception June 21 5 - 8 pm

See origninal works by featured TAG Artists: Marianna Baker, Laurence Barbera, Somaya Etemad, Pedrin Garcia, Sally Lamb, and Gina Leon-Gutiérrez

Marianna Baker - contemporary fiber artist hailing from Southern California, seamlessly blends her background in graphic design with a lifelong passion for art and fashion.

Marianna specializes in needle-felting techniques on natural linen and cashmere, crafting wearable art pieces that embody both timeless elegance and cutting-edge fashion.

Her creations transcend traditional boundaries, evolving into multi-dimensional sculptures that grace ceilings, walls, and floors alike. By incorporating unconventional materials like wire, Marianna produces abstract sculptures that honor feminine traditions and the often-overlooked narratives of historical art.

Laurence Barbera - Inspired by artists like Lucian Freud, Egon Schiele, and Alyssa Monks, Laurence found his voice in painting nude figures—works that are both, modern and timeless, intimate and unflinching. Whether working with brushes or palette knives, he creates vivid, expressive studies that highlight the abstract beauty of the human body—its shadows, angles, and unexpected elegance.

Somaya Etemad - Somaya Etemad is an Iranian-American who transitioned from a trained architect to a full-time fine artist, blending her engineering precision with her artistic passions. Her work is a tapestry woven from her background as a woman, wife, and mother, telling stories that reflect her unique perspective.

"My work is an exploration of the unseen beauty that emerges in the face of adversity. I am fascinated by the resilience of nature and its ability to thrive in darkness, which I often represent through the imagery of mushrooms—quiet yet powerful symbols of growth in harsh environments. This metaphor extends to my personal journey, as I’ve found strength and creativity through life’s challenges."

Pedrin Garcia - Born in the City of Angels and raised in the heart of the harbor of Los Angeles by a single mother of five children, there was never enough money to spend on art supplies, but this didn’t stop me from creating.

Inspired by a wall mural at a local park, I began drawing on everything, from my mom’s white walls to city walls. On a school trip to an art museum, my eyes and heart were opened wide, letting in the colors and absorbing the massive size of Sam Francis’s painting Basel Mural I, II, III. I was overwhelmed by Frank Lobdell’s November 1961 painting, which introduced me to abstract art.

I’m colorblind in one eye, which has led me to develop a unique style of creating abstract paintings that focus on space, voids, and distance.

Sally Lamb - My paintings are like visual diaries. They record my reactions to the events of my life. I search for understanding through my work and have developed a kind of personal dialogue about my past, present and future. A great deal of my work has been landscapes of my hometown of Santa Monica, California. The sky, ocean, trees, shadows, and local buildings have become icons for these explorations. The land has always been a favored subject because It echoes back to my earliest childhood spent on a farm in Oregon. My memories are filled, miles of open country and majestic ever-changing skies. Those compelling relationships between expansive space and dramatic lighting left an indelible mark upon my creative spirit.

Most recently, I have suffered losing my home to the wildfires in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 7, 2025. I hope to get back to painting the beauty of world as I see it.

Gina Leon-Gutiérrez - "I’ve long been inspired by the many ways artists have depicted doves—Picasso, Chagall and Matisse among them—each rendering this timeless symbol through their own visual language. The dove carries symbolic resonance across iconographies, literature, and mythology. I am interested in this. I have built doves into narratives - messengers of hope in the midst of environmental peril, as LA was burning in fire. I have painted doves in landscapes regenerated and lush. I kind of became obsessed with them - looking for ways to reimagine a symbol of peace, hope, unity, love, fertility, ,renewal, the Holy Spirit, protection and freedom.