Dreamweaver: Interview with Vincent Cacciotti
My first encounter with the work of Vincent Cacciotti was fairly intense. Back in November of 2012, I walked into WWA Gallery and was immediately confronted with a row of masterful oil paintings that were at once dark, mysterious, psychological, sensual, and gripping. I was unfamiliar with the name, but I quickly filed it away…
Ike Turner Killed JFK: A Conversation with Hudson Marquez
Hudson Marquez is one of the most gifted raconteurs I’ve ever met. He has the kind of gift for gab that only comes from living a nomadic life peppered with thorny characters. His voice is loud but oddly soothing, with just the gentlest Louisiana lilt. Hudson has a salty tongue, and appears to have no…
Charity Case: “Art with a Heart” & “Print Isn’t Dead” at WWA Gallery
Let’s face it, we humans are contrary folk. We will cut each other off in traffic without even signaling. We will berate underpaid, blameless supermarket cashiers for not opening more registers, even if there are only two people ahead of us. We will bump into each other while walking and texting, then scowl at…
The Lowdown from Joe Copro: Interview with Greg Escalante
Cultural movements, as organic as they may seem, don’t just happen on their own. Especially so when it comes to art movements. There are catalysts involved. Art cannot breathe and flourish in a vacuum. Whether it’s been the Medici or Theo Van Gogh, art has always needed it’s patrons, it’s champions, it’s guardians of…
People Are Strange: Mercedes Helnwein’s “Make It Dark” at Merry Karnowsky Gallery
Let’s not get too bogged down in who Mercedes Helnwein is just yet. Let us, for the moment, focus on the work which, with Helnwein, is a writer’s dream. No matter how you attempt to describe her art, you can’t really go wrong, given that one avoids words like “convivial” and “uplifting”. Helnwein traffics in oblique, moody…
“We Are Who We Pretend To Be” at WWA Gallery
Los Angeles seems like the ideal place to stage an art exhibit that tackles issues of identity. People everywhere struggle with their identities, but in Los Angeles, that struggle is our very culture. Here that struggle breeds, festers and spreads its influential bile to all points on the globe. From studio execs who define…
Once There Were Parking Lots: Chloe Early – “Rainbow Ruins” at Corey Helford Gallery
The last studio album the Talking Heads ever made included a song called “Nothing But Flowers.” The protagonist of the song describes a post-industrial landscape in which Mother Earth, having reached the limit of her tolerance, has sprung full bloom in retaliation, blanketing our shopping malls and skyscrapers with trees, rivers, and daisies. The man…
Paper Cuts: Interview with Leigh Salgado
The first time I saw a photo of Leigh Salgado‘s work, I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. When I first got to see her work in person, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. She cuts, and burns, and folds, and paints largish paperscapes depicting vintage lace, lingerie, and flowers that cascade and fuse…
The CARTWHEEL Interview with Isabel Samaras
Look, I know you, dear CARTWHEEL reader, I know you. You’re wicked smart, probably very attractive, you have an unquenchable thirst for art, and you most certainly already know who Isabel Samaras is. Still, new art fanatics are born every day and for them a little background may be in order. So kids, Isabel…
Cretin Hop: Dee Dee Ramone at Subliminal Projects
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. This review was supposed to be a piece of cake for me. I mean, it’s freaking Dee Dee Ramone! A lot of music blares in my studio, but no other band gets more play than the Ramones, none. There are other bands that are more important to me (the Clash), bands…
“Ice Loves Rococo” – Van Arno at CHG Circa
Rock stars can have rare moments of honesty when it comes to explaining why they became musicians in the first place. “To get chicks” is a frequent refrain. Artists will be a bit more dodgy on the subject, tending to offer loftier motives than merely wanting to paint naked bodies. I think they’re hedging their bets. When…
