Opening night of 'SÃO PAULO' show @ Scion...

Just got back from the opening reception of the big 'SÃO PAULO' show @ Scion over in Culver City. What a turn out, the place was just packed and the artists were so jazzed, and interacting with everyone and really have an awesome time. Big props to Eduardo and Baixo from Choque Cultural and the Scion crew for an amazing show. One of their best in some time for sure.

Opening night crush with Zezão & Speto's collaborative mural looming in the background...

The explosion of color and form that is the work of Carlos Dias...

Zezão's video installation... his new work was just beautiful.

Crowd shot with Carlos Dias and Calma's work in the background...

Calma's installation complete... check out some shots of it coming together in our previous post on the show coming together here.

Calma got busy in the sketchbook (above)... finished image is below...


After Calma hit up the book, it was time for Titi Freak to do his thing. His lines flow so fluidly when he draws, just awesome to watch. Finished piece is below.

Crowd shot with massive Speto wall mural in the background...

The beautiful work of newcomer Ramon Martins

"Moai" sculpture from MZK

The artists from 'SÃO PAULO' and the fine folks of Choque Cultural

For more shots of the show, check out the preview we posted earlier this week here.

The free show catalog given out to all that attended opening night. We've got a couple extra copies, the first couple folks to shoot us a mail to contact@sourharvest.com will get one.

SCION Installation L.A.
3521 Helms Ave in Culver City / 310.815.8840
'SÃO PAULO' – group show curated by Brazil’s Choque Cultural Gallery featuring works from Titi Freak, Speto, Calma, Carlos Dias, Ramon Martins, MZK, Silvana Mello, and Zezao
(On view through March 28th)
www.scion.com/space

East Hollywood ArtCycle event this Saturday + live painting at Thinkspace...

The East Hollywood Neighborhood Council and East Hollywood Arts and Culture Committee announce the first-ever ArtCycle, an event designed to showcase the emerging art and bicycling cultures in East Hollywood. From 2-10 p.m., artists will take over the street at Heliotrope and Melrose, the hip hub of the East Hollywood art and bicycle scene. More than a dozen galleries, theatres, creative venues and artist live/work spaces will open themselves up to the neighborhood for a celebration of everything East Hollywood. Hop on a bike to take a tour of some of East Hollywood's finest galleries, like Synchronicity, Thinkspace and Junc. See a show at Sacred Fools or the Fake Gallery, or just browse among the dozens of artists and performers displaying their creations at the street fair at Heliotrope and Melrose. There'll be plenty of food and live entertainment, including the exotic salsa dancers of Salsarologo, the hypnotic sounds of Telematique, and the gypsy jazz phenomenon of KillSonic. Be sure to bring and old t-shirt for a BYO silk screen and don't forget the kids as there will be face painting and much more for the whole family to enjoy and take part in.

Artist Michael Pukac (above) will be on hand at Thinkspace painting live out front the gallery from roughly 2-6PM, so be sure to ride on by and check that out... he's amazing to watch and he really has a nice flair for painting live.

On view @ thinkspace during the 'ArtCycle' event:

Amy Crehore's Dreamgirls & Ukes

+ Anthony Clarkson's The Silent Treatment

More information is available at www.easthollywoodArtCycle.com

To see all the 'recommended openings this weekend', scroll down the page here a bit or just click here. So many great shows this weekend (again)!!!

Opening night of Rebekah Bogard's exhibition at the Vincent Price Museum...

Drove out to Monterey Park this evening to the campus of East Los Angeles College to search out the Vincent Price Museum...

As we were there to take in Twilight: A Solo Show by Rebekah Bogard. This installation marks the first solo museum showing in California for this Nevada based artist. Twilight runs in conjunction with her show at the Sam Lee Gallery in Chinatown, Flesh + Bone. Both shows really illustrate why Bogard is so highly regarded in the world of sculpture.

Nevada-based artist Rebeka Bogard is a ceramicist who creates immersive environments of colorful, playful - and at times disturbing - scens of imaginary creatures enveloped in abundant flora and fauna. Each one of Bogard's figures is a handcrafted earthenware object, finished with acrylic, underglazes, and glazes. Her figurative representations may appear endaring at first, yet upon closer inspection we recognize traits that are associated with the human species more than with the animal variety. While as a material ceramics ae often relegated to the applied, or lesser arts, Bogard's immersive "non-functional" landscapes ground this work in a contemporary domain where issues of sexuality, gender, and role-playing are explored.

