Press Release

Venice, CA – J.J. L'Heureux is an abstract painter, collage artist, world traveler, environmental lecturer, published author and certified docent at the San Francisco Zoo.  On February 17, 2009, J.J. L'Heureux displays another facet of her gifted repertoire, environmental photographer, as she opens Cold Feet, her new exhibit at the G2 gallery, with an opening reception to be held on March 6 from 6-9pm.

L'Heureux takes an intimate look at a single region, Antarctica, and specifically at one family of imperiled creature, the penguin, providing insight into the lives of penguins through her photos and observations. L'Heureux explains the body of work:

"These photographs are intended to be a series by themselves.  I like that the photographs convey an entirely different sense of the spirit of Antarctica, the wind and the cold, than that of my paintings.  I also like myself as cameraperson who had to exercise patience and direct involvement in taking the photos.  It is a chore to tote the gear over miles of ice and set up to take a family portrait of Emperor penguins in a place nearly never visited by people.  Except for the sounds of the rookeries and the wind, there is a complete absence of sound.  Photographs lack sound or any suggestion of it.  It is as if each scene has been encapsulated and frozen in crystal-pure ice."

The show follows J.J. L'Heureux's eighth trip to Antarctica, this time returning from New Zealand's Sub Antarctic Islands.  In 2000-2001 she made her first trip to Antarctica to collect digital images of ice and snow for a white-on-white color field series of  abstract "landscape" paintings with ice as the focus. L'Heureux's image collection quickly expanded to include the wildlife and pristine environment.