Herakut reminds us of the inner monkey.

"You seem to be forgetting that there is a monkey in you, too."
- Herakut at LeBasse Projects, Chinatown last week.

Farms, Schools, Art & MGMT.

What do farms, schools, art and MGMT have in common?

Not much til my rad friend Mark Macinnis brought 'em all together for a sick benefit event this Saturday. Mark directed an incredible film called Urban Roots about the urban farming movement.

Artist Anthony James was then inspired to create some pretty amazing sculptures.

James and Mark are now working to raise money to establish farms in underprivileged urban schools through the Field of Dreams initiative.

And Ben Goldwasser of MGMT will be joining the guys this Saturday night in Venice to raise some money for the program.

I'd tell you to join. But I'm sure you already realize you should. See you there.

MOMAI
711 Hampton Drive
Venice, CA 90291

Saturday, December 3
7 - 11 p

Buy your tickets online.

LA gets a piece of Glen Ligon.

Glen Ligon's work is smart, it is beautiful, it is a commentary on black America, it will be on show in a mid-career retrospective at LACMA starting Sunday.

Consider the following part non-sequitor and part warning. Glen Ligon is a Wesleyan graduate. This is a general guarantee of awesome.

Your girl got dicked by Ricky Powell. Photos on display.

 

 

 

Ricky Powell (well, his photos) are coming to LA. Actually, they're here. Tomorrow night, House of Exposure presents 'Dicked by Ricky Powell.' As the Beastie Boys so elegantly put it:

Homeboy, throw in the towel Your girl got dicked by Ricky Powell

Photos from $250 - $2000. 8 1/2" x 11" prints of the famous Basquiat/Warhol pic for $50. Lollipops with Basquiat and Warhols' sillhouettes. Priceless. But at this event, $10.

 

What? You want more news about future exhibits of awesomeness and limited edition wonders? Well, sign up for House of Exposure's mailing list.

The spectacular Ryan McGinley and his subject's spectacular butt.

Take away the spectacularness of the buttocks of the man pictured above and what you're left with (those of us who are decent and good and not completely sexually deviant and can take our eyes away from such perfect buttocks) is the spectacularness of this photograph by Ryan McGinley on display now at LA's new OHWOW Gallery.

Group Exhibition: Post 9-11
June 30 - August 27, 2011

OHWOW Gallery
937 N. La Cienega
Los Angeles, CA 90069

Art in the streets of Kansas City.

I may be missing MOCA's Art in the Streets exhibit this month. But while I'm sad I won't see what Deitch throws together, I'm happy to report the Kansas City is presenting its own spectrum of art in the streets.

The big dog in town is Scribe. His art is fresh. It is unpretentious. It is unfettered by the inflated redonculousness that many LA street artists have fallen victim to.

 

A panel from Scribe's David and Goliath

Then there's KC's very own Alexander Austin. Curated and commissioned by David Ford, Austin has installed a mural size portrait of his signature Martin Luther King for America: Now and Here. The artist is quirky. He is kind. He is not much into 'schedules.' He dons a cowboy hat, it seems, all the time. And his work--well, it is incredible.

Furniture fit for a grand seat (pun completely intended).

While I spend most of my day sitting on a plastic Ikea stool, this is born out of my studio apartment's tight space and its owner (um, I mean renter)'s limited budget. If I could, I would park my rear end on finer stuff. Stuff that was equal parts art to functioning furniture. Stuff that was pleasing to the eyes and other senses rather than just to the sitter's itsy bitsy pocketbook (what, you didn't think I was going to say itsy bitsy butt, did you? That would just be a lie). I would park my seat on the likes of the gorgeous furniture designed by Azadeh Shladovsky.

In her first limited-edition furniture collection, Living with Art, Schladovsky explores nature to create powerful expressions that are as beautiful as they are functional. See for yourself how her pieces are superior to your Ikea bean bags at her upcoming show at the Ruth Bachofner Gallery.

Opening Reception
Saturday, March 19
5-7 p

Ruth Bachofner Gallery
Bergamot Station Art Center
2525 Michigan Avenue # G2
Santa Monica, CA

MEAT! and McNuggetinis tonight at Meltdown.

In the name of great irony, I [the vegetarian] would like to extend to you an invite to MEAT!, an art show inspired by, you guessed it...

Tonight at Meltdown Comics on Sunset Blvd.

There will be art, yes. But serving up cocktails will be my gorgeous, funny and talented friends, Alie and Georgia. They'll be offering McNuggetinis, the boozy, foodie, ice creamy treat that made the headlines and pleased gluttons everywhere last year.

Wanna know more about the BBQ sauce spiked cocktail you'll be enjoying tonight? Let's all take a trip down YouTubey memory lane...



Opening Reception of MEAT!
Thursday, March 3rd 2011
7-10 p

Meltdown Comics
7522 W. Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90046

The Oscar.