Main installation view 1

Main installation view 2

Installation close ups (above & below)

Rebekah Bogard's Twilight

On view through April 23rd (free to the public)

Vincent Price Art Museum

East Los Angeles College / 1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez

Monterey Park, CA 91754

323.227.0275

Behind the scenes of the big SÃO PAULO group show...

Was over in Culver City today and swung through the Scion spot to get a lil' advance look at the big SÃO PAULO exhibition that we have already previewed here a couple times. The group show has been curated by Choque Cultural Gallery out of Brazil and features fellow Brazilian artists Carlos Dias, MZK, Ramon Martins, Silvana Mello, Speto, Titi Freak and Zezão...

By far the showstopper, Titi Freak's huge piece (pictured above with the artist) is just beautiful and hits you the moment you walk through the door. He was still busy putting some finishing touches on the surrounding wall mural/install when we swung through (close up below)...

The gallery was abuzz with activity... power saws, hammering, painting... spray paint fumes hanging heavy in the air...

Lil' glimpse at the progress of Zezão's collaborative wall mural with Speto... the two were very busy putting the finishing touchs on the mural and preparing to hang their works for the show. Zezão's new pieces are by far the best and most creative I've seen yet from him. You'll have to wait until the opening to see 'em, but they incorporate miniature manhole covers, bits of old brick walls from model train kits... just really creative pieces.

Speto (seen above) putting the finishing touches on his big piece for the show, before getting to installing it over the mural he just completed with Zezão (see below)...

Stephan Doitschinoff, aka Calma

Calma will be signing copies of his new book, Calma: The Art of Stephan Doitschinoff as well as screening Temporal, the short documentary film about Doitschinoff's work, prior to the opening reception this Sat, February 28th from 6-7pm... this was just announced, so be sure to get by early if you have the chance.

Calma was also hard at work finishing up his beautiful installation... all that he had to do when we left was just some hand lettering above the red banner that hangs towards the top of his install (finished pics of the install will be posted here this weekend). The laser cut shadow box center piece (similar to recent works in his Jonathan LeVine and Anno Domini Gallery solo shows) is just beautiful and really needs to be seen in person to appreciate how delicate they are and how perfectly these laser cut shadow boxes frame and compliment his work. Calma was telling me that all the banners and flags in the exhibit (as well as his recent solo shows) were all made by local artisans that come from the small town where he lives in Brazil.

Choque Cultural's latest find, Ramon Martins, seen above (on the left) working away on his mural, alongside artist Carlos Dias (on the right)...

Ramon Martins applying the finishing touches to his background mural... his work is really striking with a vibrant color palette that pulls you in as soon as you see the work.

Baixo and Eduardo from Choque Cultural Gallery alongside artist Carlos Dias.

Speaking of Carlos, check out a nice interview that Juxtapoz just posted with him here.

Opening Reception: Sat, Feb. 28th 7-10PM

SCION Installation L.A.

3521 Helms Ave in Culver City / 310.815.8840

'Sao Paulo' – group show curated by Brazil’s Choque Cultural Gallery featuring works from Titi Freak, Speto, Calma, Carlos Dias, Ramon Martins, MZK, Silvana Mello, and Zezao

(On view through March 28th - don't miss this one!!!)

www.scion.com/space

Mr. Brainwash pays homage to Jackson Pollock...

Out and about today on some errands and noticed Mr. Brainwash had updated the wall of his studio on La Brea Ave with a huge homage to the one and only Jackson Pollock.

If you haven't noticed the new pastes popping up about town... MBW is hard at work preparing for the follow up to last year's huge warehouse show he held here in Los Angeles...

Get ready NYC!!! More info soon...

http://www.artshow2009.com/

The good folks over at Foox-U.com just posted a lil' interview with me...

David Foox just posted a lil' interview he did recently with me over on his site. Foox-U.com has been on a crazy awareness blitz as of late and David is preparing for the release of his first vinyl figure set, The Organ Donors, so watch for those to drop soon.

You can check out the interview David posted with me here.

It's also been archived here on the Kung Foox Art Collective.

Benefit Raffle for Swimming Cities of Serenissima

Picture from last year's Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea

The Swimming Cities of Serenissima is a fleet of three intricately hand-crafted vessels that will navigate the Adriatic Sea from the Karst region of Slovenia to Venice, Italy in May of 2009. Designed by the artist SWOON, the floating sculptures are descendants of the Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea (Hudson River, 2008) and the Miss Rockaway Armada (Mississippi River, 2006 and 2007). The Swimming Cities of Serenissima are built from salvaged materials, including modified Mercedes car motors with long-tail propellers. For Swimming Cities..., SWOON will collaborate with 30 artists from the United States, including OBIE award-winning playwright Lisa D'Amour. As the Swimming Cities move toward Venice, the crew will collect and install keepsakes in an ark-like cabinet of wonders that will be on display on the boats when they arrive. Once in Venice, the boats and crew will offer intimate performances that incorporate music, shadow puppetry, and story. The project is produced with the assistance of Deitch Projects, Paper Monster, Black Rat Press, Build It Green, and a thousand other people.

