As soon as I was asked to cover “High Five”, the fifth anniversary group show at C.A.V.E. Gallery, I started asking myself some questions.  Like, what is it that sets C.A.V.E. apart from its peers? Why is it consistently one of my favorite places to see art? There were some easy answers, sure; Patrick and Tanya maintain a warm, friendly atmosphere, always taking time to say hello to everyone (even while juggling a hundred other duties). C.A.V.E. openings are always fun, often with live painting demonstrations and crate-digger DJ’s. But some of the answers are a little trickier. While C.A.V.E. occasionally shows some of the same artists (JoKa, Anthony Ausgang, etc.) seen at La Luz De Jesus, Copro, or like-minded galleries, you can’t pigeon-hole C.A.V.E. as a lowbrow, or pop surrealist gallery. While they’ve shown well-known street artists such as Shark Toof, Max Neutra, and Mear One, I don’t see C.A.V.E. as falling into the overtly trendy category of “Graf Gallery” either. So, why is the C.A.V.E. experience so unique? What makes them different from everything else that’s out there? After tossing it around in my head quite a bit,  I can tell you the conclusion I’ve come to, I just can’t tell you how they do it. You see, I think that the C.A.V.E. vision is just a little more ‘grown-up’. Which is not to say lofty, or esoteric to the point of being elitist. No, I mean that you walk away from C.A.V.E a little more adult than you were when you went in. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking the other galleries. There’s a dear place in my heart for aggressive,  deviant, jokey, Mad magazine inspired art, but I’ve never left C.A.V.E. Gallery feeling like I needed a Silkwood shower afterwards. The art at C.A.V.E. is just a little more refined, far less jarring than most galleries in this vein. There’s no shock for mere shock value here. The deep rooted pessimist within me cringes as I write this, but I find the art at C.A.V.E. to actually be, er, hopeful.

After the giddy chaos of Saturday’s opening reception, I caught up with Patrick the next day to talk about that vision, and the galleries storied history:

How did this all get started?

C.A.V.E. Gallery really started in September of 2001, as a series of art events that would happen once a month, at different venues in Venice. C.A.V.E. is an acronym for Center for Audio and Visual Expression. Basically, when we started doing C.A.V.E. we would have visual artwork, performance art, short films, bands, deejays, anything creative, and it lasted for about a year. Then I started working with a guy named L Croskey, and he was doing something called Cannibal Flower. So I took a break from C.A.V.E. and I helped L Croskey. Then I started meeting way more artists and musicians and deejays, and I just realized this whole underground art movement in Los Angeles was just so awesome, and exciting, and taking off. Again, this was like eleven years ago or so. I live in Venice and a space opened up. This very small space on Rose Avenue, and Rose Avenue, five years ago, was still kind of rough and tough, and as some people used to say ‘edgy’. We moved in there, painted the walls, tried to plug the leaks in the ceiling, and started throwing art shows. As time went on, we realized our neighbors didn’t appreciate the audio aspects of C.A.V.E. and we slowly just moved into, more predominantly the visuals. So, C.A.V.E. kind of became a more traditional and formal art gallery. In 2010, C.A.V.E, moved out of its location on Rose because we basically outgrew the space, and we moved to where we are now, on Abbot Kinney. We were very lucky, the space is huge, it’s an older space. Historically, it’s been a creative space. Our landlord was an artist, and lived here in the seventies. It’s a much busier street. Abbot Kinney has a lot of boutiques, high-end and what have you, but it’s unique in the sense that it’s not like the Third Street Promenade. It’s funky little independent shops. It’s a great opportunity for us, and it gives the artists great exposure to a wider audience.

So this weekend we’re celebrating our five year anniversary. What we try to do every May, is a group show with artists that we’re working with that year, or the coming year. Some have been with us the whole time, like John Park, others are new to us like Amanda Marie, Tom French (top photo), and VINZ, etc. So we have a bunch of artists to thank and support, as well as a bunch of new artists we can’t wait to work with.

Tell me about C.A.V.E.’s aesthetic. How do you manage to separate yourself from the pack?

What we’re finding is the vision, or the direction that C.A.V.E. seems to be going is — we appreciate so many artists in this so-called new contemporary art movement, like, I like street artists, I like the illustrators, I like the dark artists, I like the pop surrealists, I like the lowbrows, I like all of these different types of artwork but I didn’t want to necessarily get lumped into just showing dark art, or just showing street art. There’s so many of these artists that we are drawn to, and I don’t want to necessarily be lumped into some sort of category. Basically it’s artwork that we really love, and artists that we really want to support, and have a great time working with, or just being friends with. I’m finding our direction, and I don’t know if it’s subliminal or not, it’s kind of moving in this direction where it can be very expressive with a painterly feel, a lot of bold brushstrokes. I guess energy and movement is a good couple of terms to explain the artists we’re working with.

Thanks Patrick, and Happy Anniversary man!

“High Five” is on view through June 2nd, 2013

C.A.V.E. Gallery
1108 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice, CA. 90291
310.450.6960
info@cavegallery.net
Hours: Wednesday – Sunday 12pm to 6pm
or by appointment

Untitled by devNgosha

Skateboarding is not a crime by Haunted Euth

Platinum by Taka Sudo

Let’s Pretend We’re Married by L Croskey

Oh by Joshua Charles Hart

Rainbow Thieves by Nathan Cartwright

Tea Time by Megz Majewski

War by Hans Haveron

Untitled I (Santa Monica) by Restitution Press

Without You the Night Will Tear Me in Half by JoKa

Every Little Boys Dream by Amanda Marie

Allegoria Della Primavera by VINZ

Girl Show # 3 by Shark Toof

Face Up by Taka Sudo

Lookee by Anthony Ausgang

The Max Neutra Corner

Early birds.

