Beyond the Bubble
Two South Bay artists set up shop on the other side of town
Linda Jo Russell and Peggy Zask are excited and optimistic about their joint venture and collaboration.
“There’s a synergy,” says Linda Jo; “there’s an ease about it.”
“It feels like we’re in the right place at the right time,” adds Peggy.
Linda Jo continues: “What I feel is that the South Bay is opening up, because things are happening beyond that bubble.”
“‘California 101’ contributed to that,” Peggy says, “because they’ve been reaching out into L.A., and all of a sudden people are aware of the South Bay.”
“Nina’s done a really good job of bringing people in,” says Linda Jo, referencing Nina Zak Laddon. “She’s very good at that.”
“At first I felt like I was finally copping out, like Okay, I’m going to move out of the South Bay,” Peggy says. “But it’s south L.A., and the more I’m here the more I realize it really is central, because it’s a long way from L.A. to San Pedro. Here, you’re just right off the freeway.”
A long time coming
What did you get out of that bit of eavesdropping?
Well, I’ll briefly explain. Artist and South Bay Contemporary gallery owner Peggy Zask and artist Linda Jo Russell have joined forces and acquired a storefront on Slauson Avenue, just north of Inglewood, which will function as SBC SoLA, an art gallery for Peggy and an art studio for Linda Jo. Peggy is also a former arts instructor at Mira Costa High School and a Palos Verdes resident, while Linda Jo, who has also taught, lives in Hermosa Beach with her architect husband, Dean Nota. Within the local community, Peggy and Linda Jo are both highly regarded.
The two women have known each other for years, often meeting for coffee in Riviera Village, when it was still known as Hollywood Riviera, before their early morning classes.
In recent years, Linda Jo has been involved in many of South Bay Contemporary’s programs, and if we didn’t know it before, we know now that she holds Peggy in the highest esteem:
“You’ve done more to connect and expose and expand people’s ideas, participating in the arts, more than anybody else in the South Bay. You’ve been consistent and you’ve worked really hard, and you’ve made your mark.”
Surprised, but flattered, Peggy laughs. “That was the goal. When we first founded South Bay Contemporary we wanted people to know that contemporary art was there when they came to the South Bay.”
Seek and you will find
But let’s jump ahead to the present, and to what finds them on a recent weekday putting finishing touches on a renovated storefront that a few months back was selling and refurbishing antique furniture.
Linda Jo Russell is an accomplished painter, whom this writer first interviewed in 1994, prior to a group show at the long-gone Tommy Steele Gallery in Hermosa Beach. She’s always worked at home, “But I work in a very limited space.” However, “I always thought that I would like to have a studio of my own where I could work larger.”
She began by looking locally for a place to rent. Meanwhile, Peggy was notified that she’d have to vacate her gallery at the Loft in San Pedro. And that got Linda Jo thinking.
“I offered up a suggestion that we coordinate,” says Linda Jo, “that if I found a space she could share it with me.”
Together, they began to search. Locally, there wasn’t much. They looked into Gardena, San Pedro, Wilmington…
They hit gold, if you will, a little farther north. Affordable. On a major thoroughfare. A decent amount of room. And because Linda Jo bought the place this means that Peggy will probably be here for a long time, which hasn’t always been the case with the other locations she’s moved into (and out of) over the years.
Suddenly, says Linda Jo, “Being in Los Angeles seemed to be kind of a nice idea.”
Mixing it up
Peggy points out that they’re now very close to the Inglewood art scene, “and to all the development that’s going on here. It’s kind of exciting to be on the beginning edge of all that.”
Linda Jo mentions the nearby metro, and with the National Football League about to come to Inglewood…
“Somebody’s got to buy art for all those condos they’re going to build in the mixed-use NFL area,” she says. “But the idea is, we’d like to bring the South Bay to Los Angeles, and Los Angeles to the South Bay. This is close enough [to the Beach Cities], and yet we’re in Los Angeles, and we want to expose people working in the South Bay to a larger scene.”
She pauses, and continues: “One of the things that came up at our meetings was that people call the South Bay the South Bay bubble, that nobody ever ventures out beyond the bubble. This is going beyond that, but not so far that people will be intimidated or deterred from coming. It’s quite accessible, and once you drive this you’ll see there’s a million ways to get here.”
New exhibitions will open as often as once a month, and after the inaugural group show of L.A.-based artists Peggy will turn over the gallery to nearby L.A. Southwest College, specifically to artists whose work reflects on their south Los Angeles community. It is being organized by Lauren Evans. Skipping ahead, in October the gallery will present “Diasporagasm,” conceived by April Bey with a focus on melanated artists from L.A., the Caribbean, and West Africa. “Essentially,” Peggy explains, “we want to connect with other organizations.”
But without neglecting those from the South Bay. At the end of the year, Peggy says, the gallery will present “Cannery Row Revisited,” to be curated by that venue’s Richard Stephens, and highlighting artists such as Wilfred Sarr and Robi Hutas, who were once regularly shown at the former landmark gallery.
SBC SoLA, located by 3718 W. Slauson Ave., Los Angeles, opens Saturday with “Fresh 2017,” juried by the notable arts writer Peter Frank and artist-teacher Fatemeh Burnes. The reception is from 3 to 7 p.m., and the artists include Sandy Abrams, Janine Brown, Rhea Carmi, Michele Castagnetti, Chenhung Chen, Marjorie Darrow, Anita Dixon, Ale Eckelberry, Lore Eckelberry, Christopher Ford, Steven Fujimoto, Shelley Heffler, Diane Holland, Marie-Laure Ilie, Nate Jones, Gena Keith, Russell Knight, Nancy Goodman Lawrence, Ann Le, Karena Massengill, Bhavna Mehta, Lena Moross, Stefanie Nafe, Erika Roth, Marian Seiders, Serena Stevens, Eva Kolosvary Stupler, Lauren Adams Thomas, Nancy Ungar, Joel Woodard, and Mara Zaslove. Gallery hours are Saturday, from 1 to 5 p.m., and by appointment. Through April 16. Call (310) 429-0973 or go to southbaycontemporary.org. ER
