Stella Im Hultberg interviewed by Juxtapoz.com...

Stella Im Hultberg was just interviewed by Andrew Michael Ford and the feature came out great. It's been posted over at Juxtapoz here and has also been posted on AMF's blog and over at Dailydujour.

Look for our interview with Stella to be posted here tomorrow. More soon as the show starts to come together for this Friday...

An interview with Catherine Brooks...

An interview with Catherine Brooks

Catherine Brooks has been working tirelessly to expand her artist "vocabulary". Through her successes and failures, Brooks feels like she has finally learned what is important to her art, and what it is to explore during the creative process. Brooks has developed her own personal mythology, based around the legends and tales passed down and weathered through oral tradition and the rise and fall of empires. They reflect her ideas on love, memory, and the inexplicable human talent for personifying assigning responsibility to the cycles of life, and its manifestations. It was, for the artist, a beginning, a birth. It is a collection of pearls and remnants, an allusive menagerie of natural diplomacy, sensual symbiosis, and hints of great tales and legends to come.

Brooks has a BFA in Fine Arts from the Pratt Institute of Art and Design in Brooklyn, NY and completed a residency at Campus Hanoi in Vietnam. She has shown regularly in galleries over the past three years. Highlights of her resume include a solo in NYC at The Proposition Gallery in 2007 and taking part in last year’s SCOPE London.

Please talk a lil' bit about the general idea/vibe behind your new series of works for "The Seeded Wind And Silent Motion; An Oeuvre Of Beetled Beauty”?
I felt a little brave giving my show such a wordy complicated title, but that is exactly what i wanted it to be. Most often the show titles seek to reinforce the mood or narrative in the body of work, some hint of the feelings or physics in the universe we unfold for the viewer. I wanted it to describe the creative space my work was conceived in. This title has a very literal meaning for me and for you I'll bare open it's meaning. I should first mention that all my analogies of life tend to be nature based, I was raised in an all female landscape business that was founded and run by my mother, for years we shared generations of stories over the tops of the flowers we cared for. Those ecosystems provided a framework and context to talk about the more complicated parts of life. That is where my imagery comes from. The concept of the seeded wind comes from the idea of pregnant creative whims. You can work in your garden never noticing that a plant has volunteered and grown tall right in front of you, it's your garden, and you define what is a weed and no one else. So much of life is chance, every moment is a freeze frame full of things free falling, ungerminated, but an instant from their realization. Beetles and insects have a primal role in the health of a garden, they germinate flowers, transport seeds, and compost the soil. Before bees had evolved, there were beetles. Magnolia trees for instance evolved to be pollinated by beetles. I have always viewed them as workers silently making something without protest or the need to communicate their intentions just existing and making. Making work for me is not often an active intentional thing, I constantly feel like some one else made it. The works feel completely unfamiliar when I am finished with them. After the years of "beetling away" in my studio i have grown to associate the image of the beetles in my work as the hand of the artist. It represents the aspect of myself that's unfamiliar to and independent from my social construct.

If you could stand by and watch the creation of any piece of artwork from over the years, which would it be and why?
This is such a difficult question, there are so many classical pieces that i thirst for, that standing in their presence makes me feel vivid and alive, i want to peel away each brush stroke one at a time. But, ultimately paintings are illusions, despite my often inconveniently veracious curiosity, I prefer some things to keep their gowns on. When i was working for the Barnacle Brothers here in LA (they are a amazing fabrication studio making sculptures for museums and other artists). I fell in love with how they made things. I would have loved to sit next to Louise Nevelson while she made her Sky Cathedral. Also it would have been amazing to witness from the conception to the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty, which is one of the biggest public sculptures I am aware of that didn't require the support of slavery or a cast system to build. I also think the politics and logistics of a project on that scale would be amazing if not ridiculous. I would settle for an HBO drama about it.

