Courtesy photo.
CAMARILLO — Renowned print maker Lev Moross is a storyteller with an exceptional tale to tell. As a young man, he ran away from his home in Siberia to find his future and wound up in Los Angeles making fine art prints with Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. Moross will share his stories of art and artists as featured speaker for the Friday, June 21, Artist Talk series at Studio Channel Islands Art Center (SCIART), 2222 E. Ventura Blvd., Camarillo. The talk takes place at 2 p.m. in the Blackboard Gallery. Admission is free to SCIART members, $10 for nonmembers.
Master print maker Lev Moross immigrated to Los Angeles from Russia in 1975 with the dream of revolutionizing fine art in America. He came to the land of the free armed with a distinguished background as a fine artist specializing in painting and sculpting but in the lean years of his early career in America he took up work acting in movies (once playing a Russian professor) and found himself designing covers for Capitol Records.
Eventually, he was able to bring his skills as a fine artist and print maker together to realize his dream of bringing fine art to the masses at affordable prices through limited edition serigraphs. Serigraphing is an advanced form of silk-screening, used to produce handmade color prints. Andy Warhol was the first major artist to make the serigraph process acceptable to collectors, but it was Moross who raised the process to its current exalted status.
Moross Studio was the first to publish renowned artists Melanie Taylor Kent and Yamagata, among others. At its height, the studio employed 45 print makers working on eight presses in a 44,000 square foot studio. In 1980, Warhol approached Moross to have his Mickey Mouse picture serigraphed and Lev’s vision of revolutionizing fine art in America became a reality.
“Lev is a part of art history, one of the most important print makers in America,” said Peter Tyas, executive director of Studio Channel Islands Art Center. “His working method of developing a collaborative approach with artists has enabled him to produce colored prints of exceptional quality and artistic vision. Lev is also a man with a long history in the artworld. He has worked with some of the greatest names in the U.S., Europe and Russia. In this talk he will take the audience on a grand tour, going to exotic places and important moments in art history in which he played a hand.”
On July 13, the Artist Talk series will present contemporary artist Richard Bruland sharing behind-the-scenes stories about his practice and career, including his establishing Bebop Records and Fine Art in Los Angeles in the early 1980s. This record store/art gallery/performance place became one of the best-known small venues with performers such as Los Lobos, Lucinda Williams and Beck gracing its stage, and artists such as Raymond Pettibon presenting early shows.
The 2019 Artist Talk series concludes on Sept. 7 with a thought-provoking presentation by Richard Barnett, a Marine who served overseas and returned as an artist with a unique perspective.
Tickets are available online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artist-talk-lev-moross-tickets-60228857133. For more information, visit http://studiochannelislands.org/ or call 805-383-1368.
Studio Channel Islands Art Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the arts and creative life within the communities of Ventura County, fostering connections between artists and visitors, and celebrating the cultural identity of our community. Ongoing programs include art classes for adults and children, providing studio space for professional artists, presenting?diverse art shows in its Blackboard Gallery and providing community art and cultural events for individuals and families. Gallery hours are Tues.–Fri., 11 a.m.–5 p.m., Sat. 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Located at 2222 E. Ventura Blvd., Camarillo, CA 93010.