A few months back, my friend Ming Lai asked if friends would help out to put an art show together on behalf of the Mini Lai Scholarship Fund. This fund is in memory of my dear friend Mini Lai and supports Art Center students that are in need of financial assistance. Of course everyone agreed! We set up the show today in preparation of the grand opening tomorrow, Saturday, October 23. I ran home to my computer so I could share with you a few pictures of our set up. We had a blast preparing this show for you. It also reminds me of how fun, goofy and altogether lucky we are to have each other. Tonight, I realized that The Mini Lai Scholarship Fund symbolizes the everlasting power of friendship. I mean, look at these smiles.

Among those happy faces, you can preview amazing talent in these photos. From the next generation of contemporary artists to the current king, Mark Ryden. He was kind enough to donate a print of “The Tree of Life” which was produced to commemorate his Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles exhibit. We are having a silent auction of this already sold out print this Saturday. This show will also exhibit roughly 75 paintings by Art Center Alumni. They will all go for sale and most of them priced at $300.00 with 100% going to support the financial need of students. It’s an awesome deal! The participating Artists include:

Calef Brown, Chris Chanaud, Sean Chao, Rob & Chris Clayton, Tavis Coburn, Brian Damitz, Jesse Fillingham, Shannon Freshwater, Alex Gross, Andrew Hem, Pamela Henderson, Jason Holley, Tina Hou, Julienne Hsu, Brooke Kent, Tasha Kusama, Julie Lee, Annie Liu, Ronald J. Llanos, Tami Lovett, Tara McPherson, Ming Ong, Martha Rich, Zoro Rodriguez, Mark Ryden, Jim Salvati, Corey Sandelius, Diana Shin, Daniaelle Simonsen, Aaron Smith, Ryan Jacob Smith, Hella Song, Akiko Stehrenberger, Roland Tamayo, Mark Todd, Eli Trinh, Edwin Ushiro, Michael Valle, Cathy Wang, Tianyi Wang, Patrick Williams, Jaime Zollars and more.

So come and join us in celebration of Mini’s life, friendship, art, charity, and oh,,, a Calbi food truck. Need I say more?

“The Mini Show”
Saturday, October 23, 2010, 8:00 PM-11:00 PM
Art Center College of Design / South Campus Gallery
950 South Raymond Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91105
minilai.com/upcoming.html

Media Contact: Ming Lai
626.372.1301
info@minilai.com

This evening I went to visit an art show by one of my favorite comic book artist, John Pham at GR2. I am so bummed I missed the opening which took place last week Saturday. Most importantly having to miss a chance to tell him how much I appreciate owning all of his self published and Xeric award winning comics of Epoxy. He has since moved onto writing and illustrating, Sublife published by Fantagraphics. This show also coincides with the release of Sublife Volume 2. Below are a few pictures I took. This is definitely one of the most remarkable solo show I have seen this year. Wanna trade John?

“Living Space”
New work by John Pham
at:

GR2
2062 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310.445.9276

More Images + Info »

Here is the flyer to my solo exhibition entitled, “Softly Encompassing the Womb” at LeBasse Projects on September 12, 2009. LeBasse Projects is located at 6023 Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232. You can be added to the preview list by contacting the gallery at info@lebasseprojects.com or by phone at 310.558.0200. Thank you and see you in about one month!!!

“Softly Encompassing the Womb”
A Solo Exhibition by Edwin Ushiro
September 12, 2009, 7PM-10PM
at: LeBasse Projects
6023 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310.558.0200
LeBasse Projects
contact@lebasseprojects.com

I’m not quite sure if this is a secret thing, but only a few websites are announcing it. Just so you know… Travis is in town!!!

“Curiosities” Book Signing by Artist, Travis Louie
Tue, July 28th 6-9PM
Gallery 1988 Los Angeles
7020 Melrose Ave in Los Angeles / 323.937.7088
“Curiosities” book signing event with Travis Louie – both the regular version of Travis’ book and the 1988 exclusive cover version (with bonus print) will be available for purchase
www.nineteeneightyeight.com

Last weekend, my brother flew me out to San Francisco to hang out and breath some fresh air. After dropping off my bags, visited the California Academy of Science, ate chinese food, we decided to check out San Francisco’s Giant Robot location to visit the “Pencil Pushers” show focusing on the art of graphite. And here is the first thing that popped off the walls: “Time Cat” by comic book artist, Matt Furie.