What do you consider your biggest overall influence?
I'm not sure if i can answer that. I feel so unaware of myself as artist. Maybe music. It is, if anything, the key to my creative process. When I shared my studio with the stupendous ZOSO, we would listen to the same music, he once pointed out that whenever he turned the music on or off I would immediately stop or start working, like my on-off button was crossed with the stereo.

You recently relocated back to Virginia. How are you adapting to the new vibe of things out there? Major difference between California and Virginia?

Moving back to Richmond, VA was almost as awesome and influential for me as leaving it. The hot damp southern air, wraps a quilt of pungent odors and lightening bugs around me when I take my break laying in a hammock at 7:30 every evening. I love it. In my hometown there is so much historical lamina, patched and anchored. That quilt doesn't get put away in the fall it gets another layer. It is so vivid. Having seasons again is righting my internal timing already. The Major difference has to be time. I didn't experience that when i lived in NY (everything that was different revolved around space). Socially they are so similar, Richmond and Los Angeles, both are like floating islands and will do things their own way damn the rest. Maybe it sounds weird to people local to LA, but its like another dimension with its own set of physics. I sometimes think they could be the same city in different realities. The revitalization downtown is happening so similarly to the gentrification of Downtown LA, they are writing about it in the local newspaper (which is another can of worms). Maybe we will have better luck with our community gardens. The timeless otherworldly qualities of Los Angeles makes it feel like reality is bendable, like you will never have to pay back those three hours you got on the flight over. Like its suspended forever, or that I was pick-pocketed for time on the 101.

You have a great lil’ ferrit as a pet and you often had him with you during your openings and such when you lived out in Los Angeles. How long have you had ferrits as pets? What brought you to them in the 1st place, as they are a rather rare pet?
Awww, my ferrets! Its a dangerous thing to get me on this topic. i serendipitously rescued my first two ferrets from a party the summer of my sophomore year in art school. Its was a bit awkward, as my roommate also bought two baby jills on an impulse the same day. We had a big place out in Brooklyn, but the sound of all 16 feet pattering down the hallway was often accompanied by someone yelling "INCOMING". For the next 7 years I have always had one (or two) they went to figure drawing classes perched on my shoulder and road trips, they got their own pedestals at my senior thesis show, and have co-piloted many road and motorcycle trips. I'd say they are pretty worldly beasts. Shiki, our current familiar, has been to about every gallery worth going to in LA. She couldn't come on this trip because she is currently charming hearts in NYC with my fiance. This was a bit of a relief for me if you consider all the knocked over paint cups and foot prints in my studio right now. Would it be silly to say i feel a little naked without her? Does anyone want to lend me their ferret for the opening reception? I'll send them back well trained.

Shiki - Catherine's pet ferret and studio mate

If you had an unlimited budget and time was not an issue, what grand artistic vision would you look to bring to life?

My love of gardening and of simulated environments always give me terraforming level art ideas. If I could really have my way I would acquire a huge empty oil tanker, park it in the middle of the Pacific trash float, and convert it into a sustainable ecosystem. A fully powered, independent community complete with a mangrove reef around it. Recycling the plastics we harvest into massive transparent floating sculptures akin to icebergs. Since life is so inventive and random i would love to see how different organisms adapted such structures to their own uses. That could be called process works or an environmental experiment but to me it would be the biggest greatest art project yet. Then I would do paintings of them for fun.I also just thought this afternoon it would be pretty sweet to go to a really hot desert and make giant drip castles with sand melted into glass in some sort of forge suspended on a crane. It would probably not cool evenly and crack , which would make it dangerous and forbidden. I love the idea of that, like a thunderstorm, something intense and beautiful but best viewed at a distance.

What have you got coming up in terms of shows and/or projects after your show with us this July?
Should this be one of those mysteries reveled on layer at a time? I would hate to ruin the suspense of Salome's veils, besides the magic and wonder that happens at Thinkspace and the Kokeshi doll show at the Japanese American National Museum here in Los Angeles. On the east coast I'll be showing a multi-media collaborate project with my best friend Tamara Cervenka about identity and mythology, we have an enormous artistic vocabulary between the two of us and we have both picked one new medium to learn. She is learning needle work and embroidery, and i am learning glass blowing, I will leave you to speculate on how we will combine the two.