Haunted Youth?

You’ve seen Eric Minh Swenson at art galleries and events all over the Los Angeles, the guy with the big cameras, low key vibe, and artfully shaped facial hair. His photos, aside from appearing on CARTWHEEL, can be found in Artillery Magazine and Coagula Art Journal. He also writes for Huffington Post (His article on phone app photography is so right on).

Swenson has gained unprecedented access to artists, collectors, curators, gallerists, and art world denizens from San Diego to Ventura. His photos and interviews are revealing portraits of both the Southland and the artistic impulses–shaped by the area’s geography, climate, history, and cultures–that express themselves here. His growing body of work (over 200 short film about Southern California art to date, and thousands of photos) is far ranging and in depth. The art scene in any city has yet to be documented this extensively.

The short documentaries Swenson creates are fluid and evocative, pieces of art themselves. This summer, he begins work on Mana, his ambitious feature-length documentary about group of Southern California artists, produced by Andi Campognone, curator at Lancaster’s Museum of Art and History, and artist Alex Couwenberg, whose doc is shown below.

On Monday, May 20th from 5pm to 6:30pm, West Coast time on Firedoglake.com,  I’ll be interviewing the director/photographer about his work chronicling art and artists in Southern California on Firedoglake.com Movie Night (I’ve interviewed over 300 filmmakers during the past four and half years, including fifteen Oscar nominees, numerous festival winners, plus alt-culture figures like Exene Cervenka and Mike Watt).

Join us Monday at 5pm West Coast time on the front page of Firedoglake.com. To participate in the live, online discussion, you must be registered and logged in on Firedoglake.com (it’s free!). Simply click the “register” button, and follow the steps to create your account. Then on Monday log in to Firedoglake.com. If you do not see the title at first, refresh your screen. The chat will be on the front page of Firedoglake not at this URL.

To comment/question, type your comment or question into the comment box and hit “submit comment.” To reply to a specific comment, click “reply” on that comment’s  box.  Refresh your screen every couple of minutes in order to see new comments, questions, and replies.

Can’t wait till Monday? Here are some of his shots from LA art openings, and a couple of his short docs.

Images and videos: Courtesy Eric Minh Swenson/thuvanarts.com. Used by permission. Painting top, Bradford J. Salamon

 

Alex Couwenberg, Swenson, Andi Campognone

Johannes Giradoni installation at Nye + Brown, Culver City

Artist Arturo de Bartuk in his bedroom.

Leigh Salgado in her studio.

Ben Brough in his garden.

Swenson in work mode at MOAH.

 

 

Create:Fixate‘s spring  multi-media event “Constellations” blended visual arts, live music, and DJs in a dynamic atmosphere for art appreciation that mirrored the diversity of Los Angeles itself. Held in Lot 63, a Downtown Los Angeles Arts District warehouse space just blocks from CARTWHEEL’s offices,  Create: Fixate  “Constellations” drew over 1,200 people who experienced some of the freshest and best art in LA, exposing talent in a professional, non-traditional gallery environment. Held quarterly, Create:Fixate  attracts  and cultivates a new generation of art lovers, as well as inspiring and stimulating the experienced collector.

Create: Fixate recognizes the importance of nurturing artists of all ages.

Jamie Becker

Johnnie Thorton

Paula Izydorek

Patrick McPheron

Michael Hayden

Patrick Hammerlein

Lola Ramona‘s new work in charcoal.

Lola Ramona Lasinger’s painting was the backdrop for DJs and live bands.

Walter Robot, aka Bill Barminski and Christopher Louie

Adam Greener

Nancy Tobin

Branded Art’s Warren Brand with Swig Miller’s art

Timothy Yarger, Alllison Startcher, artist  Zhenya Gershman, and Ellizabeth Yochim

My parents with author, adventurer, and Renaissance man  Paul Koudounaris

Early Bird Circus

Artists are magicians, able to cause change to occur in accordance with their will. (Well, they cause change to occur with their chosen medium, and they all would like to transform their art into gold!) Artist Mark Edward, whose “Soothsayer” reception is Saturday, May 18 at the Fold Gallery in the Spring Arts Building downtown, is a magician of a different sort:

While a student at Cal Arts, studying fine and performance art, Mark was mentored by John Baldessari. He had always done magic tricks, and when his parents cut short his arts eduction, Mark turned to Baldessari for advice. The legendary California painter suggested that since Mark was already doing stage magic, maybe he should take his act to the  Magic Mountain amusement park, since despite their name, they actually didn’t have any “real” magicians at that time (though they did have beer, which made it a more popular park for adults than Disneyland, which had no alcohol until the mid-1990s). Mark was a success, and quickly moved up to the Magic Castle as professional mentalist for over thirty years.

Mark continued to make art while working to reveal the methods of psychic scamsters.  As he reveals in his biography, Psychic Blues, Confession of a Conflicted Medium, Mark worked for ten years as a 900-phone line psychic, while studying spiritualist churches to learn and expose their methods. He  also consulted for, and appeared on, numerous television programs, including Penn & Teller’s Bullshit!,  NBC’s The Other Side and Psychic Secrets Revealed, The Discovery Channel’s Forces Beyond, and  on two episodes of The Learning Channel’s Exploring the Unknown. Mark has written books on palmistry, mediumship, and psychism, but could never escape his first love, art. He designed a beautiful set of the Major Arcana tarot cards (the 22 “trumps”) called Silentium, and continued to paint, moving into collage and assemblage. Currently he builds elaborate sculptures–arcane, imaginary alchemical devices and sci-fi machines–out of antique laboratory glass.