Tonight marks the umpteenth Academy Awards to grace the film industry. Which means the umpteenth Awards to muddle with Hollywood traffic, fill up the style pages of all the gossip rags, and exhaust me.

In honor of that exhaustion, I offer no commentary on a single movie, nor solitary gown. I will not, from hereon out today, discuss the Awards, the celebrities, or the statuesque gold Oscar himself. Unless, like Banksy depicted earlier this month, an army of Star Wars troopers attacks the red carpet. Then maybe I would be interested in further discussion. But only maybe. And probably not.

Clare Rojas at the Prism Gallery.

Sometimes I work on events that I have the distinct pleasure to be able to invite you to. And so it is with the opening of the incredible Clare Rojas exhibit at the Prism Gallery next week. Please join me there. It's going to be a rock rolling, radical, amaze-balls good time.

PRISM invites you to the opening reception for Inside Bleak, the gallery’s first solo presentation of painter and filmmaker Clare Rojas.

As part of Inside Bleak’s opening, Rojas – under her stage name of Peggy Honeywell – will debut several new songs written over the past two years.

February 26, 2011
7 - 10 p
Peggy Honeywell Performance - 9 p

Prism Gallery
8746 W. Sunset Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA

RSVP Essential: prism@nadinejohnson.com

Oh hey now LA. Shake your art thang at the Scion Installation.

When you think Scion, you think boxy cars for 20 somethings on the one hand, rad art on the other.

In continuing the latter tradition, the LA Scion Gallery is hosting the kickoff event for the brand's 2011 art tour. For this round, artists were tasked with creating non-narrative video installations. And in LA, those artists happen to include talented local yokels Franki Chan, David Choe, Matt Goldman and 7 others that will blow your aesthetic mind.

Opening Reception
Saturday, February 19, 2011
7-10 p

Scion Installation LA
3521 Helms Ave
Culver City, CA 90232

To RSVP, click here .

John Bock brings weirdness to Weho.

John Bock is a German born artist working in multimedia, film, and video. His stuff looks totally weird. And I'm totally sold.

The Regen Projects presents his work in an upcoming installation opening this Saturday.

John Bock
February 5 - March 5, 2011

Opening Reception
Saturday, February 5
6-8 pm

Regen Projects II
9016 Santa Monica Boulevard
(at Almont Drive)

Not convinced that this kid's cool? Here's a still from a 2007 film of his. Don't know about you, but that contraption screams Jessie B. R. It also screams John Waters/scrambled eggs/raging lunatic. But whatevs.

S'muffins. Your memory haunts me. (& more from LA Art Show's Saturday soiree.)

Last night, my partner in crime D and I headed downtown to check out the LA Art Show's party with the Cooper Design Space. First of all, I should clarify that the 'crime' we partnered in was nothing more than a VeeV cocktail, a little dessert and a return to Hollywood before 11 pm. Second of all, I need to introduce you to a culinary discovery I only myself made last night.

New [to LA] mozzarella bar Obika was catering the event. And while I was hardly interested in cheese after earlier overindulgence, I was interested--very interested--in these:

D, who is far better informed than I on the subject of trendy desserts, let me know that these puppies are known as s'muffins. See, I just would have called them Mounds Of Heaven That Fit In My Hand. But s'muffins is indeed a much catchier name. They're a cross, if you haven't sorted it out for yourself already, between a s'more and a muffin. The bottom layer is graham cracker cake. The middle-a bit of chocolate goo. And the top-a perfectly toasted marshmallow. It's bakery Gotta Have S'more that actually introduced the confection to the market I believe. And while Obika's version was alright, it's really the concept that gets me. It's--in a word--Genius. In two words--highly desirable.

Clearly it's moved me enough to pen this lengthy blog post. One that you might have suspected would actually have been about art, rather than marshmallows.

So, lest I ignore the real focus of last night's celebration of the arts, let me briefly introduce you to the Steben Twins who performed, most impressively, at the party. These ladies (twin ladies. obviously.) did things on rope and with each other (no, not sexual things. they're twins for godsake.) that I will never even dream of achieving in my lifetime. Not, I might add, that I have any particular desire to achieve such things with rope.

I would imagine that the Steben Twins do not indulge in s'muffins.

To see the twins' incredible, acrobatic feats, you can catch them in this old Cirque footage.

Spotted: Picaso, Botero & a couple of modern masters in Downtown LA.

No, this isn't a 'Stars-they're just like us' kind of feature. Picaso was not spotted at the Hyde Lounge at the Staples Center. Botero was not seen shopping for denim at wholesale in the Fashion District.

The LA Art Show just arrived to the LA Convention Center last night and its boasting works by the old masters and contemporary creators alike. That's all.

Like any trade show at the LA Convention Center, it's ginormous and has rows and rows of exhibitor booths that a person could get lost in. Here's a clue. If you get lost, just keep heading left. You'll find the bar.

