'Culver City INVASION' opens large...

Our 'Culver City INVASION' went off HUGE this past Saturday and was, for many, the highlight of the Art Walk. So many through this past Saturday afternoon offering up praise as one of the best, if not the best, show on the walk. It was humbling to hear it so often. Of course, that's what makes art great - it's all one's personal perception... with that said, I'm sure many just didn't get some of the art we represent, and that's fine. As I so don't get much of the work on display over in Culver City myself, but to each their own as they say. All I know is a slew of folks were making return visits throughout the day to view the progress of their favorite artist, and at several times throughout the day we had a line to get into the gallery. Many of the works created that day found homes as well, not to mention a good chunk of work from the group show, including both the major works from Ekundayo, our featured artist. All in all, an amazing day out in Culver City opening minds and exposing those we work with to a new audience.

Ekundayo's monster 'Running Man' piece (above) greeted patrons as they entered our 'pop up' show this past Saturday in Culver City. Measuring in at 4' x 5', it was a true showstopper and sold moments after the doors opened.

We filled up 9 pages (30 names per sheet) of new sign ups in our mailing list and gave out 2,000 lightbulb logo stickers, 2,000 1" logo buttons and over 1,000 each of our June opening event show cards. To say we made a nice impact is an understatement. Thank you to all that came out, showed support and spread the word throughout the day and kept coming back for the live art, positive energy, and cold Grolsch beer. So many kept coming in saying they heard it was the show to check out, from press to fellow MOCA Contemporaries members to collectors to other gallery owners. Just an awesome day.

Please read on for a recap of the day's events. The energy kept us going throughout the day, but when Sunday morning hit, the reality of what was in fact an eight hour long opening hit hard on the old body/mind. A packed house all day long made all the hard work that went into this event so very much worth it. Such a long and rewarding day.

Ekundayo early in the day working on his piece...

Ekundayo putting on touches towards the end of the day...

Jesse Hotchkiss mid-afternoon working away on his piece... look for this one to appear in his upcoming Thinkspace solo show this December. Can't wait!

Hotchkiss laying in the details towards day's end...

LC, aka Mr. NumberOnederful, laid down the beats throughout the day, along with a lil' help from our good friend DJ Patrick Icon from C.A.V.E. Gallery... works from ELBOW-TOE were holding down the fort out front the DJ area.

Mear One arrived a bit late in the day, but once he set up, it was on. Watching Mear paint live is an event unto itself. Within a matter of a few hours he had rocked out a sick live work...

Mear laying in some final details...

Finished piece from Mear One at night's end.

Michael Alvarez was out and doing his thing, here's his piece towards the end of the day. Shortly after this a friend got to bustin' on the piece as well. See our Flickr for more shots of that.

Michael Pukac working away on one of three pieces he completed that day. The man is a machine and his more refined oil works are just stunning. Look for more from him at Thinkspace next year, in the meantime, we'll be having him out for numerous live painting events throughout year's end including a special event with MOCA coming up later this June.

Pukac at work...

The crowd in the back gallery watching the live painters about 3PM... just a packed house!

One of the newest members of the Thinkspace family, Nathan DeYoung, grew a big crowd early and it never let up, with many returing throughout the day to watch his progress over and over, some collectors coming back to check in as many as four or five times.

DeYoung hard at work...

Close up of Nathan DeYoung's piece

Front of house about 2PM - just packed taking in the work of our artists. From young to old, we were getting some nice compliments on the variety and quality of work on view, not to mention the energy being given off by the 9 live painters and live DJ action...

Back of the gallery about 5PM... still packed and still pulsating out the positive energy...

Picking apart the work of David MacDowell. His piece had many figuring out the characters included and then discussing the meaning... good luck folks, Mr. MacDowell is a mad man (and that's why we love him).

Taking in the work in the front gallery

Mid-poetry slam around 430PM - the crowd LOVED the slam and we can't wait for Mike The Poet to invade Thinkspace on Sun, August 30th for the first of many Poetry Slams to follow.

The Poetry Slam in progress...

Michael Pukac continued to draw a crowd into the evening...

What a line up... Ekundayo, Michael Alvarez, Jesse Hotchkiss, Zoso, Michael Pukac and Nathan DeYoung on the end... to soon be joined by Mear One later in the afternoon (with Asylm and Anthony Clarkson holding down fort on the other side)...

Back gallery install shot...

Front gallery install shot complete with huge door coutresy of Gaia

Front gallery install shot

Back gallery install shot

Anthony Clarkson and Asylm going to town in the back gallery

Anthony Clarkson laying in some detail work. Look for this piece to be included in his upcoming show at Gallery 1988 up in SF...

Asylm laying in the framework of his piece...

Asylm near day's end working away on his piece...

It would be impossible to guess at how many cellphone photos were snapped on Saturday, everywhere I looked, folks were snapping away in front of their favorite works.

Crowd in the front gallery late in the afternoon, about 6PM, still packed and active...

Dog day afternoon... we had a sign up welcoming dogs with a lil' water dish out front... so many out on the walk with their owners, it was very cool how many were coming through the space that afternoon...

Taking in the work of Brian Viveros

Zoso doing his thing, creating just a beautiful work for a live piece...

Mike The Poet doing his thing with Zoso painting away in the background...

Front gallery title wall view (with glimpse into the back gallery)

Front gallery title wall view 2

Check out some add'l coverage here courtesy of Dailydujour.

View all the works in the show here.

To view the full photo set featuring over 200 photos chronicling the day's events over an 8 hour period, please click here.

It was pretty much a packed house from about 1PM until we closed the doors at 830PM. Again, thank you to all that came out and showed support and had a good time.

Big props to all our artists that took part in the show, those that came out and rocked it live for us, the city of Culver City and all at City Hall that helped to make this event possible, Living Color Graphics, Grolsch, Citizen and the MOCA Contemporaries for their support of this awesome event.

See you all at our next event, back at our gallery, next Fri, June 12th!