Throwback to this work outside of HVW8 Gallery in Los Angeles from their Anxiety Group Show in November of 2016.
Nov 052020
Nov 012020
The sad news is that because of the pandemic Hollywood Forever Cemetery’s grounds are closed for its annual Día de Los Muertos Festival.
The good news is that they are having a Día de los Muertos event online today at noon! It’s hosted by Fernanda Kelly and includes performances by David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez of Los Lobos, Buyepongo, and Tropa Magica.
Jul 302020
Happy Birthday to Betye Saar who turned 94 today! This work Still Ticking, (2005), was part of LACMA’s exhibition Betye Saar: Call and Response which opened at the museum in September of 2019.
From the wall description of the work-
Made shortly before Saar’s seventy-eighth birthday, the assemblage includes years and astrological glyphs on the inner left side that correlate to various important dates in her life. The work’s title wittily refers both to the timepieces in the sculpture- which, of course, are not ticking; indeed they are either frozen in time or missing their hands- and to the artist herself, who is alive and well, still ticking, now at age ninety-three.
Jul 122020
One of the pieces from Drew Heitzler’s 2015 exhibition Pacific Palisades at Blum and Poe Los Angeles.
Jun 222020
Everything is falling apart according to plan, one of artist and writer John Tottenham’s works from his show The Indifferent Sublime, at Maloney Fine Art in Culver City in 2014.
Jun 042020
Police actions against peaceful protesters during this time have been horrific. People have been tear gassed, shot with rubber bullets, shoved to the ground, thrown, beaten with batons, driven into with SUVs, pepper sprayed, and more.
We should not live in a police state. The military should not be called in to further terrorize the people of this country. Curfews should not be used as a way to silence protest and encourage harassment, fines, and arrests.
The police need to be held accountable for their actions in the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others. The continued use of unnecessary and often lethal violence, in addition to the targeting of black people by police around the country, must be stopped. There need to be strong legal ramifications put in place to prevent these actions from continuing to go on unpunished.
ACLU Southern California sent letters County and City of LA requesting that the Curfew Order be rescinded or substantially restricted as it is “neither authorized by state statutory law nor consistent with the United States Constitution, including the Constitution’s prohibition on restrictions of speech and assembly, its protection for freedom of movement, and its most basic notice requirements.” It looks like their actions succeeded and Los Angeles County no longer has a curfew. Now hopefully other cities will follow their lead.
If you are a New Yorker- support the Safer NY Act and #repeal50A- both of which would increase accountability for officers who engage in misconduct in the NYPD. Check out Change The NYPD for more info.
Also make sure to check out and support the actions of the NAACP, Black Lives Matter, and Equal Justice Initiative’s work for criminal justice reform.
(This photo is from 2015 and shows work by @esoteric_tcf)
Jun 022020
The playlist above is made up of musical selections from bands and musicians who would have played in Los Angeles in May 2020 if not for the COVID-19 pandemic, or others who had or were part of concerts online.
One song that is included is DJ Shadow’s Rocket Fuel featuring De La Soul which is from his 2019 album Our Pathetic Age.
May 252020
Ryan Brown’s Praia do Sancho (2015), from the 2015 group exhibition Extraction at Steve Turner in Los Angeles. For this work he used the structural components of stretched canvas to create this large work that resembles a beach chair.
May 232020
Jamie Fales contributed this painting to the Cat Art Show, in Los Angeles in 2016.
May 212020
Yayoi Kusama’s installation, With All My Love For The Tulips, I Pray Forever (2011), was on view at Marciano Art Foundation in Los Angeles in 2019.
From the foundation about the work:
Kusama’s exuberant sculptural installation “With All My Love For The Tulips, I Pray Forever”(2011) exemplifies the dualism found throughout her work between the organic and the artificial. Shown here for the first time in Los Angeles, the oversized flower-potted tulips made from fiberglass-reinforced plastic are painted with the same red polka dots as the floor, ceiling, and walls, creating an immersive viewing experience while at the same time diminishing the appearance of depth. This work exemplifies Kusama’s singular vision and her distinctive gift for drawing viewers into the work on a deeply visceral level. Kusama currently lives and works in Tokyo.