Preview: Llyn Foulkes, Leigh Salgado, Vito LoRusso at Coagula Curatorial

 

As long as I’ve known Mat Gleason–from when he was organizing the Brewery’s original art shows and launching Coagula Magazine, and now with Coagula Curatorial–he still finds time to cast an astrological chart with the same fluidity he uses to toss out bon mots and cutting truths about the art scene; and he has always been a mischievous genius who loves art. He also loves an artist, Leigh Salgado, and luckily she’s good, really good, at making art.

Salgado is one of three artists Gleason presents in Coagula’s show opening Saturday October 27. Mat invited me down for a walk-through–which for us means a talk-through, since we gab about everything from art to retrograde planets in aspect–and I was thrilled to see the work show, even though it wasn’t completely lit, and Mat was just getting around to having a Coagula staffer hang the gallery’s street address above the door, using the official numbers from the Angels, his favorite baseball team. Using Angels’ uniform numbers takes balls, since Dodger Stadium can be seen from the sidewalk outside Coagula.

The new show is wonderfully Los Angeles-centric: Upstairs, Salgado’s delicate cut and burn works on paper illustrating body parts contrast with Vito LoRusso‘s wood and metal sculptures depicting the domesticity of various neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Interspersed, the artists’ pieces highlight fundamental concerns of Angelenos: Our interiors and exteriors. And for good measure, Salgado includes a visual pun: Along with many subliminal vaginas throughout her pieces, there’s Vagina with Cherry Blossoms, a series of concentric circles that take aim at Jasper John’s targets.

And downstairs: Lynn Foulkes! The Complete Pigment Prints, sixteen prints, signed and numbered, from the revered Los Angeles artist, including Pop, the centerpiece of MoCA’s 1992 “Helter Skelter” exhibition, and Foulkes’ controversial Bloody Head series. Foulkes began his career in 1959 at the groundbreaking Ferus Gallery, with a solo show there in 1961 (a year before Andy Warhol’s Soupcans) and gained a following for his huge landscapes which incorporated man-made elements, as well as his more Pop Art works. So when Foulkes debuted his Bloody Head series 2001, art world heads exploded from the visual equivalent of Bob Dylan going electric at the Newport Folk Festival (Google that bit of ancient history, kids!). It was a radical departure in terms of content, but not in theme! These prints in the original will be part of the Hammer Museum retrospective of Foulkes’ work, opening in February, 2013.

 

Bonus for the opening night reception: DUMBFUXX, presenting excerpts from their forthcoming film and soundtrack, Asphalt Serenade.

Lynn Foulkes, Leigh Salgado, Victor LoRusso
Opening reception Saturday October 27, 8pm -midnight.

Coagula Curatorial
977 Chung King Road
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Open Wednesday-Saturday, noon-5pm, and by appointment.