Philip Martin Gallery is proud to present, “Flower Moon Eclipse,” an online exhibition of new large and small-scale paintings by Los Angeles-based artist, Rema Ghuloum. A Reiki healer, Rema Ghuloum notes that the energy in her paintings, "can be seen with your whole body and felt with your heart."
Energy in painting is a topic of long-standing interest to artists. The objective visual theories of Paul Klee, the theosophical structures of Hilma af Klint, the abstractions of Mark Rothko or Vasudeo Gaitonde are all examples of ways in which artists explore energy in historical art practice. In making their works, many artists draw on a sense of internal energy that connects to their own personal being; in regarding these objects, viewers find resonant connection to themselves, others and the world.
"My paintings are meditations," Ghuloum writes. "They hold different kinds of spaces. They hold energy in different ways. They reflect an internal light and an observed one." Rema Ghuloum starts her pieces on the floor, orienting the painting in different directions as she works, pouring paint from buckets and using spray bottles and squeeze bottles to build up visual density and pictorial space. As the spaces start to come together, Ghuloum leans the painting against the wall, at which point she works very slowly, scumbling, glazing and hand-sanding to build up painterly layers in a meticulous process.
The Cleveland Clinic states, "Reiki is an energy healing technique that promotes relaxation, reduces stress and anxiety through gentle touch. Reiki practitioners use their hands to deliver energy to your body, improving the flow and balance of your energy to support healing. Mikao Usui developed Reiki in the early 1900s, deriving the term from the Japanese words rei, meaning 'universal,' and ki, which refers to the vital life force energy that flows through all living things. Now, Reiki is used all over the world, including in hospitals and hospices, to complement other forms of health treatments."
Ghuloum comments, "When I became a Reiki practitioner, I felt really connected to the process of holding energy in a space while at the same time preserving the history of the process in the surface of a painting. I think of my paintings in terms of the way in which a crystal might be formed. My paintings are geological and they tell me what to do. There is a presence in the painting and also in its surface. I have to have a presence of mind while making the work, as it requires a lot of active listening." Rema Ghulom notes Swiss pioneer Emma Kunz's works were in fact made as sources of healing. They serve as an aid to meditation, a specific goal of which is to allow viewers to unfold of the space of the artwork while at the same time unfolding their own inner sense of themselves.
"The true artist helps the world by revealing mystic truths," Bruce Nauman wrote in 1967. The conceptual sculptor's comment points to what artworks can do not only with regard to one's own respective individual sense of oneself, but also how we relate to each other, society and the world. The interaction between individual and art object is a multi-varied one, full of complexity. In her work, Rema Ghuloum creates a space of action for herself, and for us, a place in which slow looking allows us an experience to connect to ourselves and the world in which we live.
Rema Ghuloum (b. 1978, North Hollywood, CA) received her BFA in Drawing and Painting from California State University, Long Beach (Long Beach, CA) in 2007 and her MFA from California College of the Arts (San Francisco, CA) in 2010. Ghuloum's work will be the subject of a solo project at Philip Martin Gallery in summer 2024. Recent institutional projects include, "Color Fields" (2023, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA) and "Shaping Gravity: Art Beyond the Picture Plane" (2023, Forest Lawn Museum, Los Angeles, CA). In 2022, Ghuloum was included in “The Holographic Principle” at Philip Martin Gallery (Los Angeles, CA) and "Soulscapes" at Meyer Reigger (Berlin, Germany). Recent solo and group exhibitions include Sargent’s Daughters (New York, NY); Taymore Grahne Projects (London, UK); Nathalie Karg (New York, NY); The Pit (Los Angeles, CA); Baik Gallery (Seoul, Korea); Et al. (San Francisco, CA); Emma Grey HQ (Los Angeles, CA); Edward Cella Gallery (Los Angeles, CA); Contemporary Art Matters (Columbus, OH); Hawthorn Contemporary (Milwaukee, WI); Jacob’s (Los Angeles, CA) and Sonce Alexander Gallery (Los Angeles, CA). Other recent group exhibitions include Make Room (Los Angeles, CA); La Loma Projects (Los Angeles, CA); Odd Ark LA (Los Angeles, CA); Part 2 Gallery (Oakland, CA); Harris Gallery, University of Laverne (Laverne, CA); and Mother Gallery (Beacon, NY). Ghuloum’s work is included in the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts Works on Paper Collection at the Legion of Honor Museum (San Francisco, CA). Ghuloum’s work has been reviewed in ArtForum, Hyperallergic, CARLA, Los Angeles Times, Fabrik, and LA Weekly. Ghuloum lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
Rema Ghuloum's exhibition, "Flower Moon Eclipse" is online November 1 - 15, 2023.
Philip Martin Gallery is open Wednesday - Saturday 11-5 and Tuesdays by appointment. The gallery is located at 3342 Verdugo Road, Los Angeles CA 90065. For additional images or information, please call 323-507-2037, or email info@philipmartingallery.com.
