June 26, 2025
JJ Manford
Jacaranda June
Nazarian / Curcio
May 24 - June 28, 2025
JJ Manford
In early to mid-June, purple petals begin to fill the streets of Los Angeles. They gracefully fall from the many Jacaranda trees that are topped with lavender flowers, though only for a short duration. It is a special occurrence every spring: anticipated, and then celebrated. JJ Manford's exhibition has the curious title Jacaranda June, yet Jacaranda trees are nowhere in his paintings. Rather, the title is emblematic of something unique — in this instance, examples of iconic residential architecture in Los Angeles. Most of Manford's paintings are interiors of homes designed by architects such as Richard Neutra, Ray Kappe, Rudolph Schindler, John Lautner, as well as Charles and Ray Eames. Presumably sourced from photographs found online, Manford renders these interiors on burlap with thick oil stick, oil pastels and Flashe. While representational and realistic, as well as atmospheric and colorful, Manford's materials and surfaces are deeply textured with an abstract aura.
A Google search for Frank Lloyd Wright's 'Wilbur C. Pearce House' delivers a warm toned color photograph of the interior shot with a wide angle lens from a corner. Flanking the sides of the picture are a foreshortened side table and built-in shelves. In the background is a gray cinderblock wall surrounding an active fireplace. The floor is a reflective red-brown. The interior decorations include books, book shelves, a portrait of a man, as well as numerous ceramic vases filled with flowers. In Manford's painting Late Summer at The Wilbur C Pearce House (for Frank Lloyd Wright) (all works 2025), the composition is identical, however, the specifics of the interior have been modified. The Frank Lloyd Wright house is filled with objects and rendered in colors from Manford's imagination. The cinderblock wall is now blue-green. The painting shows an abstract landscape. The floor is a grid of red-gray terrazzo tiles.
A similar search for images of Richard Neutra's 'Levitt House' in Beverly Hills, CA results in an image that contains a portion of the living room, the pool seen through glass doors, and a library at the far end of the patio. In Manford's painting Sunset at The Levitt House with Viola Frey, the fading light illuminating distant hills at sunset casts an orange glow on the scene which now includes a Viola Frey table-top sculpture of a seated nude woman. Outside, the area surrounding the pool has been transformed into pastel orange, yellow, light green, purple and pink rectangles.
Manford's paintings are lush and atmospheric. While they depict lived in spaces, it is curious that they are devoid of people. Manford's choice of Southern California mid-Century Modern homes where architects paid special attention to the relationship between interior and exteriors spaces allows him to creatively juxtapose these different views. His interiors are adorned with furniture, kitschy objects, paintings, sculptures, shelves filled with books, or collections of pottery. These spaces are contrasted with the views out the windows — be it a distant cityscape, an overgrown garden, or the expansive ocean. Because these are well documented spaces, Manford can begin with the 'real' and transform it as he sees fit.
That these residences are emblems of taste and wealth is implied in Manford's depictions. Rather, there is a sense of nostalgia and potential for loss, as evidenced by the scramble to save the Eames house located at the edge of the recent Palisades fire. Manford's painting of the structure (Eames House Painting) is the only piece in the exhibition to focus solely on the exterior. Here, Manford faithfully reproduces the facade. While the blue and red panels located within the black grid of the house stand out, it is Manford's delicate treatment of the myriad window reflections — an array of yellows, blues and greens from the plants and sky that surrounds the structure — that gives the painting a rich presence. Each section of the grid becomes a mini-abstraction that when seen together celebrate the complexities of both the Eames house and Manford's nuanced treatment. Looking closely, one notices a cat ambling across the path, a sign of life amidst the inanimate architecture.
Like the sudden presence of Jacaranda petals— memorable but fleeting — Manford injects something unexpected and magical into his paintings of known architectural gems. The large scale of the works, textured surfaces and bright colors draw viewers in and Manford invites them to peruse every aspect of the image, each one an amalgamation of real and imagined domestic spaces.
