Keep-A-Breast auction now live...

The Keep A Breast foundation is a non-profit breast cancer awareness group that regularly brings together a large group of artists and celebrities to paint plaster casts of the woman's torso and then auction them off to support their cause.

The time has come again, and you can now go to the below link to get to bidding:
http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/thekeepabreast2005_W0QQ_nkwZQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZQQ_mdoZ

Over 50 painted busts are up for bid, including busts from top burlesque performers painted by rock stars Iggy Pop, Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth and Mark Mothersbaugh of DEVO alongside busts painted by such great artists as Amy Sol, Jesse Reno, Kelly Tunstall, Andy Howell, Pamela Jaeger, Ahren Hertel, Erik Siador, Jason Sherry, Joshua Krause, Mike Maxwell, NC Winters, Kevin Peterson, Lola, and Johnny Rodriguez aka KMNDZ (pictured above).

About Keep A Breast:
“our mission is to help eradicate breast cancer by exposing young people to methods of prevention, early detection and support. through art events, educational programs and fundraising efforts, we seek to increase breast cancer awareness among young people so they are better equipped to make choices and develop habits that will benefit their long-term health and well-being.”

http://www.keep-a-breast.org/

Recommended openings to catch this weekend...

Recommended openings to catch this weekend...

Fri, Oct. 24th 8PM
The Breakfast Club
662 Heliotrope Drive in Los Angeles
“Under The Cover Of Trees” featuring works from Zoso, Shannon Ingraham, Christine Monohan, Allie Peck and Jane G. Pryor – presented by L’Keg Gallery
(On view through Nov. 21st)
www.lkeggallery.com

Fri, Oct. 24th 6-9PM
La Luz De Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles / 323.666.7667
“Gasoline” – book signing with Dame Darcy
(One-night only event)
www.laluzdejesus.com

Sat, Oct. 25th 7-10:30PM
Black Maria Gallery
3137 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles / 818.613.9090
“The Wonder” featuring works from Andy Kehoe (see image above), Ben Kehoe and Hiro Kurata + Michael Hsiung on the project wall
(On view through Nov. 15th)
www.blackmariagallery.com

Sat, Oct. 25th 9PM-1AM ($8 cover / $5 in costume)
Cannibal Flower
New location – 3775 S. Broadway Ave in Los Angeles
Monthly group show and performance with featured artist Preston Thomas along with a huge group show of over 50 artists alongside a musical performance from Unpopable, an all girl breakdancing set, DJ action and much more
(One-night only event)
www.cannibalflower.com

Sat, Oct. 25th 7-10PM
Corey Helford Gallery
8522 Washington Blvd in Culver City / 310.287.2340
“Wonderland” featuring new works from Lola
(On view through Nov. 8th)
www.coreyhelfordgallery.com

Sat, Oct. 25th 7-10PM
M Modern Gallery
2500 N. Palm Canyon in Palm Springs at Racquet Club Rd. / 760.416.3611
“Hunters and Gatherers” featuring new works from Joe Ledbetter
www.mmoderngallery.com

Sat, Oct. 25th 6-10PM
New Image Art Gallery
7908 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood / 323.654.2192
“Dear & Yonder” art show to benefit the making of a lady surf film with works from Claire Rojas, Jo Jackson, Kyle Field, Rich Jacobs, Ed Templeton, Deanna Templeton, Evan Heccox, Thomas Campbell, and many more
(One-night charity event)
www.newimageartgallery.com

Sun, Oct. 26th 12-5PM (see previous post below for more info / image of this amazing place)
The Mosaic Tile House
1116 Palms Blvd in Venice (just off Lincoln Blvd) / 310.399.1469
Fall Studio Art Show & Sale from artists Cheri Pann & Gonzalo Duran – trust us, this place is AMAZING to check out in person

As always, if you would like to recieve this update weekly via e-mail, please sign up on the right hand side of the site. Get out there this weekend, some amazing shows to take in.

From The Streets Of Brooklyn...

Get ready... coming this January.

The Geezers are coming!!!

Scion presents:

Big Geezers

Featuring new works and a massive site-specific mural install from:

The London Police, Galo, Pez, Morky, Miss Riel, Flying Fortress, Wayne Horse, Abner Preis and Minivila

Opening Sat, Nov. 8th in Culver City

Many of the artists are already starting to arrive in town this weekend, so look for some progress shots of the show in the coming weeks. Soooo can't wait for this one!!!

