This October, join us for The Unfinished Loop, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Laguna Beach artist Chris Gwaltney, on view October 20 through November 21. The show brings together a full range of Gwaltney's practice — from pure abstract compositions to pieces that gesture toward the natural world through loose, suggestive forms like trees and flowers. Across the body of work, Gwaltney continues his lifelong dialogue with artists like Diebenkorn, Oliveira, and Joan Mitchell, building his signature layered surfaces through scraped paint, visible drawing, and oil stick, always caught somewhere between representation and abstraction.
The exhibition's title speaks to the heart of Gwaltney's process: a practice built on cycles of building up, scraping back, and beginning again, where resolution is never quite final. Each canvas carries the visible evidence of its own making — marks laid down, edited, and reworked — reflecting Gwaltney's belief that painting is less about arriving at a fixed image than about staying in conversation with the work itself. It's a fitting extension of his long-held view that "a painting is a testament to time well spent," and that what remains on the canvas is exactly what's needed, nothing more.
Please join us for the opening reception on Friday, October 23, from 5 to 8 PM, for a chance to meet the artist and view the work in person. The Unfinished Loop remains on view through November 21.