Jacaranda June
Nazarian / Curcio
May 24 - June 28, 2025
JJ Manford
In early to mid-June, purple petals begin to fill the streets of Los Angeles. They gracefully fall from the many Jacaranda trees that are topped with lavender flowers, though only for a short duration. It is a special occurrence every spring: anticipated, and then celebrated. JJ Manford's exhibition has the curious title Jacaranda June, yet Jacaranda trees are nowhere in his paintings. Rather, the title is emblematic of something unique — in this instance, examples of iconic residential architecture in Los Angeles. Most of Manford's paintings are interiors of homes designed by architects such as Richard Neutra, Ray Kappe, Rudolph Schindler, John Lautner, as well as Charles and Ray Eames. Presumably sourced from photographs found online, Manford renders these interiors on burlap with thick oil stick, oil pastels and Flashe. While representational and realistic, as well as atmospheric and colorful, Manford's materials and surfaces are deeply textured with an abstract aura.
A Google search for Frank Lloyd Wright's 'Wilbur C. Pearce House' delivers a warm toned color photograph of the interior shot with a wide angle lens from a corner. Flanking the sides of the picture are a foreshortened side table and built-in shelves. In the background is a gray cinderblock wall surrounding an active fireplace. The floor is a reflective red-brown. The interior decorations include books, book shelves, a portrait of a man, as well as numerous ceramic vases filled with flowers. In Manford's painting Late Summer at The Wilbur C Pearce House (for Frank Lloyd Wright) (all works 2025), the composition is identical, however, the specifics of the interior have been modified. The Frank Lloyd Wright house is filled with objects and rendered in colors from Manford's imagination. The cinderblock wall is now blue-green. The painting shows an abstract landscape. The floor is a grid of red-gray terrazzo tiles.
A similar search for images of Richard Neutra's 'Levitt House' in Beverly Hills, CA results in an image that contains a portion of the living room, the pool seen through glass doors, and a library at the far end of the patio. In Manford's painting Sunset at The Levitt House with Viola Frey, the fading light illuminating distant hills at sunset casts an orange glow on the scene which now includes a Viola Frey table-top sculpture of a seated nude woman. Outside, the area surrounding the pool has been transformed into pastel orange, yellow, light green, purple and pink rectangles.
Manford's paintings are lush and atmospheric. While they depict lived in spaces, it is curious that they are devoid of people. Manford's choice of Southern California mid-Century Modern homes where architects paid special attention to the relationship between interior and exteriors spaces allows him to creatively juxtapose these different views. His interiors are adorned with furniture, kitschy objects, paintings, sculptures, shelves filled with books, or collections of pottery. These spaces are contrasted with the views out the windows — be it a distant cityscape, an overgrown garden, or the expansive ocean. Because these are well documented spaces, Manford can begin with the 'real' and transform it as he sees fit.
That these residences are emblems of taste and wealth is implied in Manford's depictions. Rather, there is a sense of nostalgia and potential for loss, as evidenced by the scramble to save the Eames house located at the edge of the recent Palisades fire. Manford's painting of the structure (Eames House Painting) is the only piece in the exhibition to focus solely on the exterior. Here, Manford faithfully reproduces the facade. While the blue and red panels located within the black grid of the house stand out, it is Manford's delicate treatment of the myriad window reflections — an array of yellows, blues and greens from the plants and sky that surrounds the structure — that gives the painting a rich presence. Each section of the grid becomes a mini-abstraction that when seen together celebrate the complexities of both the Eames house and Manford's nuanced treatment. Looking closely, one notices a cat ambling across the path, a sign of life amidst the inanimate architecture.
Like the sudden presence of Jacaranda petals— memorable but fleeting — Manford injects something unexpected and magical into his paintings of known architectural gems. The large scale of the works, textured surfaces and bright colors draw viewers in and Manford invites them to peruse every aspect of the image, each one an amalgamation of real and imagined domestic spaces.