Here is one of my favorite artists, Jeff McMillan doing final touch ups on his piece!  RAD!!!

Greg 'Craola' Simkins

Greg ‘Craola’ Simkins drew a large crowd for last night’s opening of his ‘The Pearl Thief’ solo @ Gallery 1988 Los Angeles.  Many sat or stood gazing at the  massive show titled centerpiece (96″ x 72″)  for minutes on end, absorbing the unfolding story (spread across time) and appreciating the work that went into this piece which took roughly 6 months to complete.

The show centers around the Pearl Thief, a diminutive, stealthy character who is not to be taken lightly.  He steals the dreams and thoughts of all manner of creatures – represented visually by spheres or ‘pearls’ often seen in a transparent capsule within their heads.  Minion or mastermind?  The answer lies in the detailed brushstrokes.  This latest work expands Simkins’ long-running narrative in perhaps the most focused chapter yet.

Gallery 1988 and Craola added a fun and innovative wrinkle to the opening with an interactive game.  Each painting had a number below it which corresponded with a letter position in the piece’s title.  The challenge was to unscramble the letters to reveal the location of a band of pearls.  While many groups worked furiously taking notes along the way, the talented and savvy crew from 42 Entertainment lead by Johnny ‘KMNDZ’ Rodriguez and Mike Borys solved the puzzle and claimed the rich booty — an original 5×5″ Craola painting.

The Pearl Thief runs through November 22nd  Consult the official preview page for artwork availability.

Gallery 1988
7020 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
323.937.7088

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Dailydujour had the pleasure of visiting Greg Simkins in his new studio tucked away in a quiet corner of the South Bay. As you can see above, Greg is putting the finishing touches on ‘The Pearl Thief’ his new solo opening next Tuesday November 3rd (7- 10 PM) @ Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles. The solo features several paintings including his largest to date, ‘The Pearl Thief’, which measures  96” x 72” as well as drawings.

The new work continues the broad narrative which he has revealed painting by painting for the past few years.  The show’s namesake preys upon all sorts of unwitting creatures, taking away precious personal nuggets from each – the – ‘pearls’.  Cloaked and wearing many masks, the Pearl Thief plays a role either implicit or explicit in nearly every painting.

While he does not usually reveal the plots behind his paintings for fear of cheating the viewer of the thrill of interpretation, Simkins does make detailed notes on the back stories of his characters.  Each painting is a partial view into an ever evolving world populated by creatures with complex relationships with one another. The unfolding story which lends an air of familiarity and cohesiveness to the work also motivates Greg by keeping the focus on fantastic creativity.

While motivation comes in many forms, Simkins relishes  painting ‘big’ for the challenge as well as  the freedom to explore visuals with high levels of detail. Having just finished his biggest painting yet, he’s already looking to push the bar a few notches higher. He’s clearly up to the challenge and so is his gear.  What does one use to paint such large canvases?  His father provided the answer – a wall-mounted massive custom metal ‘easel’. It’s the biggest we’ve ever seen.

Enjoy this quick look at Greg’s studio.  We’ll be back with additional glimpses of his show later this week.  If you haven’t already marked Tuesday’s opening on your schedule, you will shortly.

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Travis Louie finished up a west coast trip with a signing and release for his new ‘Curiosities’ book at Gallery 1988 LA last night (7.28). Published by Baby Tattoo books and Gallery 1988, the beautiful book chronicles Travis’s unforgettable portraiture of his slightly monstrous yet lovable characters.  In addition to the reproduction of his masterful gray scale paintings, the book features vignettes on each character, giving the reader a window into both the monster’s world and Louie’s imagination.

The book is available in four editions, each with a different cover.  The Gallery 1988 edition includes a limited-edition pumpkin head print and is limited to 100 copies.  In addition to the book, Travis offered three smaller paintings and a drawing at the release event.

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Nathan Spoor

On Thursday (7.16), Gallery 1988 Los Angeles hosted Crazy 4 Cult 3-D, the 3rd annual  edition of the group show featuring artistic interpretations of cult films that are treasured by legions of passionate movie fans as guilty pleasures. Each year’s show seems to bring out new trends – this year artists flocked to Edward Scissorhands and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in large numbers.  While the repetition of inspiration might seem like a negative, the talented roster of artists offered strong variations on a theme.

Perhaps not as large as previous years, the crowd was fairly steady throughout the evening and kept the gallery packed.  Though many likely came for their love of cult movies, here’s hoping they stayed for the talent of the artists which was probably the strongest in the show’s three year history.

Crazy 4 Cult 3-D runs through August 8th, 2009, so there’s plenty of time to catch it if you missed tonight’s opening or just want to go back to see the art at a more relaxed pace.  After the jump you’ll find our pics of the opening including selected paintings.  To see all the pieces and check availability, head on over to the official show preview.

Gallery 1988
7020 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
323.937.7088

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Julian Callos "Life, or a Husk of Hares"

This month Gallery 1988 San Francisco will be opening their new show “Battle Royal” (note: not Royale, a common mispronunciation a la the book and film by Koushun Takmi, circa 2000, rent it.) The show will feature works by:

Julian Callos, Anthony Clarkson, Joshua Clay, Patrick Gannon, Gene Guynn, Walt Hall, Martin Hsu, Aaron Jasinski, Marcus Schafer and Jeremy Tinder

Up until the show opens on June 26th  Gallery 1988 will preview a few pieces online from each artist every few days, be sure to check in here.

Additionally Gallery 1988 in L.A will be hosting an afternoon event Saturday, June 27th, from 12 – 4 PM. LA artist Greg “Craola” Simkins will be partaking in what is a first at G1988 – an “afternoon hang-out.”

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Greg Simkins will open his anticipated It Wanders… West solo on Thursday, November 6th [7-10 PM] @ Gallery 1988 LA.    This show completes the story arc which began with It Wanders…East which opened in NYC at the Joshua Liner Gallery last month.  You’ve probably already clicked on the video, but if you haven’t it’s a sweet look at Greg working on a piece for the show in his studio.  Very cool — dig the wicked "mask" for the character in the painting.   Thanks to Jenn and Greg Simkins for the video. 

Gallery 1988
7020 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
323.937.7088

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Tessar Lo on Radiohead's OK Computer

Long before CD’s, MP3’s and iPods, the LP cover provided a large surface for some inspired art and visuals.  Gallery 1988 Los Angeles revisits the album cover with Cover Band opening tonight, October 7th 2008 (7-10 PM).  The group show features artist’s paining directly on album covers chosen from Rolling Stones top 500 albums.  Here’s a quick preview of some of the work including Tessar Lo’s interpretation of Radiohead’s OK Computer album cover.  Most were posted on the gallery’s blog, the remainder came through the magic of the interweb and Google.

Gallery 1988
7020 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
323.937.7088

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