I've been a very bad blogger for the past 6 months...
I apologize...
Obviously, things have been busy, but I promise you that I will get back at it... someday... hopefully soon... but no guarantees.
Stay tuned.
2.02.2009
8.04.2008
Tatiana Cardeal at Art for Shelter
Prestes Maia
The photography of Tatiana Cardeal
Opening Reception
Including Food and Refreshments
August 9th from 6pm to 8pm
The Salvation Army Alegria | Art for Shelter
2737 W Sunset Blvd Los Angeles CA 90026
T:323.454.4201 F:323-454-4226
www.salvationarmy-alegria.org
www.artforshelter.org
7.28.2008
Matt Wignall at DDR Projects
Matt Wignall will be exhibiting some INCREDIBLE PHOTOS from his series in support of Water Wells for Africa. This exhibition will be hosted at DDR Projects in Long Beach. The opening is on August 1st and will feature DJ Pete Deeble spinning wax.
For more about Matt Wignall - go see MattWignall.com
For more about the gallery - go see DDRProjects.com
For more about the cause - go see WaterWellsForAfrica.com
And for more about DJ Pete Deeble.... well... just take my word for it!
Some of you may also know Matt Wignall as the local Long Beach music scene trailblazer: from Scouts of Saint Sebastian, Matt Death and the New Intellectuals, and Havalina; man behind the mix for many a local record made at his "Tackyland" studio; and man behind the cameras for Long Beach music stars the Cold War Kids. He is also co-founder of Matte Black clothing designs. And when he's not mastering art, music, or fashion... he is quitely plotting to conquer the world!
7.17.2008
Blogs of note: FFF and Brian Ulrich
FFF (a.k.a. FormFiftyFive.com) is a killer graphic design blog constantly updated with some really beautiful work to check out. An excellent resource for finding new artists and designers, or browsing for inspiration!
Brian Ulrich is an incredible Chicago-based photographer with a lot of work up on his site, but he also keeps very up to date on his blog... with information about exhibitions, artists of interest, readings, and other relevant bits of information... Plus he has a very extensive listing of sites for other photographers and photo related blogs! - NotIfButWhen.com
7.16.2008
3 Shows at Grand Central Art Center
I received an invite for a show called "The Happy Show" at Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana. A friend of mine, Jaime Uretsky (who's work I really respect and enjoy), was included in the show and so I was interested in going to check it out if for no other reason than to encourage and support her... so I visited the GCAC website to find out details...
Well... I happened to know several other people exhibiting in The Happy Show, as well as some artists showing in a concurrent exhibition ("Spitting Images") in their main gallery! And the project room installation looked REALLY EXCITING! (Note: "Spitting Images" is the correct title for the show despite the typo on their website)
So now I had to go... and I did.
It was all enjoyable, and worth the trip...
But nothing turned out quite the way I expected.
On display: July 5 - July 27, 2008
I generally found The Happy Show... not so happy (with notable exceptions).
In general, I expected something very uplifting and whimiscal... but this seemed in short supply. One of the notable exceptions, from Jon Ginnaty and Diana Donaldson, was a rack of about 25 small ceramic puppies (as seen in the promo image above), each with a tag around its neck that reads "I will love you forever." This little installation with so many little puppy faces begging for attention, each with a promise of affection, was definitely a "Happy" highlight. Also, worthy of your time is a whimsical painting by Alyssa Cordova, and a very fun little animation/video piece by Jaime Uretsky (You'll have to look for this new work from Jaime in the front window facing the street).
On display: July 5 - August 24, 2008
Spitting Images was proclaimed to explore "unique interpretations of the photo-making process within a group dynamic"... but it seemed surprisingly traditional. Though not as unique as promised, I still felt this was over all a pretty strong showing of work by photographers and printmakers.
The real standout work of the show were a series of digital images from Neil Sharum. Utilizing his unique images (originating from nightclubs that cater to teens) as source material, he then uses digital imaging technology to merge these images together, creating the illusion of a seamless continuous space where his "cast" of very real characters appear to be interacting with one another in narratives of his own devising. In this process Neil becomes a story teller or director of sorts, creating cinematic narratives and building relationships into scenes that in truth do not exist.