Original SWOON print on tracing paper, with hand-painted and hand-cut elements; printed, assembled, and wheat pasted by the artist on found wood. The piece is signed and is approximately 48"x34"

Benefit Raffle for Swimming Cities of Serenissima
2/26-3/26

To help fund this amazing and ambitious project, a raffle for one of SWOON's larger, signed works kicks off tomorrow. The idea behind the raffle is to get as many people involved as possible, thus helping to fund the project through small contributions from regular people, not just huge galleries.

To enter the raffle, please go to http://www.swimmingcities.org/ and click on the 'RAFFLE' button. The more tickets you buy, the better your chances of winning. When your purchase is approved you'll get a confirmation number. The winner will be announced on March 26th.

A letter from SWOON further detailing the adventure ahead:
Last year, with a team of about 75 friends, crew, and collaborators, I built a flotilla of rafts out of salvaged bits of New York City. Our precarious floating home traveled 140 miles south along the Hudson River. What left as the refuse of the city's mega construction returned as six vessels trying to encompass a whole world (the seventh died along the way).

This year, with some of those same vessels, and some new, we begin the second leg of our journey. Our destination? It's the city whose outrageous countenance, rising straight up out of the ocean like that was a fine sort of thing for a city to do, was our original inspiration. Yes ma'am, we're headed across the Adriatic Sea toward our first love, Venice.

This year we are a crew of 35, all artists, musicians, crackerjack mechanics, and folks who specialize in big, impossible, ridiculous dreams. We will put on a performance and cobble together a cabinet of wonders. We will, in our form, be working on themes of recycling and reuse, considering the footprint of a human community on the planet, and on issues of climate change. We have not found a solution to floods and sinking cities or where to go next, but we know that it's important to us to create art and community at the same time as we seek a different relationship to our world.

We are starting in the Karst region of Slovenia (a former forest barren to this day after its large trees were cut for pilings in Venice), and skirting the northern coast of the Adriatic. For fun and a little mischief, we will be crashing the Venice Biennale.

Since we are doing all of this in an otherwise collapsed economy we need lots of help. It's a big project that we are trying to fund with the help of many small contributions from people who would like to be involved and help us get these crafts afloat -- even if you just think we're cheeky and want to see if we'll sink. This raffle is just one of the many ways we're trying to get back on the water.

For all the latest on this amazing project, keep an eye on http://www.swimmingcities.org/

Swimming Cities of the Switchback Sea from ekai on Vimeo.

Recommended openings to catch this weekend...

Kofie One (@ 01 this Saturday)

Thurs, Feb. 26th 6-9PM
Vincent Price Art Museum @ East Los Angeles College
1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez in Monterey Park / 323.265.8841
“Twilight” – special installation from Rebekah Bogard (running concurrently with her “Flesh & Bone” exhibit in Chinatown) – there’s also an artist’s talk this Wed @ 7:30PM – check site for full details
http://www.elac.edu/collegeservices/vincentprice/index.htm

Fri, Feb. 27th 5-10PM
The Ronin Gallery
1924 Echo Park Ave in Los Angeles
“Cowboys & Samurais” featuring new works from 2H, Angry Woebots, Foodone, Ego, Solace, Thomas Han, Peekaboo, Zoso, Codak, Parskid, Ganyan, Phoneticontrol, and more
http://www.theroningallery.com/

Sat, Feb. 28th 7-10PM
01 Gallery
530 S. Hewitt St, Suite 141 in Los Angeles / 213.689.0101
“Vintage Futurism” featuring new works from Kofie One
(On view through March 29th)
http://www.01gallery.com/

Sat, Feb. 28th 7-10PM (rsvp@robertbermangallery.com)
Robert Berman Gallery
2525 Michigan Ave, Space C2 + D5 in Bergamot Station in Santa Monica / 310.315.1937
“Rock, Paper, Scissor” featuring new works from Raymond Pettibon, Daniel Johnston, Ron English, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, and Gibby Haynes – curated by Jon Cournoyer – in both galleries D5 & C2 – guest DJ Shepard Fairey on the decks
http://www.robertbermangallery.com/
http://rockpaperscissorshow.com/

