Gallery Los Olivos Welcomes Award-Winning Artist Annie Hoffman

Gallery Los Olivos presents Seeing Ourselves in Color, a collection of paintings by Central Coast painter Annie Hoffman. Known for her exceptional focus on color, light, and movement, Hoffman has been praised for her particular ability to bring life to her paintings, capturing her subjects in fleeting moments of emotion and providing her viewers with an overwhelming, yet transient, sense of joy. Her work spans multiple genres, from landscape to portraiture and still life — this exhibit will focus on her figurative paintings, which capture people in everyday scenarios, emphasizing her ability to display movement and feeling. 

“My specialty is the depiction of light and color along with mood and emotion, and so I’m thrilled to be able to showcase such a large body of my figurative work where it will be seen at its best in a beautiful gallery with adequate light and space,” Hoffman explained.

Originally from London, Hoffman was inspired early in life by vibrant and expressive colors in the works of artists Vincent van Gogh and William Turner. During her college years, Hoffman was drawn to California by her studies at UCLA and Santa Monica College. She then spent a year in Paris, studying at the Academie Notre Dame des Champs before moving back to the Central Coast permanently to become a serious painter, drawn by the fantastic landscapes and vibrant community in the area. 

Hoffman’s work has caused her to cross paths with a number of prolific modern artists: Portrait painter Lance Richlin, California Impressionist Sharon Burkett Kaiser, and Chinese Master Impressionist Jove Wang are some of the notable names with whom she has studied. She has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum Curator’s Choice Award, and was the first-place winner at the 2021 Westlake Village Art Guild. 

She is an active member of national and local art associations, and she also contributes greatly to the local artistic community, participating in frequent local demonstrations and offering private lessons and workshops. She believes in the power of painting to bring people together in an increasingly detached modern world: “We reside in an increasingly concrete and artificial environment, and for me, painting explores the poetry and drama of the human condition and its connection to the natural world, tying both together to provide a path back to my own sense of balance and harmony,” she says.

Seeing Ourselves in Color is on view through February 28 at Gallery Los Olivos (gallerylosolivos.com, 2920 Grand Ave., Los Olivos) from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. There will be a reception on Sunday, February 5, from 1-4 p.m. where the public is invited to meet Hoffman and discuss the exhibit.

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