I appreciate that Mark works to expose fakes, and neither declares himself as a genuine psychic, nor gives any disclaimers. He lets his work stand on its own merit and allows each individual to arrive at their own personal conclusions, which is what his art does as well.  Much of his art deals with science and mysticism (or in some cases, science vs mysticism), often combining his precise painting style with thrift shop paintings; collaging together elements associated with legerdemain and the occult; and evoking Harry Houdini. His work is intelligent, surreal (he cites Max Ernst as an influence), and eye opening. Drop by on May 18, and maybe Mark, who will performing illusions, will read your fortune. I see a new art purchase in your future!

“Soothsayer,” Mark Edward
Through June 9
Reception, Saturday May 18, 5pm-10pm
Illusions and fortunes read at 9pm
The Fold Gallery
453 S. Spring St., upstairs
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Mark Edward in his laboratory home

A cabinet of curiosities and quack cures.

One of Edward’s early paintings.

These two glass pieces are in “Soothsayer.”

“Soothsayer” prep.

Alchemy triptych: Idea, Work, and Gold.

Gold

The End of Magic

A Day at the Beach

Missy Stepford sold during the first hour of the DTLA artwalk May 9.

]]> http://www.cartwheelart.com/2013/05/15/mark-edward-soothsayer-fold-gallery/feed/ 0 http://www.cartwheelart.com/2013/05/15/max-neutra-reporting-from-stroke-art-fair-munich/ http://www.cartwheelart.com/2013/05/15/max-neutra-reporting-from-stroke-art-fair-munich/#comments Wed, 15 May 2013 15:15:12 +0000 Max Neutra http://www.cartwheelart.com/?p=18451

When C.A.V.E. Gallery  asked if I would be interested in painting at the Stroke Art Fair in Munich , of course I said yes without missing a beat. Not to worry about how much it will cost, where I will stay, etc. I’ll figure all that out later. Bottom line is I’ve been wanting to see Germany for years, and was just hoping that art would one day be the catalyst to bring me there. I could not pass up this opportunity.

For months the trip was looming in the distance, but growing. Like approaching a big wall on the horizon.  People were trying to line me up for shows after the trip, and I would say

Just wait until I get back. I can’t see past Germany right now.

As the date of departure approached, all I could think about was:

What am I going to show?  What am I going to bring?  And most importantly, what am I going to paint while I am there?

After kissing the wife goodbye, and nearly 24 hours of traveling, I arrived stinky and dazed at the biergarten in the courtyard of Praterinsel Museum where C.A.V.E.’s Patrick and Tanya greeted me with hugs and smiles before we sat down to enjoy our first bratwurst together durning the vendor/artist pre show meet and greet.  Ahhh, so this is Munich.  Large green trees towering over us.  The river of blue-green water from the alps, a constant presence of cool confidence in the background.  Slap-your-momma-good BBQ.  Let’s do this.

Day one of the fair. I took a quick turn around the grounds and was impressed with the variety work on display. I’ve been to several art fairs, and although galleries generally pull out all the stops and show their best work, I usually end up leaving having actually liked only one or two pieces. Granted, having been in the scene for some years now, and I’m a bit jaded.  I often find it hard to discover new work that will make me look twice.  But there was something different at Stroke.  Sure, not everything was pure gold, but I think I responded positively to the general attitude that was so prevalent there. Youth, passion, a disregard for the rules, and exploration of new concepts and techniques.  I found that the sense of rebellion that is often prevalent in urban art seemed to yield a variety of contrasts that was all the more visible with so many different artists lined up next to each other.  One man going against the grain is a single dissonant note that might be lost in the mix, but Stroke was a symphony of noise that you could not escape, and at times it was awesome to behold.

To try to cover everything would be impossible, so I’m going to point out the highlights and some of my favorite work there.

One of the first people I met was Shai Dahan, an artist who used to live in Venice Beach, but now lives in Sweden with his sweetheart.  His work is often compared to Conor Harrington‘s, and I can see that.  But I also see his own unique touch.  Looking at his wild motion and textures contained within the clean edges of a profile are like looking through the window of a moving train. Step right outside the window to meet your violent doom, but instead you can sit safely on this side of the window and observe the chaos framed and tidy.  However you describe his work,  Sweden seems to love it and has been trying to keep him all to themselves, but they can’t seem stop him from breaking out into the bigger arenas and making waves.

Perhaps it was his conversational nature, but we hit it off right away and ended up talking for hours about, art, life experiences, painting techniques, etc.  The whole time I was talking to him, I was thinking he looked familiar.  I’ve seen his face before.  Then, when I saw his work, I knew I had seen his work before, but where?  It was not until he began to tell his story about posting art in Palestine that I realized how I knew him. I had seen his TED Talk!  Check it out here.

You may not know it by looking at his art, but he actually a very funny dude. It was great to meet him and I look forward to seeing his work back in the LA area soon.

There was a room in the lower part of the basement wrought with paint fumes, as it was filled with a medley of artists from around the world.  I ask you, what other art fair will you witness artists from Spain, Italy, Mexico, Germany, and Brazil, all filling the walls with color in the same room?  One artist that I especially resonated with was a fellow from Brazil named Rodrigo Branco. His blank eyed faces were both spooky and comical, and I enjoyed watching his unique technique unfold using both spray and small rollers.  We did not speak much because of a language barrier, but there was a definite expression of mutual respect shared, and at the end of the fair he was nice enough to trade me a print for one of my traveling bunnies.