Sat, Feb. 28th 7-10PM
Canvas Los Angeles
441 N. Fairfax Ave in Los Angeles / info@canvasla.com
‘AWR & MKS Group Show’ featuring works from Augor, Aloy, Bert Krak, Dame, Ewok, Jersey Joe (Rime), Krush, Norm, Pose, Risk, Retna, Revok, Saber, Tyke, Zeser & more
http://www.canvasla.com/

Sat, Feb. 28th 6-9PM
Kinsey / DesForges
6009 Washington Blvd. In Culver City / 310.837.1989
“Conjure” featuring new mixed media sculptures from Thomas Beale
(On view through April 4th)
http://www.kinseydesforges.com/

Sat, Feb. 28th 2-5PM
Royal/T
8910 Washington Blvd. in Culver City / 310.559.6300
Tokidoki Bearbrick release party from Toy Tokyo
http://www.royal-t.org/

Sat, Feb. 28th 7-10PM
SCION Installation L.A.
3521 Helms Ave in Culver City / 310.815.8840
“Sao Paulo” – group show curated by Brazil’s Choque Cultural Gallery featuring works from Titi Freak, Speto, Calma, Carlos Dias, Ramon Martins, MZK, Silvana Mello, and Zezao
(On view through March 28th)
www.scion.com/space

Sat, Feb. 28th 2-6PM

Thinkspace Gallery

4210 Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles / 323.913.3375
‘East Hollywood Art Cycle’ event - The East Hollywood Neighborhood Council and East Hollywood Arts and Culture Committee announce the first-ever ArtCycle, an event designed to showcase the emerging art and bicycling cultures in East Hollywood. From 2-10 p.m., artists will take over the street at Heliotrope and Melrose, the hip hub of the East Hollywood art and bicycle scene. More than a dozen galleries, theatres, creative venues and artist live/work spaces will open themselves up to the neighborhood for a celebration of everything East Hollywood. Hop on a bike to take a tour of some of East Hollywood's finest galleries, like Synchronicity, Thinkspace and Junc. See a show at Sacred Fools or the Fake Gallery, take in the release of the ‘Bike Life’ photo book at the Orange 20 Bike Shop, or just browse among the dozens of artists and performers displaying their creations at the street fair at Heliotrope and Melrose.
ON VIEW during the ‘Art Cycle’ event: “Dreamgirls and Ukes” featuring new works from Amy Crehore + “The Silent Treatment” featuring new works from Anthony Clarkson in the project room + we’ll have food and live painting with Michael Pukac
http://www.easthollywoodartcycle.com/ (for full map of tour route / special happenings and all the participating spots)

Sat, Feb. 28th 6-9PM
Tinlark Gallery
6671 Sunset Blvd inside The Crossroads of the World walk mall in Hollywood
New works from Gavin Bunner
http://www.tinlark.com/

Sun, March 1st @ 2PM ($35 tickets @ http://www.smmoa.org/)
Robert Berman Gallery
2525 Michigan Ave, Space C2 + D5 in Bergamot Station in Santa Monica / 310.315.1937
Live Benefit Music Performance for the Santa Monica Museum of Art with live performances from Raymond Pettibon’s The NicheMakers, Ron English’s Electric Illuminati, Mike Watt + The Second Men and special guests
ON VIEW DURING THE CONCERT: “Rock, Paper, Scissor” featuring new works from Raymond Pettibon, Daniel Johnston, Ron English, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo, and Gibby Haynes – curated by Jon Cournoyer
http://www.robertbermangallery.com/
http://rockpaperscissorshow.com/

Sun, March 1st @ 7:30PM (free screening)
Royal/T
8910 Washington Blvd. in Culver City / 310.559.6300
‘Traveling with Yoshitomo Nara’ film screening - The 93 minute film follows Nara and the GRAF design team on an international road trip as part of the preparation and creation of his epic ‘A to Z’ exhibition which was held in his hometown of Hirosaki in the summer of ’06 – come on out and enjoy the movie in the beautiful Royal/T art space and take in the new exhibition that was curated by KAWS that’s currently on view – presented by Daily D
http://www.royal-t.org/

Coming up early next week:
Tue, March 2nd 7-10PM
Gallery 1988 Los Angeles
7020 Melrose Ave in Los Angeles / 323.937.7088
“Transcenders” featuring new works from Jason D’Aquino, Doktor A, Scott Scheidly, Jason Limon & Michael Page
(On view through March 27th)http://www.nineteeneightyeight.com/

Rock Paper Scissor this weekend at Spaceland and Robert Berman...

