Glimpse
24 x 18 inches | oil on canvas
Phoebe Brunner grew up on one of the original Spanish Land Grant ranchos – a 15,000 acre coastal cattle ranch near Santa Barbara. Exploring the land on horseback, she absorbed the mysteries and the intricacies of the American Western landscape.
After studying at UCSB, Otis Art Institute, the University at Guadalajara, and Cal Arts, Brunner began to exhibit in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.
Over the ensuing fifty years, she has developed one of the region’s most powerful voices, exhibiting up and down the West Coast of the US.
The artist herself describes her paintings as "rooted in a real place," but she also describes the creative – or visionary – qualities she brings to her process. The resulting images speak to profound truths about the California landscape, but they also give the artist license to respond creatively to the theme and the painting process.
Phoebe Brunner’s enlivening new show at Sullivan Goss Art Gallery — titled A Radiant Solitude — surveys the hidden, transcendent and emotional depths within our familiar Santa Barbara scenery. She uses dream logic and unexpected juxtapositions to reveal the true fundamental nature of a place we think we know so well. Within this extremely mature, cohesive, and sophisticated exhibit, she explores the universal cycles of life, death, and rebirth — making nature’s mystery and beauty palpable and disquieting. She combines surrealism with her innate quixotic connection to the land — using magic realism to represent inner experiences and resonance.
“In the history of Santa Barbara painting, Phoebe’s vision is unique,” said Nathan Vonk, owner of Sullivan Goss. “She creates scenes that are a fascinating and beguiling combination of the familiar and the imagined...."
If ever a landscape were a living, breathing thing, it's under Phoebe Brunner's brush. Plants and flowers; clouds, fog and mist; open plains, mountains and shorelines – all transformed by thick layers of light-filtered paint that seem to pulse with an inner radiance.
Venturing into an exhibition of paintings by Phoebe Brunner, one expects a certain transformative effect, to encounter something of an alternate reality. Land, sky, and reworked art historical references have long been at the heart of her painterly interests, but always under the influence of varying degrees of dream logic.
If you happen to travel to Africa, specifically to Equatorial Guinea or the Republic of Namibia, and visit their respective American embassies, you will see, prominently displayed, the work of Santa Barbara artist Phoebe Brunner, courtesy of the Art in the Embassies Program.
And then there is Phoebe Brunner, the distinctive and dream-dusted landscape painter whose own new work can be seen in the front of this very building, in the form of her show “Breathe.”
As usual, like a traditional landscape artist, Ms. Brunner summons up elemental natural forces and forms, but always with at least a semblance of surrealism tossed into the recipe. She has created a special dimension to call her own, as if the influence of dreams or other reality-altering influences have led her to new vistas, off to the left of the world we know. And she continues to paint this “place,” knowingly and assuredly.
To the gradually expanding list of cultural traditions defining Christmastime in Santa Barbara, we must fully acknowledge “100 Grand,” if it hasn’t already had its place secured on the official list.
Now in its seventh year and looking healthy and splendid, “100 Grand” is the pithily, cryptically and a accurately named exhibition at Sullivan Goss that offers art-hungry (and neophyte art-buying) Santa Barbarans a crack at 100 artworks priced under $1,000.
AN INCUBATOR OF EMERGING TALENT AND AN ENTRYWAY FOR BEGINNING COLLECTORS, the seventh annual 100 Grand exhibition is now on view at Sullivan Goss through January 31st. Featuring 100 quality works of art for $1,000 or less, the exhibition is a favorite for lookers and buyers during the holiday season.
“This show is an opportunity for local artists to get their work on our gallery walls. There are so many great artists in Santa Barbara, but we can only represent a handful,” shared Susan Bush, exhibition curator.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE ARTIST'S WORK
Clouds, waves, and chaparral undulate against one another in elevated colors laid up in lyrical brushstrokes. The land, the sea, the very air seem alive. Brunner’s process leaves a surface that still seems wet, as though the paint must remain pliable enough so that it can continue to move.
If the whole thing sounds rather fantastic, such a reading might not be so far fetched. A tradition in American Art known as Magical Realism extends back to the late 1930s that describes a somewhat similar style. Typically, Magical Realism slips mystery, ambiguity, or outright fantasy into a scene that is otherwise realistic. For some, the style is an acknowledgement that art must be able to introduce certain fictions to arrive at deeper truths.
What truths might those be in the paintings of Phoebe Brunner? Her work suggests many interpretations, but perhaps none quite so much as the idea that what seems inanimate might actually be animate – that the system of natural forces that act upon the land (meteorology, geology, botany) suggest a life force larger than the sum of its parts. Such an interpretation imbues Phoebe Brunner’s landscapes with mythological import.
The project to ascribe a larger meaning to the landscape, meanwhile, allies her work with a long tradition in American painting, stretching from the Hudson River School paintings of Asher Durand and Frederic Church to the Modernist works of Georgia O’Keeffe and Charles Burchfield.
