ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Thom Bierdz

Art is his way of overcoming horrendous tragedies. The brutal murder of his beloved mother at the hands of his paranoid schizophrenic brother in 1989 ended Thom's 20s and his three-year gig as a regular on the soap opera The Young and the Restless. Most of his 30s were spent in silent catharsis as he labored intensively over his art, motivated by the primal desire to make sense of the matricide. In 2000, another blow would enter the artist's life when his other brother, in a paranoid depression, committed suicide. Thom's need to express his inner fears became an obsession. "Each painting became an earnest attempt to make sense out of the senseless; to make something beautiful out of something tragic," says Thom.

What emerges from his personal journey onto the canvas is at times heartbreaking, haunting and profoundly affecting. Thom's body of work ultimately proves to be an uplifting and inspiring experience of transcendence, a compelling testimony on the resilience of the human spirit.

Thom Bierdz' best-selling Men in Trees series of paintings depicts classic male nudes amongst the leafless limbs of a metaphorical tree of life. Thom elaborates: "Stripped of camouflage or defense, the bare branches and figures suggest a netherworld between dreaming and waking - awareness and unconsciousness - life and death. The men inhabiting these personal purgatories struggle, pray, contemplate and rejoice; they are icons of our individual journeys and interaction with the infinite. Each viewer's perspective determines whether the rich amber atmosphere glows with fire or reflects the light of rebirth. Through painting and writing, Bierdz sheds and shreds his psyche - exposing and laying it bare as the bodies and branches on these canvases. Censorship would corrupt their beauty. There are no fig leaves for the soul."

Hector Silva

Hector explores themes of cultural identity, eroticism and beauty. His mastery of light and shadow on skin is captured on paper with pencil. He draws from photographic stills. Known internationally as an emblematic Los Angeles artist, Hector Silva’s erotic, playful and politically charged work re-invents and queers what scholar Richard T. Rodriguez describes as the “homeboy aesthetic.”

Living in Los Angeles with its rich Chicano culture, Hector draws from both his gay identity and the Latino tradition. Often in his art he juxtaposes homoeroticism with religious iconography. Among his influences: religious iconography, pornography, Tom of Finland, Frida Kahlo, M. C. Escher and Chicano prison art. His subjects are usually proud brown men, Latinos who exude an overt sexuality that they communicate in their gaze. As in real life, it is sometimes unclear whether this gaze is an invitation or a threat.

Hector is the recipient of the prestigious Sandie & Nicky Awards. .He has participated in exhibitions at the Museum of Art in Balboa Park, the Tom of Finland Gallery and the Advocate Gallery. He has been featured in publications such as Pepper/Golden Hill, The Edge, The Update and Adelante.

FREE RECEPTION PARKING: across the street from the gallery at the Citibank Building Parking Lot located at the corner of 5001 Lankershim Blvd.& Ostego St.1 block south of Magnolia Blvd. Courtesy of Chandler Partners.

FREE RECEPTION PARKING: 5200 Lankershim Blvd. 1/2 block north of Magnolia Blvd. on the east side of Lankershim Blvd. in the open lot in front of the Emmy Plaza courtesy of The Community Redevelopment Agency of The City of Los Angeles - East Valley Region.