The big 'kick off' event for the huge ROCK PAPER SCISSOR show coming up this Saturday at the Robert Berman Gallery in Santa Monica is in place for this Friday evening at Spaceland out in Silver Lake. The special events starts at 8PM (see flier below). Posters are already starting to pop up about town too on electrical boxes at major intersections (see above).

The Spaceland gig on Friday night features sneak peek performances by the NicheMakers (featuring Raymond Pettibon), Ron English’s Electric Illuminati, Mike Watt + thesecondmen, & The Hootenanny All Stars + special guests… Tickets at http://www.clubspaceland.com/

R O C K P A P E R S C I S S O R

The main event featuring new works from:

Raymond Pettibon, Daniel Johnston, Ron English, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo & Gibby Haynes - Curated by Jon Cournoyer

http://rockpaperscissorshow.com/

Robert Berman Gallery
2525 Michigan Ave in the Bergamot Center Art Center in Santa Monica

Opening Reception: Sat, Feb. 28th 7-10pm with DJ Shepard Fairey

RSVP to rsvp@robertbermangallery.com

This show will feature noteworthy artists who freely use, base imagery on, thrive, and excel in both the mediums of visual art and music. The artists taking part in the show are Raymond Pettibon, Daniel Johnston, Ron English, Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers and Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth.

On exhibit will be paintings, drawings, collages, conceptual pieces and installations as well as ephemera including lyric sheets by Raymond Pettibon that have rarely been exhibited. Also a large collection or rare and early Daniel Johnston works, many of which have never been publicly exhibited, will also be on view from the collection of Don Goede, co-author along with Tarssa Yazdan of the definitive book on the artist Hi, How Are You?. These works will be published in the next edition of this book as well.

THEN... on Sunday, March 1st, ROCK PAPER SCISSOR completes your weekend with an all out live performance to benefit the Santa Monica Museum of Art featuring The Nichemakers (with Raymond Pettibon), Ron English's Electric Illuminati, Mike Watt and special guests.

Concert kicks off @ 2pm at the Bergamot Station Arts Center
Purchase tickets at $35 each at: http://www.smmoa.org/

Titi Freak is in town...

Brazilian artist Titi Freak is in town for the big 'SÃO PAULO' show, curated by Choque Cultural Gallery from Brazil, that opens on this Sat, February 28 at Scion’s Installation L.A. Gallery in Culver City... we love his work, as well as many others in the show, so be sure to put this one on your calendar and plan to attend this Saturday.

Titi Freak's blog: titifreak.blogspot.com

The São Paulo exhibition celebrates the energy of the emerging art culture in São Paulo, Brazil, the biggest metropolitan city in South America. Calma, Carlos Dias, MZK, Ramon Martins, Silvana Mello, Speto, Titi Freak and Zezão form a group that translates this energy best, bringing fine art unique influences from pop culture, ancient heritage, modern painting or folk art. Each artist uses pop contemporary references such as street art, tattoo, skateboarding, hip‐hop, and punk, while playing close attention to their own personal heritage and research.

The diversity of the featured artists in the São Paulo show promises an intriguing exhibition. Calma AKA Stephan Doitschinoff is the son of an Evangelical minister whose style combines Afro‐Brazilian folklore with Baroque religious iconography, as well as Alchemic and Pagan symbolism. Carlos Dias eschews concepts ‐ his original art is born in the streets, in his band's concerts, in his record collection and flows into canvases painted with acrylic paint, markers, crayons, sprays or whatever comes into his hands. MZK is an urban legend and is responsible for the seminal fanzine culture in São Paulo and references everything from tiki comic strips to African masks. He is both a DJ and comic strip author. Ramon Martins finds an ease in combining diverse elements such as baroque style with street art, whether he’s using spray, acrylic painting or watercolor techniques. Silvana Mello explores the irony of advertising’s artificial happiness with everything from enamel painting on tiles to express the comfort of home, to carvings on a skateboard and woodprints to express the aggressiveness of urban life. Speto is one of Brazil’s most popular street artists. His original street art blends lines of traditional northeastern Brazilian woodcarving styles with sophisticated textures and figurative imagery. A champion yo‐yo master, Titi Freak AKA Hamilton Yokota (images above) fuses eastern and western sophisticated drawing, action painting, pop and fashion imagery, illustration, street art and comic influences. Finally, Zezão is one of the leaders of the Brazilian abstract street art movement. Famous for his activity in the city's underground, Zezão goes into sewers and invades the rainwater channels that flow toward São Paulo's rivers, to reveal the beauty of the city’s monstrous garbage.



To view add'l preview images of all in the show, check here.

Opening Reception: Sat, February 28, 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Scion Installation L.A. Gallery (3521 Helms Ave. in Culver City)