Call of the Wild at Beauty Bar

"Call of the Wild" was an Industry Supporting Industry event at the downtown Beauty Bar. More than thirty local tattoo artists submitted animal-themed art works, and demonstrated the range of styles that exist under the broad description of 'tattoo-style' art.
Raymond Jimenez from Bad Apple Tattoo had contributed a graphite on paper work and was also represented by a commissioned tornado tattoo, executed that same day. Juan Muniz, who has developed a very recognizable style and a national reputation, was one of three artists who created paintings for a raffle on the night.

Chinese New Year on Fremont St

The Fremont St Experience was a great place to celebrate Chinese New Year - the crowd often rivals the performers for entertainment value. Dragons of course, were everywhere, including a giant snaking version on the overhead VivaVision screen.

from the streets of LA...

The Getty sculpture gardens

The weather was very different from our last visit to The Getty a year ago. This time I noticed how painted-over tags on the the freeway wall mirror the Getty Center Tram which transports visitors up the hill.
This time I discovered the 'Spiny Top, Curly Bottom' sculpture by Alexander Calder (top right) and 'Walking Flower' by Fernand Leger (bottom center). On the patio overlooking the city is Marino Marini's 'Angel of the Citadel'. The other Marini angel we had seen in Venice was enjoying an equally beautiful view.
Photography was not permitted in the exhibition Pacific Standard Time: Crosscurrents in L.A. Painting and Sculpture, 1950-1970, but it is a stunning show and runs through to February 5th.

Martin Luther King Day at LACMA

In honor of Martin Luther King Day, LACMA waived admission fees. It was also a fitting day to visit the Glenn Ligon retrospective exhibition simply titled 'America'. He has explored both race and sexuality and the top images here show a work he created as a somewhat conflicted response to Mapplethorpe's Black Book photographs. Below are a series of silkscreen, oil and gesso works, with 'Malcolm X (Version 1) #1', 2000 at right.

Go-Go Gallery

The description on the invite intrigued me: "The Go-Go Gallery is open to the art lover up for appreciating the slow groove, with 12 amazing go-go performers who act as the art installation for this event." So I went along to check it out and found that yes, there was an adjoining gallery, and yes there were go-go dancers, but they weren't dancing IN the gallery itself.
I guess you could describe Las Vegas as one giant art installation. So, if you enjoy mingling with attractive go-go dancers, you'll want to RSVP to special events at The Lady Silvia's in the downtown Soho Lofts. And you can probably check out the gallery at the same time.

the evolving Emergency Arts center...

Since being reinvented as a creative hub and opening in early 2010, the medical center now known as Emergency Arts has gone through some changes. The Beat Coffeehouse remains as an anchoring meeting spot, but many of the artist's studios on the first and second floors have been replaced by offices for non-profits and creative businesses.
Many of the gallery spaces have also changed, with 5th Wall Gallery, an artist-owned space, being one of the most recent arrivals. Currently showing is an installation by Luis Brennan 'Tell the other side how you feel' where viewers are invited to post personal messages into the work itself.
Kleven Contemporary is one of the more established galleries in the building and is showing "Bitch Betta Have My Money" - lithographs by UNLV graduate Bekah Just which are a contemporary remix of rap and vintage pulp fiction.
Counterspace is dedicated to photography, but is not afraid to explore the boundaries of the medium. The show 'Same River Twice' curated by Tony Flanagan and Michael Monson, features QR codes which have a strong graphic presence and also operate as conduits to selected websites and online galleries.
One of the new creative businesses which have taken up residence is peanutbutterfish who offer web and logo design, and more. Photographed at work in what was once an x-ray room is designer Bijan Damavandi.

First Friday Fremont East

There was a somewhat spooky ambience in 'Getback Alley' - the new venue for First Friday Fremont East. It felt like we were walking into a film set with the giant figures at the entrance and clouds of colored vapor wafting across desolate canvas scenery ... a gritty, urban film with a loose storyline, allowing plenty of room for improvisation.
We discovered skateboarders, live painting, arts vendors, a fire spinner, and at the very far end a stage, where local band Von Kin were creating the perfect moody, dark soundtrack.
Image top left courtesy Matthew Couper.

Happy New Year 2012, 2013, whatever...

The Three Wise Guys visit P3 Studio

The lounge area in front of the P3 Studio at The Cosmopolitan was a very comfortable venue to listen to readings by The Three Wise Guys - Dayvid Figler from Las Vegas, Gregory Crosby from New York and Geoff Carter from Seattle. Current P3 Studio artist-in-residence Jerry Misko invited the trio to perform and created a signature print to commemorate the occasion.