by Steve Harrison

The husband and I went to the Hilbert Museum of California Art in Orange to see Claremont artist John Kosta’s one man show. It is quite an honor for any artist to get the recognition for a show of their art, but is especially noteworthy when it is at a museum.

John Kosta has lived in Claremont for nearly 20 years. During that time, he initially applied his creativity to designing gardens and landscape projects. Turning 50 and confronting some significant life issues, he picked up his paint brushes to devote himself to fine art.

Having grown up on the banks of the LA River and being trained to look at his environment, like many artists he looked to the landscape around him. Being an urban LA kid with an artistic eye, he saw beauty in the isolated, the overlooked, and the commonplace. In 2017 his interests collided. “I took a day trip to hike into the main concrete channel of the Los Angeles River, where I was struck by its incredible beauty,” he said. “Not beauty in the typical sense … but rather in the feelings of glorious isolation, silence, brutal architecture, the play of light and shadow.” This moment created for him a now eight year passion of painting the beauty — the colors, the shadows, the reflections of the man-made, concrete channel that snakes its way from the valley to Long Beach.

It is well worth a trip to the Hilbert to see his masterful work. Beautiful colors, rich and warm; light that bathes what some might call sterile, or others see as dirty and blighted, John Kosta’s brush paints with nature’s golden glow. Who knew concrete could have so many colors? Kosta’s affection for his native LA shows us graceful overpasses, delicate fencing, and streams’ deep blue hues. Behind, in the distance, we see the foothills from which the waters encased in cement flow, nature’s creation juxtaposed with man’s brutal “improvements.” Neither nature nor Kosta let us forget we can see beauty in both.

Kosta joins other noteworthy Claremont artists Phil Dike, Millard Sheets, and Milford Zornes at the Hilbert.

Over the years Mark and Janet Hilbert amassed more than 3,000 paintings, then built a home for them adjacent to Chapman College.

I spent a great afternoon looking at art and then going to dinner at one of the many eateries around the Orange Circle. We ended up at Finney’s Crafthouse, soon coming to the old Press location in our Village. We found more than a little Claremont in downtown Orange.

The museum is free, but you do have to make a reservation online at hilbertmuseum.org/reservations. It is well worth a trip to see how one of our homegrown talents has been recognized outside of our town.

The Hilbert is at 167 N. Atchison St., Orange, CA 92866. More info is at hilbertmuseum.org.