JESSICA REIMER
Staff Writer
Walt Whitman once said he believes a leaf of grass is no less than the journeywork of the stars.
What Whitman sees in the significance of a leaf, L.A. artist Charles Arnoldi sees in the beauty of a branch. While most artists use wooden brushes to paint, Arnoldi uses wood as paint. Until Mar. 30 the Frederick R. Weisman Museum is hosting a new exhibit featuring Arnoldi and his unique blend of nature and art.
The Weisman Museum is the first major museum to host this exhibition, but many museums around the country, including the Long Beach Museum of Art, display Arnoldi’s works. Pieces of Arnoldi’s work can also be found in the private collections of architect Frank Gehry and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The exhibit, entitled “Wood,” showcases more than 25 large-scale wood pieces presented on the first and second floor of the museum. Walking from piece to piece, one may wonder where Arnoldi drew his inspiration.
Born in Dayton, Ohio, Arnoldi moved to California shortly after high school to pursue a career in painting. He experimented with thin strips of wood because their natural line structure inspired him. Arnoldi was inspired to use wood when he observed charred branches after a local wildfire.
Written on the walls of the museum are the words of Arnoldi himself. “I was standing in the middle of this field,” he says. “The trees had been completely burned, and I was standing there looking at the branches silhouetted against the sky.”
During the 1970s, shortly after Arnoldi’s revelation, Los Angeles began to establish itself as a breeding ground for contemporary art. A national trend toward Post-minimalism encouraged artists to experiment with non-art materials, and Arnoldi’s work with branches helped to define L.A. style.
To explain his style, Arnoldi connects natural wood branches together to create his original artistic style. He utilizes three main techniques: stick painting, chainsaw, and modeling paste. Many of the branches and pieces of wood are painted colors. His initial stick paintings such as “Jagger” in 1972 are calculated, strategically placed, and often spacious.
Progressing in his method, Arnoldi’s work took a casual, condensed and loose approach to the arrangement of the branches after 1974. His work “Pilgrim” in 1981 is known as a Logjam and contains masses of extremely colorful branches. The piece was inspired by images of devastation.
In the 1980s, Arnoldi developed his famous Chainsaw style of art in which he slices and tears pieces of wood with a chainsaw. His work “For Beauty Passed Away” created in 1982 contains bold hues of black, green, red, teal, and wood-colored etches in a wooden panel. This represents a carved and scarred surface that is shattered but still beautiful.
In 1985, Arnoldi created a piece entitled “Gainer” that uses the technique of Modeling Paste – paste and
acrylic paint on a piece of plywood. Calm and gentle, this method greatly contrasts the Chainsaw approach. “Gainer” is supposed to represent peace and serenity.
In 1990, Arnoldi painted his last piece of wood art entitled “Crowded Vacuum.” This piece combines stick, chainsaw, and modeling paste all together. It also incorporates rough bark – an evolution in Arnoldi’s nature-inspired expression.
Arnoldi effectively captivates viewers with his innovation and expressive works of art. He brings something new to the table that anyone can appreciate – if solely for its brilliant originality.
01-17-2008