Elsewhere in the show... Mark Chamberlain, Chris Moore, Sandra Green, and Mayra Alford all had strong showings of work that seemed to involve fairly traditional methods of image making. Not ground breaking, but strong nonetheless. (The work of Scott Angus could also fit into this category, but the 2 small pieces on display do not do adequate justice to his greater body of work.)
There were a few people who seemed to be genuinely bucking tradition and working in new or hybrid ways, including Janelle Morte and Leonard Correa, but I didn't necessarily find that work particularly engaging. Elizabeth Tobias as a possible exception had beautiful large scale and colorful visual representations of music... but they were at root fairly straight forward depictions of audio waveforms... (for a more innovative approach to visualizing music go see the "Sound!" work of Andy Carey, currently on display at Open Bookstore in Long Beach).
p.s. - I hate to be negative, but people need to stop exhibiting the work of Robbie Miller! His self portraits are thin on concept (sorely lacking, derivatives of Cindy Sherman and others), and from a photo craftsmanship-quality standpoint they are poorly executed prints. Yet somehow I have found his work exhibited in numerous small So-Cal galleries. (Someone has to stand up and say "NO!" when bad stuff is catching on.) STOP IT PEOPLE!
On display: July 5 - August 24, 2008
Lastly, the project room's installation ("This used to be real estate, now it's only fields and trees")... WAS EVEN BETTER THAN EXPECTED!
I can't really describe this installation by Amy Caterina. You have to experience it for yourself. Suffice it to say that it is an all-encompassing experience, very much enjoyed, and an excellent pairing to The Happy Show (or rather the whimisical intent of The Happy Show). You need to see this!
Well... I happened to know several other people exhibiting in The Happy Show, as well as some artists showing in a concurrent exhibition ("Spitting Images") in their main gallery! And the project room installation looked REALLY EXCITING! (Note: "Spitting Images" is the correct title for the show despite the typo on their website)
So now I had to go... and I did.
It was all enjoyable, and worth the trip...
But nothing turned out quite the way I expected.
On display: July 5 - July 27, 2008
I generally found The Happy Show... not so happy (with notable exceptions).
In general, I expected something very uplifting and whimiscal... but this seemed in short supply. One of the notable exceptions, from Jon Ginnaty and Diana Donaldson, was a rack of about 25 small ceramic puppies (as seen in the promo image above), each with a tag around its neck that reads "I will love you forever." This little installation with so many little puppy faces begging for attention, each with a promise of affection, was definitely a "Happy" highlight. Also, worthy of your time is a whimsical painting by Alyssa Cordova, and a very fun little animation/video piece by Jaime Uretsky (You'll have to look for this new work from Jaime in the front window facing the street).
On display: July 5 - August 24, 2008
Spitting Images was proclaimed to explore "unique interpretations of the photo-making process within a group dynamic"... but it seemed surprisingly traditional. Though not as unique as promised, I still felt this was over all a pretty strong showing of work by photographers and printmakers.
The real standout work of the show were a series of digital images from Neil Sharum. Utilizing his unique images (originating from nightclubs that cater to teens) as source material, he then uses digital imaging technology to merge these images together, creating the illusion of a seamless continuous space where his "cast" of very real characters appear to be interacting with one another in narratives of his own devising. In this process Neil becomes a story teller or director of sorts, creating cinematic narratives and building relationships into scenes that in truth do not exist.
Elsewhere in the show... Mark Chamberlain, Chris Moore, Sandra Green, and Mayra Alford all had strong showings of work that seemed to involve fairly traditional methods of image making. Not ground breaking, but strong nonetheless. (The work of Scott Angus could also fit into this category, but the 2 small pieces on display do not do adequate justice to his greater body of work.)
There were a few people who seemed to be genuinely bucking tradition and working in new or hybrid ways, including Janelle Morte and Leonard Correa, but I didn't necessarily find that work particularly engaging. Elizabeth Tobias as a possible exception had beautiful large scale and colorful visual representations of music... but they were at root fairly straight forward depictions of audio waveforms... (for a more innovative approach to visualizing music go see the "Sound!" work of Andy Carey, currently on display at Open Bookstore in Long Beach).
p.s. - I hate to be negative, but people need to stop exhibiting the work of Robbie Miller! His self portraits are thin on concept (sorely lacking, derivatives of Cindy Sherman and others), and from a photo craftsmanship-quality standpoint they are poorly executed prints. Yet somehow I have found his work exhibited in numerous small So-Cal galleries. (Someone has to stand up and say "NO!" when bad stuff is catching on.) STOP IT PEOPLE!
