By Special to the Town Crier
“A Life in Oils,” an exhibit of original fine artworks by artist Michael Joseph, is scheduled Thursday through Oct. 9 at Zyt Gallery in Los Altos.
A reception with the artist will be held 6-9 p.m. at the Sept. 20 opening. Designed as a celebration of West Coast living, the subject of much of the artist’s work, the evening will include live music by Bay Area blues favorites, Second Cuzins (a preferred opening act for the late John Lee Hooker), hors d’oeuvres and a special commemorative beer brewed exclusively for the occasion in partnership with Fermentation Frenzy of Los Altos.
Michael Joseph’s paintings cover a wide range of compositions in oil, using a bright palette to depict urban life on the West Coast. The artist draws not only from his imagination, but from his life.
“I have always meant for my paintings to have lives of their own,” said Joseph. “I hope the elements of my work fit together in a way that brings the viewer to a composed, yet alive, state of mind.”
Joseph also presents a grittier collection of oils portraying the harsher realities of urban life, developed from his intimate perspective developed on the streets of San Francisco. These paintings use a limited, almost monochromatic palette to convey the colorless existence of poverty and hardship. These works have been described as “illusional - simultaneously both two dimensional and three dimensional - meant to both calm and disturb.”
A former Vietnam combat illustrator, Joseph is a graduate of the University of Puget Sound. A longtime exhibitor at the Festival of the Arts in Laguna Beach, Joseph has works in collections of the Beverly Hills City Hall, the Bank of Newport, Fluor Corporation and numerous private collections in the United States and overseas. He maintains a studio in Palo Alto.
Currently displaying 15 artists in various media, Zyt features contemporary two- and three-dimensional fine art and quality framing. It has been in its location for more than 20 years and has a well-established, experienced senior staff.
Zyt Gallery, located at 923 N. San Antonio Road, is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Thursdays; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays.
