Recommended openings to catch this weekend...

David MacDowell's "Duck and Cover" featured in

Crewest's "Canceptual [v.3]" this Saturday

Fri, May 1st 7-11PM
C.A.V.E. Gallery
507 Rose Ave in Venice / 310.428.6387
“Brush Fire” group show with featured artist Gene Guynn and Andy Haynes, Chet Zar, Anthony Clarkson, Danni Shinya Luo, Jennifer Springman, Jim Darling, Macsorro, Tina Darling, Zoso, Preston Thomas, Michael Pukac and many more + live DJ action and live painting from Michael Pukac
(On view through May 24th)
www.cavegallery.net

Fri, May 1st 8-11PM
La Luz De Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles / 323.666.7667
New works from Lyle Motley, Miss Mindy, Lauren Gardiner and Jessica Cooper
(On view through May 31st)
www.laluzdejesus.com

Fri, May 1st 8PM-Midnight
Showcave
1930 Echo Park Ave in Los Angeles (Echo Park area)
'Animal Sex' with Hannah Stouffer, Jimmy Wilnewic, and Actually Huizenga
www.showcave.org

Sat, May 2nd 8-11PM
Canvas Los Angeles
441 N. Fairfax Ave in Los Angeles / info@canvasla.com
“The Seventh Letter” group show featuring works from crew members Norm, Push, Revok, Reyes, Ewok, Amanda Lynn, Jersey Joe (aka Rime), Augor, Saber, Sever and more + the introduction of the 2009 Seventh Letter line
www.canvasla.com

Sat, May 2nd 7-10PM (outdoor Carnivaleque festival kicks off at 6:30PM)
Corey Helford Gallery
8522 Washington Blvd in Culver City / 310.287.2340
“La Noche de la Fusion” featuring new works and an installation from Gary Baseman – be sure to get there early (at 6:30) for the Carnivalesque festival taking place outside the gallery which serves as a kickoff event for the opening
(On view through May 23rd)
www.coreyhelfordgallery.com

Sat, May 2nd 6-9PM
Crewest
110 E. Winston Street @ Main St in Los Angeles / 213.627.8272
“Canceptual [v.3]” featuring customized spray paint cans from a variety of artists including the likes of Branded, David MacDowell (pictured above), Marka27, Smear, Downer, Man One, Revel, Shark Toof, and many, many more
(On view through May 31st)
www.crewest.com

Sat, May 2nd 8PM-12:30AM ($8 at the door)
Hive Gallery
729 S. Spring St in downtown Los Angeles
Monthly group show and performance with featured artists Shay, Alex Feliciano, Aglain Mortchorg and Mike Lewis with a special installation from Zombienose and Shrine + a group show of over 60 artists, live music, DJs & more
www.thehivegallery.com

Sat, May 2nd 9PM-1AM
Infusion Gallery
719 S. Spring St. in downtown LA
“Peep! An Erotic Spring Fling” group show curated by Heidi ‘Bluegirl’ Calvert and featuring works from L. Croskey, Paul Torres, Jezebelle X, Shahid Brown, Scott Saw, Yvette Marie and many more + erotic performances, human art, puppetry, feminine oddities and much more
www.infusiongallery.com

Sat, May 2nd
Melt Gallery @ Meltdown Comics
7522 Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles / 323.851.7223
“Gag Me With A Toon 2: Harder! Faster! Radder!” group show featuring works from Adam Hathorn, Alex Pardee, Bob Dob, Dan Quintana, Joe Hahn, Jeff McMillan, Donny Miller, Jonathan Wayshak, Kevin Llewellyn, Lola, Nathan Cabrera, Overton Lloyd, Roman Dirge, Steven Daily, Dave Chung, Travis Louie, and many more
www.meltcomics.com

Sat, May 2nd @ 7PM
Mobius
3300 W. 6th Street in Los Angeles“Urban Paper” book launch party & papertoy art show featuring a vast array of artists, many of which were in Scion’s recent ‘Papershapers’ show
www.shopmobius.com

