" Art in the Spirit I"
December 8, 2001

co-hosted by Linda Vallejo, Artist and Victor Raphael, Artist and Curator
"Art in the Spirit" is a salon dedicated to sharing friendship, conversation, and the arts with a focus on the spirit

TORNADO VALLEJO: SALON 1600 The sophisticated force of nature, artist Linda VALLEJO is blowing the dust off an old tradition; the Salon. Intermittently popular throughout the last six centuries of cultural history as an pretext for artists, muses and patrons to mingle, maul, marvel, manipulate, merchandise and manifest, Linda has given the Salon a brave new spin; she's spiritualized it.

On December 8th, 2001, in a star-drenched corner of Topanga Canyon, Linda opened the doors to her personal haven. 

(left to right, top row) Jane Raphael, Claire Hebert, Victor Raphael, Julie Howell, and Patti Garland. (left to right, bottom row) David Green and presenting artist Chris Garland.

At SALON 1600, co-hosted by Victor Raphael, curator and artist, selected artists met with appreciation as they explained their process and their passion to collectors, gallerists and other artists. Under the banner; ART IN THE SPIRIT, art emerged as something as connected to the universe as the stars themselves.

Five diverse artists; Jean Pierre Hebert, Rick Ortega, Linda Vallejo, Victor Raphael, and Chris Garland shared extremely different sources of inspiration and implementation.

Chris Garland went out on a limb and 'channeled' a gifted, anonymous photographer whose discarded slides from the late fifties and early sixties humorously chronicled the life of an unknown, glamorous woman, and her dogs. These 'diamonds' were found in the trash behind Chris' office. They were a huge hit, due in part to the mystery and the link to a time in history that felt simpler, softer.

Artist Rick Ortega plasters houses by day, and by night he honors his true calling as an artist of rare tenderness. His approach to the work is sacred. It reflects a deep soul connection and sense of devotion to his Mexican and ultimately, Aztec roots. There is a passionate sense of joyful sacrifice about his work; honor in loss, and a longing that is palpable.

Rick's art exalts women, it respects them, it enshrines them. His wife Alma is his inspiration and champion, surpassed only by La Guadalupe;the Holy Mother. Neo-realism joins with his dynamic sense of color and symbolism to produce art that is unashamed in it's vivid, emotional and evocative expression.

Artist Rick Ortega presenting (left to right in back row) Victor Raphael, Claire and Jean-Pierre Hebert, Julie Howell, Linda Vallejo and Judi Jordan (left to right front row) Patti Garland and Armando Duron

Sometimes art is about discovery of technique.

Jean Pierre Hebert astonished all with his unique, intellectual approach to drawing. His fascinating computer drawings grew out of a programming experiment which produces richly detailed, symmetrical, textured designs on exquisite Hiromi paper.

According to Jean Pierre, all art emanates from Spirit. Although some detractors may question the validity of Jean Pierre's methods,there is no denying the beauty of this work which echoes Nature's structure of cells and microcosms.

Artist Jean-Pierre Hebert presenting (left to right) Victor Raphael, Linda Vallejo, Ron Dillaway, and artist Chris Garland 

Artist Victor Raphael's work really centers around the BIG IDEA that everything is connected to everything else. He has completed a large body of extraordinary work that centers on the cosmos, the heavens and on faith as it relates to universal traditions, abstract ideas in 20th  century art and it's connection to the relationship of the micro and the macro. Victor's dynamic intention advances this concept by one strong method of presenting; rendering visible the connected qualities of so much of the world. The core of his work consists of modified Polaroids transformed with paint and gold leaf; it radiates a deep luminosity and magnetism that can best be described as ethereal.     

Artist Victor Raphael presenting (left to right in back row) Patti Garland and Mary Duron (front row) Armando Duron

Counter this restraint with the plugged-into-Cosmos emotionally resonant sweep of skies that is Linda Vallejo's fervent prayer to Mother Earth, Father Sky and Baby Moon, and you've come full circle on the subject of Art in the Spirit.

The first of many SALON 1600'S successfully sets the trend for diversity and reprises the profound collegial respect consistently exhibited by Linda in her mission to empower artists and redefine Art as an expression of Spirit.

