ARTIST'S WONDER YEARS IN THE VALLEY CRAIG AVNER'S EXHIBIT DISPLAYS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INFLUENCE.Byline: Rick Coca Valley News Writer As a youngster growing up in Sherman Oaks in the 1960s, one of Craig Avner's favorite things to do was to play with his mother's art books. While other boys were playing with their GI Joe action figures and Tonka trucks, Avner was marveling at the works of O'Keeffe, van Gogh and da Vinci da Vinci Surgery A surgical robot for performing certain surgeries–eg, mitral valve repair and laparoscopic procedures–eg, cholecystectomy and gastric ulcer repair. See Laparoscopic surgery, Robotics, Surgical robot. . It's no wonder that Avner became an artist, but the life he's led to get there is varied and in many ways, reflected in his art. Three of Avner's paintings are currently on exhibit in the Norton Clapp Library at Occidental College History The Birth of Occidental College Occidental College (commonly referred to as Oxy) was founded on April 20, 1887, by a group of Presbyterian clergy and laymen. in Eagle Rock through March 3. Avner said he knew at a young age what he wanted to do with his life. ``They asked me in kindergarten; I distinctly remember saying, I want to be an artist.'' Avner said his parents had an interest in art and encouraged their son's natural gifts through school and some of the experimental programs so popular in the 1960s. Avner remembers attending art classes as a young child in a studio at ``The Flemish Art Flemish art Art of the 15th to early 17th century in Flanders. The precursors of the Flemish school were located in Dijon, the first capital of the dukes of Burgundy, who established a powerful Flemish-Burgundian political alliance that lasted from 1363 to 1482. Shop'' on Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. and re-creating ``an architectural footprint of an ancient Egyptian house'' in third or fourth grade. Avner reflected on the Valley of his youth. ``When I grew up, the Valley was a lot different, sort of rural in the middle of the city.'' Avner said through the natural beauty that surrounded him, going to museums such as the Southwest Museum The Southwest Museum is a museum, library, and archive located in the Mt. Washington area of Los Angeles, California. Its collections deal mainly with the American Indian. and his love of indigenous pottery, he developed an affinity for the Chumash Indians and Los Angeles' indigenous roots. But Avner wasn't just a sedentary kid, sitting at his easel in his early years. An accomplished athlete while attending Grant High School, Avner was a gymnast, surfer, skateboarder, skier and even ice-skated with the Ice Follies shows for five years. He said Ringling Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . and Barnum and Bailey Circus Barnum and Bailey circus “greatest show on earth,” famed for outstanding displays. [Am. Culture: Collier’s, V, 110] See : Spectacle bought the Ice Follies and sent him to clown school and turned the show into a circus on ice. Avner said that experience, as well as attending carnivals at Notre Dame High School Notre Dame is the name of the following high (secondary) schools: Bangladesh
Another early influence on Avner was the pop culture that he grew up with. ``When I went to school, I went to school with the first 'Valley girls' and that type of speech.'' The pop-culture influence grew when Avner spent time in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of at the Warhol Factory, where he worked as an assistant after the famed artist's death and where Avner's appreciation for Warhol's work grew immensely. As an artist, he's interested in interconnecting seemingly unrelated things, which he said is what he's done with his life and, in some ways, what all people do. ``We're doing things that don't relate, but they relate because we're doing them,'' Avner said. ``What I'm trying to do with the work is to blend all these different ideas, representational in how I've navigated my life,'' Avner said. Avner works in the abstract. He wants his audience to bring its own experiences and interpretations to his art pieces. ``What excites me is when people stand in front of the work and they're making connections and they're navigating through it.'' For information on Avner's art or exhibit, call (626) 345-1206. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Craig Avner says growing up in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. is a big influence on his art work. (2 -- color) ``Multidimensional Flatness,'', currently on display at the Occidental College library through March 3. |
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