Robbie Conal’s ‘No Spitting, No Kidding’ opens this past Sat...

Robbie Conal's 25 year retrospective "No Spitting, No Kidding" opened this past Saturday at Track 16 in Bergamot Station in Santa Monica to a huge crowd of adoring fans.

While the name may not jump to mind with all reading this blog, his works are sure to be familiar to many an Angelino, having been on the cover of the LA Weekly numerous times, and popping up around the city around election time every four years. After creating his over-sized images via thick layers of oil, he then gets stacks of lithos made; and proceeds to instructs an army of guerrillas armed with buckets of wheat paste to put his work all over the city, serving up his indictments of a corrupt and broken government with tongue-in-check humor and overtly repulsive visuals, that somehow still manage to bring a smile to your face.

Conal has two books to his credit, has a monthly newspaper column and was getting up on the streets of L.A. long before it was the trendy thing to do.

"No Spitting, No Kidding" is an exhibition that highlights his large-scale political paintings and posters, as well as his new series of oil and photomontage work that chronicle the political media phenomena from recent decades. A very deserving exhibition and a testament to the power of Conal's work and message.

Check out a recent interview MetroMix did with Conal here: http://losangeles.metromix.com/events/article/art-attack-robbie-conal/655262/content

Some other images from opening night (including the above crowd shot I grabbed - thanks Jack) can be found over at Daily DuJour here:

http://dailydujour.com/2008/10/20/seen-robbie-conal-no-spitting-no-kidding/#more-1377

With the election just around the corner, this is the perfect exhibit to take in this weekend if you missed the opening.

Ekundayo & KMNDZ this past weekend with Robt. Williams...

KMNDZ did the logo and painted up the show room of GAS a couple years ago (aka Galpin Auto Sports in the San Fernando Valley where the show 'Pimp My Ride' is filmed)... this association led the Galpin family to invite Johnny to come on out and paint a mural during an event they had this past weekend. Johnny brought along Ekundayo and together the pair unleashed the above sick tribute to Rat Fink (measuring 8' x 4').

The event was a wild night that saw the boys hanging out and getting advice from Robert Williams (pictured above with the duo), Camp Freddy rockin' the stage with Ozzy on vocals as they painted, and a bunch of very expensive cars on display including the debut of a couple new cars from car customizer to the stars George Barris.

Red Forest is up through Halloween... don't miss your chance to view this amazing exhibit in person!

Karpinski is coming...

Timothy Karpinski

The Place I Call Home

Opening Nov. 7th in our project room

An interview with Timothy will be posted here in the coming days.

http://timothykarpinski.com/

The Mosaic Tile House in Venice...

THE MOSAIC TILE HOUSE

Fall 2008 Studio Art Show & Sale

Sunday - October 26, 2008 From 12 - 5 PM

1116 Palms Blvd in Venice (between Lincoln Blvd & Penmar Ave)

(310) 399-1469

Artists Cheri Pann & Gonzalo Duran invite you to the Fall 2008 Pre-Christmas Glass work, Pottery & Painting Exhibit & Sale. We stumbled upon this wonder of a home many, many years back and always share it with visitors anytime we get over to Venice. Just amazing the amount of love and work that has gone into their home. Every square inch inside and outside their home is covered in mosaic tile. Cheri creates the tiles, and Gonzalo breaks 'em up and mosaics their yard, their porch, their lawn, their floor inside, their walls and ceiling inside, their fence surrounding their home, their awning, the outside walls of their home... everywhere. Really has to be seen to really appreciate the time that went into it. And still they find new places to expand onto each time we swing through... inspiring in so many ways.

Definitely worth a visit if in the area next Sunday.

Big benefit with big names next Sat at New Image Art...

Dear & Yonder Benefit

Sat, October 25th 6-10PM

New Image Art

7908 Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles

(323) 654-2192

http://www.newimageartgallery.com/

On Sat, October 25th New Image Art is hosting a benefit for the upcoming surf film Dear & Yonder. Tiffany Campbell and Andria Lessler have been working on the film for over a year to authentically document women who inspire both in and out of the water. This benefit has been organized to raise funds for the remaining production costs of the film, which will help keep it on track for a Summer 2009 release. The filmmakers' community has been integral to realizing the film, and is furthering its gracious support by donating artwork for the benefit.

