“Actual Reality” Opening Reception

Actual Reality, a new exhibit created by local artists Carlos Grasso and Peter Fox, examines the present day disconnect between virtual and actual reality. Opening June 1, 2019 at the Museum of Ventura County, the exhibit challenges the viewer to experience what is real and not real through a series of tangible, three-dimensional art that is intended to stimulate and provoke an appreciation for reality. The exhibit will open with a reception, 6 – 8 p.m., June 1 in the Museum of Ventura County’s Huntsinger Gallery.

“The cyber-world has its advantages, but what are we losing if the ease of entering the virtual world supplants what we know as the hard work of living an actual life?” questions Fox.

Grasso and Fox both utilize discarded objects as ingredients in their art. Grasso considers a rusty sheet of metal, a torn piece of canvas or a scrap of wood, the ‘blood and bones’ of his creations. Fox adds the element of humor to help us navigate the ‘complex absurdity of … existence’.

About the Artists:

Carlos Grasso 

Carlos Grasso’s personal journey began in the cosmopolitan city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his parents encouraged his interest in the arts, particularly music. As a young adult, while studying figure drawing in workshops, he also studied both piano and flute at the National Conservatory of Music before moving to Paris, where he worked as a professional flautist for 15 years. During this period, he also trained and worked as a graphic designer. After moving to Southern California, it only took one class with master representational artist David Leffel for Carlos to discover a new passion: painting. Over the last 25 years, not only has he transitioned from music to making art full time, he’s also shifted from representational works to abstraction, mixed media and conceptual art. Throughout this period, he has participated in many gallery and group exhibitions, and received a number of awards for his work.

“Artists—in all branches and disciplines—are the preeminent voice of both the collective and the individual unconscious. Art brings to the surface, to our awareness, all the processes that run deep, embedded, and often silently ignored within. As the ancient philosopher once said, the unexamined life is not worth living.”

Peter Fox

Peter Fox is a writer, actor, director and producer with 28 years of experience in Hollywood. As an actor, Fox was a series regular on The Waltons, Knots Landing, and the Animal House TV series.  He also guest starred on many other shows including Hill Street Blues, Dallas, Murder, She Wrote, Simon and Simon, and 21 Jump Street. In films, he has co-starred with such greats as John Huston, Jimmy Stewart, and Jack Lemmon.

Fox’s theater background started at Harvard University where he acted in two Hasty Pudding Shows while majoring in Anthropology. After moving to Los Angeles, Fox joined the award-winning Alliance Repertory Company where he played a string of roles in primarily new works with an occasional classic thrown in for good measure. Eventually he was made Chairman and Artistic Director of the company where he worked for 16 years before moving to Ojai in 2005.

While busy at the Alliance, he was hired to write an episode of Simon and Simon which started him on the writing path. Fifteen years later he wrote a play, ACTS OF GOD. Playing to sold out L.A. audiences for four months, Fox’s play was selected to be published by the Samuel French Company in 2004.  Fox also wrote and directed a short film, The Sorrowful Mysteries of Boomer Pastor, www.youtube.com, which competed in a number of film festivals including Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, Bombay, Oberhausen and won the CINE Golden Eagle Award among others. He taught film directing at the nationally recognized “Making the Short Film” course at UCLA..

Fox is a Dramalogue Award-Winning theatre director and his play ACTS OF GOD was nominated for an ADA Award for both writing and direction. He starred as George Bailey in “It’s A Wonderful Life” in the Ojai Art Center Theatre’s Christmas Production. Additionally, he has written two productions for the Ojai Performing Arts Theater and co-produced the production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Libbey Bowl in Ojai.

He lives with his wife Julie along with an entitled dog and two ill-mannered cats.