The Brand Library and Art Center to showcase Glendale artists

Glendale artists are taking the spotlight in a new exhibition at the Brand Library and Arts Center.

Adam Miller, a director of the Pit, an artist-run Glendale art gallery that organized the exhibit, said the idea for “Vision Valley” started lightheartedly, but organizers saw an opportunity to build community among Glendale’s artists.

“We were joking about how people act so surprised that there’s a contemporary art gallery in Glendale,” he said. So Miller and others at the Pit began searching for Glendale artists who are active in the area to showcase the city’s rich art community. With 32 artists on display, they barely scratched the surface, Miller said.

The exhibit follows no conceptual, political or philosophical themes and doesn’t adhere to a specific aesthetic, as most art shows tend to do, but Miller said it came together to create a bright, colorful and immersive show.

It was originally titled “Vision Valley: The Glendale Biennial,” as a tongue-in-cheek way to comment on how biennials bring about a competitive and sometimes negative spirit among artists and curators, Miller said. They dropped the term after complaints.

Included in “Vision Valley” are two pieces by Olivia Booth, an art instructor at Glendale Community College. She calls them a study of self-reflection using glass figuratively and literally.

“I’m constantly encouraging my students to go look at art, particularly local art,” she said. “A lot of shows I see are based on an overarching concept, and I like that this one is based on locale. Glendale’s got an interesting history and it’s fascinating to see who lives here.”

Other highlights include art by esteemed painter Lari Pittman, a UCLA professor whose works are permanent fixtures at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Silke Otto-Knapp, also a UCLA professor whose paintings have appeared in museums internationally.

As a nod to Glendale’s art history, the exhibit also includes two black-and-white photographs by the famed Edward Weston, provided by Weston’s family members.

In 1910, the photographer established his first studio in a Glendale neighborhood that was then known as Tropico.

“We gave the artists a lot of ownership in deciding what to display in the show,” Miller said. “There are intimate photographs all the way to giant immersive paintings and installations. I think it’s a really playful show.”

The exhibit runs through June 23 at the Brand Library and Art Center, located on 1601 W. Mountain St., Glendale.

For more information about the exhibit, visit https://bit.ly/TELXki.

alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com

Twitter: @r_valejandra