This dynamic group of talent includes:

Clare Rojas, Thomas Campbell, Alex Kopps, Barry McGee, Spencer Tunik, Lori d., Andy Davis, Jo Jackson, Laura Flippen, Evan Hecox, Stefan Simikich, Johanna St. Clair, Amy Jo Diaz, Jeff Canham, Kyle Field, Erin Kunkel, Jay Nelson, Josh Lazcano, Serena Mitnik-Miller, Nathaniel Russel, Moses Berkson, Tiffany Campbell, Deanna Templeton, Chris Duncan, Liz Pepin, Rachel Kaye, Mason St. Peter, Nikki McClure, Rich Jacobs, Ed Templeton and more.

The exhibition space has been offered by Marsea Goldberg who is an avid surfer with 15 years of commitment to showing up and coming female artists, making New Image Art a perfect fit.

Recommended openings to catch this weekend...

Fri, Oct. 17th 7-11PM
The Grind
12222 Venice Blvd in Los Angeles
“Behind The Mask” group show with Clinton Neuhaus, Christopher Ulrich, Ted Von Heiland, Bob Lizarraga, Jennifer Springman, Christopher Hall and more plus live painting from Michael Pukac http://www.thegrindgallery.com/

Sat, Oct. 18th 6:30-10PM
GR2
2062 Sawtelle Blvd in Los Angeles / 310.445.9276
“Vote For Survival” featuring new work from Nikki McClure
(On view through Nov. 12th)
http://www.gr2.net/

Sat, Oct. 18th 7-9PM (private reception) / 9PM-1AM (public reception) - $10 Admission
Hangar 1018
1018 S. Santa Fe in Los Angeles
Music Share – featuring artworks created by musicians or inspired by music and presented by Cannibal Flower, Aesthetic V and Milagro Communications with works from Ron English (pictured above), Slash, Mark Mothersbough, Lemmy Kilmister, Wayne Kramer, Shepard Fairey, Inger Lorre, Daniel Johnston, Richard Duardo, Anthony Ausgang, N.C. Winters, Michael Pukac, Michael Alvarez, Clinton Neahaus, Douglas Alvarez, Christopher Ulrich, and many more - 20% of all art sales will be donated to MusicCares, a non-profit organization that provides assistance to persons in the music business in critical financial need – www.grammy.com/musicares - for more info on the exhibit, check out www.myspace.com/musicshare08
(Also open to the public on Sun, Oct. 19th 1-4PM)

Sat, Oct. 18th 7-11PM
La Luz De Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles / 323.666.7667
“Family Guy C.R.A.P. (Collection of Rare Art Pieces)” – featuring over 20 participating artists interpreting the art of Family Guy – Mark Covell, Sam Fout, Chad Geran, JAKe, Joseph Lee, Lola, Bethany Marchman, Dan May, Mark McHaley, Pete McKee, Dominic Palchino, John Pelico, Dave Perillo, Julius Preite, Grant Searcey, Nathan Spoor, Joe Vaux, and more - presented by 20th Century Fox and Acme Archives
http://www.laluzdejesus.com/

Sat Oct. 18th 6-10PM
Norm Maxwell Gallery
1836 Sawtelle Blvd in Los Angeles
“High Low Brow” featuring new works from Paul Torres
http://www.normmaxwellgallery.com/

Sat, Oct. 18th 7-10PM
Track 16 Gallery
2525 Michigan Avenue, C1 at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica / 310.264.4678
“No Spitting - No Kidding” featuring new works from Robbie Conal
(On view through Nov. 12th)
http://www.track16.com/

Sat, Oct. 18th 7-10PM
Tradition
2895 Agoura Road in Westlake Village / 805.497.4717
“Horror Business” group show curated by Eyeone featuring works by Alex Pardee, French, Andrew "The Kid" Farnsley, Axis, Dennis McNett, Derek Albeck, Eye One, Give Up, Jacob Bannon, Jawn Agione, Marco Zamora, Tomii Lim, William Boone, Woo and morehttp://www.shoptradition.com/store/

MOCA Contemporaries event upcoming...