Another fun moment was when I got to catch up with my friends Amanda Marie and her manager/partner in crime/artist Hyland Mather. Amanda had shared C.A.V.E. gallery with me during my New Tongues show in January 2014.  It was great to meet with them on the other side of the globe the globe and share some food and drink together. Amanda has a quietness about her that I find calming.  Like she could tame a lion just by sitting next to it for a few minutes.  I also find that her work reflects this.  It does not try to hit you over the head with anything.  Instead it sits there quiet and inviting, and as you approach the work, it begins to affect you.  Not like being hypnotized, but more like someone speaking softly to you, so you slow down and shut up in order to hear.  I say Amanda is an artist to keep an eye on.  Get a piece now while you can afford it, and let it change time and space in your house.

I finished my wall on Friday before it started raining, but the sun was out on Saturday and I was able to set up the extra bunnies around the base.   I am continued to be amazed at the response these bunnies get.  Combined with the giant colorful techno-walrus, and the cryptic writing in the background, people were not sure what to make of it. But I set out with a goal. I wanted to paint something that would almost trip people’s eyes like a crack in the sidewalk.  Something that they could not pass without consideration. “What kind of writing is that?  Are those cut out bunnies?  What’s up with that wacky walrus?”. Unlike Amanda Marie’s work that charms you by whispering in your ear, my piece was a wild animal howling in tongues. Beastly and possibly slightly dangerous. Don’t get too close.

I sat and watched people walk past, enjoying seeing the smiles on people’s faces as they pointed at the bunnies.  And even though I don’t speak German, I could tell when people were wondering what language was written in the back.   It seemed someone approached camera in hand and took a picture every 15-30 seconds, like they were capturing a shot of Bigfoot.   Conversation, questions, and pictures.  Mission accomplished.

Once you’ve had your fill of eyeball candy, the next logical step was to fill your stomach as well with a brat or burger and some bavarian beer in the central courtyard. Most of the day there was either a band or DJ playing, which really lent to the festival like atmosphere.  My favorite band was the Monika Roscher Big Band.   The lead (Monika) donned a mask and electric guitar, which she rocked good and proper when she was not conducting the rest of her massive ensemble, which included a mean horn section, stand up bass, full live drummer, keyboardist, and computer noise guy.  Perhaps it was me feeling overwhelmed with gratitude that I was lucky enough to have such experiences.  Maybe it was the beer.  But at one point during her performance, I was suddenly and surprisingly brought to tears.  Amazing how a certain sequence of notes and tones can unlock emotions.  I am now officially a huge fan, and have bought her album, but I will say that the recording just does not do them justice.  Hearing it through speakers is nothing like feeling the sound of the full band move through you.  Too bad it seems you will have to go to Germany to see them live, but check them out online anyway.  They deserve some attention.

Another main feature of the courtyard was a massive painting slowly coming together by Stroke sweetheart, Fin Dac.  You may already know him from his recent collaborations in LA with local artist Christina Angelina.  I had a great conversation with him and was at first stricken by his no-bullshit demeanor, but he was ultimately a great guy and I look forward to seeing him again the next time he is in LA.   We discussed many things, among them his painting technique, which is uniquely his own, and one of the keys to his success.  He is primarily a stencil guy, but the way he builds them, uses them, and then shades and finishes his work leaves his pieces feeling more like a straight up painting rather than a stencil job. He believes that stencil artists should avoid being slaves to the stencil. Just use them as guides, then expand with your own unique hand embellishments.  He must be on to something because the man is booked solid.

Here’s some more highlights?…

I the end, my favorite part of the fair was meeting other artists from around the world.  I left with invitations to Brazil, Austria, and Sweden.

Come out any time and you will have friends to greet you.

was the general attitude.  It feels good knowing like minded people around the world.  But I was not the only person meeting artists.  After chatting with several fair goers, I discovered that meeting other artists was one of the main attractions for them as well.  Having been in the scene for a bit, I find myself around other artists all the time, so I forget how rare we are out in the wild.  The public seems to get a special kick out of meeting us and chatting with us about our art and our adventures.  I met computer programmers, movie producers, fashion reporters, geologists, a french bulldog named Olive, and had conversations as varied as the people.  Many thanks to C.A.V.E. Gallery for inviting me, and many thanks to Stroke for having me.  I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

To see more about Max’s adventures in Munich, Cologne, and Berlin Germany, check out his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MaxNeutraArt

–
http://maxneutra.com/

Shai Dahan

Rodrigo Branco

Rodrigo Branco

Vinz was live painting

Vinz

Sidney Pink

River Bunnies

Statement art.

Los Angeles’ County’s high desert community of Lancaster is famous for spring wildflowers, riotous, iridescent fields of California poppies punctuated by spikes of purple lupine that carpet the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, just fifteen miles outside of Lancaster, spilling over the desert’s hills and basins.  The city too spills over the hills; its population has increased fivefold since its incorporation in 1977. CNN Money Magazine has repeatedly named Lancaster as one of the best places to live in the United States, a sobriquet that will no doubt draw more residents, especially with a 54% job growth rate in the past decade.  With its museum-wide exhibition “BLOOM: 2013,” Lancaster’s Museum of Art and History, which opened just a year ago, links the expanding desert community to the environmentally sensitive and economically important land that surrounds it by celebrating Nature’s exuberant growth and underscoring the potential ecological disaster that man-made growth can bring.

