LOST KIDS REMEMBERED ART GALLERY WILL EXHIBIT ARTIST'S PORTRAITS OF ABDUCTED CHILDREN.Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer NORTH HOLLYWOOD - When one of his students was abducted abducted Distal angulation of an extremity away from the midline of the body in a transverse plane and away from a sagittal plane passing through the proximal aspect of the foot or part, or away from some other specified reference point in 1991, the missing children's postcards that come in the mail took on a special meaning for artist John Paul The name John Paul might refer to: Full name
He stopped throwing them away and started painting portraits of the children featured on them. ``I was thinking, in the old days of art history, portraits were special. They were just for the likes of kings and dukes,'' said the 36-year-old painter who gives private art lessons in Burbank and throughout 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. . ``I thought, what if I were to change that and make portraits for people who have no power and voice. I started to think of them as being a voice for people who have no voice.'' To date, Thornton has painted some 350 portraits of missing children, a small portion of which will go on display Thursday through June 28 at the Lankershim Art Gallery. Dover Abrams, curator CURATOR, persons, contracts. One who has been legally appointed to take care of the interests of one who, on account of his youth, or defect of his understanding, or for some other cause, is unable to attend to them himself. 2. of the gallery in North Hollywood, said he picked Thornton's paintings not only for their social message but also for artistic value. ``John's paintings are very expressionistic ex·pres·sion·ism n. A movement in the arts during the early part of the 20th century that emphasized subjective expression of the artist's inner experiences. ex·pres and impressionistic im·pres·sion·is·tic adj. 1. Of, relating to, or practicing impressionism. 2. Of, relating to, or predicated on impression as opposed to reason or fact: impressionistic memories of early childhood. at the same time. It's very unique,'' he said. ``They are very powerful pieces. He definitely captures (the children's) feelings.'' More than art for art's sake "Art for art's sake" is the usual English rendition of a French slogan, l'art pour l'art, which is credited to Théophile Gautier (1811–1872). Some argue Gautier was not the first to write those words. , Thornton has over the last few years increasingly used his collection to direct public awareness to the issue of missing children. In collaboration with missing children's organizations, he has staged a number of his art exhibits in front of popular tourist destinations A tourist destination is a city, town or other area the economy of which is dependent to a significant extent on the revenues accruing from tourism. It may contain one or more tourist attractions or visitor attractions and possibly some "tourist traps". , such as the White House, the Lincoln Memorial Lincoln Memorial, monument, 107 acres (45 hectares), in Potomac Park, Washington, D.C.; built 1914–17. The building, designed by Henry Bacon and styled after a Greek temple, has 36 Doric columns representing the states of the Union at the time of Lincoln's , the Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, also known as LACMA, is the official and world-renowned art museum of the County of Los Angeles, California, located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. and the Long Beach Aquarium. At each of these exhibits, he invites the public to wear images from his collection - large portraits to which he has stapled straps - from their necks, holding them with their hands. Attached to the bottom of each of Thornton's portraits is a postcard bearing the photographic image of the boy or girl in the painting. Thornton's paintings have a way of getting the public's attention, said Shirley Goins, who heads the California branch of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, non-profit organization established in the United States in 1984 under United States government mandate. . ``He makes those children come alive. He makes them real for people,'' she said. ``Sometimes when you look at those (missing children's) posters, you tend to look at it and look away. ``The more we can make those children come alive, the more we can make people look at those cards and the more kids are going to be found,'' Goins said. Bruce Kuhn, head of the National Missing Children's Locate Center based in Valley Village, is a big fan of Thornton's work. For the past few years, Kuhn has borrowed a number of Thornton's paintings for display at community fairs. He has also worked with Thornton to organize exhibits of the missing children's portraits for the Studio City holiday parade in December. ``People do not look at the missing children's cards. They look at the carpet cleaning, the lube job ads, but they don't want to look at the kids,'' he said. ``With John Paul's images, they go up and look at them without knowing what they are.'' Once people start asking questions about the portraits, Kuhn said, it opens the door for him to talk about his organization's programs. As an artist, Thornton derives the additional satisfaction of people getting close to art. ``I am very proud these paintings break the boundary of what art is supposed to do,'' he said. ``Art is supposed to hang nicely on a wall. I am really interested in getting art active. ``I am very proud to say the sweat of thousands of people are in those paintings.'' Although the subject of Thornton's work may sound depressing and his devotion to it strange, his paintings portray por·tray tr.v. por·trayed, por·tray·ing, por·trays 1. To depict or represent pictorially; make a picture of. 2. To depict or describe in words. 3. To represent dramatically, as on the stage. normal-looking, everyday children with vivid expressions in bright colors. ``I want to explore the humanity and hope to this. It's not intended to make people feel sad. It's intended to make people human,'' he said. ``These (photographic) images get thrown in the garbage garbage: see solid waste. by almost 100 million Americans every week. My paintings are permanent records of these children.'' THE FACTS John Paul Thornton's missing children's portraits will be on display June 6-28 at the Lankershim Art Gallery, 5108 Lankershim Blvd. The gallery is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays. CAPTION(S): 3 photos, box Photo: (1 -- 2) Artist John Paul Thornton has painted hundreds of images of missing children. Some will be exhibited soon in North Hollywood. David Sprague/Staff Photographer (3) John Paul Thornton's portraits of missing children were worn by youngsters in front of the White House in 2000. The artist uses art to raise public awareness of a painful social issue. Box: THE FACTS (see text) |
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