Assemblage Artists Come Together in Santa Barbara for Retrofuturistic Exhibition

Growing up in Lakewood, CA, a Los Angeles suburb with the easily mockable motto “Tomorrow’s City Today,” “It was so not that,” laughs Sue Van Horsen. That notion did provide inspiration for the Santa Barbara–based assemblage artist, however. “It always stuck with me that tomorrow really never happens. You know, it’s always today or yesterday. It’s never tomorrow.”

She was joking around with some artist friends about it, and they all agreed that the notion of the retro versions of the future would make a great show theme. “And then Asteroid City came out, and suddenly we’re like, cutting edge.”

The result is a group show, The Future That Never Came, featuring eight assemblage and collage artists exploring the theme of retrofuturism — a movement in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. Inspired by sci-fi shows like Star Trek, Lost in Space, Gigantor and Johnny Quest, Van Horsen is bringing together some of Santa Barbara’s coolest collage and assemblage artists for a 10-day show beginning September 15 at the Community Arts Workshop Gallery (CAW). 

Artists include: Tony Askew, Adrienne De Guevara, Dan Le Vin, Michael E. Long, Jamie Joelle Nielsen, Norm Reed, Dug Uyesaka, Frank Whipple, and Van Horsen herself. The opening night party is September 15, from 5-8 p.m. at CAW, 631 Garden Street. Additional open hours are September 16 from noon to 5 p.m.; September 17 from noon to 3 p.m.; and September 23 from noon to 3 p.m.; with weekday and other special viewings available on request.

See sbcaw.org.

The Future That Never Came opens at CAW on September 15. Left: “Cronos Vision” by Sue Van Horsen | Credit: Courtesy, M. Long