Back in Black

Name: Roger Durling

Title: Contributor

We’re really happy you’re writing for the paper again. What was it about Angela Perko’s work that brought you back to reporting?  I think Perko is one of the best-kept secrets in our city and one of our greatest artists. I also love her story, which is quintessential Santa Barbara: she ran (with her husband) the Lost Horizon bookstore and eventually found among the books her true calling.  

When and how did you first experience Perko’s paintings? What was your immediate reaction to them?  I’m an avid gallery visitor, and I came across her work at Sullivan Goss. I was lured by her vivid colors and was hooked by her great sense of storytelling. Her paintings are dense and with so much to discover. I love getting lost in her work.

Most people think of you as a film guy, but you clearly have an eye and appreciation for painting. (I’m thinking back to your cover story on Hank Pitcher.) What is it about that particular art form you admire?  Great question! As you may know, I teach film at City College, and one of the aspects that attract me the most to cinema as an art form is composition — how elements are arranged on the movie frame. But in film, those elements are constantly in flux. I greatly admire how painters are able to convey so much information and inspire us by placing things on a single canvas.

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