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Abrahamson’s Self-Portraits in Search of a Personal God

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FACES

“I’m still finding myself,” admits John Abrahamson, 28, whose first Los Angeles solo show opens Saturday at John Thomas Gallery in Santa Monica. Abrahamson is referring to a personal spiritual journey which provided the subject matter for his 11 powerful paintings on view.

“Really, they’re all self-portraits,” says the Chicago-born artist, who paints in the tiny 9x16-foot garage of his Huntington Beach apartment. “They’re all dealing with my trying to find a personal God. And it just so happens that the journey is documented--in the paintings--as I go along.”

Abrahamson spent many years as an acolyte in the Episcopal church before he became “angry” with God after losing several high school and college friends to suicide, car accidents and plane crashes. He admitted he has not reached the end of his journey, but said the paintings have helped diffuse the anger and have brought him peace.

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While Abrahamson’s works use Latin religious phrases and Christian symbols such as crosses and the wounds of Jesus, he notes that he has recently studied Eastern religions and hopes his work will be interpreted as “spiritual” and dealing with “all kinds of gods” and not just focused on Christian religions.

Perhaps the most difficult of his paintings was “Manifestation of the Stigmata,” in which he deals directly with his friends’ deaths. It features robed figures to represent two girls he dated who died in the middle of the relationships. The piece utilizes the Latin phrase “Timor Mortis” (fear of death), and also includes a broken cross to represent his own break with the church.

But Abrahamson--who still wears a large ring bearing a crucifix as “a reminder of my Christian background”--has purposely tried to hide the overt spiritual nature of his works by nearly washing out some of the religious phrases, placing symbols in unobtrusive locations and hiding some of the personal emotion by covering his figures’ eyes.

“I like to keep the mystery. The faces and hands are usually covered--I want the emotion to be in the tenseness of the muscles,” he says. “I’ve taken away those obvious points to make people wonder--if you see the face, you know immediately what’s going on, but if you can’t see the face, you have to look deeper to figure it out. . . . I like to think that I’m kind of sneaking in the back door with heavy-handed matter. Overt religious matter will turn many people off, but if you can be a little more subtle and sneak it in, they’ll stick around and look at it.”

THE SCENE

The Museum of Contemporary Art has expanded from its two museum sites and now has eight works from its permanent collection on display in the main lobby of the One California Plaza office building at 300 S. Grand Ave.

The exhibition, organized by MOCA curator Elizabeth Smith as part of an ongoing outreach program jointly run by MOCA and California Plaza, will be up throughout 1991.

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On view are a Robert Graham sculpture and paintings by Tom Holland, Tadeusz Kantor, Rex Lau, Martin Lubner, Louise Nevelson, Margit Omar and Carl F. Reutersward.

The Social and Public Art Resource Center has commissioned 13 artists to produce new murals for its 1990-91 “Neighborhood Pride: Great Walls Unlimited” program.

The artists--Ernesto de la Loza, Sandra Drinning, Ignacio Gomez, Bernard Heloua, Willie Herron, Alice Patrick, Roberto Salas, Manuel Velazquez, Vibul Wonprasat, Shiyan Zhang and the collaborative team of David Mosley, Eddie Orr and William T. Stubbs--will each have a $33,000 budget to complete their murals, which will go up at various locations throughout Los Angeles by July 31.

Meanwhile, SPARC is offering a tour of some of its 24 existing murals next Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The tour costs $15 and will visit murals by artists including Richard Wyatt, Sonia Hahn and Yreina Cervantez. Information: (213) 822-9560.

Victoria Dailey has left Beverly Boulevard’s Turner Dailey Gallery to pursue her interests as a writer, independent curator, art consultant and dealer. The gallery will carry the name of its remaining owner, Steve Turner, beginning with its next show, “Degenerate Propaganda,” which opens Feb. 27 and coincides with the L.A. County Museum of Art’s “Degenerate Art” exhibition.

HAPPENING

The J. Paul Getty Museum is offering two public gallery talks both this month and next month for Spanish speaking visitors. An introduction to the museum collection will be held today and again on March 10, and “Mil Anos de la Biblia: Una Exposicion de Manuscritos Illuminados” (A Thousand Years of the Bible: An exhibition of Illuminated Manuscripts) will be held Feb. 23 and March 16. All talks will be at 2 p.m. and are free. Reservations to visit the museum are required. Information: (213) 458-2003.

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Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibition’s “Infamous Valentine’s Day Benefit Bash” will be held at the Palace in Hollywood on Friday from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. The dance party features the rock band Devo, performance artist Weba Garretson and other acts. Tickets are $20, $35 and $100 (includes dinner). Information: (213) 624-5650.

Michael C. McMillen will receive a 1991 Heritage Award on Saturday from the Santa Monica Heritage Museum. McMillen, whose three new installations go on view at the museum Feb. 21, will be honored at the museum’s fifth annual award dinner. Tickets are $325, $375 for couples. Information: (213) 392-8537.

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