Growth by Judy Gittelsohn, William Smith - front, by Penelope Houston, Mother’s Last Flight by Deborah lyall
Cannon Beach by Shirley Gittelsohn
Join us for the Reception Sunday July 10, 2022
2pm—5pm
Studio Judy G
430 Main Street
Watsonville, California
THREE PUNK PAINTERS AND MY MOM features works by Shirley Gittelsohn, a celebrated Oregon regional artist, and three initiators of the San Francisco Punk scene. Penelope Houston shows her mugshot portraits, Debora lyall exhibits a series of symbolic, colorful scenes, and Judy Gittelsohn presents her recent figurative paintings.
The 1970’s and ‘80’s were the spark. While Shirley painted in Oregon, 20-year-olds Debora, Penelope,and Judy were studying painting at the San Francisco Art Institute while playing in punk bands in the early years of Punk. This show pays homage to that fertile time.
Debora lyall exhibits her recent symbolic paintings. The multicolored emblematic works consider and reflect, as Debora has been wont to do. Her chart-topping band Romeo Void had hits of Debora’s poetry and vocalization. Now with the assistance of technology Debora’s new band will broadcast a performance during the July 10th reception. Coincidentally, EPIX is launching a documentary - Women Who Rock - featuring Debora on July 10, 2022.
Penelope Houston, with her punk band the Avengers, will be touring the US and Europe this summer. Her diptych paintings are from her mug shot series “Muzzlers” - 1930’s slang for sex crimes. The front view is guarded, while the profile exposes a vulnerable quality. Her impasto treatment performs a kind of literary time travel, drawing these individuals forward to a contemporary sensitivity, revealing and in a sense returning to them what the original arrest documentation took away — their essential humanness.
Judy Gittelsohn, a Watsonville resident and the owner of Studio Judy G, will not be performing with any of her former bands Pink Section, The Inflatable Boy Clams, or the Longshoremen. She will exhibit her new narrative paintings - including symbolic interpretations of a Greek Chorus, three large Goddesses assisting in her direction - Love, Wisdom and Fierce Calling.
Shirley Gittelsohn (1925 - 2015) painted Cannon Beach, Oregon by the boatload, creating over 180 paintings of Haystack Rock in her truly Oregon color palette of greens, grays, blues, and whites. Shirley paid homage to Cannon Beach, our family’s gathering place, and a place of gorgeous nature.
Three Punk Painters and My Mom is a nod to a time of great creativity, freedom, and community. While my mom was interpreting nature in Oregon, we three 20-year-olds, newly on our own, painted performed, and lived in San Francisco. We were in the epicenter of the nascent Punk Movement. Honoring this, I bring you now, Three Punk Painters and My Mom.