ERNIE LUPPI
One new exhibit in the Pacific Grove Art Center is “Bella Italia” by San Francisco photographer Ernie Luppi, whose work is in the Annand Gallery until Feb. 23. Luppi has been visiting Italy since 1981 when he spent six months photographing his ancestors’ past and everyday Italian life. Luppi’s photography is devoted largely to the beauty of Italy, from regular people on the street to Saint Peter’s Square in Vatican City or Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore, one of the islands of Venice. (Luppi also photographs in Pacific Grove, including at Lovers Point.) He first picked up a camera – a Christmas present he’d gotten for his mother, then borrowed – when he was in college. The experience made him switch majors to photography. “His retrospective exhibition highlights four decades of documentary photography and his commitment to film photography and darkroom printing,” PGAC reports. [AP]
LORI HOWELL
The public is invited to the show titled In an Artist’s Mind now on display in Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula’s headquarters, known as the Sally Griffin Senior Center in Pacific Grove. The exhibit features Central Coast Art Association members Kathryn Hannay, Lori Howell and Valentina Milaychev. Howell is a painter, book illustrator, author and an owner of her own gallery in San Jose. She likes “painting landscapes, seascapes, nature, and creating murder scenes within a painting,” according to her website. The oil piece above is titled “Wildlife in the Bear.” A reception takes place 3-5pm on Friday, Feb. 3. Otherwise, the exhibit can be viewed during open hours at MoW until March 3. [AP]