Publication: Orange County Register/ Laguna News-Post Date: Thursday, 29 April, 2004 Page: 19 CATHY BARTELS EXHIBITS AT 5 ', Laguna Beach, CA. A composition of painted canvas squares, descending through a series of blues, form an image of a fragmented face. Textile colorist, Cathy Bartels, exhibits a series of her recent work at 5’ restaurant in Laguna Beach through May. (Is currently extended through the summer!). As an artist, whose visual aesthetic emerged out of her original training in textile design, this latest exhibition of Bartels work represents a high point in her visual thinking. Ironically, the word, "textile" itself reveals an intrinsic secret to interpreting this reclusive artist, and long-time resident of Laguna Beach. The word "text" seems appropriate because Bartels is also a screenwriter, and much of her aesthetic surrounds the written word. The word "tile" corresponds because her husband, Marlo Bartels, designs ceramic tile and has created many prominent tile sculptures placed in Laguna Beach and throughout Southern California. "Tile" is also linked to Bartels’ squares of painted canvas, which resemble "tile." Her works are actually woven canvas tiles, assembled on a large canvas mounting, a painted version of a ceramic tile installation. Textiles form the context of Bartels’ aesthetic and derivations of "textile, " reveal insights into the direction of the artist’s vision. A visit to the enclave of Bartels’ studio, however, reveals the edge of her most recent visual thinking. Pages of movie script in progress are blown up giant size, assembled on a canvas with photocopied images of the main character. The character set against the text of his dialogue forms the context of Bartels’ recent visual imagination. Characters and plot fabricated into form from hours of listening to KCRW, create a subconscious story; the subtext of a new series of scenes textiled into a fictional montage. Bartels emerges to the surface, after plunging deep into the subconscious depths, with fresh exciting imagery. A feature film forming into the textile of a story is told through a context of fragmented scenes. Bartels’ artwork of fragmented image of a face, now on view at 5’ restaurant, is the main character of her screenplay in a still enfolding story. Bartels’ series of large canvas assemblages lining the gray concrete block wall of the 5’ restaurant interior meld intrigue into the icebox space and create an aesthetic ambiance harmonious with the avant-garde Asian cuisine. Some intriguing smaller Bartels works, consisting of an assemblage of painted canvas pieces and fascinating found objects like shiny iridescent computer disks, are placed in the restaurant’s interior corner adjacent place settings dramatically punctuated with a single exotic red tropical flower in a fluted vase. Bartels, a former Festival of Arts artist who has also exhibited her work at prominent Southern California art galleries, agreed to display her dramatic painted canvas assemblages at 5’ because the upscale eatery popular with both local Laguna Beach and destination avant-garde Asian cuisine patrons. For more, call 494-8942. LYDIA RINGWALD / COLUMNIST Thursday, May 6, 2004 O.C. Register / Laguna News-Post. CORRECTION: Artist Cathy Bartels, who has an exhibit on view at 5' Restaurant, listens to KCRW 89.9 FM. Because of a reporting error, the name of the radio station was listed incorrectly in the April 29 edition of the Laguna News-Post.