Going Natural - Art by Mannig Gurekian

It all began in Asolo, Italy.  I was so lucky to be born in a hilltop house overlooking a landscape like one in Giorgione's paintings.  Besides the natural and historical beauty that surrounded me, I was also influenced by the magazines that our family's architectural  studio received, and by modern art.  The colorful designs of the Eames, Matisse's paintings, Calder's mobiles gave me an excitement that is hard to explain and that I tried to relive drawing and building objects.

One of my favorite activities in the fall was hiking alone in the hills and gathering branches, berries and flowers to take home and display.  I still love gathering "things" and now they end up in assemblages where fragments from nature and from recycled objects coexist peacefully and dynamically.

I studied architecture in Venice Italy, graphic design at UCLA and art at the Santa Monica School of Art, Design and Architecture.  I work as a graphic artist and an art instructor.  Art continues to be my passion.

These are Mannig Gurekian's own words describing her beginnings in life and art.  Mannig, truly a gifted artist, brings a unique quality and influence to the gallery's arena with her material from nature and  brilliant style.  Her mobiles are delicate and sensual and often approached with curiosity to confirm what one is actually looking at.  Most people, seeing Mannig's art for the first time, are amazed that someone could create such original designs from natural organic objects.  Ahhh...It then makes perfect sense once the viewer puts it together.  An artist does not need much more than what God and earth's abundance have provided.  It takes a playful creativeness to come up with art such as Mannig's.

Here's a sampling of her organic designs...

Mannig's little piece of real estate at Ten Women

Mobile made from bark and other natural materials

Fun and colorful necklaces made from pods and painted to add texture and wonderful colors disguising the focal pieces' origin

A Wonderful display of several mobiles with beads and wire added to the design

A playful creature made, again from all natural elements

A unique design abstract Mobile

Two of Mannig's original paintings.  She brings the natural quality to everything she creates.

 Mannig has been with the gallery for many years starting with us on Abbot Kinney in
 Venice.  All her gallery sisters embrace her unique style and appreciate her contribution to the graphic designs used in our advertising and announcements.