'Til the next veil.

Process shot of the pieces for Catherine's install coming together

Process shot of the pieces for Catherine's install coming together

Process shot of the pieces for Catherine's install coming together

Artist blog: http://thearborgeistproject.tumblr.com/

Sneak Peek at 'The Seeded Wind and Silent Motion…': http://www.flickr.com/photos/thinkspace/sets/72157617936915467/

Catherine's customized kokeshi doll for this weekend's show at the Japanese American National Museum

Catherine Brooks
'The Seeded Wind and Silent Motion; an Oeuvre of Beetled Beauty'

July 10th – August 7th @ thinkspace

Opening Reception: Fri, July 10th, 7-11PM

Catherine will be in town for the opening reception, so be sure to say hi when you come by.

thinkspace

4210 Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles / 323.913.3375

http://www.thinkspacegallery.com/

Beautiful Decay 'Book 1' now available...

Beginning as a hand-photocopied, black and white 'zine over ten years ago when copies used to be available at early Cannibal Flower events, Beautiful/Decay has always proudly put artists-and quality content-first. After recently hitting issue 'Z', the time has come for a change. Beautiful/Decay is relaunching in the form of an expanded, limited edition, more voluminous publication. B/D will now be published three times per year a book-style format.

To celebrate their new expanded format, Issue 1 will feature a hand-drawn, original artwork by previously B/D featured artist Kyle Thomas (see example above).

The new format has eleminated all traditional advertising and they've increased the page count by 50%, meaning 164 pages of pure, unfiltered art goodness. Articles now run an average of 16-20 pages, providing some of the most in-depth coverage of emerging artists available today.

Released in limited edition format of only 1,500 copies, each copy will be hand #'d and will come with a limited edition collaborative artist project, ranging from inserts and stickers to posters and original artwork. All this will be presented in a new format & size, including French flaps and multiple printing processes throughout the publication.

'Book 1: Supernaturalism' explores a group of artists who conjure notions of the uncanny with their hauntingly off-putting works. Whether introducing distortion, violence, the grotesque or the ghostly, each artist alters traditional (super)naturalism to create visions that teeter on the boundaries of the comedic and the downright diabolical. Hinting to a level of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe, the artists in 'Book 1: Supernaturalism' examine the potential for alternate, darker realities.

To watch a preview of 'Book 1' and to read about the featured artists, please go here.

To order your copy now, click here.

Hannah Stouffer next Friday at Thinkspace...

Hannah Stouffer - "The Time Has Come"

20x20" / Watercolor & Ink on paper

The heart of darkness exists within the light. Black Dawn, Dawn After Dawn Tepid Neon, Frozen Clarity. This contrast, and the ever present existence of the two is constant. Macabre Elegance. Darkness Falls Forever... Since The Beginning.

"The Conquest Of Two Worlds"
20x20" / Watercolor & Ink on paper

Los Angeles-based illustrator Hannah Stouffer finds a great deal of comfort in imagery- it's an admiration that is often times overwhelming. With an infatuation for icons and images that reflect and categorize historical eras, genres and subcultures, her work is an opulent, elegant and beautifully intricate mixture of illustration and design. Her densely-packed compositions consciously recall classical elements from our past and combine them with our modern attractions, creating cohesive yet opposing array's of imagery and embellishment. She focuses on the contrasts between periods in time, subcultures and social trends - and merges them together with a high regard for traditional decoration.

If you missed it, we posted a great interview with Hannah not long ago. Check it out here. It's a great read and she has SO much going on. Truly inspiring.

Great features can also be checked out on Juxtapoz.com here and here.

"Island Of Fire, Sea Of Flame"
20x20" / Watercolor & Ink on paper

Hannah Stouffer
'Twilight & Fate'

Additional 'sneak peek' shots from the show can be viewed here.

