Eye of the Beholder

With The Good Wife airing its final episode in May, Carrie Preston isn’t skipping a beat. The actress is already on to her next “thing,” co-starring in Crowded. On the new sitcom, Carrie plays Martina, a woman who was enjoying an empty nest with her husband (played by Patrick Warburton)until her two daughters unexpectedly move back into the family home.

If acting is Carrie’s first passion, art is a close second. In her down time, she loves to visit galleries and museums and discover new artists with her husband, actor Michael Emerson. 

“My mother instilled a love of art in me from the moment she brought me into the world. I grew up doing all kinds of visual art from drawing to painting to sculpting to puppetry.” Her mother is a watercolor artist and Carrie proudly displays several of her paintings in both the couple’s Valley home and their place in New York.

For VB’s annual arts issue, Carrie shares some of her favorite artists and galleries as well as a  few exhibits she’d like to see. 

On Carrie’s Radar

Paul Chatem
Paul creates these illustrative–style, interactive, multi-geared pieces out of wood that are hypnotizing and grotesque and even amusing. 

Frances Stark
This artist appeals to me because she incorporates words into her work, both on paper and in video. It is interesting to see how she keeps reinventing herself using text.

Diana Thater
Diana paints nature with video. It is arresting to get that close to the natural and animal world, which feels so real, and yet you still know it is a piece of art.

Jack Rutberg Fine Arts Gallery
I kept revisiting the exhibition of Joel–Peter Witkin and Jerome Witkin that they had in 2014. And because of that, I now always trust that they will have something interesting to explore. 

C.A.V.E. Gallery
Michael and I bought our Paul Chatem piece from there. So whenever we are strolling around in Venice on Abbot Kinney we poke our head in there, knowing they will have something engaging. 

Breathing light
LACMA has James Turrell’s “Breathing Light,” which I did not get to see in New York City and hope to catch here. It is supposed to be a really stunning experience. 

Gronk’s Theatre of Paint
For this installation at the Craft and Folk Art Museum, they are transforming the gallery into an interactive theater set. Gronk is known for his set designs for Peter Sellars, so I imagine it will be something fascinating and will appeal to my theater side.