Renée A. Fox, Diane Gamboa, Germs, and Gronk: Four artists span decades of experience and deliver different versions of working as an artist in Los Angeles today. Their group show”QUAD SHOT” at Coagula Curatorial is a high energy dose of LA originality.

Gronk’s work  influences many of today’s street artists, whether they know their art history or not: In 1972, as part of the East Los Angeles based Chicano artist collective ASCO (derived from the Spanish word for disgust to the point of vomiting) was response to socio-economic and political conditions surrounding the Chicano community in East Los Angeles. AND THEY TAGGED WALL AT LACMA as a conceptual performance art piece, called Spray Paint LACMA. Without permission. Because when Asco member Harry Gamboa, Jr. approached a Los Angeles County Museum of Art curator about the possibility of including Chicano art in future exhibitions, the curator responded that Chicanos were incapable of producing anything other than folk art. ASCO’s repsonse? Gang-style lettering and a commemorative photo of Asco member Patssi Valdez posing above it.

Definitely worth checking out this historical and continually relevant, vital artist. Diane Gamboa who was active in both the punk rock scene and ASCO in the 1980, and created intricate images fraught with magical symbolism and power.  Renée A. Fox’s seductive floral paintings pulsate with feminine power, delivering a sly wink and erotic strength, while Germs intensely complex street art-influenced paintings vibrate and explode.

Watch for our CARTWHEEL interview with Gronk by Marilyn Nix!

Down below Karen Finley boldly returns to the act of painting, bringing the process of art-making back into performance art  with Sext Me If You Can, featuring the artwork created by Finley during her recent performance in Coagula Curatorial’s booth at the Miami Project Art Fair.  Sext Me If You Can is a display of painted images that were “sexted” to Finley during the fair’s two day duration.  Finley’s Sext Me If You Can blurs traditional distinctions of intimacy, which become obsolete under the specter of technology and power relationships are in flux when freedom and control are stored on a microchip.

Both shows open January 19 with artist reception from 7pm-11pm and run through February 9.

Asco’s Spray Paint LACMA, 1972