Camarillo, Calif., August 28, 2007—CI Exhibitions gallery in Camarillo announced its next show will be a three-person exhibition titled: “Bennett, Norton & Bennett.” The show will begin Sept. 6 and continue through Sept. 28, 2007. There will be a reception for the artists at the gallery from 6 to 8 p.m. on Sept. 13. The reception is open to the public.

CI Exhibitions is located at 92 Palm Drive in “Old Town” Camarillo, Calif., 93010. Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

“Bennett, Norton & Bennett” features recent paintings by three CI alumni artists, Dianne Bennett, Gwenlyn Norton, and Jennifer Bennett. (There is no relation between the two Bennetts.) Each of these artists will present artwork that focuses on their own unique style of painting and mixed media assemblage.

“Since attending CI, these three painters have grown into accomplished and recognized artists. They represent the best of CI and there is no doubt that the public will be impressed with their individual approaches to painting and depth of ideas conveyed in their work,” said Jack Reilly, exhibition curator and chair of the CI Art Program.

The artists and their work:

Dianne Bennett creates art that celebrates the natural world while revealing a visual expression of her inner process and personal reality. Illustrated and collected images of birds, insects, trees and other iconographic subjects inhabit her art, which is intuitively narrated with layers of doodles, pop cultural and religious archetypes as well as sampled text and handwritten musings. Her work is assembled utilizing salvaged and recycled materials and imagery. The result is art that references devotional objects and decorative, popular art forms that cross numerous cultural traditions and often reveals a personal narrative.

Gwenlyn Norton “My goal is to build, to experiment with materials, with color, with texture to see what happens, what develops, what results from my actions, to experience the excitement, the humor, the rewards, the challenges of completing the project. The end justifies the means, yet the means justify the end. It’s gratifying to see the gradual emerging image or images. Bringing the material to life, I want it to express its own ‘beingness,’ emerging from its tube, jar, bottle or package; wanting to be free to be itself in all its glory, screaming to the world, ‘Here I am. See me live. I have a right to exist. Enjoy my beauty,’” stated Norton.

Jennifer Bennett These are not your ordinary garden-variety paintings of flowers. Each piece is a three-dimensional assemblage, branded with her unique style of neo-pop imagery; which is somewhat reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s flower series. Her work takes the concept of painting flowers to a dramatic scale, depicting the tiniest of flowers in a grand format. They are colorful, thick with texture, and seem to “bloom” from the wall, directly into the viewer’s space. Her unique style depicts her profound love of nature, which is apparent in the many varieties of flowers that range from rare desert wildflowers to everyday garden blossoms.

For additional information, contact the CI Art Department, 805-437-8863, email: art@csuci.edu, or visit the

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