The retrospective was completely successful with hundreds of people viewing the exhibit over its two month span. The exhibit received substantial newsmedia attention from the likes of the LA Alternative Press, Outword, Changelinks Community Calendar, LA.com, LatinoLA.com, KJAZZ Radio, Pacifica Radio (national and local), and a mention in the LA Weekly and LA's Artscene summer preview. The bilingual cable station for young Latinos, Mun2 Television, videotaped an interview with Vallen at the exhibit's opening. La Causa, a Chicano issues program on LA's KPFK Radio, also conducted a live on the air interview with the artist. Adding to the excitment, the Los Angeles Times Magazine wrote nearly a full page article about Vallen's exhibit that included three color photographs of the artist's artworks.

Vallen has a firm commitment to figurative realism, and he has derived inspiration from the rich heritage of artists who have worked as social critics and documentarians. His retrospective could just have easily been called "A Brief History of the 20th Century" as he documented the upheavals and social realities that helped to shape the the city of Los Angeles (his birthplace), as well as the rest of the world.

The topics addressed by the artist ranged from the Vietnam War to the battlefields of Central America, and the resulting waves of immigration these conflicts engendered.

Vallen submerged himself in the city's original 1977 punk rock explosion, and created portraits of the fans and musicians involved.

On Friday, August 6th (Hiroshima Day), Vallen appeared at the gallery to present a two hour slide show and lecture on art in times of war and censorship. Vallen's slide presentation was an exciting survey that illustrated how visual artists have expressed their opposition to war, from World War I to the current occupation of Iraq. Offering artworks from successful as well as obscure artists, the arresting images presented by Vallen chronicled an unequivocal condemnation of modern warfare. The slide show included several eye-opening categories: among them, anti-militarist works by artists living in Germany during the rise of fascism; depictions of the reality of war as documented in paintings created by Japanese Atom Bomb survivors; the reaction of American artists to the Vietnam war; pacifist imagery from the cold war of the 1980's (including some breathtaking punk rock graphics); and contemporary artworks against the conflagration in the Middle East.

For the exhibit's August 26th, Closing Party... internationally acclaimed writer Luis J. Rodriguez presented a moving reading of poetry to salute the conclusion of the exhibition. The award winning Chicano author read selected works from his impressive repertoire, and talked about the importance of culture in building movements for social change.

Rodriguez also recited the verse of famed poet Pablo Neruda to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the great Chilean writer's birth. Rodriguez has emerged as one of America's premiere Chicano writers. Known for penning the cautionary autobiography and international bestseller, Always Running, Rodriguez has also written seven other books of short fiction, as well as nonfiction, children 's literature, and poetry. He has won awards and garnered accolades too numerous to mention, but most importantly believes that a writer can help make a difference.

Paul Von Blum was kind enough to write the exhibition catalog for "More Than A Witness." Senior Lecturer in African American Studies and Communication Studies at UCLA, Mr. Blum is a noted expert on the traditions of socially conscious art. A longtime civil rights and political activist, Blum penned the acclaimed, The Critical Vision: A History of Social and Political Art in the US, as well as, Other Voices: Women Political Artists in Los Angeles. His latest book Resistance, Dignity, and Pride: African American Art in Los Angeles, will be available
in the Fall of 2004.

In the catalog, Mr. Blum wrote the following: "Mark Vallen has become an accomplished Social Realist for the early 21st century. He honors his predecessors by focusing on the pressing issues of our own perilous times. Proud to embrace the same label, he does in the late 20th and early 21st centuries what generations
of political artists accomplished during their own turbulent time".
You can purchase the exhibition catalog here.

What the press had to say about
"Mark Vallen: More than a Witness".

In its review, LA.com, affirmed that: "... artist Mark Vallen establishes himself as one of the most profound political artists of our time." The L A Alternative Press, declared: "For art that reaches both the heart and mind and has something relevant to say about the city we inhabit, this exhibit is a must see." In its August 22, 2004 edition, The LA Times Magazine wrote that Vallen treats his subjects "... with irony, tenderness and acerbic humor."

About the A Shenere Velt Gallery

In 1900, Yiddish speaking Jewish immigrants from Europe founded the Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring in New York City. In 1908 a branch was opened in Los Angeles, where it has maintained a presence ever since. The group has a long history of fostering Jewish identity through culture, education, friendship, mutual aid, and the pursuit of social and economic justice.

The L.A. Workmen's Circle inaugurated its A Shenere Velt Gallery in February 1996, the gallery's name meaning "towards a more beautiful world." Housed in a building on S. Robertson Blvd. in West L.A., the gallery shows both Jewish and non-Jewish artists whose work reflects a commitment to humanitarian values. For Vallen, presenting "More than a Witness" at A Shenere Velt Gallery was a reaffirmation of the belief in a socially engaged art that crosses cultural boundaries and speaks to our commonalities.

A SHENERE VELT GALLERY - WORKMEN'S CIRCLE/ARBETER RING
1525 S Robertson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035
Web: www.circlesocal.org