While April showers can bring May flowers, this year, so far, April has been the cruelest month. Low rainfall meant very few desert wildflower blooms; the hills along Highway 14 leading to Lancaster are brown and dry. But inside MOAH, a three floor building designed by  Mark K. Lahmon at PSL Architects,  brightly colored floral artwork explodes off the cool white walls of the main gallery, lit by a combination of natural desert light and electricity, while throughout the museums’ other galleries and hallways, and even on the roof, flowers bloom in various forms and interpretations.

The main exhibition ”SuperCallaFragileMysticEcstasyDioecious” highlights four Los Angeles area artists, Penelope Gottlieb, Cole Case,  Amir  H. Fallah, and Roland Reiss. The title riffs off  “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” the neologism coined by the Sherman Brothers  for the 1964 musical Mary Poppins. The word roughly translates  to

 educability atoning through delicate beauty,

an apt attribution for all of “BLOOM: 2013,” and a pun with several layers. “Calla” refers to the line from uttered by Katharine Hepburn in the 1937 film, Stage Door:

The calla lilies are in bloom again. Such a strange flower, suitable to any occasion. I carried them on my wedding day and now I place them here in memory of something that has died.

“Dioecious” is a botanical term; a dioecious species has male (staminate) flowers on one plant, and female (pistillate) flowers on another. Dioecious plants are not self-pollinating. Nor is art; the creative process takes in from the environment, from culture and society, from history, from words and gestures, light and space, the conscious, subconscious, and unconscious. Once past the sticky stigma, these pollinating influences combine with the ovules, the unformed potential in the pistil (itself shaped like the cucurbite of the alchemist), and seeds are formed. “SuperCallaFragileMysticEcstasyDioecious” carefully cultivates the disparate styles that depict a heavily fraught and rich subject, flowers.

The central wall vibrates with Penelope Gottlieb‘s botanical prints and a flowing wall sculpture. These not the calm meditative watercolors of centuries past, but rather erupting, blazing florals. Sub rosa, these pieces moan, scream and echo the anguished themes of the Romantic poets and Exene Cevenka’s punk wail:

The world’s a mess; it’s in my kiss

as fierce blossoms, ragged petals, and torn leaves push past sinister pods and tumbling columns, and in Viola cryana, the 7 of spades,  a playing card which carries dual meaning in cartomancy: higher awareness, or great loss. The species Viola cryana, a French flower in the violet/pansy family, was declared extinct in 1930 when its limestone habitat was destroyed by over-quarrying (though some plants remained in private cultivation until 1950, when the species completely died out). The point is clear, as clear as Gottlieb’s line work in these and in her three piece Audubon series that hangs outside the main the gallery. In the latter, Gottlieb has over-painted Audubon prints with ink and acrylics, adding lush blossoms, menacingly seductive invasive species, to the master naturalist’s works.

The centerpiece of Cole Case‘s wall is a huge canvas, NFL Flowers.  Dutch and Flemish floral still-lifes are redolent with detail and symbolism, rare flowers from around the world, specimens from gardens captured in various stages of bloom, regardless of seasonal and regional constraints. NFL Flowers, over-sized, bold, thick with paint, carries the mind along the stems leaning in the vase to the flowers atop. A yellow gerbera daisy, purple asters tipped with white, a lone pink rose bud–this is a simple bouquet, a bouquet bought to say

I love you

for any and all the reasons carried, perhaps an as apology, perhaps for a celebration, but clearly as a gesture of love.

Working in mixed media, Amir H. Fallah layers drawn and painted flowers into fluid yet dense collages that pulsate with color. These contrast with the seemingly simple acrylic and vinyl works by California master painter Roland Riess:  tropicals and “everyday” flowers like carnations dance with geometric forms  across swirls of aqua, orange, green, and pink in his “Floradora” series.

Visitors to the museum are greeted by site two specific installations. Astro Flowers by Jennifer Vanderpool and Patrick Melroy, links Lancaster’s role in space technology and aviation to the surrounding desert’s flowers, playing upon the contrasts of flowers to rockets, and raising questions about the culturally subjective ideas of “beautification” inherent in manifest destiny (and development). Community Herb Garden, part of the Green MOAH  Initiative installation turns gardening clogs into planters, filling them with earth and sprouts. The result is simple, effective, relatable.

On the museum’s rooftop terrace, the  Green MOAH Initiative takes on a more ambitious garden in conjunction with the Eastside High School Art Department: The Wasteland Project. Students visited illegal dump sites in the desert and hauled back trash which they used to create found object sculptures, themed around flowers. Over 600 students participated in clean up and sculpture construction and related initiative programs including spoken word, and math and science projects. Student artist Tyler Bennett told me that the student teams had barely made a dent in the illegal trash heaps. The work Bennett helped construct is dark and disturbing: shards of broken glass, faded shoes and empty prescription bottles tell a story of lives gone horribly wrong.

In the first floor vault gallery, Sharon Suhovy--whose work was featured in all three Coagula Curators’ College shows last month in Chinatown–exhibited her fairy tale florals in “Ambrosia.” Sculpted with cake decorating tools, Suhovy’s lushly feminine work is simultaneously ladylike and profoundly erotic. The eroticism continues on the second floor with Elena Manferdini‘s close-up montage of pomegranates and cherry blossoms, while Eros is complimented by Thanatos in California photographer Janice Tieken’s series “Orchid Requiem,” winner of the International Silver Prize for Art and Science of Color. The cycle of life and death, roots, seeds, stems, blooms, and fruit are shaped in glass by Kathleen Elliot, delicate and supra-real, complimenting  Susan Sironi‘s botanical dioramas. Sironi carefully cuts away pages of books to create breathtaking, deep and mysterious stories. The leftover cuttings are transformed into wall pieces, overlaid with painted lines, curves, dots–Sironi’s own text, the letters cut away like her book pages into codes for the viewer to parse.