Sat, May 2nd 7-10PM
New Image Art Gallery
7908 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood / 323.654.2192
“Octo Pusses” group show featuring works from Antonio Trecel Diaz, Aaron Johnson, Judith Supine, Gino Perez, Cleon Peterson, Neck Face, & Ben Jones + “Horse Radish” from Bäst in the project room
(On view through May 23rd)
www.newimageartgallery.com

Sat, May 2nd 8-11PM
Subliminal Projects
1331 W. Sunset Blvd in the Echo Park region of Los Angeles
“Ego, Addiction & Other Bedtime Stories” featuring new works from Sam Flores
(On view through May 30th)
www.subliminalprojects.com

Sat, May 2nd 7-11PM & Sun, May 3rd Noon-5PM
Upper Playground
125 East 6th Street in Downtown LA
Stoked Sessions Los Angeles 2009, an art auction and fundraiser for Stoked Mentoring featuring works from Estevan Oriol, Travis Millard, Mel Kadel, Aaron Winters, Adam Hughes, Mark Sellman, Andy Rosenthal, Anthony Smith, Brandy Flower, Michael Crivello/ Hit + Run, Brian Gray, Casey Wisden, Blurble, Christy Chaloux, Dash Fidel, David Russell Talbott, Enik One, EyeOne, Jesse Spears, Aryo, Griffin Marcus, Cole Gerst, James Dormer Schneider, James Reitano, Jason Maloney, Jimmy Muga, JAO, JW Miller/ Dektown, Mark Dean Veca, Harrison Boyce, Meshel Homola, Sarah Anderson and Luke Fishbeck, Phoenix, Jason Hernandez, Scott Hultgren, Stacie Krajchir, Alex Kopps, The Love Movement, Graham Watson, Annie Madison, JC Argetsinger, Jimmy Pargas, John Munnerlyn, Dave MacDowell, Alex Prager and Tamar Levine

http://www.stoked.org/stokedsessionsla
www.upperplayground.com

Sat, May 2nd 8PM-Midnight ($5 at the door)
World of Wonder Storefront Gallery
6650 Hollywood Blvd in Los Angeles
“Bettie Page: Heaven Bound” tribute show featuring the works of Olivia + special surprise guests
www.worldofwonder.net

Mon, May 4th @ 7PM
Los Angeles United Film Festival
@ Los Feliz 3 Cinemas (1822 Vermont Ave in Los Angeles)
‘Abraham Obama’ movie screening
www.abrahamobama.org
www.theunitedfest.com

'Octo Pusses' group show at New Image Art this Sat...

Judith Supine

'OCTO PUSSES' group exhibition opens this Saturday at New Image Art featuring Antonio Trecel Diaz, Aaron Johnson, Judith Supine (pictured above), Gino Perez, Cleon Peterson, Neck Face (pictured below), & Ben Jones

Neckface

PLUS in the project room: 'Horse Radish' from Bäst (pictured below)

Bäst

Opening Reception: Saturday, May 2nd 7 to 10pm

On view: May 2nd - May 23rd

New Image Art @ 7908 Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles

If you like your art raw and dirty, don't miss this one!!!

'Animal Sex' at Showcave this Fri...

This is going to be a good one at a great venue with a fun vibe. It's in the middle of nowhere though, right next to Ronin Gallery, in the thick of Echo Park. Just when you think, there's no way there's a gallery in the middle of this neighborhood, there they are. Worth the trouble to find, as they have some great shows coming up after this, including an Albert Reyes solo show in July. Really looking forward to that one.

'Animal Sex' with Hannah Stouffer, Jimmy Wilnewic, and Actually Huizenga

Fri, May 1st 8PM-Midnight with a special performance from Easy Street

Showcave
1930 Echo Park Blvd. in Los Angeles

http://www.showcave.org/

Stoked Mentoring + Upper Playground = a great fundraiser this weekend...

