The College of the Canyons Art Gallery will showcase the work of Los Angeles-based artists Stephanie Deumer and Arden Surdam in the joint exhibition “Real Shadows for Mere Bodies” opening on the Valencia campus Tuesday, Sept. 5.

The Gallery’s first exhibition for the fall semester, “Real Shadows for Mere Bodies,” will feature dynamic works of art that combine contemporary and traditional visual forms, photography, video, and sculpture.

“This is a wonderful exhibition to kick off our new academic year and I am happy that it is the first one I get to help facilitate as the new gallery director here at COC,” said Pamela Lewis, who began her position as COC Art Gallery Director in August.

“This is brand new work from these emerging, yet incredibly accomplished artists,” Lewis said. “It is a great opportunity for our students to gain insight into some of the material and critical approaches contemporary artists are taking to their art work right now.”

Surdam’s new photographic series captures the unique still lifes she creates, many of which exist for only a few minutes, by combining sculpture, contemporary photography, and floral arrangements as her subjects.

The sculptures are made by cutting, chopping or manipulating sourced flower materials and then assembling these distorted fragments into new compositions. Referencing art history’s metaphoric relationship to flowers and fabric, her work explores the discourse between pleasure, objecthood, and disrupted space.

The exhibition “Real Shadows for Mere Bodies” will run through Thursday, Oct. 12.

A reception for the artists will take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12.

A special conversation with the artists will be held from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14.

The College of the Canyons Art Gallery is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays. Those unable to visit the gallery during normal hours are welcome to contact the gallery to schedule a viewing appointment.

All gallery exhibitions and related events are free and open to the public.

More About the Artists
Born in Toronto, Stephanie Deumer is an artist currently working in Los Angeles. She completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Guelph in 2011 and a Master of Fine Arts at California Institute of the Arts in 2015.

Deumer has exhibited her work at PAVED Arts, The REEF, CalArts, Milton Centre for the Arts, the Zavitz Gallery and Cerritos College, where she is currently an artist in residence. Her work has also been exhibited in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ecuador, and throughout the United States.

Originally from New York, Arden Surdam earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in visual arts from Oberlin College and her Master of Fine Arts degree from the California Institute of the Arts in 2015.

Her recent exhibitions include SLOAN Projects, Vernon Gardens LA, The Institute for Art and Olfaction, and Paris Photo 2017. She recently exhibited work at Paris Photos 2016 fair and was featured in their catalog Parcours, a co-publication with Éditions Xavier Barral tracing the fair’s pioneering role for photography.

For more information, visit the COC Art Gallery website.