‘Golden Hour’ Exhibit at My Pet Ram Gallery in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone

Artists Capture Mysterious Time of Day Within Paintings

Artwork from Margaret Thompson, Cary Hulbert, and Stephanie Guerrero will be on display at My Pet Ram gallery in the Funk Zone | Credit: Courtesy

My Pet Ram, Santa Barbara’s beguiling art gallery at 16 Helena Avenue in the Funk Zone, will be hosting a stunning exhibition of artwork this winter under the title Golden Hour.

Running from December 16 to January 15 with a reception opening night at 6 p.m., the exhibit will amalgamate the work of artists Stephanie Guerrero, based in Los Angeles; Cary Hulbert, based in New York City; and Margaret Thompson, based in Santa Fe.

Golden Hour received its name from the time of day prior to sunset, when the sun lies just above the horizon and casts yellow, orange, and golden hues across the sky, typically lasting about an hour. The exhibit is composed of various enigmatic landscape paintings that display natural forms at this mystifying time of day, where light is often softer, and more importantly, fleeting. In this sense, paintings within the Golden Hour exhibit occupy a certain state of being in-between, emphasized in their depictions of sacred, mythological, and dreamlike places.

While each artist holds their unique interpretation of golden hour, their works can be tied together by their mutual appreciation of the natural world.

Guerrero’s paintings explore the relationship between nature, technology and the human experience, and are uniquely created on diffusion paper sourced from electronics that carry LCD screens. Hulbert’s paintings tend to depict a time and space removed from the present reality. Despite this unfamiliarity, the organic forms shown in her work imitate the natural environment we inhabit. Thompson uses a mythological filter for the reality she paints, with a focus on the human relationship to nature throughout her work.

Like the time of day that the exhibit is named after, the Golden Hour exhibit is transient, only being showcased for a month. Make sure to visit My Pet Ram this winter, for a glimpse into alluring metaphysical worlds and enchanting artwork. The gallery (mypetram.com) is open Friday to Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. and by appointment.

Artwork by Stephanie Guerrero will be on display at My Pet Ram | Credit: Courtesy
Artwork by Margaret Thompson will be on display at My Pet Ram | Credit: Courtesy
Artwork by Cary Hulbert will be on display at My Pet Ram | Credit: Courtesy