This weekend, May 2nd & 3rd, Upper Playground is hosting Stoked Sessions Los Angeles 2009, an art auction and fundraiser for Stoked Mentoring. Every year Stoked teams up with the best artists in action sports, street and fine art to produce original pieces, with 100% of the sales benefiting Stoked Mentoring. This year, Upper Playground is proud to present Stoked Sessions: “I Love LA” at their flagship Los Angeles location.

Stoked Sessions has invited over 300 artists based on the West Coast to submit original pieces. Artists confirmed for this year include:
Estevan Oriol, Travis Millard, Mel Kadel, Aaron Winters, Adam Hughes, Mark Sellman, Andy Rosenthal, Anthony Smith, Brandy Flower, Michael Crivello/ Hit + Run, Brian Gray, Casey Wisden, Blurble, Christy Chaloux, Dash Fidel, David Russell Talbott, Enik One, EyeOne, Jesse Spears, Aryo, Griffin Marcus, Cole Gerst, James Dormer Schneider, James Reitano, Jason Maloney, Jimmy Muga, JAO, JW Miller/ Dektown, Mark Dean Veca, Harrison Boyce, Meshel Homola, Sarah Anderson and Luke Fishbeck, Phoenix, Jason Hernandez, Scott Hultgren, Stacie Krajchir, Alex Kopps, The Love Movement, Graham Watson, Annie Madison, JC Argetsinger, Jimmy Pargas, John Munnerlyn, Dave MacDowell, Alex Prager and Tamar Levine.

About Stoked Mentoring:
Stoked Mentoring is a non-profit organization for at-risk youth with the mission of developing Successful Teens with Opportunity, Knowledge, Experience and Determination through the use of action sports, mentoring and coaching.

May 2nd & May 3rd
Upper Playground LA
125 East 6th Street in Downtown LA
http://www.stoked.org/stokedsessionsla

Juxtapoz post '20 Questions' with Kathleen Lolley...

"Gentle Warrior" - Kathleen Lolley

Juxtapoz just posted their '20 Questions' feature with Kathleen Lolley here. Speaking of, be on the lookout for an interview we did with Kathleen here early next week.

Kathleen will be in town for the opening all the way from Kentucky, so please be sure to come on through to say hi.

Kathleen Lolley

...Away From The Things Of Man @ Thinkspace this May

Opening Reception: Fri, May 8th 7-11PM

In the meantime, be sure to check out the recently updated 'Sneak Peek' set for the show here.

In the studio with Andy Kehoe...

'Living In Twilight', a solo exhibition of new works by Andy Kehoe, opens at Jonathan LeVine Gallery on Sat, May 16th. Kehoe has created a new series of oil and acrylic paintings on wood panel, including some of his largest-scale pieces to date, for his debut New York City solo show.

"Beacon For Wayward Souls"

Kehoe’s allegorical compositions are painted in a low-key palette of rich autumn and earth tones beneath a fine layer of crisp black accents. Many of his characters of the part-man-part-beast variety are portrayed with a strong sense of alienation, finding peace and beauty in solitude to overcome feeling alone. Elemental details like skylight and foliage (or lack thereof, on bare tree branches) represent the passing of time and seasons of change.

Studio shot of things coming together for this May at LeVine...

"Humanity Returns"

Kehoe’s isolated figures are often surrounded by the majestic grandeur of nature (a character in and of itself), which has a powerful influence on the artist and is present throughout his work. The nature theme illustrates perspective on how small and insignificant our problems are in the larger scheme of things, although the artist says that he “completely sympathizes and relates to the heavy toll these problems have on the mind and heart.”