On display: July 5 - August 24, 2008
Lastly, the project room's installation ("This used to be real estate, now it's only fields and trees")... WAS EVEN BETTER THAN EXPECTED!
I can't really describe this installation by Amy Caterina. You have to experience it for yourself. Suffice it to say that it is an all-encompassing experience, very much enjoyed, and an excellent pairing to The Happy Show (or rather the whimisical intent of The Happy Show). You need to see this!
7.08.2008
Tragically Hipster * Los Angeles
A friend of mine recently started a blog for all things cool in LA. He's invited several friends to participate as authors (including myself). I am continuing this blog as a strictly art and photo focussed site, but if you are interested in seeing a broad smattering of things that interest and/or humor me and some other friends...
Go see Tragically Hipster * Los Angeles.
Enjoy.
Go see Tragically Hipster * Los Angeles.
Enjoy.
7.07.2008
One Crabby Photographer
Corey Arnold photographer/crab-fisherman/artist extraordinaire...
So this guy is a legitimate friend-of-a-friend (he went to high school with a good friend of mine). And I was first introduced to his work over a year ago when my friend said... "Hey! I know that guy on TV!" while we were watching the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch. Soon after, she found a webpage that had some of his amazing photos from crab fishing. It was cool, then I forgot.
Here's his fellow crewmates from the Rollo:
Well...
Now Corey has gone and made a name for himself!
No longer just a cool guy playing around and being goofy on a crab boat, his work has matured, and he's gotten noticed by corporate clients, publishers, art galleries, and curators!
This season The Discovery Channel hired Corey to photograph all the crab boat captains that they are featuring this season (you may have seen the billboards or and other ads). He has several current and upcoming gallery exhibitions, and he even won a major grant to help him pursue his project of photographing the modern commercial fisherman.
He recently got a new website and blog up and running where he has broken down his projects into 4 categories: Fish-work Behring Sea, Fish-work Norway, Arcticness, and Human Animals.
All his work is pretty amazing, so you should check it out.
It is beautiful:
Difficult:
Funny:
Absurd:
Joyous:
And much, much more!
Corey currently has work up at Richard Heller Gallery in Santa Monica as well as a show in New York and some public art works in Canada.
To what else Corey is up to...
Check out his website's info page.
Also, he recently did a piece for another blog where he talked about his years long adventure getting into the industry and making it onto a crab boat (It's a good piece... you should read it).
So this guy is a legitimate friend-of-a-friend (he went to high school with a good friend of mine). And I was first introduced to his work over a year ago when my friend said... "Hey! I know that guy on TV!" while we were watching the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch. Soon after, she found a webpage that had some of his amazing photos from crab fishing. It was cool, then I forgot.
Here's his fellow crewmates from the Rollo:
Well...
Now Corey has gone and made a name for himself!
No longer just a cool guy playing around and being goofy on a crab boat, his work has matured, and he's gotten noticed by corporate clients, publishers, art galleries, and curators!
This season The Discovery Channel hired Corey to photograph all the crab boat captains that they are featuring this season (you may have seen the billboards or and other ads). He has several current and upcoming gallery exhibitions, and he even won a major grant to help him pursue his project of photographing the modern commercial fisherman.
He recently got a new website and blog up and running where he has broken down his projects into 4 categories: Fish-work Behring Sea, Fish-work Norway, Arcticness, and Human Animals.
All his work is pretty amazing, so you should check it out.
It is beautiful:
Difficult:
Funny:
Absurd:
Joyous:
And much, much more!
Corey currently has work up at Richard Heller Gallery in Santa Monica as well as a show in New York and some public art works in Canada.
To what else Corey is up to...
Check out his website's info page.
Also, he recently did a piece for another blog where he talked about his years long adventure getting into the industry and making it onto a crab boat (It's a good piece... you should read it).
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