Opening Reception: Fri, July 10th 7-11PM
*Artist will be in attendance

Show runs: July 10th - August 7th

Thinkspace
4210 Santa Monica Blvd (near Sunset Junction)
In the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles

Recommended openings to catch this weekend...

Fri, July 3rd 7-11PM
C.A.V.E. Gallery
507 Rose Ave in Venice / 310.428.6387
“Just Because” featuring new works from Lesley Reppeteaux, Rebecca Hahn, Jenna Colby, Melissa Moss, Cherri Wood, Melissa Contreras, Renee Lawter, Tina Darling, Yuki Miyazaki, Kendra Binney, Juri Ueda, Jeni Yang, & more
(On view through July 25th)
www.cavegallery.net

Fri, July 3rd 8-11PM
La Luz De Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles / 323.666.7667
New works from Miles Thompson and Dale Sizer
(On view through August 2nd)
www.laluzdejesus.com

Sat, July 4th 8PM-12:30AM ($8 admission at the door)
Hive Gallery
729 S. Spring St in downtown Los Angeles
Monthly Group show and Performances featuring the ‘Beerotica’ themed show featuring erotic pieces inspired by our favorite insects, bees! Curated by Heidi Bluegirl and also a huge group show in the main room with featured artists Rebecca Hahn, Hembert Guardado, Antonio Roybal, Gyorgy Bp. Szabo and an installation from Big Toe and so much more – always a ton going off down at the Hive. Check website for full details to be safe.
www.thehivegallery.com

Little bit of a slow weekend for shows due to the holiday. Next weekend will more than make up for that - huge array of events coming up. Have a safe 4th of July weekend everyone!

"R. Crumb's Underground" invades the Grand Central Art Center next week...

'R.Crumb's Underground'

Curated by Todd Hignite

July 11- August 16, 2009

Opening Reception: July 11, 7-10pm.

*Admission is free

On July 11th the Grand Central Art Center will become the only Southern California venue to exhibit the Yerba Buena's Center for the Arts traveling exhibition, R.Crumb's Underground. Curated by writer Todd Hignite, founder of Comic Art Magazine, the R. Crumb's Underground salutes local San Francisco treasure and comic genius Robert Crumb with an eclectic exhibit of early work, collaborations old and new, and the world premiere of his "spool" drawings. Beginning his artistic career in the 1960s, illustrator Robert Crumb is universally acknowledged as the founder of the underground comic scene. Crumb gained cult popularity for pioneering Zap Comix and creating unique characters such as "Fritz the Cat" and "Mr. Natural". In 1994, he propelled to stardom with the Terry Zwigoff video documentary, Crumb. Extending far beyond comics, the YBCA traveling exhibit demonstrates how his work has grown in philosophical complexity, and highlights his collaborative artwork, including recent work produced with wife Aline Kominsky-Crumb.

CSUF Grand Central Art Central

125 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, CA 92701

Parking in lot at 3rd and Sycamore

http://www.grandcentralartcenter.com/ArtGallery_gcartgallery.php

Last days to catch our June exhibits...

Kelly Vivanco and Sarah Joncas in the midst of Sarah's installation

This Thursday and Friday from 1-6PM are your last chances to view our current exhibits from Sarah Joncas, Kelly Vivanco and Tran Nguyen.

All three really delivered and it has been a great month to walk around the gallery and take in all this beautiful work over and over. So proud of them all.

View the pics from the opening here and all the works from the show can be viewed via the links below.

Sarah Joncas "Beneath The Seams"

Kelly Vivanco "The Conservatory"

Tran Nguyen "Portraits of the Unknown"

Don't miss 'em before they come down this Friday evening.

Thinkspace
4210 Santa Monica Blvd (near Sunset Junction) in Los Angeles

Stella Im Hultberg featured in new Juxtapoz...