Rebecca Niederlander full room installation We Are Stardust. We Are Golden. And We Have to Get Ourselves Back to the Garden explodes with the brilliant orange of the California poppies, our state flower. Scissors and sheets of paper of  allow the viewer to become a participant, to become a child again by creating cut and fold designs like those scattered about the installation. The title of the piece is the chorus in Joni Mitchell’s  song “Woodstock.”  Niederlander’s piece reflects back to the themes in Astro Flowers on the first floor, to Lancaster’s place between Nature’s beauty and the aerospace industry, while inviting us to return to an Eden-esque state, both internally through creativity; and externally by rescuing and restoring the Golden State.

MOAH is a new museum, located in the newly renovated downtown area, full of freshness, excited to exist, excited by its place in the community and the opportunities it can provide. Admission is a suggested donation, making access to art affordable to everyone. The museum’s dedication to the community is evident not only in its MOAH Green Initiative, but in the museum’s weekly Artist Critique Night, held on Thursdays, moderated by a professional guest artist/critic from the Los Angeles region.  On May 23 MOAH  hosts its 28th Annual All-Media Juried Art Exhibition, “New Traditions,” where a panel of judges will review the work of local artists, and selected artists will have the opportunity to display their art in the Museum of Art & History, as well as gain award recognition.

“BLOOM:2013″ opened on Mother’s Day, and MOAH hosted a Mother’s Day tea and fashion show, featuring clothes and extravagant hats from local shops on the BLVD, as the neighborhood around MOAH is known, further cementing the museum’s desire to celebrate the City of Lancaster and engage the community. Artists in “BLOOM:2013″ attended the tea along with local mothers and daughters and were joined later at the official reception by a group of artists from the greater Los Angeles area including Stevie Love, Emerald Makes Art (aka Echo), Gary Brewer  Julie Scott, Barbara Kerwin, Chase Langford, Coop (Christopher Cooper), Dav Naz, Steve Diet Goedde, Moshe Elimelech, and Ashley Bravin who made easy drive northwards. As photographer/documentary filmmaker Eric Minh Swenson says

Relax, it’s only 80 mins away from LA.

(There’s also Metrolink, which takes a little longer, but has a $10 weekend unlimited pass, which means $5 each way on Saturdays and Sundays; the Metrolink station is three blocks from the museum).

In its first year, under the direction of curator Andi Campognone, MOAH has already featured works by regional, national, and internationally renowned artists.  By continuing to curate exhibitions–along with a variety of art and history-based programs–that have resonance both within and beyond the Antelope Valley, MOAH provides and intimate yet expansive environment in which to experience art, and one which can only enhance the entire Southland’s reputation as an arts center.

BLOOM: 2013
through June 29, 2013
Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH)
665 West Lancaster BLVD (Corner of Ehrlich Ave. and Lancaster BLVD)
Lancaster CA 93534
(661) 723-6250
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday – Sunday: 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Thursday: 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Closed Monday and holidays, and July 1-19 and September 27-29
Admission: Free – Suggested Donation Only

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MOAH’s main gallery. Left to right: Works by Cole Chase, Penelope Gottlieb, Roland Reiss

Penelope Gottlieb, Viola cryana

Penelope Gottlieb, Paederia foetida

Penelope Gottlieb, Cirsium arvense

Cole Chase, Penelope Gottlieb

Cole Case and Natalie Fong in front of Case’s NFL Flowers

Amir H Fallah, Cosmically Aligned With Chaos.

Detail, Cosmically Aligned With Chaos

Amir H. Fallah, The Last Sunset

Roland Reiss, Floradora #22

Roland Reiss’ Floradora series uses vinyl overlaid on swirling backgrounds

The Wasteland Project reclaims trash from illegal dumpsites

The Wasteland Project

Tyler Bennett with Dark Flower, his collaboration in The Wasteland Project

Detail, Dark Flower

Baby Gaga

Sharon Suhovy

Suhovy creates roses, symbols of love and beauty, using cake sculpting tools.

So delicate, yet so strong: The power of the erotic bud.

Janice Tieken with “Orchid Requiem”

“Orchid Requiem”

One of Susan Sironi’s delicate dioramas, cut form gardening and floral decor books.

Lines of text are reduced to forms.

Sharon Suhovy, Stevie Love, Andi Campognone, Susan Sironi

Christopher Cooper, Stephanie Augustyn-Cooper, Emerald Makes Art, Oriana Nazworthy, Dave Naz, Steve Diet Goedde, Cole Case, Alex Couwenberg, Barbara Kerwin, Andi Campognone, Julie Scott, Ashley Bravin and Lisa Derrick

Photos 7, 8, 16, 17, 26, 27, 28: Eric Minh Swenson/thuvanarts.com. Used by permission.
Photos 22 and 23: Courtesy of  Janice Tieken
All others: Lisa Derrick/CARTWHEELart.com

We’re thrilled to announce the 2013 winner of the Jarritos Flavor City Art Contest David Flores! Jarritos:

We’re not from here!

Held at the Fort Mason Center-Festival Pavilion overlooking the San Francisco Bay, artMRKT San Francisco showcases 70 galleries, eight installations, and art discussions May 16-19, 2013.