Probably the first time I saw a drawing by the co-founder of Giant Robot, Martin Wong who sold 2 of the 3 drawings on display (the ones at the bottom of this pic). Good work Martin! These make me want to play with my toys and make my own Manzinga art.

But my favorite 2 works of art that evening were these birthday cakes designed by Tiffany Florez. They were both full cakes, then we made them make out San Francisco style.

“Pencil Pushers” The Art of Graphite
at GRSF
618 Shrader St.
San Francisco, CA 94117
415.876.4773
info@giantrobot.com
hours: Mon.-Fri. 1130AM-8PM, Sat. 11AM-8PM, Sun. 12PM-7PM

Days later, I am recovering from a massive case of New York eye candy. From May 7-10 Tessar Lo and I ventured the streets of NYC by the kind support of Scion who flew us out and took care of us during our stay in the concrete jungle. There were Friends, galleries, ice cream, ramen, boozing, pizza, gyro, a thunderstorm, train fight, suicide attempt, bike fetish day and a birthday party. But let us start from the begining…
Before their new print show went live, we dropped by GRNY to check out the “Devil’s in the Details” group show. It is situated in a lovely spot sprinkled with trees, botiques and apartments.
Look at these Jordan Isip paintings. You may not see the amazing textures working here but it doesn’t defer from the power of these images. This show also featured artwork by Jeremyville, David Jien, Maxwell Loren Holyoke-Hirsch, and Yellena James (my fave of this show). Visit GRNY and check out their current show, “A NY Print Show.”
With a full belly after finishing a meal at Momofuku noodle bar, we headed out for the opening of the Scion Art Tour at The Showroom NYC.
The Scion Art Tour Installation Five was hosted by The Showroom NYC a gallery just a block away from our hotel. At 7PM the doors opened to an invite only list which filled the gallery within minutes. There was swag, booze, music and art for the guests but most importantly old and new friends. Pictured here from left to right: Ben from Ralph Lauren, JP, Tessar and Lynne. Funny thing is that back in the day, Ben used to work at the Art Store (now Blick) in Pasadena which I used to frequent when I attended the Art Center College of Design. JP used to work at the Lab 101 Gallery in Culver City. He was the friendly face I would meet when I showed there. Now he lives and works in NYC as a Photographer. And Lynne is a fellow Hawaii native who graduated from the School of Visual Arts and now works as a Graphic Designer for toys. Writing this makes me realize how far we have come.
As you can see, the packed crowd doesn’t give off the scenester vibe. It was kind of weird how many guests were there for the art and music. Can you spot Blek Le Rat? Also in a drunken stupor, Tessar nearly makes out with my painting. The boozing then carried on in some nearby dive bar.

Day 2 was spent gallery hopping in Chelsea. First stop, Joshua Liner Gallery who has a solo by Aiko (half the ensemble of Faile) entitled, “Love Monster.”
I want to mention that Joshua is a really nice guy. He even took some time out of his busy schedule to point out a few galleries we should check out. Drop by his gallery to see what I mean. Aiko’s solo exhibition continues through May 16, 2009.Many of the galleries here are of museum quality and size. And why not when you have a solo show by Chuck Close who showcased a large body of paintings and tapestries.What’s going on at Gagosian Gallery? The open portion of their location shouts out: “Yayoi Kusama!” Not quite sure if the bunny in front was part of the show, but arise something to think about. Anyways, I’ve been wanting to see this exhibit for quite some time now and boy was it worth the wait. Her show consists of works from 2008-2009 with a installation room you have to see in person to experience it the right way. Sorry I don’t have any pictures from the inside since the security guards that litter Gagosian’s 2 large rooms kept reminding visitors that no photography was allowed.
To make the night an even more surreal moment, the street our hotel was located on was blocked by police cars. Why? Right next door to our hotel, a young man started to chuck things out of his room (such objects including an iron). By the time we got there, the scene had escalated to a suicide attempt. With the street blocked people in the bars were forced to stay inside while other New Yorkers yelled at the guy to jump so they could make last call.

