Linnéa Gabriella Spransy

Visually dynamic and with satisfying heft, @artcenterexhibitions catalogue of ‘Seeing the Unseeble’ landed in my bookshelf late last year. It’s a joy to leaf through! Thank you @crsvalentime for the excellent essay and the opportunity to see such giant canvases sitting pretty in stellar company 💛

This most recent effort represents an unmistakable shift in genre. Aurora Mavis Siv Neuss was born in the 21st of August. She has been a long held hope that has required profound collaboration, medical intervention, essential relational support, genetic generosity, more patience then I knew I had, blood, sweet, tears and more then a little fear and trembling. In short, she is a miracle and @sansandreas and I are smitten.

Every once in a while I lay claim to a piece and bring it home. She seems real happy here.

After the Eaton fire I began to slowly grow this drawing. From my drafting table I can glance up and see the scalped mountains. The night those mountains were ablaze is still bright in my memory and drawing has been a means of recognizing some of the torment, the scaring images, and striking symbolism of an event so stunning it still seems surreal. This drawing became dense with symbolic content: from the peacocks that roam Altadena and were emblems of renewal in the Medieval imagination, to the salamander, which, according to legend can withstand fire but in reality are now endangered by it. A flock of famous Pasadena parrots flee for their lives, twice displaced. Matilija poppies burst from the shell of a bled out Tesla, both California natives in uneasy proximity - only one can survive fire, even flourish. Native oaks sprout from charred trunks…. At the moment, the burn scar is raw, marked by forests of chimneys like tombstones, but even now, there are signs of life if you know where to look and are patient enough to attend to the green shoot pushing up between the ashes. It’s awful. Nothing can blunt that fact, but maybe these small things can help.

Linnéa Gabriella Spransy’s “Hints of Earlier and Other Creations” (2024) is now on view at AMPHI, “Mining In The Age Of”.   Linnéa Gabriella Spransy @linearlinnea , born in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, is a Los Angeles-based artist known for her procedural abstraction works that explore the interplay between order and chaos. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 1998 and a Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Art in 2001. Her work is characterized by the use of self-imposed procedural rules, often drawing inspiration from scientific and mathematical systems such as fractals and chaos theory. This approach allows her to create complex patterns that reflect the inherent tension between predictability and randomness.   In her own words, Spransy describes her artistic output as branching into three distinct areas: procedural abstractions, paintings that reference medieval imagery, and pastel drawings teeming with various forms—animal, vegetable, or human. Despite their diversity, these works are unified by a fascination with cycles of transformation.   Spransy’s work has been exhibited in both commercial and non-profit galleries, including White Flag and Rhona Hoffman Gallery, as well as institutions like Princeton and Duke Universities. Her collaborations and performances have taken place in New York City, London, and Dundee, Scotland. Concurrent exhibitions “The Universe Stops Existing When I Close My Eyes…” @spyprojects , 3/14 - 4/18 Recent Exhibitions "Againing" at Various Small Fires (VSF) @vsf , 6/29 - 8/17, 2024 “Seeing the Unseeable: Data, Design, Art” at ArtCenter College of Design @artcenteredu 9/19, 2024 - 2/15, 2025 Image 1: Linnéa Spransy, “Hints of Earlier and Other Creations”, acrylic on canvas, 35 x 45 inches, 2024 Image 2: Installation view of group exhibition “Mining In The Age Of” Photo by Carlotta Guerra #amphigallery #contemporaryart #artgallery #lagallery #pasadenagallery #artexhibition #artcollector #artlover

Here is a little slice of a recent painting of mine included in @amphi____ ‘s inaugural exhibition ‘Mining In the Age Of’ opening tomorrow evening from 3-8pm, 49 W. Del Mar Blvd. Pasadena with a slew of other truly wonderful artists: @cgcarlotta @mikgaspay @tom__franco @cara_levine @bakersson @alexmcadoo @higgyslug @erick.medel @jimmelchert #raymondsaunders @johntokiart @williamsgriff Drop by, get an eyeful and see more than a detail!

This is a small detail of the piece I made for an unusual show called ‘The Universe Stops Existing When I Close My Eyes.....’ @spyprojects Last Sunday I was a part of a public figure drawing session featuring fourteen very different artists working from a live model. We then went back to our studios and made work from that experience. To me it was an experience that made the many interdependencies of the art world visible, its exchange of resources and relationships, histories and expectations - a complex, interlocked, compound existence, much like each of our human bodies have. This detail shows my hand holding a convex mirror, depicting one of the first photographs of a figure drawing session open to women. This was a gradually accepted occurrence, but it took a shamefully long time and I, for one, am glad to have had access to untold hours of live figure drawing and even human dissection and anatomy classes as an undergrad. The show opens Friday March 14th from 6-9 pm at Spy Projects, 3709 W. Jefferson Blvd., LA, CA 90016 Come if you can!

If you want to see these two friendly giants in person, you have till Saturday to do so. Don’t let the rain deter you! Seeing the Unseeable, part of the Getty’s PST is on view at Williamson Gallery at ArtCenter 1700 Lida St., Pasadena CA 91103, We’d-Sat 12-5pm

Fraternal triplets, clearly closely related

The good news is that my paintings, the Williamson Gallery and ArtCenter campus survived the Eaton fire despite their proximity to real danger. The other news is that cleanup is extensive so the exhibition has been closed and will reopen February 5th. On the 15th the show concludes, so don’t miss your chance to experience ‘Seeing the Invisible’ in person! 1700 Lida St. Pasadena CA 91103 Open Wed-Sat, 12-5pm

Sometimes, all you can do is change the subject. Finished Monday. Before…

If you shake a leg, you can still bid on this chunky little painting to fundraise for @welcometolace ‘s spiffy new facility. Happy to see so many killer artists have donated!