I'm involved on the board for the MOCA Contemporaries which is a very cool organization that helps to fund events/exhibits at MOCA and I wanted to invite some of you to the next membership drive event coming up...

The MOCA Contemporaries is one of the Southland's premier cultural support organizations, the MOCA Contemporaries provide financial support for the museum through a variety of fundraising programs, and cultivate future leadership for MOCA by nurturing the next generation of art collectors and community leaders. Members enjoy a full calendar of exciting social and educational events, including studio and gallery visits, MOCA exhibition tours, lectures, day trips, and fundraisers. These activities promote awareness of the museum as well as a broader understanding of contemporary art and culture.

* Click on above invite to view larger image

Wed, October 29th
7-9PM
Blue Velvet
750 S. Garland Ave in Los Angeles

RSVP by October 25th to:
MOCAContemporaries2008@gmail.com

We're happy to have Michael Pukac on hand painting live on the patio for this special event.

Check out Pukac's work here: http://www.michaelpukac.com/

More info at MOCA's site here: http://www.moca.org/museum/involvement_act_contemp.php

MOCA Contemporaries on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Moca_Contemporaries/1476790204

MOCA Contemporaries on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mocacontemporaries/

Joao Ruas sneak peek from "The Drawing Room" this November...

Joao Ruas

Haunted #16

Watercolor and gouache on board

Website: http://souvlaki.jp-ar.org/

Flickr here: http://flickr.com/photos/feralkid

This beauty and two others will be featured in The Drawing Room opening November 7th.

Look for a couple of additional new works from Ruas at our booth at Vanguard during Art Basel this December in Miami.

Past that, plans are already underway for his first solo with us in 2010... more details soon. A waiting list is already developing, so drop a line soon if you are interested in his work.

Words of wisdom from the streets of Brooklyn courtesy of ELBOW-TOE...

Press praise for 'Red Forest' starts to stream in...

"Judging from the crowd that showed up for the opening, KMNDZ & Ekundayo careers are going in an opposite direction when compared to the stock market right now. Entering the gallery was like entering into their own little post-nuclear apocalyptic world." - Arrested Motion

"The work from both artists is extremely good – each artist has a strong vision and the excellence in execution to draw viewers in completely and totally. Perhaps more importantly, both artists manage to mix the visual sugar with a sense of contextual depth that elevates the work beyond mere eye candy. Some onlookers proclaimed the show, “the best of the year”. That’s arguable but it’s safe to say this is one of the highlight shows of the year and should definitely put people on notice about both Ekundayo and KMNDZ. If you’re not watching both of these young artists, you need to start – now." - Daily DuJour

Arrested Motion coverage here: http://arrestedmotion.com/2008/10/openings-kmndz-ekundayo-thinkspace/#more-1611

Daily DuJour coverage here:http://dailydujour.com/2008/10/11/seen-ekundayo-and-kmndz-red-forest/

Also find some additional shots from Arrested Motion's very own Marcus Lo below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcusslo/sets/72157607845850644/

*photo above courtesy of Daily DuJour

October 11th art adventure...

We went out this Saturday and hit up most of the big openings about town. We started the night off at the Ben Maltz Gallery on the campus of OTIS. They were in the midst of their Alumni weekend celebrations and the focul point of the whole event was Phantasmoria which featured a massive mural installation from Mark Dean Veca... images below...

The mural was sprawling and really must be seen in person to really appreciate the scope of it... the man of the hour is seen below chatting it up with Ben Maltz curator Meg Linton (also curator of In The Land Of Retinal Delights)...

After taking in all the details of Phantasmoria we headed over to Culver City to take in the 2nd show at the new location of Roberts & Tilton to take in Flowers As They Are In The Field (Hana Wa No Ni Aruyouni) featuring new works from Ai Yamaguchi as well as a killer installation in the middle of the gallery with a beautiful wrap around painting within...

Seen below is one of the two 'benches' featuring in the exhibit... how nice would that be to have sitting about the ol' home? Just not sure how one would really display and fight dust, seems you'd have to put it in a large case... regardless, very nice to behold and they really pop the exhibit off along with the install in the middle of the room...