EDUCATION
California Institute of the Arts (Chouinard)
Universidad de Guadalajara
Otis Art Institute
1972 B.F.A., University of California, Santa Barbara
AWARDS & AFFILIATIONS
2002 Individual Visual Artist Grant, John E. Profant Foundation for the Arts
1992 Gold award, Art of California Magazine
1987 Meet the Artist, Santa Barbara Museum of Art Fellowship
Finalist, General Services Administration’s Art in Architecture Program, San Francisco Federal Building
COLLECTIONS
Glenbow Museum of Art, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Wellington Management Company, Boston, MA and Singapore
Iquantic Corporation, San Francisco, CA
Patagonia Corporation, Ventura, CA
United Technologies, Hartford, CT
Security Pacific National Bank
Allstate Insurance, Safeco Insurance Company, Orange, CA
Four Seasons Hotel, Scottsdale, AZ
Automobile Club of Southern California
Universal Studios, Orlando, FL
First American Venture Capitol, Inc., Indianapolis, IN
Fireman’s Fund, Novato, CA
San Marcos Town Center, San Marcos, CA
Irving Trust Company, Los Angeles, CA
Rossbacher and Assoc., Los Angeles, CA
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Los Angeles, CA
The Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce
The Barry Berkus Family Art Collection
The Santa Barbara Foundation
The Cancer Center of Santa Barbara
Westmont Ridley Tree Museum of Art, Montecito, CA
EXHIBITIONS
Solo Exhibitions
2024 Westward, the Land is Bright, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2022 One Fine Day, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2020 A Wild Nature, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2018 Breathe, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2016 Further to Fly, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2015 San Luis Obispo Museum of Art
2014 Easton Gallery, Montecito, CA
2012 Easton Gallery, Montecito, CA
2010 Elverhoj Museum, Solvang, CA
2010 Easton Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
2009 Rovzar Gallery, Seattle WA
2008 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2008 Easton Gallery, Montecito, CA
2007 Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach CA
2006 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2006 Easton Gallery, Montecito, CA
2005 Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2004 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003 Easton Gallery, Montecito, CA
2003 Koplin del Rio Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2003 The Jonathan Club, Malibu, CA
2002 Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2001 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2001 Easton Gallery, Montecito, CA
2000 Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1999 Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1998 Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1997 Easton Gallery, Montecito, CA
1996 Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1995 Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA
1993 Easton Gallery, Montecito, CA
1990 Louis Newman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1974 Comsky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1972 College of Creative Studies, University of California , Santa Barbara, CA
Group Exhibitions
2015-2017 Art in Embassies Program, Republic of Namibia , Africa
2014 New Landscapes, Easton Gallery, Montecito, CA
2014 Made You Look, Westmont Ridley Tree Museum of Art, Montecito, CA
2014 Small Images, Atkinson Gallery, Santa Barbara City College, Santa Barbara, CA
2013 100 GRAND, 2013, Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbara, CA
2012 New Landscapes, Easton Gallery, Montecito, CA
2011 5x5 Invitational, Westmont Art Museum, Montecito, CA
2011 Winter Group Exhibit, Gallery Bergelli, Larkspur, CA
2011 Essential Landscapes, Elverhoj Museum, Solvang, CA
2010 New Landscapes, Easton Gallery, Montecito, CA
2009 New Works in Oil, Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA
2008 Recent Landscapes, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2008 Edge:Santa Barbara County Artists Respond, Santa Barbara, CA
2008 A View from Here: A Group Exhibition of Contemporary Landscapes and Cityscapes, Judson Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2008 Eyes Open, Galerie Eye, Carpinteria, CA
2007 Yonder, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2007 Berkus Family Collection, University Art Gallery, CalPoly State University, San Luis Obispo, CA
2006 Crossing California, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005 Recent Landscapes, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
2004 The Political Landscape, The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2004 Speculative Terrain, Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA
2004 Speculative Terrain, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA
2004 Speculative Terrain, Laband Art Gallery, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
2004 New Landscapes, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003 The Jonathan Club, Malibu, CA
2002-2001 Representing LA: Pictorial Currents in Southern California Art, Frey Museum of Art, Seattle, WA
2002-2001 Representing LA: Pictorial Currents in Southern California Art, South Texas Institute of Art, Corpus Christi, TX
2002-2001 Representing LA: Pictorial Currents in Southern California Art, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna, CA
2002-2001 New Views, Koplin del Rio Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2002-2001 Landscapes, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2002-2001 New Views, Koplin del Rio Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2002-2001 Dreamscapes, Wignall Museum, Cucamonga, CA
2000 20th Century Showcase of Santa Barbara County Artists, Elverhoj Museum, Solvang, CA
2000 Native Light, Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1999 Horizons, Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1997 Curator’s Choice, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Ridley-Tree Education Center, Santa Barbara, CA
1996 New Landscapes, Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1995 Landscape:The Continuum, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery
1995 Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA
1995 Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA
1994 Twenty Leading California Landscape Artists, Columbia Club, Indianapolis, IN
1992 Strong Spirit – A Century of Santa Barbara County Landscape Painters, Santa Maria Museum Art Center, Santa Maria, CA
1991 Santa Barbara Artists 1, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
1990 The Art of Love, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA
1990 Louis Newman Gallery
1988 Meet the Artist, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
1987 Eternal Interest: Visions of the Figure, Zolla Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL
1987 Fantastic Vision, Simard Halm Gallery, Los Angeles,CA
1987 Julia Morgan Memorial Exhibit, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA
1986 Five Painters, University of California, College of Creative Studies, Santa Barbara, CA
1986 Hollywood Inside and Out, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1986 Wallworks, LA Artcore, Los Angeles,CA
1974 Comsky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1972 College of Creative Studies, University of California , Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
