Plaza El Segundo’s spacious new art gallery
Although the paintings and photographs are pressed close to one another up and down the walls, Gallery 730 is clean and spacious.
It opened quietly a few weeks ago in Plaza El Segundo, in that area known as “The Edge,” just across from where Vanesa Andrade’s Artlife Gallery used to be, and among a bustling enclave of shops and restaurants.
“We have three photographers and three artists here,” Chris Miller says, indicating the art-covered walls that surround us. There is just one desk and a couple of chairs in the center of the gallery, and that’s it. And yet the openness and airiness is refreshing.
“They were all raised in the South Bay,” Miller continues. “This gallery is a reflection of our community, and the work speaks for itself.”
Indeed, it speaks very well, for this is quality stuff, and one would have to agree with Miller’s assertion that there’s something here for everyone. For example, Scott Miller’s soothing abstract paintings are several feet tall and across, while Deslie Guthrie’s prints and etchings are small and delicate.
The paintings by Mike Petroni of Manhattan Beach straddle the abstract and the representational, like James Ensor or Chaim Soutine, but first and foremost they exude goblets of color. Across from them are the regal and serene landscape photographs printed on metal by Palos Verdes-based Jill Sanders.
Chris Miller grew up in Hermosa Beach and perhaps is best known for her photographs which appeared regularly in The Beach Reporter during her 18 years on staff. These days she’s more of a freelancer, but that doesn’t mean her camera is getting any rest.
“As with any artist or photographer, I’m not going to stop working because I don’t have a job. That’s just what I do, I take photos all day long no matter where I am, and [these images] are a reflection of my vision of the world.”
Miller has a series on display entitled “Drive-By Shooting,” but it doesn’t involve firearms. “It’s a view of Los Angeles from your car or on the streets looking at the cars going by. It’s more of a glimpse of our community from Pasadena to the South Bay.”
And because surfing is an integral part of where we live, the gallery is also exhibiting works by noted local photographer Brent Broza.
Miller says that she and the other artists opened Gallery 730 because they wanted to share their work with a wider public, and because there are so few galleries in the Beach Cities where artists can show their work or view the work of others, or where they can converge among themselves or with like-minded souls to discuss art and art-related topics.
This Sunday, Jan. 25, from 3 to 6 p.m., the artists of Gallery 730 will be on hand if we wish to meet them and ask about their work. Through Jan. 31, twenty percent of all sales will be donated to the Richstone Family Center. Gallery 730 is located at 730 Allied Way, Suite F, El Segundo, on the northeast side of Sepulveda and Rosecrans. (310) 308-3489.