Living In Twilight features Kehoe’s trademark style of imagery inspired by traditional folktales and mythological art with narratives of the fantastic and grotesque. Nostalgic for a time before society’s age of science (or before an individual’s developmental age of reason), Kehoe rekindles a childlike sense of wonder in his work, recalling an era when fables and legends were believed as truths to explain all the mysteries of the unknown.

Even though Kehoe’s world is a magical imaginary one, it is not a perfect fairytale—contrasting forces of nature and human emotions surround primordial themes of life and death—and the fundamental plight of mankind still exists through greed, betrayal, deceit, violence, and self-destruction.

On the title chosen for his show, in the artist’s own words: “Twilight can be seen as the waning moments of decline preceding an eventual end. The sun disappears over the horizon, as the onset of darkness is assured and approaching. The actual moment spent in twilight is an instant when two strong forces hang in the balance and quietly coexist. I wanted to make a world that lives in this delicate harmony, even with the promise of change and resolution lying impatiently on a cusp, ready to break…I continue to build this world piece by piece, creature by creature and story by story.”

"Decay Nurtures Life Anew"

"The Wandering Of The Wicked" on the easel of Andy Kehoe...

"The Wandering Of The Wicked" process shot 1

"The Wandering Of The Wicked" process shot 2

"The Wandering Of The Wicked" process shot 3

"The Wandering Of The Wicked" process shot 4

"The Wandering Of The Wicked" finished piece

"March Of The Exiled"

Andy Kehoe was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA and now spends his days painting in his attic in Portland, OR. He grew up reading comics, enjoying the cool costumes and the ridiculous, stylized violence. Now relishing the nostalgia of childhood, he remembers the days of his youth spent watching cartoons, reading storybooks and doodling all day. This childlike sense of wonder is something Andy tries to portray in his work, reflecting a time when magic and monsters existed and all the mysteries of the world were possible. After high school, Andy took a long and expensive tour of art schools and finally ended up at Parsons School of Design in NY, where he studied illustration. After a few illustration stints, Andy began to focus on his personal work—and in the years that followed, his paintings have been shown in galleries across the country.

'Living In Twilight' opens Sat, May 16th and will remain on view through June 13th at Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York City.

For more on Kehoe, watch his site at http://www.andykehoe.net/ and be sure to check out the short '20 Questions' feature Juxtapoz just did with him here.

Mark your calendars now for Kehoe's LA solo show this December with Thinkspace... more on that soon.

Our newest addition to the collection...

Femke Hiemstra
"Peeb-bo!"
Graphite on paper (framed)

8x10"

The piece comes from Femke's debut Los Angeles solo show with Copro Gallery, 'The Herring's Hairdo', that took place this past month.

Watch for Femke's return to the U.S. this December at Roq La Rue alongside Junko Mizuno. Can't wait - hoping to pick up one of her books from that show!

Last week to view our current April exhibitions...

Brandi Milne 'Run Rabbit, Run'

Cherri Wood 'trouble, clearly'

Alex Garcia 'Blood & Steel'

We'll be open this Thursday and Friday from 1-6PM. Don't miss the final two days to view these great exhibitions.

Mention this post when you swing through, and we'll give you a limited edition decal from Brandi Milne courtesy of the good folks at Gelaskins.

Thinkspace

4210 Santa Monica Blvd (near Sunset Junction)

Los Angeles 90029

Early sneak peek at Stella Im Hultberg's 'Memento Mori'...

Her new work is looking simply amazing. Get excited everyone!

Stella Im Hultberg

'Memento Mori'

July 10th - August 7th

Thinkspace

João Ruas 'Inner Myth Pt. 1' works... ready to go to the framers...

All the goodness for this May laid out and ready to ship. They'll be off to the framers this weekend and ready for all to check out next Friday. Can't wait!

'Inner Myth Pt. 1'

João Ruas

Opening Reception: Fri, May 8th 7-11PM

*also opening: solo shows with Kathleen Lolley & Allison Sommers

Thinkspace

4210 Santa Monica Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90029

Edward Walton Wilcox opening at Merry Karnowsky...

