Newest Exhibition
Elusive Ground by Abira Ali & Every Day
Dream by Dennis Childers
The Irma Freeman Center for Imagination presents Elusive Ground by Abira Ali & Every Day Dream by Dennis Childers, a two person exhibition opening Friday, February 3rd. This show features the work of two artists’ whose creations both capture their connection to the world through the beauty of their past and their observations of life’s visual stories.
ABIRA ALI
Abira Ali is a Los Angeles based artist, educator and director of the Wisdom Arts Laboratory, a community artist collective.
Abira was born into a family with four other siblings who all created art, music, poetry and havoc. Abira lives with her husband, Gordon Henderson, and their daughter, Eliza Bee, both artists. They live in a bungalow that clings to a hillside in Northeast Los Angeles, with 2 Chihuahuas and 3 cats. Abira paints in series, the themes often overlap, converge and inform each other. She is inspired by the interaction of colors, shadows, light and the emotions that are evoked. Her recent collection, Nest Portraits will be exhibited at the Monterey Art Museum, October through December 2023.
Instagram abira_ali
“Elusive Ground” says Ali, “is an ongoing series of paintings that I have been working on for a number of years. These portraits were chosen because they are my people. The cityscapes were chosen because they are of the place where I grew up. The images seek to inspire the curious mystery of life, lived in time
and place rather than chronologically. The stories and memories both haunt me and bring me joy.”
DENNIS CHILDERS
Denis Childers says of his work “I have been making art for more than 30 years and teaching art for more than 25 years. I began by documenting life with black and white photography on the streets, subways, and clubs capturing the character of the times. My art then quickly evolved by being closely tied to the development of digital technology from its inception. I use image and video manipulation tools combined with sculpture and installations as my canvas to express my interpretation of life and the political climate.”
In this exhibit, Dennis Childers stops to contemplate and attend to the objects and scenery around him from intimate objects that reflect people’s lives and nature to images from the city. The common theme in all of these, is the presence of visual stories in Childers’ own daily life that connects him and enriches his world. “For many years I have been driven to capture the visual images of things and scenes that most pass by without seeing them, but I see them forming stories.”