Challenging, subtle and personal--that is how Executive...

Challenging, subtle and personal--that is how Executive Director Will Hipps describes “Solo Series of Three,” an exhibition opening today at Angels Gate Cultural Center in San Pedro.

The show features three artists, Kristen Morse, Timothy Nolan and Joseph Santarromana, who were winners in the center’s 1992 Juried Members Exhibition, “On Site at the Gate.” Awarded the opportunity to show new works in “Solo Series of Three,” the artists have created 19 pieces, mostly installations, that are both provocative and elegant, Hipps said.

Morse, Nolan and Santarromana “work from personal history and strong personal memory that stimulates, inspires and motivates the pieces,” Hipps said.

Calling on universal human themes, the artists challenge cultural stereotypes and the meaning of time while drawing on dream imagery, memory and familiar objects to suggest ideas and events. The works offer a highly sensuous experience that requires the viewer to take time to reflect while drinking in the images, Hipps said.

Santarromana, a video artist who apprenticed with pioneer Bill Viola, uses sound and moving images to provoke memory and encourage viewers to participate in his sometimes autobiographical work. Nolan employs everyday objects such as chain-link fencing and steel wool in repetitive patterns that speak to time and timelessness. Morse uses clothing in a way that makes the commonplace ephemeral.

Thomas Solomon, owner of the West Hollywood gallery Tom Solomon’s Garage, juried last year’s members exhibition and selected the three artists for the solo show.

Solomon called the work by Morse, Nolan and Santarromana “the most innovative quality work that I saw (in the exhibition).”

An opening reception for the artists, free and open to the public, will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. today. The artists also will be available to answer questions at “Dialogue with the Artists,” a free event scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. May 22.

Angels Gate Cultural Center is at 3601 South Gaffey St., Building A, in San Pedro. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Admission is free. Information: (310) 519-0936.