JOYCE RUDOLPH
One artist creates pictures applying a brush to canvas. The other
captures images on black-and-white film. Together, these friends have
formed an artistic collaboration that keeps them in unison on
combined projects and those they do alone.
James Synnestvedt is the painter and Barret Oliver the
photographer. Their works can be seen in the exhibit "Figure Work" in
an apartment space in downtown Burbank.
Included in this show are portraits of friends and family members
and about 50% of the show is of nudes, Synnestvedt said.
They use some of the same models in their works, and in this show,
have works they have done of each other. Oliver has photographed
Synnestvedt and Synnestvedt has done an oil painting on a 2-by-3-foot
canvas of Oliver posed on a couch holding his camera.
"The works in the show are all of people we know, which is kind of
unusual, I think," Synnestvedt said. "We picked people we knew
because it gives more depth and honesty to the artwork. They are real
people. They are not in costume and they are not portraying
characters."
The artists support each other and set deadlines for each other.
"We keep each other on track and moving," he said. "It's not a
stagnant relationship. Artistically we are maturing, together and
independently."
Oliver was born in Los Angeles and started taking pictures at 14,
and soon learned to process and print his own photographs. Primarily
he uses a large format 8x10 camera, contact printing all work and
hand-making his own mats and frames.
He has done extensive research on photographic history, learning a
variety of antiquated 19th and 20th century processes.
Synnestvedt was born in Bryn Athyn, Penn., and is self-taught,
experimenting in a variety of styles and subjects. He paints oil on
canvas or wood, murals and trompe l'oeil wall paintings, and he
sculpts.
"I love working," he said. "If I don't have a mural commission,
I'm punching the clock at home, working on the oil paintings."
The gallery can be seen by appointment only by calling 563-2332.
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An opening reception for the exhibit of painter Louis Stephen
Gadal is from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Creative Arts Center Gallery.
Gadal is a native California artist and a graduate of the
Chouinard Art Institute, now known as CalArts. It was at the
institute that he was introduced to the California School of
Watercolor when studying with Rex Brandt and Edward Reep. He has
found that watercolor is a magical medium and a challenge for his