Travelers will be excited to see San Francisco’s newly unveiled project, the world’s largest light sculpture on the Bay Bridge, The Bay Lights. The sight of 25,000 programmed LEDs leads art thinkers to the question

What is the role of cities and cultural institutions in creating visibility for the digital arts?

and  artMRKT is holding a discussion of the same title on Saturday, May 18 from 11:30-12:30pm.

With panelists including artists, collectors and the Chief Innovation Officer for the Mayor’s Office of the City of San Franciscoro, the talk–which promises to touch on the unique issues faced by artists who make work using digital technology, including The Bay Lights’ Leo Villareal–is a prescient, forward-thinking topic. From 1pm to 2pm Saturday,  Deputy Director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Richard Benefield presents “David Hockney in San Francisco” in anticipation of  the upcoming Hockney exhibition featuring previously unseen new works coming to Golden Gate Park in October 2013.

artMRKT installations include titled Obscenity – a version for brotherhood. an Ohka airplane semblance at the  fair ‘s entrance.  The Ohka was a single-seater Japanese WWII aircraft made and used solely for suicide attacks on Allied forces in the Pacific, and re-imagined by artist Taro Hattori in paper and cardboard. The installation is presented by Swarm Gallery, whose booth at artMRKT will feature works by artistsJessalyn Aaland, Syndey Cohen, Adam Katseff, Leigh Merrill, Ethan Worden, and Mathew Zefeldt, whose Head #1 is pictured above. The following are more galleries we look forward to seeing at artMRKT:

Red Truck Gallery of New Orleans, which turned heads in San Francisco in April with Hard Time Mini Mall, will show Jason D’Aquino‘s miniature art (above), Ian Berry’s denim art and more at artMRKT.

Rena Bransten Gallery will exhibit works by John Waters, Henry Wessel and Bay Area native Marci Washington (above: The Captive, 2011).

At Spoke Art‘s space in booth 207, see works by Scott Hove, who has won accolades for this month’s “Guns and Ecstasy,” and Jessica Hess, whose recent L.A. show was covered by CARTWHEEL here.

Artists exhibiting works with Timothy Yarger Fine Art in booths 219 and 222 include Cecil Touchon, Seth Casteel, Yossi Govrin, Udo Noger, Lori Hyland,  Linda Touby, and photographer Jim McHugh, whose 24 x 20 work above, El Rey, is made with Ultrachrome archival ink on innova fiber paper.

Kopeikin Gallery will show works by Tabitha Soren and Cig Harvey, whose first L.A. solo show, earlier this year with the gallery, is re-capped on CARTWHEEL here.

In booth 627, artMRKT gets a treat with Creativity Explored, a non-profit gallery / studio that produces art by adults with developmental disabilities. Among the artists featured at the booth are John Patrick McKenzie, Evelyn Reyes, and Daniel Green (his 11 x 20 work above is titled Smell Sumo Feet Wrestlers).

SF Gallery Park Life is exhibiting Tauba Auerbach, Anthony Discenza, Francesco Deiana, and others. The enamel on canvas work above, Untitled (Suffering), is by Park Life artist Christopher Baird.

Sundaram Tagore Gallery exhibits works by Sohan Qadri, Kim Joon, and Hiroshi Senju, whose waterfall paintings use fluorescent pigments to appear blue under ultravoilet light.

San Francisco’s Eli Ridgway Gallery will exhibit works by Travis Collinson (above) and James Sterling Pitt.

In Booth #405 Brian Gross Fine Art will present works by Roy De Forest (above: Texas, acrylic and mixed media), Robert Arneson, and Karl Benjamin.

New York Gallery Muriel Guépin will feature the video sculpture work of Gabriel Barcia-Colombo (pictured above) and Joanie Lemercieer.

Seager Gray Gallery will be at Booth #217 with artworks by Joe Brubaker, Jacqueline Rush Lee, Michael Cutlip, and Cathy Rose (her piece above is titled Wind).

artMRKT San Francisco
Thursday, May 16: Opening Preview Reception 6-8pm (benefits the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco); Opening Party 8-10:30pm
Friday, May 17: 11am to 7pm
Saturday, May 18: 11am to 7pm
Sunday, May 19: Noon to 6pm
Admission: $20/day or $35 for all 3 days
Festival Pavilion – Fort Mason Center
Marina Boulevard, San Francisco, California

Daniel Rolnik and Ryan McIntosh are dangerous enough on their own, but now that they are combining their tireless forces, we should all tremble. Art world domination is close at hand. Oh sure, they seem all cute, and nice, and friendly but think about it. How could anybody work as hard and fast as these guys do, and still be so damn perky? It just ain’t natural. I’ve suggested before that Rolnik, in particular, might be something other than a carbon based life form.

Seriously though, these crazy kids are onto something here, by teaming up to release limited edition old school screenprints by top tier artists such as Bob Dob, Gary Baseman, Gregory Siff, Christine Wu (just to name a few). They will be debuting the the initial fruits of their labors May 19, 2013 at the Venice Art Walk.

A couple of weeks ago, I got to visit Ryan at his super-secret lab to see some of the work in progress. I can tell you first hand that these prints are gorgeous. These are not inkjet posters hiding behind the charade that is ‘giclee’. These are true works of art that the artists themselves had a personal hand in. They’re real beauties!

Here’s what Ryan had to say about it all -

KrossD:

So, you’re doing these old school, hand-pulled screen prints? No shortcuts?

