Cartwheel Recap: Designer Con 2012 opens in Pasadena ~ Part One
Now in its ninth year, Designer Con 2012 is growing by leaps and bounds. If you’re not familiar with DCON. then you should start brushing up on it–and quickly! DesignerCon is where pop culture, art, and vinyl toys all meet in a beautifully orchestrated one-day event, held at Pasadena Convention Center. Vinyl toys are the hidden…
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…
Elephants & Asses at AR4T Gallery
“Elephants & Asses” at AR4T Gallery is the perfect excursion in the days before, or the hours after, casting one’s vote Nov. 6. With most of the show poking at the storm of media during election season, “Elephants & Asses” is a cacophony of 27 minds releasing an intense amount of tension that sounds like:…
“Catharsis” by SANER opens at New Image Art
Mexico City-based artist SANER‘s opening at New Image Art on Saturday, October 27–captured here by CARTWHEEL’s new team member, photographer Luis Ochoa– was an exhilarating display of artist’s work, moving the viewer through mental, emotional, and spiritual states–appropriate, since the show is called “Catharsis.” Drawing on folklore, mysticism, and murals, SANER creates a pathway between…
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…
Preview: Llyn Foulkes, Leigh Salgado, Vito LoRusso at Coagula Curatorial
As long as I’ve known Mat Gleason–from when he was organizing the Brewery’s original art shows and launching Coagula Magazine, and now with Coagula Curatorial–he still finds time to cast an astrological chart with the same fluidity he uses to toss out bon mots and cutting truths about the art scene; and he has…
Saying Goodbye to Who Shot Rock & Roll
It’s not easy to capture someone’s complex personality in one simple photograph. That’s something I’ve come to learn in taking amateur portrait photographs. So it came as a real treat to me that the Annenberg Space for Photography was hosting a show dedicated to the photographers who caught the musical and intimate personality of some…
Carlson Hatton “Extinction Burst” at Weekend Gallery, Closing October 28
Carlson Hatton‘s current show “Extinction Burst” is brilliant, both in concept and execution–the shapes and bright colors vibrate, leaping off the walls at Weekend Gallery. The two larger pieces, composed four panels each, run floor to ceiling, at first seemingly abstract combinations of shapes and form, revealing stories forged from complexly arranged imagery,…
Accessing The Entourage: An Inside Look at ART PLATFORM 2012
Going to ART PLATFORM was like visiting 1000 epic exhibitions at the same time. At its core, the event is an art fair, which means that there are tons of galleries from all over the world that each have their own booth in which to showcase a small selection of their artists’ work. To the…
“Matter of Time” Opening Night Reception at Gallery Brown
Under the blanket of night, the crowd at Gallery Brown for the opening of Matter of Time was buzzing. Music and drinks flowed, and excitement bubbled for the man of the hour, Gregory Siff. This marks Siff’s second show in 2012, and notably, Matter of Time — like his previous exhibition “There + Back”–will be…
“Ping Pong Show” New Works by Shark Toof at C.A.V.E. Gallery
I’ve been quite the Shark Toof fan as of late. When my love for street art grew, he was naturally an important name to know, and now with the release of his new book and the opening of a new show at C.A.V.E. Gallery, it’s great to see this artist continue to grow. Some of…