Painter Holly Topping presents new work in a solo exhibition on display at Orange Coast College’s Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion from Feb. 15 until Mar. 24, 2022. The exhibition, titled “Holly Topping: The Calamity Hustle,” tells a tragicomic coming-of-age story of a onetime SoCal-80’s-Party-Girl who finds herself stranded in a Westworld-like absurdist fantasyland of her own imagining.
“The Calamity Hustle” is curated by The Doyle’s director Tyler Stallings, and presents new oil paintings and watercolors produced from travels throughout the American southwest. Topping created them while on sabbatical from OCC, where she is a full-time professor in the art department. Of her work, Topping says: “I play with animal and female stereotypes … because I am a feminist who recognizes my shared genetics with beasts of burden. I create absurdist visual mash-ups because, at heart, I am a consummate comedic storyteller.”
“Toppings paintings conflate Old Master realist painting techniques with references to cinematic still shots from Hollywood Western films, as a Western Tale,” says Stallings.
Topping lives in Los Angeles and has been a professor in the art department at OCC since 2008. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree from University of California, Irvine in 2003, and had a breakout solo exhibition at Angles Gallery, Los Angeles, in 2005. Since then, her work has been included in exhibitions throughout Southern California and the United States.
Concurrent exhibition at The Doyle in Spring 2022 include “Rebecca Campbell: Painting Feminine Power,” open from Feb. 15 until Mar. 24.
Preview reception: Thursday, Mar. 3, 5–7 p.m.; Opening reception: Saturday, Mar. 5, 2–4 p.m. preceded by Artist-led exhibition tours, 1–2 p.m. Additional Artist-led tours: Thursdays, Mar. 3, 12:15-1 p.m. (Campbell) and Mar. 10, 12:15-1 p.m. (Topping). Admission to all events is free. Please check the gallery website for any change in schedule due to evolving COVID-19 restrictions.
The Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion at Orange Coast College focuses on contemporary visual culture and creates dynamic programming that inspires interaction and dialogue between artists, students, scholars, and local and international communities.
Admission is free for all exhibitions. Modified gallery hours, spring 2022: Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. For spring 2022, the gallery is closed on Mondays, Fridays and school holidays. Please check the gallery website for any change in schedule due to evolving COVID-19 restrictions. The Doyle is located next to OCC’s Parking Lot D, off Merrimac Way, building 180, between Starbucks and the Art Center classrooms. For additional information, call (714) 432-5738, or visit The Doyle website.