DEBORAH MARTIN: THE SLABS
May 30th - July 11th, 2015
Artist Reception: Saturday, May 30th, 5 - 8pm

Phone: 310.838.3685
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
  Contact: Tressa Williams
Phone: 310.838.3685
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 
George Billis Gallery is pleased to present the gallery’s second solo exhibition of Deborah Martin’s paintings. The exhibition features the artist’s newest series of oil paintings based on "Slab City" and the community that has formed around the abandoned and decommissioned concrete slabs of the World War II barracks of Camp Dunlap.  The exhibition continues through July 11th.

Originally constructed in 1942, Camp Dunlap was expected to prepare US Marine Corps for combat duty. In 1956 all buildings were ordered to be dismantled. The slabs remained.  In 1965 Riverside County ordered people to leave a camping area in Painted Canyon near Mecca, California. These people had all sorts of living arrangements including trailers, cardboard and plywood shacks, an assortment of vehicles and school buses.

Some migrated to Bombay Beach on the Salton Sea, others to the abandoned Camp Dunlap, now known as Slab City.  The subculture that has formed in Slab City enables an individual to be in part free from the burdens of "traditional society". The land for now remains uncontrolled and as legend has it very well may be The Last Free Place in America.

In documenting this place, Martin coaxes an unexpected beauty from these buildings, automobiles, and random scraps of people’s lives. Together these objects tell a story of the human need to carve a home out of their sometimes inhospitable surrounding environment. Her paintings depict the hope of a simpler life that has gone awry in the open air of the desert; warm sunsets cast a gleaming desert light on the landscapes - giving its contents a peaceful final resting place. This is not to say the paintings feel uninviting; they have a sense of comfort and freedom within them. The soft focus of the artist’s painting style coupled with the de-saturated color palette (both inspired by Polaroid photography) give a weathered nostalgic feel to the works.

Martin received her BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA and her BS and MA in Teaching/Art Education from Tufts University. Her work has been published in New American Paintings, Fabrik Magazine, Blue Canvas, and Los Angeles Art & Literary Magazine among others. The artist lives and works in Sky Valley, CA.

 

 

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George Billis Gallery opened its second location in the Culver City area of Los Angeles in 2004 and marks its 15th year in the Chelsea arts district in New York City. George Billis shows work by both emerging and established artists. For more information please contact the gallery at:

2716 S. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
T: 310-838-3685
F: 310-838-3438
email: [email protected]
www.georgebillis.com