Pop Surrealism, Lowbrow, Graffiti, Street Art + Culture

Luke Chueh. Chasing the Dragon.

Giant Robot will celebrate the new Lunar year with ‘Year of the Dragon’ which opens on Saturday (1.28) @ GR2.  The large show roster includes Andrice Arp, Robert Bellm, Aaron Brown, Elliot  Brown, Stasia Burrington, Bjorn Calleja, Ako Castuera, Sean Chao, Louise Chen, Shawn Cheng, James Chong, Luke Chueh (above), Chris Cilla, Jesse Fillingham, Cam Floyd, Harrison Freeman, Renee French, Gabe  Gonzales, Kio Griffith, Joe Hahn, Nao Harada, Hiro Hayashi, David Horvath, Kerry Horvath, Martin Hsu, Mark Ingram, Mari Inukai, Elizabeth Ito, Marc Johns, Jeremiah LaTorre, Little Friends of Printmaking, Tessar Lo, Bradford Lynn, Miso, Gary Musgrave, Mark Nagata, Ming Ong, Martin Ontiveros, Sana Park, Sidney Pink, Jarrett Quon, Jesse Reklaw, Sara Saedi, Ryan Jacob Smith, Dave Stolte, Ken Taya, Edwin Ushiro, Christine Vincent, Steven Weissman, Heidi  Woan, Yoskay Yamamoto, Jeni Yang, Yejin Oh, Sashiko Yuen.  Hit the jump for a short and sweet preview.

Year of the Dragon
Opening: Saturday, January 28th 2012 (6:30 – 10 PM)

Giant Robot 2
2062 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90025
310.445.9276

More Images + Info »

Street art duo Herakut have big plans for LA in February.  On the gallery front, they will open ‘After the Laughter’ @ LeBasse  Projects Chinatown on  Saturday February 25th with an exhibition which will also feature a signing of their new book of the same name.  The exhibition will feature an immersive installation complete with new original paintings, drawings, and a series of hand-painted sculptures.  On a fascinatingly different note, Herakut will also take part in eclectic and wondrous  circus troupe Lucent Dossier Experience’s weekend stop (2.17 – 2.18)  @ the Palace Theatre in Downtown LA, ‘When Lucent found Herakut’.  From what we hear, Herakut’s art will be woven tightly into the performance which will also feature a live painting session.

More Images + Info »

Curators Steven Daily and Tomi Monstre continue their annual homage to Saturday morning cartoons with March’s ‘Gag Me with a Toon 4: Fuck yeah’ @ WWA Gallery (3.17) in Culver City.   The 2012 edition features a new venue and a stacked line-up which includes Alex Pardee, Arty Perez, Brent Nolasco, Brian Viveros, Carlos Ramos,  Dan Quintana,  Eric Alos, Dave MacDowell, Deph, Jonathan Wayshack (above), Jim Mahfood, Lola, Lou Pimentel, Maxx 242, Miss Mindy, The Chung, Travis Louie and many more (full lineup on flier after the jump).

Gag Me With a Toon 4: Fuck Yeah
Opening: Saturday, March 17th 2012 (7-11 PM)

WWA Gallery
9517 Culver Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232

The 2012 edition of the ‘Art Los Angeles Contemporary’ fair took place last weekend (1.19 – 1.22) at Barker Hanger in Santa Monica.   For Thursday’s opening, collectors and art enthusiasts had the pleasure of wading through the  clusters of illuminated dry ice cube structures which formed  Judy Chicago’s recreation of her ‘Disappearing Environments’ installation.   Here’s a general overview of the fair with glimpses of booths and artworks that caught my eye.  Next up: focused highlight posts.

More Images + Info »

In conjunction with the Art Los Angeles Contemporary fair, NYC’s The Hole Gallery hosted their ‘LA Art Party’ on Saturday @ skateboarder Dylan Rieder’s warehouse in Burbank  The party featured an art installation curated by New Image Art featuring Anthony Lister’s painted balloon (above), Retna’s twin panels and several large wood panel pieces from the DRUGS crew as well as musical performances headlined by Kreayshawn.

More Images + Info »

LAGUNA BEACH, CA: AR4T gallery is proud to present Wolfbat Shamans and The Whale of Gratitude, Art by Dennis McNett on Saturday, February 4, 2012 presented by VANS. Don’t miss Dennis’s first solo art show in California in three years!!! Here’s some new preview pictures of his work, which Dennis is packing up this week. He’ll be installing his works in Laguna for the show February 4th!

Wolfbat Shamans and The Whale of Gratitude
Art by Dennis McNett
February, 4th, 2012 6PM to 9PM
AR4T Gallery
210 North Pacific Coast Highway
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
On PCH 1/2 block north of Broadway

Check out some preview pictures below.

More Images + Info »

Audrey Kawasaki. Let Me. graphite and colored pencil on handcut paper. 12" x 14".

Thinkspace will be exhibiting @ the inaugural LA edition of the Affordable Art Fair (1.18 – 1.22) over at the Event Deck @ LA Live in Downtown LA.   The LA fair is the newest addition to the successful international fair series which as its name implies offers artwork priced below 10k dollars with half of the work priced below 5k.   Thinkspace will be showing new work from a talented lineup including:  Adam Caldwell, Audrey Kawasaki (above), Brian M. Viveros, DABS MYLA, David Cooley, David MacDowell, Jacub Gagnon, Jason Thielke. Jeff Ramirez, Linnea Strid, Mari Inukai, Matt Doust, Meggs, Pakayla Biehn, Pedro Matos, Sarah Joncas, Stella Im Hultberg, Stephanie Buer & Yosuke Ueno. Hit the jump for an early look at some of the work as featured on the gallery’s flickr and a few of the artist’s websites.