Swung by Merry Karnowsky Gallery on Saturday night for her debut solo show with rising Los Angeles artist Edward Walton Wilcox. Wilcox took full advantage of Merry's new window facing the always busy LaBrea Ave by installing a spinning skull sculpture (see above). Amazing. A true traffic stopper of a front window install. Don't miss this show!

"Temperance"

Wilcox's work is simply haunting and the sepia-toned gothic edge to his new body of work is more pronounced than ever before. The two Medieval altarpieces were by far the stands out of the exhibition for us. His work is the perfect mix of modern perception with classical technique.

"Noah's Ark Altarpiece" - over six feet tall!

Close up of the "Noah's Ark Altarpiece"

"Voyagers Before A Storm"

"Der Burnin Ship"

"The Navigator"

"Lazarus Altarpiece"

Close up of the "Lazarus Altarpiec"

Wall of sketches, studies and hand-touched prints

"Der Burnin Mill (Nokturn)"

Merry Karnowsky Gallery

170 South La Brea Ave. in Los Angeles / 323.933.4408

New works from Edward Walton Wilcox

(On view through May 23rd)

http://www.mkgallery.com/

Juxtapoz post '20 Questions' with Camilla d'Errico...

Camilla d'Errico just finished rocking things up in Portland at the Stumptown Comic Fest and a special print release and signing at Compound Gallery.

Juxtapoz just posted their short '20 Questions' feature with her here. Catch up with the artist as she prepares for this year's ComiCon and her upcoming 2-person show at Thinkspace this September alongside Caia Koopman. Look for more on this very special show here soon.

For all the latest on Camilla, keep an eye on her blog here.

An interview with Allison Sommers...

An interview with Allison Sommers

Abandoning deference for playful irreverence, Allison Sommers draws on her interests in renaissance and baroque art, toying with staid motifs and trading solemnity for nose-thumbing whimsy. She delights in deconstructing the seriousness of historical tropes of art, and tempers sweetness with subtle touches of dark foreboding and sexual deviance.

Allison Sommers studied early modern history at the University of Virginia, where she was able to legitimize a lifelong love of the historical narratives and themes of the Old World, much of which continue to inform her work. She currently works as an art director for a newsweekly in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she lives with her partner Gerrit and their hedgehog, Ludwig. She has previously exhibited work at Thinkspace (Los Angeles), Ad Hoc (NYC), Gallery1988 (Los Angeles and San Francisco), Distinction Gallery (Escondido), DvA Gallery (Chicago), and at the Gen Art Vanguard New Contemporary Art Fair at Art Basel Miami.

A Brief History explores a culture of long-necked creatures. Fleshy and often nattily-dressed, they are prone to quarrel, consume, and bed each other with hedonistic abandon. Their footing with the creatures around them is ambiguous and often contentious; they are both predator and prey to the Rudi Cats, 'sweet' young humans, and other beasts around them.

Please talk a lil' bit about the general idea/vibe behind your new series of works for 'A Brief History'. What can our gallery patrons expect this coming May?
When I was first planning the show, I knew that I wanted to work with the long-necked creatures of mine that were showing up in my paintings. They're so silly and ambiguous, little nattily-dressed ids causing trouble, fornicating, murdering, being all sorts of naughty. I wanted to place them more firmly in their own world and explore the interactions of that culture with others that may be in their vicinity-- the Rudi cats, the little children around-- and this show is the result of that. It was very important to me that they were not placed too rigidly in their surroundings, or especially within any historical trajectory (the show title is a little joke, really), because I found that to be a little stifling creatively, and a little old-fashioned pedagogically.

What’s your earliest memory involving art or creating art?

I have no firm recollection, really, but it surely would involve my mother-- she encouraged anything I wanted to do, and from very early on that was mark-making. I think my child brain was her own little science project, she loved seeing the ways in which I grew in that way, so I always had lots of excellent art supplies around to fiddle with. It's definitely something that's always been with me.

