Local artist, Letty Nowak’s new collection The Faces of Surfing will be displayed at The Lemonade Stand Pop-Up Gallery located at 318 Petronia street in Bahama Village which will hold an Opening Reception on Febuary 8th. Nowak, along with the help of Ed Swift and Historic Tours of America, has reopened her famed gallery to showcase her current collection to the beloved community who helped shape her career. Just steps away from the original location, Nowak is proud to be back in the community that housed the gallery from 2001 till 2007. Nowak is best known for her distinct and mostly large scale oil on canvas portraits and has been shown in galleries across the country including New York City, Montauk, Laguna Beach, Costa Mesa, and Key West, to name a few.
The Faces of Surfing is Nowak's current body of work that when concluded will consist of 100 oil on canvas portraits of notable individuals of all ages and nationalities within the surfing community/industry. The 100 individuals will exemplify all spectrums of the surfing culture from the professionals, athletes, characters, to the brand leaders, and philanthropists. There are plans for the series to travel around the world bringing together both the surf and fine art industries internationally.
Both industries have been instilled in Nowak since the beginning. Growing up in South Haven, Michigan her parents owned several of the first surf shops around the Great Lakes. Her father also was a sign painter and screen printer. Nowak has many memories of the two of them experimenting with line color and shape in their spare time. While in attendance at Michigan State University, Nowak found her love for the intensity of painting faces. Since graduating, Nowak has been exploring her method of painting explaining, "I see my portraits as abstract pieces of blocks of color that come together to create the recognizable image of a face. I work to make each piece more about the actual painting through my marks and color even more than the subject I am portraying. This is an intriguing challenge to me- especially when painting recognizable people."
Some of the recognizable subjects that will be exhibited include surfers Skip Frye, Rob Machado, musician Donavon Frankenreiter and surfing legend George Downing. Other subjects who have been instrumental to the development of the series include Bob Hurley, who gave Nowak her two debut exhibitions through his brand Hurley, Paul Naude of Billabong, and Bob McKnight of Quiksilver. Nowak, to further the project has relocated her studio from the East Coast to the West Coast and has been painting in the La Jolla area of San Diego for over two years. Also on display will be some of Nowak's new encaustic paintings. "The encaustics are good for me because they loosen up my technique as the wax dries at a much faster rate than oils. They are a good compliment to the oil on canvas portrait work," Nowak says.
The artist is also re-locating one of her Fury Surf Shacks to 800 Duval Street at the grand entrance to Bahama Village. “I am honored to have both of my businesses now in the neighborhood that nurtured and helped develop my painting career for so many years,” Nowak adds.
The Gallery is located at 318 Petronia Street in Bahama Village and is open to the public daily from 10 am to 4 pm and 6 pm to 9 pm. The Opening Reception will be held on Friday, February 8th from 6 pm-9 pm, followed by a Champagne Reception on Saturday, February 9th from noon- 3pm. Appointments are also available by emailing:
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). For more information on Nowak please visit:
http://www.lettynowak.com
