Gallery of Hermosa Creates Space for Art, Experimentation and Shared Creative Energy
Infinite possibilities.
Kimie Joe was creating art out of her home when she received a call about a newly available space on Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach. “I originally thought the space would be perfect for making art and showing my own work,” she says.
At the time, Kimie was curating exhibitions for the Easy Reader Art Series and participating in group shows herself. “When the opportunity to open the gallery came up, it felt like a natural next step.”
As she developed the concept, the vision quickly expanded beyond a personal studio-gallery into a space designed to showcase the work of many artists. The inaugural exhibition, Flowers, featured a group show of local artists.
From there, Kimie and her husband, Ben, began issuing open calls for art and quickly realized there was a strong desire—from both artists seeking exhibition opportunities and a community eager to experience and collect original work—for the gallery to grow in this direction.
Over time, Gallery of Hermosa evolved from a local venue into a dynamic platform featuring regional, national and even international artists.
“One of my favorite things about it is how alive it feels,” Kimie says. “We rotate exhibitions, explore different themes and keep the space constantly evolving.”
The couple later expanded into the adjacent space, opening Hermosa Art Lab—a studio dedicated to hands-on workshops and classes.
“It feels like the perfect complement to the gallery,” she says. “People can create art as well as experience and exhibit it.”
“One of my favorite things about it is how alive it feels. We rotate exhibitions, explore different themes and keep the space constantly evolving.”
Like the gallery itself, Kimie’s own career path has been anything but linear. She began as a chemical engineer working on the International Space Station program before transitioning into visualization engineering at Northrop Grumman. “I painted throughout those years,” she shares, “but it was really motherhood that moved me toward painting full time.”
She began creating impressionistic portraits of her children to capture fleeting moments. Friends took notice, leading to commissioned portraits and eventually the sale of her original work.
Today, Kimie continues to experiment with mixed media, focusing on subjects and narratives rooted in personal meaning and life experience. She cites inspiration from Hibari Misora’s song “The Way the River Flows,” which reflects on life as a river—moving through calm stretches and turbulent storms alike.
“That metaphor deeply resonates with my own journey,” she says.
More recently, Kimie has incorporated ceramics into her practice. “Clay has memory,” she explains, “which makes it the perfect medium to symbolize our own memories and experiences.”
Working with ceramics has also allowed her to move beyond the traditional boundaries of canvas, extending her paintings into three-dimensional form. “For me, it represents not being confined—or stereotyped.”
Now a gallery owner and curator in addition to being an artist, Kimie is learning the business side of art from the ground up. Supporting other artists and cultivating creative community has become one of the most fulfilling aspects of her work.
“It feels like a natural extension of my own artistic journey,” she says.
Through a diverse programming approach, Kimie and Ben support artists in multiple ways—hosting juried group shows, invitational exhibitions and solo presentations. The gallery’s special-purpose exhibition, Infinite Possibilities, served as a fundraiser for Young at Art, with participating artists generously donating their work to support arts education.
“What’s been most rewarding is the diversity of artists and artwork we’ve been able to showcase,” Kimie says. “In just over a year, we’ve had the pleasure of featuring several hundred artists. That variety keeps the gallery dynamic, with something new and inspiring for our community every time they walk through the door.”