When are you most productive / when do you normally work on art?

By virtue of the fact that I have a 9 - 5 day job, I tend to be fairly structured— dinner at 530, in the studio with a cup of coffee by 630, off to bed to read by 11 or so. On the weekends, I try to aim to get 5 - 6 hours a day of painting in, if I can. I work well with a routine, am a bit of a square.

You excel at a variety of mediums and just recently started to experiment with sculptural based works. Where do you see yourself taking your world in the years ahead?

I think I'll probably always concentrate on 2-D work; there's something elemental about it to me that's difficult to articulate. That being said, it will be important to continue to pursue a more rounded-out approach towards my work in terms of media. I think it helps flesh out different concepts of my worlds in ways that are always surprising to me-- plus, it's just irresistible to fiddle. That's how I started in on the sculptures in the first place-- I bought a block of paperclay as a little treat to myself to break up the time between paintings, just a little 'craft project' to mess around with. I think I'm going to make some forays into more intensive 3-D, with environments-- dioramas, perhaps... I've also been threatening to make a stop-motion piece with my partner, so that could be in the works, too. He has an astonishing artistic brain, it would be a treat to work with him.

You currently reside in Charlottesville, VA – being so disconnected from the art world at large – do you feel this helps in any way to influence your work?

I'd have no idea until I lived closer to the 'art world,' really. I think that in a practical way it may help me because now I don't feel guilty spending most of my free time away from the world, painting-- Charlottesville is beautiful, but I find it a bit dull. That may also hinder me, though, because sometimes I feel very drained, and very much wanting the inspiration of being in the midst of a large, invigorating art culture (or, at least, having some nearby gigantic museum in which to lose oneself).

For those new to your work, can you give us a lil’ background on some of the recurring characters featured in your work such as the Rudi Cats, the long-necked slug like fellows and all that inhabit your world?

First and foremost are, of course, the long-necked fellows. They're naughty, horny, hermaphroditic, and almost always well-dressed (though the misplacement of pants seems to be a particular problem). At the least, they're funny, mocking stand-ins for the egos of our own culture; at the worst, they're sexually deviant, creepy kidnappers and murderers, wrapped in impeccable tweeds. I certainly don't want them to stand for anything in particular; they're very ambiguous to me, and I delight in their strewn guts just as much as I do their triumphs and grandeur.

The Rudi cats are much less ambiguous to me; they're nasty and extremely stupid predators. I have some vague horror when I'm painting them, I can see them slinking about like feral cats, skin taut against the ribs, smelling of the grave... yuck. Their size is variable in relation to the long-necked fellows, which controls what interaction they have with them-- Rudi cats would just as soon gnaw their bones as be domesticated by them.

I suppose there's a third class of characters, the various dumb beasts lumbering around my paintings-- they may be the only sympathetic creatures I create. Make of that what you will, I suppose, since they're usually domesticated and maltreated.

You attended the University of Virginia where you studied early modern history. How has this schooling helped to inform your work?
I think topically it helped a great deal. Particularly for this show, I found myself reaching back for many of the conventions and concepts of the culture I studied and finding ways to skew it. This led me quite by accident to deal with more religious themes than I wanted to at the outset, but I suppose that's what you get when you start digging into Western society's closets. At any rate, I think one of the most important things that I took away from my history degree is removing my impression of the 'past' as something static, distant, and drastically different from any cultures now-- people have always been silly and lewd and wonderfully disgusting. That's informed me greatly as I explored the long-necked fellows as an (possibly historical, if not just anthropological) other.

Tell us something about yourself that someone would never guess in their wildest dreams.

I love the Lawrence Welk show.

Are you reading anything right now?

I'm on a strange, indulgent D. H. Lawrence kick right now. I just finished Lady Chatterley's Lover, and am now working on Women in Love. I'm suddenly finding him so fresh and irresistable, a perfect mix of modernist critique and delightful sex. I'm also working my way through a book of short works by Schnitzler.