-Judi Jordan,
Writer and Director
Golden Feather Productions

"Just the fact that this group of people got together to share thoughts about the art and spirit is powerful...There was an energy about the evening that can't be expressed with words."

"It was a true pleasure to collaborate with you on the inaugural Salon 1600 'Art in the Spirit.' It was a wonderful evening...you can count me in for coordinating the next salon with you in April."

-Victor Raphael

Victor Raphael is an artist based in Los Angeles who works in a variety of media including painting, photography, printmaking, video, and the computer. His artwork has been exhibited internationally, and can be found in such collections as The Bibliotheque nationale de France, the Skirball Museum, Los Angeles, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. He has been the recipient of two grants from the Polaroid Corporation. In May 2000, Raphael had a 20 year retrospective exhibition of his work at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art at Pepperdine University. 

"Thank you for co-hosting "Art in the Spirit" and inviting us to participate.  I appreciate your interest in accommodating my slide show, though it may  have been an unexpected format. The concept of art in the spirit & spirit in the art can be "projected" in so many different ways.

I'm glad the group experienced the variety we did -- from Rick Ortega's paintings depicting many classical spiritual icons to Jean-Pierre Hébert's inspired computer drawings, your hybrid images of spirit within nature and Victor's images of spirit drawn from nature.  Finally, my slide show of highlights from an unknown photographer who's left us with an endearing
collection of friendly ghosts.

As I write this, I think perhaps the question is not what is 'art in the spirit' exactly, but how many ways can it be interpreted?  Of course it's endless, and that's the fun.  To be continued..."

-Chris Garland

Chris & Patti Garland are co-owners of Xeno Gallery
and Xeno Design, a marketing design boutique with an international portfolio and currently
celebrating its 20th anniversary.  

"I truly wanted to thank you for inviting me and my wife for the magical evening of 'Art in the spirit.'  We enjoyed the ambiance and I personally left with fulfillment and joy to connect thoughts and feelings and expressing our Art to an unbelievable group of people.  May Salon 1600
Prosper with vitality and light.

-Ricardo and Alma Ortega

Ricardo Ortega 's works have been exhibited at Galeria Las Americas, in Santa Monica, Pueblo Gallery in L.A., Indigena Gallery in Monrovia, Martinez Books in Santa Anna, and has been a featured Artist for the Casa de la Cultura in Las Cruces New Mexico. His most recent works have been on display at the California State University Northridge Performing Arts Center and at the County of Los Angeles Century Gallery of Mission College and the Dr. Rudy Acuña Art Gallery in Oxnard, CA.

"From Jean-Pierre's sublimely elegant works on paper, to Victor's metallic majesty and Ricardo's mythic dreams and finally to Chris' conceptual trip into someone else's past life, we have rarely enjoyed an art event more than December 8th.  We could hardly stop conversing about it for several days.  We spoke to you about movement and variation meaning the movement from one genre and thought process through another, and to the next and the next.  For once, art was center stage; not the crowd, not the drinks, not the space--as wonderful as your new home is--but the art overwhelmed everything else. We could not hope for more. Thank you for providing such a wonderful evening."

-Mary and Armando Duron, fine art collectors.

Jean-Pierre Herbert: "Updating the 1920s Bauhaus and Constructivist laboratory strategies of Wassily Kandinski, Max Bill and El Lissitzky to the digital age, Santa Barbara-based Hébert applies the paradigms of algorithmic computer art, fractal and concrete geometry to traditional art techniques such as etching, woodcuts, frottages, and sand "painting" in the Japanese Zen tradition of Karesansui. His work was recently included in the "Art and Aesthetics of Artificial Life" exhibit at UCLA's Center for the Digital Arts and the "Science as Art" show at Indiana and Purdue Universities." - Solo.com

Our guests included:

Mary and Armando Duron, fine art collectors
Chris and Patti Garland, owners, Xeno.com Gallery
Jean-Pierre and Claire, artist, solo.com
Julie Howell and David Greenners, Howell Green Gallery
Rick Ortega, artist
Judi Jordan, writer and director