Darlene Campbell: Neighborhood
Southern California artist Darlene Campbell chronicles the physical transformations shaping the Golden State. Images of reconfigured hillsides laced with new roadways, terraced knolls, ridge-top trophy houses, concrete drainage channels, freeway pillars, and the accoutrements of land moving equipment all capture a landscape in transition, suggesting an anonymous sameness and interchangeability that depict a world that is clearly Californian. Employing golden-hued light and dramatic clouds, Campbell coaxes beauty out of the banal and, in so doing, mimics romantic 17th century landscape paintings. However, in contrast to expansive Renaissance paintings, the scale of her work is quite small. Her paintings, which average 9" by 12", provide us with a glimpse of our future, mirrored with disturbing clarity.
Most recently, Campbell's work has been featured at the San Jose Museum of Art, Loyola Marymount University, the Laguna Art Museum, the Riverside Art Museum, Barnsdall Art Park, and the Frye Art Museum (Seattle). She has also illustrated two books. She lives in Laguna Beach and teaches painting and drawing at the Laguna College of Art and Design.
artwork courtesy Darlene Campbell and
Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Culver City
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