Rhythmic Assertions and Suggestions at Solvang’s Elverhøj

At first blush, there might not seem to be much thematic or stylistic resonance between painter Seyburn Zorthian and sculptor Aristides Demetrios, currently featured in a two-person exhibition at Solvang’s Elverhøj Museum of History and Art. Zorthian, a respected veteran of the Santa Barbara County art scene, creates post-abstract expressionist canvases, with an exuberant spirit. Demetrios, who lived in Solvang and Montecito before passing away in 2021, deals with tidier expressive pieces in shimmering bronze, often informed by architectural or anatomical themes.

Differences aside, the pair does make for compatible gallery mates, and the show’s apt title — Rhythm + Movement — gives us an easy way into appreciating the connection. Both artists deal with implied visual rhythms, sometimes with musical analogies humming in the background.

For Zorthian, whose range of seminal influences includes the gestural impetus of Japanese calligraphy and jazz, the musical cross-talk is at the fore, especially in pieces with such music-centric titles as “Free Jazz, Bitonality” and her watercolor/gouache piece “Salsa Rhythm.” Musical parallels have been intrinsically linked to art, especially in painting involving degrees of abstraction, from Wassily Kandinsky to Stuart Davis and movements including abstract expressionism and minimalism. Zorthian falls right into sync with the time-honored music-art symbiosis.