List of Works
Artists’ Statement
Crossing the Line
We have crossed many lines in the last few years.
In our creative processes we passed back and forth between representational and abstract painting, between photography and sculpture.
We moved from Skid Row to a residential neighborhood, adjusting to quite different surroundings.
On a more universal scale we experienced transitions too. They are evident as we hear in the news about red lines and lines in the sand not to be crossed; in regards to politics and also concerning environmental crises.
In some of our works we are using new visual languages like abstract painting and sculpture as well as the ones from our previous repertoire of figurative painting and photography in addressing the theme of transitions from several perspectives.
Bio: Eloy Torrez
Painter and songwriter Eloy Torrez was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He grew up there and in Barstow, California, where he took his first art classes at the Junior College, then studied art at the Otis Art Institute of Los Angeles. Since 1973 he lives and works in Los Angeles, creating an extensive body of work that includes studio paintings, public art and music compositions. His body of paintings and murals is a manifest of life in Los Angeles and a tribute to its people.
Torrez’ awards include the 2009 C.O.L.A Award, the 2004 California Community Foundation Grant and the 1995 Brody Fellowship for the Humanities, the Hollywood Arts Council “Charlie” Award for Public Art. He is also a recipient of several artist residencies and has conducted art workshops for all ages at Self Help Graphics, the Covenant House in Hollywood, the Boys & Girls Club of Hollywood and the HeArt Project/Central High School Drawing & Painting Workshop.
Bio: Juliane Backmann
Juliane Backmann was born in Muenster, Germany and studied photography at the Academy of Photo Design in Munich and after graduating worked in Hamburg and Munich.
After coming to Los Angeles in 1991 she has been working on numerous fine art projects that include documenting urban landscapes as well as a number of portrait series, utilizing different photographic approaches, like assemblage and collage and unconventional darkroom techniques. During the last decade she has been creating video works as well.
Her photographs, collages and installations have been exhibited throughout the United States and Germany and her video works have been screened and awarded at international film festivals.
