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| Diana Gordon "Red" photo courtesy of artist |
What Say
You? Diana Gordon: Artist, Lawyer,
Activist
SUSAN CLOKE
Columnist
“You have to do the work even when it’s not
going well,” were Diana Gordon’s words when talking about making art. “It’s not a sometimes thing. You have to be disciplined.”
Gordon was speaking about her current show at
FIG Gallery, Bergamot Station. http://www.figgallery.com/ She could have been talking about so many parts of her life.
Publicly known in Santa Monica for her
involvement in local politics, Gordon was one of the founders of the Coalition
for a Livable City http://www.smclc.net/
“It was my first Council meeting, “ said Gordon
talking about her introduction to Santa Monica politics. “I went to a hearing on the plans for
the renovation of Santa Monica Place.
The meeting was long. Many
articulate people spoke. Yet it
felt as if it were a done deal.”
Fast-forward to the present time. “I think we are at an interesting
crossroads in Santa Monica. The
Hines project was a decisive turning point and residents are now organized in a
way that makes their voices heard.”
Gordon the political activist is also Gordon the
attorney and Gordon the artist.
“My Grandmother was an artist. She was raised at a time when women
were taught to paint on china and paint watercolors as part of their college
educations. It wasn’t until the
later years of her life she began painting landscapes. She painted for the sheer joy of
painting. That fascinated me,”
remembered Gordon.
Gordon was also influenced by her mother’s
friends, “My mother had two best
friends, one was with a major ad company and the other was a fashion buyer for
a major department store in the Midwest.
They had interesting work and I wanted to have interesting work too.
“As a UCLA student I studied history, Spanish
and art. When I was a Junior I did
a Year Abroad in Madrid. I studied
at the Prado and saw for myself the worlds created by artist such as Goya and
Bosch. Having grown up in the San
Fernando Valley the artists I studied at the Prado were a revelation.”
Being a painter herself was in her future, but
Gordon didn’t know it yet. She
graduated UCLA with a major in history and went on to law school at UC Davis.
“I liked being a lawyer,” said Gordon. “I went into the field of business and
entertainment litigation and practiced law for most of my adult life. I only began transitioning to being an
artist in the last 12 years.”
In 2003 Gordon inherited a treasure trove of
paints and art materials and books about art. It seemed the inheritance came at just the right time in her
life. Gordon began to study with
the artist Martin Lubner at his studio in Venice, CA.
“Abstract art interests me because it is a
nonverbal language and it requires an emotional understanding whereas with
figurative art our minds recognize the object. How color works in the service of other color, the
diversity, the range and the dialogue of color fascinates me,” said Gordon.
“The process of painting is, for me, like being
a lawyer. You are always working
to marshal ideas and winnowing down to the strongest possible statement, said
Gordon. “Everything that you’re
passionate about in your life makes your life and your work better.”
What Say You?
The show at the Bergamot Station FIG Gallery, Will to Form, is Gordon’s first solo
show. The opening reception is May
30. The show closes June 27.
