Various Small Fires OC Inaugural Exhibition: Learning How to Look at The Orange Curtain
Lauren Bugay, Art Muse Academy Intern
Nestled within the sprawling suburb of Tustin, Orange County, Various Small Fires (VSF) introduced their newest gallery space, VSF OC, through a community-oriented opening reception on April 26. As an extension of VSF, their Orange County based gallery serves to bolster underrepresented, yet visionary, artists. The inaugural exhibition, The Orange Curtain presents three dynamic artists with varying backgrounds and approaches to creative production—united in their Orange County origins.
In 2012, VSF began as an informal creative project space founded by Esther Kim Varet in her Venice Beach home. However, with locations in Hollywood, Seoul, Dallas, and Tustin, VSF has outgrown their “informal” status. Curated by Kim Varet, The Orange Curtain features three contemporary artists native to Orange County: Jackie Castillo, Edwin Arzeta, and Marcel Alcalá. As a whole, the exhibition bridges the perceived cultural separation between Orange County and Los Angeles.
Jackie Castillo’s material-focused approach to her sculptural installations emphasize the often overlooked labor conducted by the working class, hidden within urban development projects. Absent of human figures, yet present in human intervention, And once more I remember, portrays a double-exposed dueling landscape of unruly textured trees that stain a linear staircase surrounded by a manicured yard—exemplifying Castillo’s contemplative approach to the relationship between built environments and labor. Utilizing materials such as concrete and rebar, Castillo juxtaposes raw industrial objects with photographs of pristine landscapes and building sites, begging the question of how these locations were constructed and who created such spaces.
Working with colored pencil on paper, Arzeta presents elaborate and skillfully rendered cakes that appear to emanate light from within. Accented by titles inspired by Arzeta’s lexicon of compiled phrases sourced from poetry, television, magazines, audiobooks, and signs, these colorful confections serve as a testament to his experimentation in form, pattern, and color. Arzeta’s artworks, such as Ser de Agua and Galatea, evoke themes of celebration that harmonize veiled, yet culturally prevalent, media references with moments of joy. In turn, Arzeta’s effervescent oeuvre of cakes capture and immortalize fleeting instances of ephemera.
Stepping into a figural realm, Alcalá fuses their Mexican American and queer identity into vibrantly symbolic paintings that feature familiar, yet otherworldly imagery. Although Alcalá employs surrealist techniques throughout their paintings, the figures and subject matter of their works are sourced directly from reality. The painting, Anima, encapsulates Alcalá’s experimentation with the human form as the face of the seated figure, cloaked in yellow, is replaced by a butterfly boldly rendered in primary colors. As viewers, we are denied access to the figure’s identity. Our perceptions of the human body become destabilized, further underscoring how the constructs of gender impact such interpretations. Foregoing the use of mimetic representation, Alcalá vivaciously imbues their canvases with the essence of life.
The title, The Orange Curtain, refers to the perceived cultural, political, and creative chasm separating Orange County and Los Angeles. Reifying VSF OC’s overarching mission to both mend this gap and insert compelling artists into the art industry's evolving landscape, Castillo, Arzeta, and Alcalá demonstrate the technical and conceptual dexterity of artists from Orange County.
Often prescribed as a county merely fit for homes, apartments, and office buildings constructed in identical form, stereotypes feeding into the “Orange County bubble” undermine the creative and political activity spurred by the vibrant collection of communities found throughout this region. As an Orange County native myself who has ventured to the seemingly foreign land of LA, the not-so-distant divide between these sister counties appears vast upon first glance. However, if you learn how to look at it, past the business complexes and parking lots, you will discover winding streets that lead you to spaces rich in cultural diversity and ripe with artistic innovation. Castillo, Arzeta, and Alcalá are contemporary artists who prove this sentiment true.
VSF OC aims to support underrepresented creative communities situated within Orange County, bringing awareness to the pre-existing intersections between Orange County and Los Angeles, while uniquely highlighting the artistic prowess of creatives from this region. The Orange Curtain will be on view until May 31 at VSF OC, located at 119 N. Prospect Ave. in Tustin. Projected to feature artists with ties to Orange County in its preliminary year of operation, VSF OC draws attention to what is needed within Orange County. That is, a space to amplify the creative voices that have been diminished due to location and inaccessibility to the perceived hubs of the artworld—often allocated to megalopolises such as Los Angeles. VSF OC provides a platform, free and open to the public, that will foster new encounters between individuals with varying backgrounds, personal endeavors, and even familiarity with the art world, possessing the potential to both strengthen and produce dynamic communities within the heart of Orange County.