Seen above is an interior shot of Flowers As They Are In The Field... beautiful show. After grabbing a quick bite we resumed our art adventure and headed down to Kinsey / Des Forges (formerly BLK/MRKT) to take in the debut LA solo show of local artist Lisa Solberg...

Definitely a different show for Kinsey and crew, but super colorful and huge works, worth a visit if over in Culver City for sure. After that we headed over to see the new joint venture between Project: and Cerasoli (ex-Lab 101), the new Cerasoli : LeBasse Gallery. The Blender group show was laid out really nicely and featured a very intensive installation from Japanese artist Ogi (aka Ryuichi Ogino). Blender also featued works from Vincent Hui (whose work didn't photograph well due to glare on glass, but must be seen - great find there for sure), Melissa Haslam (grouping of works featured below, and all had sold by end of night I hear... believe Hung-Hei from the Artchival board/Arrested Motion first found her and started posting about her work), Deth P. Sun and Mari Inukai (work pictured directly below) plus in gallery 2 they had new works from Jennifer Davis and Suzanne Sattler...

Above is the one and only Jack from Vinyl Pulse and Beau's camera shy wife Christine... almost got her :)

Above is Ogi's floor to ceiling install and below is the collection of smaller works from Australia's Melissa Haslam...

After hangin' out a bit at Beau and Freddi's new digs, we headed up the street a bit to take in the new show at BSFA (Billy Shire Fine Arts). They were featuring the 2nd solo show at their gallery from collage artist Miriam Wosk. Paradise and Wildlife featured sprawling collage works and a simply stunning install in the middle of the gallery (see below 2 shots)...

After taking in the show at BSFA we headed out towards downtown Los Angeles to a deserted area where one would never imagine to find an art show. Down a dark part of East Washington we came upon the BOXEight rental spot to take in Native Sons featuring new works from Sage Vaughn that was curated by his European representatives Galerie Bertrand & Gruner. Due to this, all the works were priced in Euros and definitely a huge increase over last year's showings... but word has it that he's been doing great over in the UK and Europe and this tour de force show was testament to that... one stunning over-sized work after another lined the walls of what turned out to be a very cool spot to have an underground art show...

The exhibit featured a great array of both his 'Wildlife' and 'Wildlives' series and also featured almost a dozen of his nail bat sculptures that we were lucky enough to have exhibited a few of back in one of our Picks of the Harvest group shows... just love the bats!

The man of the hour is seen below with my wife Shawn in front of one of his massive showstoppers... big ups to Sage for really delivering one hell of a show...

We headed out from the depths of nowhere LA on the outskirts of downtown into downtown proper to hit up the Zero One Gallery... far removed from gallery row near a strech of new lofts. On the way to the spot, we strolled into what we thought was another opening but we quickly figured out it was someone's loft party.. we could have crashed it, but we had art shows to see damn it! So onward to Zero One it was to take in the one and only Mear One's new solo exhibit. Upon entering you were greated by a sprawling wall of his new works along with segments of his new DVD (also being released this night) being projected upon the upper portions of the gallery's wall....

The downstairs featured Mear One's larger acrylic and oil works on canvas and board (seen below from the upstairs balcony) to smaller acrylic and ink works on paper in the loft/balcony area (seen above)

After taking in Mear's show and finally tracking him down to offer up congrats on a great show we loaded into the ol' VW to head over to Bergamot Station in Santa Monica to hit up our final stop of the night to catch Copro Nason's new show with Laurie Lipton. Day of the Dead was a full on display of skill. Laurie's graphite works were just intense. I highly suggest swingin' through Copro to catch this show next time you are out at Bergamot this month...

On the way to Copro, we almost threw in the ol' towel since it was close to 11PM and we'd been hitting up shows since 5PM, but upon arriving we ran into good friend and mega-collector Ryh-Ming Poon (with my wife Shawn above) and also collector Chris Ward - both of whom have a great eye for the works they chose to add to their collections...

I will leave you with Laurie's masterful "Angel of Death" (shown above)... my photo doesn't begin to do this work justice. Be sure to go out and catch this show in person.

Please be sure to sign up for our weekly show listing e-mail to be kept best up to date on all the events worth hitting up in the sprawling LA art scene.