Ryan McIntosh:

Yeah, that’s kind of the idea. With everyone’s prints, we’ve even sent the artists transparencies and had them do all the separations, by drawing out each layer – the traditional way that printmaking should be done. The exception is Christine Wu, because how she works is, she does her drawings really small, in a sketchbook. Then she scans them into the computer, and starts layering them up in Photoshop. Then she prints them out as big photocopies and transfers those onto her canvas, using some sort of chemical that removes the ink from the paper, and then she paints back into them. So that visual step is part of her painting process. So we actually did her transparency digitally, and then she came in and played around with all the different layers for the actual print, and for the background we did a traditional Rubylith mask.

So, basically what we’re trying to do is take screen-printing, and the printmaking process away from just being a thing that artists use to make reproductions. People think of screen-printing as like posters. Like ‘Oh, you’re making posters.’ No, we’re making real art. We want to make unique multiples, unlike anything that already exists.

Daniel & Ryan (under the name Intellectual Property Prints) will be unleashing prints from Eric Joyner, Daniel Edwards, Michael Sieben, Christine Wu, Bob Dob, Gary Baseman, Jason Shawn Alexander, Ryan McIntosh, and Gregory Siff at the Venice Art Walk on May 19th, 2013. I’m told they may also have prints by Kozy n’ Dan, and David Flores. They’re keeping the prices affordable too, so don’t you dare miss it!

Blood Orange by Bob Dob

Gregory Siff

More Siff.

The Siff.

Just some of the layers of Christine Wu.

Naked layers.

Wu-hoo!

Michael Sieben

Eric Joyner

Ryan at work.

Directions.

This post was originally published on the KrossD artblog.

Art! People! Classic architecture! Restaurants! Bars! Musicians!  The Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, held the second Thursday of every month is one of the liveliest events in Southern California, drawing  every type: Hare Krishsnas and hairy chinned hipsters to neo-beatniks and Bentley-driving uptightniks shared the sidewalks and elbowed for room on the sidewalks and in galleries.

At the Art  Walk Lounge, Can Love showcased their empty spray can art cart. Can Love’s graffiti recycling efforts can be seen in Speedy Graphito‘s mosiac Mona Lisa at the Fabien Castanier Gallery opening tomorrow. A DJ spun and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation signed people up for TAP cards, which can be loaded with money and used for Metro and DASH rides.

The DTLA Art Walk has a smart phone app to help navigate the Art Walk’s many galleries, but Cindy headed directly for The Hive with her friend, and while my friend and I took a different route. The Last Bookstore, with its numerous small galleries was a must-see for both of us, as the photos below show.

My first stop, Mignon Wine Bar on 6th Street next to Cole’s  (which may or may not be the home of the original french dip sandwich), is a low key  location for enjoying cheese and charcuterie. I had wanted to check out Mignon’s art culled from thrift shops, and it was a wise move, since a light rain briefly hit downtown. When we emerged at dusk, the sidewalks had the wet gleam of of noir novel.

The Hare Krishnas were dancing down the Spring St. as we paused to watch an artist do live charcoal drawings from a seated model. Kombucha Dog poured shots for a kombucha tasting, and local restaurants passed out fresh baked cookies, all very community-oriented. Stephen Rowe Art Studio featured a  smart window installation, and live painting was going  on inside the Stock Exchange building.  The Last Bookstore also had live painting, while upstairs, the Spring Arts Collective and other galleries drew large crowds. Elizabeth Huston was showing her photomontage giclées, and Mark Edward  was exhibiting at Fold Gallery (look for an interview with him on CARTWHEEL next week).

Along with admiring Edward’s and  David Lovejoy‘s aseemblages at Spring Arts Collective, Cindy explored The Hive, where artist collective Shaq Jizz was showing, along with Adam Roth,  Paul Arden, Patrick Haemmerlein, Walt Hall,and textile artist Marcel DeJure, whose his short film Wig Rodeo is a cult favorite. The Hive’s energy was high, with visitors and artists participating in a group live art session as a DJ spun.

With summer coming and nights growing longer and warmer, the DTLA Art Walk will draw even more people to Downtown for this monthly celebration of the city and its creative forces.

A portion of Mignon’s thrift shop art collection.

Stephen Rowe Art Studio

Can Love art cart.

Shepard? Is that you? Art Walk Lounge was giving out canned Perrier. Perrier is releasing a series of Andy Warhol art bottles this summer.

To promote the Los Angeles’ art scene, the LADOT has created special art-themed, re-loadable TAP cards.

Hare Krishna or hipster?

If Donny Darko did the bunny hop with a Playboy centerfold….

Live Painting at the Stock Exchange Building

Live painting at The Last Bookstore

Chris Grun’s life-sized mammoth head watches over The Last Book Store.

Elizabeth Huston at Spring Arts Collective, above The Last Bookstore

This limited edition giclee by Huston sold.

Mark Edward, Houdini.

Edward is a professional stage magician and mentalist who incorporates the arcane and esoteric into his art.

David Lovejoy at Spring Arts Collective.

David Lovejoy at Spring Arts collective.

Books arranged by color are part of the upstairs labyrinth at The Last Bookstore.

Exit through the bookstore.

The Hive, with live DJ.

Adam Roth at the Hive.

Adam Roth

Paul Arden

Marcel DeJure, textile artist.

Walt Hall

Shaq Jizz art collective at The Hive.

Camille Bachand

Bachand demonstrates her interactive piece.

Succubus, another of Bachand’s interactive sculptures.

The Hive provided a space for live art.

Patrick Haemmerlein

Patrick Haemmerlein

Photos:

Top and from David Lovejoy down, Cindy Schwarzstein/CARTWHEELart.com
All others: Lisa Derrick/CARTWHEELart.com