Day 3: Woke up at 1030AM just in time to grab a complimentary breakfast downstairs. Freshened up and met up with Tessar so we could catch a meal with Sam Weber in Greenpoint. Since Tessar used to intern for Sam, he gave me a tour of his former surroundings. Venturing further than he had done before we followed the sound of music which led us to the Bike Fetish Day festivities. There were bike enthusiasts proudly showing-off their custom and/or vintage bikes.A Brooklyn style pizzeria.And finally these are the last two photos on my film roll. This is Times Square. Tessar and I decided to check it out before the night ended. This place only exemplifies the energy of a wild city. Something I hope downtown Los Angeles will be able to achieve after it’s face lift is completed. So it is a sweet farewell until next time. Thank you to Scion’s Karen DaVanzo, Tessar Lo, Lynne Yoshii, GRNY’s Mike Denicola, Sam Weber, and the entire cast and crew of NYC for making this trip a memorable one.

During the first year as a resident of Culver City, I thought this area was just a convenient location to commute for work (Sony was just a stone’s throw away). I could finally walk to my job. Afterwords, with some insight from a friend, we explored the ever-growing gallery scene also within walking distance. That was 4 years ago. Today, it is no surprise for me to stumble across an event like this one.

“The Brick Building” used to carry itself like an abandoned warehouse ever since I moved into this town. I loved it, and secretly wanted it to be my dream studio. It wasn’t until a few months back that I noticed a huge renovation taking place. It’s now a gallery space/studio rental and Artist duo Mattia Biagi and Valerj Pobega kicked off the inaugural exhibition with some installations centered around the theme of identity. For those who are familiar with the work of Biagi, you may have noticed his greatest installation to date at the Barracuda Shop a few days back. Go visit Mattia and Valerj at their new exhibition here…

The Brick Building
8870 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
Show continues until March 31ST
Gallery hours: 12:00PM to 5:00PM
For info contact: info@kg363.com or 310.460.8878

My grammar is not good enough to set her images into words. So here are a few pictures for your own interpretation.

“Dark Matter of Fact”
Works by Christine Nguyen
February 28 – April 12, 2009
Reception: Saturday, February 28, 2-4PM

Angels Gate Cultural Center
3601 South Gaffey St.
San Pedro, CA 90731
T: 310.519.0936
F: 310.519.8698
Gallery hours: Tuesday-Sun. 10-5PM

More Images + Info »

Here are a few pieces from the current show over at the Scion Installation LA Gallery in Culver City, California. One of the most fun and striking piece involves a huge 20 ft. sculpture of a mini excavator by German Artist, Thomas Stussi. The roster of Artists are gathered by Curator/Gallery Owner, Janine Bean of Janine Bean Gallery. The show continues through Feb.7, 2009.

Fairytale of Berlin
Curated by Janine Bean
at: Scion Installation LA
3521 Helms Avenue (at National)
Culver City, CA. 90232
310.815.8840
Hours: Wed-Sat 11am-6pm and by appointment

On my Sunday stroll, I curiously visited the Rob Sato show which opened on Saturday. This is Rob’s first solo exhibition at Giant Robot and it’s chock full of amazing treasures. As far as I know, Rob is an artist from Sacramento, California. He won the prestigious Xeric Grant and published a comic entitled, “Burying Sandwiches” In his current exhibition, you can follow the life of a man who falls in love with a dolphin-like creature and his decent into a lonely place beneath the sea. There is so much detail in these pieces, it’s like heaven for a detail freak like myself. Check out a few of my favorites from his show…
..and go visit the show. Here is the info:

Rob Sato
“Dirty Paper Machines”
Jan.17-Feb.11, 2009
Giant Robot GR2
2062 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025

We’re pleased to welcome Edwin Ushiro as Dailydujour’s newest guest blogger. As many of you already know, Edwin is an extremely talented LA painter who is certain to make his mark in short order. He’s got a quick wit and a wild sense of humor, so be sure to say hi if you see him out and about.