Stella Im Hultberg has a 'Profile' feature in the new issue of JUXTAPOZ hitting news stands next week (with Clayton Brothers on the cover - see below).

Our interview with Stella will be posted here soon. I'll be posting a link as well to a nice interview that Andrew Michael Ford just completed and should be posting any day now.

Stella arrives into Los Angeles Tuesday and I can't wait to catch up with her in person. Get ready for our 2nd solo show with her opening next Friday. We just posted some great new 'sneak peek' shots here. More soon...

Dennis McNett special event this August @ Thinkspace...

Dennis McNett will be trekking across the U.S. from New York to the west coast beginning in July. He has a few special shows and works shops along the way and we're honored to be hosting one of them coming up in August.

Confirmed Dates/Places:

Frogmans - South Dakota, July 5th-12th - one week mask and sculpture making workshop

Fecal Face Dot Gallery - San Francisco, CA - opening July 18th 7pm-10pm and 19th 12-4pm (weekend show only)

Thinkspace Gallery - Los Angeles, CA - opening August 8th 7pm-10pm and the 9th from 12pm-4pm (weekend show only)

Space 1026 - Philadelphia, PA - opening October 2nd (installation up for the month of October)

Dennis McNett was born in 1972 and grew up in Virginia Beach, VA. He moved to New York in 2001. He has been carving the hell out of surly block prints for over 17 years. All of his encouragement as a young kid came from his blind grandfather, who told him over and over again that his drawings were good. Later influences came from the raw high-energy graphics pouring out of the 80's skateboard and punk rock scene. Dennis has been fortunate enough to show work both nationally and internationally, design board graphics for Anti-Hero skateboards, design shoes for Vans, participate in the Deitch Art Parade, and do collaborations with Cannonball Press. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Juxtapoz Magazine, Thrasher and Complex Magazine. He holds an MFA from Pratt Institute, where he now teaches as a printmaking professor at the graduate and undergraduate level. He wants to live until he dies. Breathing is good.

Amazing layered detail in McNett's wood carved and collaged works...

Sizes range from 4 foot by 8 foot tapestry size woodcuts to smaller 8" x 11" lino-cut prints... and print prices will range from $1,500 to $10. Also on view will be several one-of-a-kind drawings, collages, masks and sculptures.

Look at that carved detail... these pieces sceam to be viewed in person this August.

Examples of McNett's beautiful wood cut block prints (above & below)

Dennis McNett 'Year of the Wolfbat' (special weekend-only event)

Exhibition run dates: Sat, August 8th & Sun, August 9th

Opening Reception: Sat, August 8th 7-11PM

Keep tabs on McNett here.

For add'l 'sneak peeks' from 'Year of the Wolfbat', click here.

Thinkspace Gallery
4210 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90029

http://www.thinkspacegallery.com/

Stella Im Hultberg in the final stages for her solo next Fri...

Above is a shot of Stella's studio out in Brooklyn as she finishes things up for our 2nd solo show with her here at our gallery. The canvas pieces are on their way to us now for framing with the paper and wood works to follow later this week. Can't wait to see this new series in person!

Stella arrives in town next Tuesday, so look for progress shots of the show coming together to be posted here soon, as well as on the show's Flickr set here. There will also be a special interview posted in the coming week with Stella as well, so be sure to watch for that.

Stella Im Hultberg
'Memento Mori'

Opening Reception: Fri, July 10th 7-11PM
*Artist will be in attendance

Show runs: July 10th - August 7th

Thinkspace
4210 Santa Monica Blvd (near Sunset Junction)
In the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles

CA/Boom recap + coverage from NotCot...

This past weekend we took part in the annual CA/Boom design show out in Beverly Hills (years prior they were at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica)... a very rewarding experience for sure and we made and met many new fans of the gallery and had a great time checking out all the amazing furniture and design items on view. Thank you to all that came by our booth to say hi and take in the new works we had on view.

For some great coverage, be sure to check out NotCot. Check out their coverage here. Thanks Jean!

