Seeing the World with Astral Eyes: Collage Artist Become Fashion Impresario
With a intensely introspective nature and studious interest in the visual culture of the occult, Los Angeles-based collage artist Astral Eyes hardly seems like someone who is making a big splash in the world of high fashion. Talking to him is a wild ride through a mind that flips back and forth between planes of…
Meet Shrine On, the Artist Behind the Towering Coachella Installations
One of the literal high points of Coachella over the years has been the one-of-a-kind, mind-blowing complex, giant, towering installations built entirely out of trash and reclaimed items that loom over the weekend music festival. These dominating sky rises are assembled by artist Shrine On who has been building shine towers for Coachella and other…
Interview: ΔLΞC MONOPOLY Beyond “Park Place”
ΔLΞC MONOPOLY’s “Park Place” exhibition at street art gallery LAB Art is the artist’s first Los Angeles solo show, though his work has been popping on street corners and lamp posts for a while now. ΔLΞC MONOPOLY uses “Monopoly Man,” the board game mascot, as a constant image throughout his street art and paintings. His…
Art Is Voyeurism: A Report from Santa Monica Airport Artwalk
There are artists far more fearless and tolerant than I. This was made harshly apparent to me on Saturday at the 7th annual Santa Monica Airport Artwalk. It’s one thing to share close studio quarters with other (potentially more talented) artists in converted airplane hangars. I imagine that can breed fruitful inspiration, and healthy competition,…
Animal Style: A Conversation with JAW Cooper
JAW Cooper doesn’t know this, but she often wakes me up. She gets me out of bed. You see, I have very troubled sleep and most mornings my eyes open before the alarm sounds. In those drowsy moments, when my body isn’t quite motivated to propel itself off the mattress yet, I end up…
CARTWHEEL Interview: RADICAL!
In addition to spray cans, RADICAL!‘s art studio in New York houses a sketchy-looking wood rack of stretcher materials, a chop saw and plenty of tools. The 22-year-old artist paints on found objects, sometimes constructing his own frames out of discarded items like a microwave door or a chunk of bricks. He also paints wall…
CARTWHEEL Interview: Scott Michael Ackerman
Throughout his growing career, Scott Michael Ackerman has consistently painted captivating textured artworks that reflect his outsider sensibility. He resides in upstate New York where he lives the life of a work-by-day, paint-by-night artist. His work rarely makes it to California, but a certain painting on a found old door caught the attention of CARTWHEEL founder…
CARTWHEEL INTERVIEW: Putting Pork Chops on the Table with Lydia Emily
A multi-tasker of the most admirable sort, L.A. street and gallery artist Lydia Emily makes art, produces art shows, advocates street art, wins art contests, runs a non-profit, volunteers her time in after-school art programs, and sets the table nightly for the gaggle of pre-teens in her household. Her series on Africa, which we loved,…
CARTWHEEL Interview: Greg Haberny
For the most part, the eight artists selected for this month’s annual springtime CARTWHEEL Art Street & Outsider Art Pop-Up Show are artists who have grabbed our attention at nation-wide art fairs. And Greg Haberny grabs! There is no mistaking a Greg Haberny space, which may include an airplane fuselage, a shredded piano, confetti, nails,…
CARTWHEEL Preview/Studio Visit: Desire Obtain Cherish #undertheinfluence
Damn, I love Desire Obtain Cherish. It’s art that’s just so crassly, in-your-face-smart, so spot on; but so luxuriously well-thought out and executed; lush, voluptuous, yet razor sharp; the lover’s kiss is really a dagger; so sweet and brutal, savvy and seductive. Desire Obtain Cherish is actually a he, Jonathan Paul, but it’s also brand…
CARTWHEEL Interview: Roy Gonzalez
Even in Orange County, it’s a rare experience to stand on the beach with someone who is as much “of the ocean” as Roy Gonzalez. The artist has spent so much time on the sands of San Clemente, Dana Point, and Laguna Beach that he speaks in tune with the waves rolling in. Most of…