SEEING THINGS: Candy Nartonis, Katie Nartonis and Nartonis Thompson

SEEING THINGS: Candy Nartonis, Katie Nartonis and Nartonis Thompson
On view: March 4 - March 26, 2023
Artists’ Opening: Saturday, March 4, 5-8pm
Second Saturday Gallery Walk: Saturday, March 11, 6-8pm
Joshua Tree Art Gallery: 61607 29 Palms Hwy, Suite B, Joshua Tree, CA
Gallery hours: Fridays 11am - 2pm, Saturdays 9am - 3pm and Sundays 12 - 3pm

Joshua Tree Art Gallery presents a collection of paintings, sculpture, photography and drawings created by Candy Nartonis, Katie Nartonis and Nartonis Thompson.

Candy Nartonis: Paintings, Sculpture & Photographs
Candy Nartonis lives and works in Albuquerque. Her work bridges the gap between abstract and altered imagery. Twice a Tamarind visiting artist, her practice includes installation, printmaking, sculpture, and photography. Making statements of meaning and relevance is the point, while the materials are only a means. Themes include migrations of all species, the meaning of home and family, land, water use, and more. Her prints are included in portfolios such as Pocahontas meets Hello Kitty (with Native American men and women); The Art Connection Collection; The Boston Printmakers’ Translations(2006); The Boston Portfolio for the Southern Graphics Council (2004); Varied Voices (2008); EES Members Lighten Up; and States of the State: A Contemporary Survey of American Printing. A work on paper is included in Re-riding History: from the Southern Plains to the Matanzas Bay, curated by Emily Arthur, Marwin Begaye and John Hancock, with it’s first show at the Crisp-Ellert Art Museum at Flagler College in Saint Augustine, Florida and continuing around the US in Museums and Universities. She designed history medallions along Washington Street in Boston when that historic street was revitalized. She has also enjoyed visiting artist projects in Maine, New England, Rhode Island, and other states and has served as juror in national and local exhibitions throughout the US. Nartonis exhibits around the world in both group and one person exhibitions.

A short list of public collections holding her work includes the Denver Art Museum; Zimmerli Art Museum; Santa Barbara Museum of Art; University of Maine Art Museum; the Boston Public Library Print Collection; University of New Mexico Museum; US State Department, Danang Art Museum, Vietnam; National Art Gallery, Hangzhou, China; Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem, Oregon; University of Colorado, Special Collection, Boulder, Colorado; University of Miama, Coral Gables, Florida, University Art Museum; and the University of Maine, Orono, Maine.

Katie Nartonis:  Photography
Katie Nartonis is a curator, writer, filmmaker and 20th century design specialist. She is also a contributing design, art and architectural writer for SoCal Magazine, Desert magazine and the Joshua Tree Voice.

Previous to moving to the high desert, she enjoyed an over 20 year auction career working in the 20th Century Design departments at Heritage, Bonhams, Butterfields and Los Angeles Modern Auctions. Before that time, she enjoyed a 10 year career producing award winning television and film Her second documentary film "Jack Rogers Hopkins: California Design Maverick" premiered during 'Palm Springs Modernism Week, 2023.

Katie has enjoyed photographing the beauty of the desert since she moved here in 2019.

Nartonis Thompson: Drawings
Connie Nartonis Thompson is a movie producer based in London. She began her career in Los Angeles in 1992 on Beavis & Butthead and The Ren & Stimpy Show. During the 1990's and 2000's, she worked on animated feature films including Fantasia 2000, Tangled, Frankenweenie, Despicable Me 2, Missing Link, Space Jam 2, and DC Super Pets among many others at studios such as Disney, Universal, Paramount and Warner Bros. She is currently producing George Orwell's Animal Farm as an animated movie in London and Montreal.

Nartonis Thompson studied studio art at Principia College, graduating in 1989. There she focused on drawing and oil painting. She's had a life-long love of art and drawing. This is her first gallery exhibition.