Art community rallies for Ukraine via auction at Forest and Ocean Gallery
Ukrainian flags hang outside the front entrance to the Forest and Ocean Gallery, catching the eye of passersby as they walk through downtown Laguna Beach.
It has been a month since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but for Ludo Leideritz, the owner of the gallery, it took far less time to do what he felt was right to address the humanitarian crisis.
Leideritz put up some of his own works and called on other artists he knew to submit pieces to be sold. Proceeds from the art auction will go to the International Red Cross to benefit the Ukraine refugee fund.
The destruction and displacement in Ukraine is a “humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions,” said Leideritz, who called the events an attack on innocents.
“The escalation level of the way things are going there, where instead of having military targets bombed, you’re bombing nothing but civilian targets — and benign civilian targets like hospitals, churches, bomb shelters where people are trying to hide from all of this, and they can’t leave — it is really the country’s besieged,” Leideritz said.
“There’s no easy way out of any of this, but the only thing we can do is to send as much support as we can over there,” he added. “The International Red Cross, I found to be probably one of the better ways to conduit money to help with the refugee situation. The refugee crisis really is my main thrust. It’s not military. It’s not political. It’s humanitarian — purely humanitarian.”
The auction had been planned three weeks ago, and although it began last weekend, Leideritz said Thursday that he still had artwork coming in this week. Artists from all over Southern California, as well as some from across the country, have combined to donate well over 100 pieces — including drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures — for the gallery’s special event.
“The support that I’ve got from these artists has been very, very, very heartwarming,” said Leideritz, himself a photographer. “This is where art can help to heal the planet. That’s my mantra. … Art heals bodies, and art heals spirits.”
Works that Leideritz has put up for auction include images from trips to the Alabama Hills, Death Valley and Yosemite.
Leideritz said the auction will continue until every piece donated has received a bid. Until that time, there will be no word on how much is expected to be raised during this event, he said.
Those who frequent Laguna Beach’s art festivals will recognize some familiar names behind the pieces up for auction, including longtime Festival of Arts exhibitor Robert Hansen, who has provided four platinum palladium photographs.
“I like old train graveyards, and it’s a particular graveyard down on the Mexico border called Campo,” said Hansen, who added he decided to donate 100% of the proceeds from his works to the cause. “I went down there and did a lot of abstractions. This is all old railroad equipment that’s kind of been junked out. They do a little bit of restoration, but I find that sort of stuff very fascinating.”
Ron Azevedo, who has been exhibiting at the Festival of Arts for the past decade, said most of the works he shows there come from his trips to Chernobyl. He said he traveled to Ukraine in 2012, 2013 and 2017.
“Strangely enough, I’ve never really showed people the images of a lot of the work that I’ve taken in Ukraine,” Azevedo said. “Mostly, Chernobyl is what I focus on and what I exhibit, so I’ve got a whole backlog, and I’m actually planning to focus my entire summer exhibit at the Festival of Arts on the beauty of Ukraine — showing some of the images of what life is like, what this place looks like, besides the war-torn areas.”
“Some people are telling me, on my pictures and stuff, ‘Hey, this may be the only memories you’re going to have of some of these places you captured’ because of just the destruction and how everything is just being destroyed,” Azevedo said. “Is it going to happen? Is it not? I spent every day watching so much news that it’s numbing that this can’t be stopped, and just waiting for something to happen that’s going to change the course of events before it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse.”
Azevedo also expressed appreciation to the art community for stepping up in a critical moment.
“I’m so grateful to everyone that is reaching out,” Azevedo said. “They see what’s going on and how bad it is. … I want to get on a plane and go out there, but there’s not a whole lot I can do from here, other than to help and support these organizations that are doing the good there, that are bringing the medical needs and food and supplies in to the refugees.”
To place a bid online, visit 32auctions.com/UkraineRefugeeRelief. For more information, email Leideritz at ludo@forestoceangallery.com or call (949) 371-3313.
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