In addition to their booth, Thinkspace is presenting a large 56 x 12 ft mural by Dabs Myla which will greet fair visitors as they enter the venue.  The gallery is also presenting three short talks – one with director  Morgan Spurlock (1.20 @ 6 PM), Dabs Myla (1.20 @ 7PM and 1.21 @ 3 PM) and Heroes & Villains author Amanda Erlanson discussing Pop Surrealism (1.22 @ 2:30 PM).

Affordable Art Fair Los Angeles

Wed, Jan 18, 6pm – 10pm Private Preview Party
Thu, Jan 19, 12pm – 9pm (4pm-9pm FREE ADMISSION)
Fri, Jan 20, 12pm – 8pm
Sat, Jan 21, 11am – 8pm
Sun, Jan 22, 11am – 6pm

Event Deck @ LA Live
1005 Chick Hearn Court
Los Angeles, CA 90015

More Images + Info »

Gail Potocki. Encouragement for the Heart Growing Fonder.

The upcoming ‘Femme Fatale’ show (2.25) @ Cella Gallery will explore the beauty, mystery, and independence represented in the timeless archetype  through the eyes and brushes of a talented group.  Curated by Stephanie Chefas and Nicole Bruckman, Femme Fatale will feature the work of  Aaron Nagel, Apricot Mantle, Anna Chung, Aunia Kahn, Casey Weldon, Cate Rangel, Charles Ketcham, Chris Peters, Christopher Umana, Cristina Natsuko Paulos, Crystal Chan, David Bray, Dave MacDowell, Delphia, Douglas Alvarez, Edith Lebeau, Gail Potocki (above), Jason Rudulph Pena, JAW Cooper, Jeff Ramirez, Jessica Ward, JoKa, Jose Carabes, Ken Garduno, Korin Faught, Kris Moore, L.Croskey, Lily Mae Martin, Linnea Strid, Morgan Slade, Nicole Bruckman, Nom Kinnear King, Paul Chatem, Roman Cho, Sara Haase, Sarah Folkman, Stella Im Hultberg, Ted von Heiland and THH70.

Femme Fatale
Opening: Saturday, February 25th (7-11 PM)

Cella Gallery
11135 Weddington Street, Suite #112
North Hollywood, CA 91601

An excellent show of paintings by Kenny Harris at Koplin Del Rio stems from his recent 7-week trip through China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Some paintings show the same scene but are different sizes — showcasing subtle differences in perspective, technique and lighting. And others have accompanying beautiful watercolor studies that offer insight into how the final work was created. The show on the whole exudes the painter’s trademark quiet vibe, going hand in hand with the emptiness of the spaces depicted.

The show runs until Feb. 18, so stop by the gallery to check it out, and see more work by the painter on this site!

Koplin Del Rio: 6031 Washington Blvd/Culver City, CA 90232

More Images + Info »

Featuring a collection of large-scale woven tapestries, Sage Vaughn opened ‘Last Year’ @ Known Gallery on Friday evening.  Running along Known’s two main walls, the tapestries feature images drawn from multiple collages and a few paintings in Vaughn’s Envelope series, so named for the use of manila envelopes.  While a few of the tapestries feature signature Vaughn imagery including birds and butterflies, the majority of the work draws on collages combining repurposed photographs and text. Many of the tapestries offer incisive commentary on the marginalization and vilification  of the Native American population.

Interestingly, the transition from manila envelope to tapestry has a transformative effect on the collage pieces.  The act of bringing together separate found images and text recedes into the uniform weave  which results in work that feels more like completely original works rather than pieced-together collages.   In addition to the tapestries, Vaughn has included several totem-like sculptures, a few of which resemble bird houses  as well as a select grouping of original pieces from his ongoing Envelope series.

Sage Vaughn || ‘Last Year’
Through Sunday January 29th, 2012

Known Gallery
441 North Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036

More Images + Info »

Looking to capture the imaginations of children, Royal/T will present contemporary art at ‘eye level’ with ‘TAG You’re It!’ opening on Saturday (1.14).  Curated by Amber Noland (Art Collection Management), the exhibit will feature examples of high art that lend themselves to be appreciated by children as well as adults, including Your Dog (a giant dog) by Yoshitomo Nara, Beatrice (a fairy cloud princess) by Will Cotton, and Bhangra Remix (gilded turn tabs) by Jim Lambie.  Continuing with the theme of drawing children into the world of art, Royal/T will offer ‘ART TAG’ a conceptual game of ‘hide and seek’ between exhibit viewers and the ideas contained in the exhibited works.

TAG You’re It
Opening: Saturday, January 13th 2012 (4 –8 PM)

Royal/T
8910 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310.559.6300

More Images + Info »

LA-based painter James Jean will be at Nucleus in Alhambra on Saturday (1.14) to sign copies of his new Rebus art book (Fall 2011) .  In addition to the book, the gallery will offer Jean’s ‘Year of the Rabbit’ print (100 pcs, $75).  Nucleus will offer any remaining prints from the event through its online store.

James Jean || Rebus Signing
Saturday January 14th 2012 (6 to 9 PM)

Nucleus
210 East Main Street
Alhambra, CA 91801
626.458.7482

More Images + Info »