Thus far in its still jeune life, the impressively staged and operated Seimandi & Leprieur Gallery has hosted four exhibitions worth spending time with. The latest, Shapes of Surrealism, is the second and more dream-machined of the group shows, after last fall’s Whose Paradise? The list so far also includes solo shows by Dora Vital and Ricardo Ozier-Lafontaine — the latter who shows a handful of pieces along with the main group exhibition at present.
Some inquiring minds might wonder: What is the origin of these intriguing but as yet familiar artists on view? Specializing in art from Martinique, where married owners Fanny Seimandi and Julien Leprieur lived for a decade before landing in Santa Barbara, the gallery is giving a ripe forum to a pocket of contemporary art that might otherwise remain obscure on the West Coast.
And all in a stylishly appointed gallery space on Anapamu Street. (For local historians among us, this is the former site of the noted ’70s and early ’80s-era folk club The Bluebird.)