For additional pictures from this past weekend's CA/Boom show, check out our Flickr set here.

Yosuke Ueno prepares for his solo in Japan this Nov...

The first glimpse of new work to come out of Yosuke Ueno's studio as he prepares for his solo at Unseal Contemporary in Japan this November. More sneak peeks into his studio soon...

This November @ Unseal Contemporary
16-1 Kabutocho Nihonbashi, Chuoku Tokyo
http://unseal.jp/

Annual Print Fair tomorrow at Self Help Graphics & Art...

Come meet the artists and take home one-of-a-kind pulled prints - from monoprints and etchings to linocuts and wood blocks.

Sun, June 28th Noon-5PM
Self Help Graphics & Art
3802 Cesar Chavez Avenue in Los Angeles
(at the cornger of Gage and Cesar Chavez)
http://www.selfhelpgraphics.com/

Tonight @ Subliminal Projects...

I know we've already hyped this one a couple times, but it's worthy of one more shout out as we head into Saturday evening...

"Park Life: The New Utopia", curated by Studio Number One, opens TONIGHT at Subliminal Projects!

The grouping aims to offer varrying representations of utopias from a very diverse group of creative folk from artists and designers to writers and musicians and more.

Curated by Studio Number One, the exhibition is the second installment of their annual 'Park Life' series and will feature works from:

Shepard Fairey, Florencio Zavala, The Date Farmers (work shown above), Cleon Peterson, Zach Gibson, Michael Muller, Jessica Williams, Hellovon, Kristian Henson, Casey Ryder, Jesselisa Moretti, Tanya Rubbak, Gail Swanlund, Jeremy Landman, Simon Steinhardt, Philip Lumbang, Ernesto Yerena, Marissa Textor, Adrianne Reade, Amanda Fairey, Jeremy Kaplan, POW WOW, Seth Ferris, Sage Vaughn, Maya Hayuk, Eric Elms, Mansi Shah, Z. James, Devin Gallagher, Fighting, Nicholas Bowers, & Spencer Elden

Sat, June 27th 8-11PM

Subliminal Projects

1331 W. Sunset Blvd in the Echo Park region of Los Angeles

“Park Life: The New Utopia” - curated by Studio Number One

(On view through July 25th)

http://www.subliminalprojects.com/

Come see us at CA Boom this weekend in Beverly Hills...

We'll be on hand this weekend in Beverly Hills at the annual CA Boom Design Show exhibiting works from Brett Amory (shown above), Rebecca Hahn, Nathan DeYoung, Damon Soule, Yosuke Ueno, Cherri Wood, Hannah Stouffer, Seth Armstrong, Tony Philippou, Matthew Feyld, Craig "Skibs" Barker, and Dan-ah Kim. More details here.

The CA Boom Design Show (www.caboomshow.com) is North America’s only multi-discipline non-traditional design trade fair exhibition combining the highest caliber of architects, designers and design manufacturers on the West Coast. The show brings together the best of modern and contemporary design and architecture in a unique exhibit, conference, and tour format. A favorite place for incubating companies and products to make their debuts, the show draws both the design trade and design savvy consumer, and has become a must-attend event for specifiers of quality design and architecture.

CA Boom 2009 takes place this weekend - Friday, June 26 through Sunday, June 28 - in the former Robinsons flagship department store in Beverly Hills. Friday is “Trade Only Day,” with the show floor opening up to the general public Friday evening at 6PM for the opening gala. Admission is $20 per day in advance or $25 at the door, with Friday reserved as a “Trade-Only” day, and Friday evening open to the general public as a preview night.

LOCATION:
The Former Robinsons Department Store

9900 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Friday Evening Event: Open to the public ($20 in advance, $25 at the door)

6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. - Complimentary Sparkling Wine

Saturday and Sunday - General Admission: ($20 online $25 at the door) open Sat. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Advance Tickets online at www.caboomshow.com (enter code MC in the discount field to get a 20% discount on behalf of Thinkspace).