42nd ‘Irvine Annual’ gets personal at Irvine Fine Arts
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While the Irvine Annual at Irvine Fine Arts Center doesn’t carry a specific a theme, the yearly showcase of local artists almost always ends up having a some type of connecting thread running the artworks.
“Part of the eligibility requirement is that all the artwork be made within the last two years, which inevitably makes all the artwork, whether implicit or not, responding to things that are happening now,” Virginia Arce, exhibitions program coordinator, said.
For example, Michelle Ramin, whose work was recently featured at Brea Gallery’s “Made in California” exhibition, uses a depiction of a computer screen with multiple windows open as a window to our current world in a piece titled “Everyone Is Welcome Here (Except I.C.E.).”
Now in it’s 42nd year, Irvine Annual, a juried exhibition featuring over 50 artists, is on view through Sept. 5.
This year, Stephen Anderson, a multidisciplinary artist and curator; Virginia Broersma, an artist, curator, and arts consultant; and Cecelia Caro, a curator and arts administrator, served as judges.
“Each year, we try to get a good balance of working artists, arts administrators and curators as judges,” Arce said. “Their tastes collectively shape every exhibition.”
While Arce isn’t involved in the selection, she does coordinate the show and this year she decided to include a portion of each artist’s statement on display along with the gallery wall labels.
“It really helped me appreciate the work even more once I read the artist statements,” said Arce.
Artist Jacqueline Valenzuela references the multi-layered painting techniques found in low rider culture, like metal flake and candy paint, for her piece “She Swallowed the Heat.” In her artist statement, she dives further into the connection between altars and auto body shops, intersecting in the areas of care, repair and ritual.
“In Jacqueline’s statement she is talking about how working on a car, there is something restorative about that, and it draws in the idea of altars and the labor of care,” Arce said.
Like in past years, the work feels extremely prescient, but this year the works also seems to be quite personal.
“Archipelago” by Lily Tsutsumida features bathroom tile salvaged from homes destroyed in the January 2025 Eaton fire.
“A moment of makeup” by Mehrdad Sedghi depicts his wife applying make up in a mirror in their yellow bedroom.
In Jose Soria’s “La casa que me creó” his grandfather is painted against a backdrop of oranges trees, representative of the labor his immigrant family has done in the fields of the Central Valley.
The work of Irvine artist Eunkyung Bae was awarded “Best Use of Materials” this year. Bae’s two pieces, “Portrait 3_1” and “Portrait 4_9” recall mid-century design as well as indigenous loom work with colorful threads stretched over box frames.
Other awards include “Best Concept” awarded to Emily Berl for “Motivational Calendar” and “Best in Style” for “La Resistencia,” a striking black and photograph from Javier Cortes.
A free Juror Walkthrough and Artist Mixer, is planned for 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29 that will give artists and art lovers the chance to connect and discuss the deeply personal aspects of the work further. Guests will hear insights from the jurors themselves about how the award-winning works were selected.
“The opening reception is always fun and it’s great, but everyone also gets so busy. Hopefully this will be an opportunity for artists to meet each other,” Arce said.
Think of it as a chance to get even more personal.
The 42nd Irvine Annual runs through Sept.3 at the Irvine Fine Arts Center, 14321 Yale Ave. For more details visit artsinirvine.org.
