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“PINE CONE MYTHOLOGY”: Drawings by Joan Tenowich

August 7-October 16, 2004
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 7, 7-9pm
1639 18th Street, Santa Monica

18th Street Arts Center presents “Pine Cone Mythology,” an exhibition by Joan Tenowich, August 7– October 16, 2004 at 18th Street Arts Center, 1639 18th Street, Santa Monica. The reception will be August 7, 7-9pm. This will be the second show in a new exhibition series entitled Spontaneous Combustion that is dedicated to showcasing emerging contemporary artists in the greater Los Angeles area and funded by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The show will coincide with “The Leopard’s Spots: Between Art, Performance and Club Culture,” a group show of visual and performance artists active in the LA club scene in the 90’s and curated by Alex Donis.

Joan Tenowich grew up across the street from a large park in Philadelphia, PA where her subsequent relationship to nature now provides the inspiration for her current work. In her series of large format charcoal drawings, “Pine Cone Mythology,” she uses the pine cone’s complex and artful form as a symbol of fertility and a metaphor for youthful innocence confronted by life’s struggles, like getting high and being different. Tenowich became fascinated with the form of the pine cone when she learned that winged seeds from the cone float down to the earth and germinate into new trees. For her, the pine cone embodies the cycles of life, death, and rejuvenation—a trinity of nature. Though the forest may seem like a dark and lonely place, her pine cone still finds cause to celebrate the joy in this theatre of life.

After a career as a registered nurse and mother, Joan Tenowich returned to Cal State University, Long Beach, and completed a BFA degree in 2000. Tenowich has since been commissioned to paint two angels for A Community of Angels, a public art project in Los Angeles. In addition to participating in numerous group shows, her drawings were selected by Patricia Correia for a solo show at Angels Gate Cultural Center in 2003.

18th Street programs are supported by the James Irvine Foundation, California Community Foundation, Trust for Mutual Understanding, National Endowmwnt for the Arts, Santa Monica City Cultural Affairs Division, L.A. County Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, Dana Foundation, J. Paul Getty Grant Program, and others.

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