Do you listen to music while painting/drawing? If so, do you have a current favorite that inspires?

Oh, of course. Very recently I dusted off a few old Tori albums that I had stowed away years ago and am digging them. (cliche! I know.) Generally speaking, I'm all over the map, but I can always get into my creative space with the likes of Bjork, Philip Glass, Beirut, the Decemberists, and any sorts of New Wave/NDW. And I adore jazz.

I also spend a few hours a day listening to podcasts-- I'm addicted to Escape Pod, PRI: Selected Shorts, Hooting Yard, and Classic Tales, to name a few. I'm also a serious news junkie, so Here and Now, TOTN, and a whole slew of PRI and NPR podcasts are always in the queue.

If you had to explain your work to a stranger, how would you do so?

Oof, I'm always at a painful, stumbling loss when it comes to this. I usually mumble something about Bosch and gouache and try to change the subject, hah! Perhaps my difficulty stems from being both very, very serious about art, but striving for levity and nose-thumbing in my work. I can't imagine what people think when they hear me explain it, but I'm sure it's rarely close to the real thing. It's a real stumbling block for me, it's rather embarrassing.

If people walk away with one thing gained from seeing one of your exhibits, what would you hope that would be?
This will probably sound evasive, but it's important to me that the viewer have their own experience of the work, particularly since I don't have an agenda (of which I'm aware). My personal experience of my work is very intimate, particularly the larger pieces in which I spend so much time fleshing out details that I get bewildered that it's not real, and I have a hard time imagining that I could communicate that to another person... at the LCD, I suppose I hope one experiences these as somewhat ambiguous, fun-poking, escapist works. I do feel that if you explicate them too thoroughly, the joke's on you. :)

What have you got coming up in terms of shows after 'A Brief History'?

I'll immediately return to the studio to continue planning next year's solo with Thinkspace, and to start on my works for a few group commitments I have in 2008. I'll have a piece in the Kokeshi show at LATDA in July; I have some work going to Ad Hoc in Brooklyn for August; and I'll take part in a group show entitled "Monsters!" in Charlottesville that month as well.

Sneak Peek at Allison's lil' "ghosts" that will be haunting our gallery this May

What are you doing right after this interview?
Working on some of my super-secret tinies for the show!

Aubrey Beardsley "The Climax"

Favorite artist (living or dead) and what makes them special to you?

Oh, to ask for one is cruel. Let's say... Beardsley. I love the period in which he painted, and the things he depicted; he was technically just brilliant, I crave his lineart; and his naughty, brilliant sense of humor-- rarest indeed. I wish there were more like him.

Ludwig the hedgehog

You’ve a very unique studio partner in the form of your pet hedgehog, Ludwig. How did you come about settling on the lil’ fella? He's so cute!

He's a she, for what it's worth, but you can tell we're not too heavy on gender conventions, given her name. :) Anyway, my interest in hedgehogs was one of those sorts of ill-advised obsessions at first, but I finally convinced my partner that we had to have one, and she's turned out to be one of the very best pets imaginable. They're so silly and improbable-- the too-small legs for the fat body, the penchant for sticking their heads in places they ought not (toilet paper tubes!), this certain behavior called "annointing" that I'll let readers google for themselves-- they're really a trip, just the sort of undignified silliness that I love. And yes, ridiculously cute.

'A Brief History' from Allison Sommers

May 8th – June 5th

Opening Reception: Fri, May 8th, 7-11PM

Website: http://allisonsommers.typepad.com/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/on_a_boutade

Sneak Peek at ‘A Brief History’:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thinkspace/sets/72157614526358662/

Thinkspace Gallery
4210 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90029
#323.913.3375
Thur-Sun 1-6PM or by appointment
http://www.thinkspacegallery.com/