Save the Date: June 25, “California Locos” New Works, Skate Decks
The California Locos–Chaz Bojorquez, Dave Tourjé, John Van Hamersveld, Norton Wisdom, and Gary Wong–five pioneering Los Angeles artists whose roots are in graffiti, surf, skate and punk rock—bring their edgy, sun soaked styles to Venice, CA with new works for a week-long summer pop-up–a show so big it needed two locations: 319 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, CA and around the corner at The Rose Room, 6 Rose Ave.
The show, which opens this Saturday, July 25 from 7-11pm, also showcases the launch of the Locos skateboards with Dusters California, with live music by Los Savages plus highlights from the documentary Crazy World Ain’t It—The Life and Times of John Van Hamersveld being shown for the first time! And just to make it more over the top, rad and epic: Maverick artist/musician and American treasure, Llyn Foulkes, will also be joining the Los Savages jam session, and Salba (Steve Alba), godfather of pool skating, guitarist and Skateboarding Hall of Famer will open the night’s musical festivities featuring a set with a special all-star group, Salba & His Heavy Friends.
Facebook Invite for Opening Reception on Saturday here
This is a must-see show for skate enthusiasts and lovers of SoCal art! For those who want to delve into the cultural, sociological, and historic side of things, the Locos present two midweek nights of lively panel discussions, led by Shana Nys Dambrot, that continue to expand the movement’s personal and community history and its indelible, ongoing cultural influence in Southern California and around the globe.
On Tuesday, June 28, 7- 9pm, the discssion is “Fathers & Sons: A conversation on influence, conflict, and legacy in skate, surf, art, and film,” featuring. Larry Bell & Oliver Bell, Ivan Hosoi & Christian Hosoi. Wednesday night’s panel from 7-9pm discusses “Evolution of a Revolution: How skate and surf culture created a generation of painters, sculptors, and graphic artists that changed the art world forever,” and features Jim Ganzer, Jeff Ho, Brad Howe, and Michael “Torquato” DeNicola. Both panels will be held at the Rose Room.
Facebook Invite for Panel Discussions here
The CALIFORNIA LOCOS are:
Chaz Bojorquez, known as the godfather of graffiti art, is considered one of the first artists who successfully made the transition from street to gallery. His iconic street image, a stylized skull called “Senor Suerte” (Mr. Luck), has become a seminal icon in graffiti art. Bojorquez’s paintings are in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian, Laguna Museum of Art, MOCA. and LACMA., to name only a few. Bojorquez was prominently featured in the renowned Art in the Streets exhibit at MOCA in 2011. Chaz is known as a primary influence on many contemporary graffiti artists such as Retna, Banksy, Shepard Fairey and others.
Dave Tourjé was born and raised in the culturally eclectic Northeast L.A. of the 1970s and his upbringing amongst the skaters, gangs, and the area’s tribal friction play heavily in his work. Also a musician, Tourjé was a member of the influential L.A. band the Dissidents, playing shows with Camper Van Beethoven, Saccharine Trust, The Minutemen to name a few. Tourjé’s artwork oscillates between high and low, punk and institutional hegemony and was the subject of a one-man exhibition covering 15 years of paintings on acrylic glass at the Riverside Art Museum in 2002. It has been featured at the Oceanside Museum of Art, the Orange County Museum of Art, and Laguna Art Museum. In 1998, Tourjé helped to form the Chouinard Foundation after purchasing the home of Nelbert Chouinard, in order to help restore the lost history of one of the great art schools in the world.
John Van Hamersveld, is best known for an enormous catalog of pop images. From his iconic poster for the movie The Endless Summer, to his album cover work for The Beatles (Magical Mystery Tour), Blondie (Eat To The Beat) and the Rolling Stones (Exile On Main Street) to name but a few, Van Hamersveld’s iconic images have had a tremendous impact on popular culture and fashion from the early 60s to the present, including his influence on street artist Shepard Fairey. Van Hamersveld’s images incorporate a diverse mixture of sub-cultural design elements and formal academic training from both Chouinard and Art Center during the ’60s, drawing off of diverse influences from Lorser Feitelson to his life as an iconic surfer.
Norton Wisdom has been collaborating with musical ensembles for live art painting performances since 1979. His collaborations with renowned artists include Nels Cline (Wilco), Bernard Fowler (Rolling Stones), Ivan Neville, Stephen Perkins (Janes Addiction), Llyn Foulkes, National Bamboo Orchestra of Bali, the Disney Hall with Christoph Bull, and the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, to name only a few. His live painting performances have touched off a growing international movement of the same type, which he has been forwarding since the ’70s.
Gary Wong studied under Emerson Woelffer and Matsumi Kanemitsu at Chouinard and was a vital part of the shifting dialogue integral to the formation of West Coast postmodernism and surf/skate/rock culture as we know it today. His visual language is a complex collage-based paint/draw process that often uses photography, and reflects his involvement in music as well as wider social and political concerns. Close friends and influences have included artists as diverse as Rick Griffin, Doug Wheeler and Terry Allen.