In all seriousness though, it's a must see. Though not everyone yet believes in Los Angeles as a cultural destination, a) this show may change your mind with a strong showing by established SoCal galleries, and b) galleries from around the world are represented. China and Korea each have a large presence and a Cuban Gallery is showing for the first time ever in the US. And, oh, who knew Kat Von D had a gallery now? Not me, that's who. And that's surely worth a look-see.

Below, some of my favorite pieces from the show

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

LA Art Show
January 19 - 23, 2011

Los Angeles Convention Center
West Hall A, 1201 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015

The Colour of Money.

There are so many reasons to go to Ultravelvet's opening this Saturday night at the Guy Hepner Gallery it would be remiss of me to try to say there's a number one reason for you to get your butt over. But okay, okay, I'll do my very best. As a spelling snob (you often wouldn't know it by reading my writing here, I know, I know), let me start with the spectacular spelling of the word 'Colour.' It's the British way. It's the proper way. It's the way I love--with an ou--that makes the whole word seem richer and fuller and better than the American spelling would. And that friends is my number one reason for you to check out what is surely going to be a sick show. Because you asked and all. All the other reasons you can find in the flyer above, in the blurb below, and at Guy's website here.

The Colour of Money
January 15, 2011
8:30 p

DRINKS, DJ'S, VIDEO INSTALL, AND GOOD COMPANY ALL INCLUDED.
RSVP: info@guyhepner.com

Guy Hepner Gallery
300 N. Robertson Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA

My red dot at Mercedes Helnwein.

Last night was the opening reception for Mercedes Helnwein's new show, Temptation to be Good, at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery (yes, I know this information would have been more helpful to you yesterday as opposed to quarter to eight on the day after--sorry).

I was a fan of this for a few reasons.

* More galleries should be as close to my home as the Merry Karnowsky Gallery is. To heck with Culver City. Let's build an art scene [around me] in Koreatown and Mid-City!

* Mercedes Helnwein is a favorite local artist of mine. Her drawings are incredible. And her new, larger format work is equally exciting, though a departure in ways of style as well as scope.

* My darling friend Elizabeth Ai was hosting (alongside a mysterious Beck who my friend and I never did spot). You may recall a while back I shared that Mercedes was doing some collaborative work with the Ai sisters for their awesome clothing line, Ai for Ai.

* I am a compulsive shopper and it's best that at least I have something worthwhile to toss my hard-earned money away for.

* Damien Hirst bought out Helnwein's last show in London. And it it's good enough for Hirst, it's better for me.

This was last night's guilty pleasure that's soon to be mine...

And this is my red dot. I just love when I can claim a red dot to be mine (says the art collector wannabe)...

I might make some snarky quip about reading it and weeping. But then again, it's my pocketbook I've hit and I feel if anyone should be weeping it might actually be me and not you.

Catch the show while it's still up.

MERCEDES HELNWEIN: TEMPTATION TO BE GOOD
November 13 - December 11, 2010

Merry Karnowsky Gallery
170 S. La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036

And while you're at it, read my March 2010 interview with Mercedes Helnwein here.

Two Months Off, A Photo Exhibition by Shane Redsar.

If you're not coming to my good friend, Shane Redsar's, show on Friday night, you're missing out. His work is incredible. And there's an open Asahi bar.

Thank you and goodnight and see you there.

Calling all pretty young things. Today at LAXART.

Are you one of LA's few residents who is not here to act, model or get discovered walking your dog at Runyon Canyon? Perhaps you've been curious about the casting process--the styling, the anxiety, the deep breathing, the stage mothers. Oh, the stage mothers!

This is amazing. Today, artist Charlie White is executing a one-day performance in the form of an open casting call at LAXART to find one very special 'California Girl.' Girls between 13 and 16 are being sought for an LA billboard as part of LAXART's Billboard Project. Guests can attend the call and peep the whole day of shenanigans through a windowed wall.

I have no idea how White put the word out about the call. And I wouldn't want to taint the integrity of the artistic experiment by guessing what you might see there. But...did I say stage mothers?!

TODAY, September 11
9 a - 5 p

LAXART
2640 S. La Cienega
Los Angeles, CA 90034

Tonight: Full Bleed Photography Exhibition

Thanks to my pal Jesse for reminding me about this great one. I can't go, but please everyone--go for me. Take snaps of all the hipsters in a 15 mile of Downtown for me as they'll surely all be swarming this warehouse tonight. But, in earnest, the show should be cool.

FULL BLEED
Celebrating 30 Years of skateboarding photography from the new VICE Books release

Saturday, August 28, 2010
PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION
6 - 10 p

6th Street Warehouse
E. 6th St.
Los Angeles, CA

Come As You Are @ PRISM [art in LA]

The PRISM Gallery's young owners were barely out of preschool when Nirvana frontman, Kurt Cobain, passed. But beside this exhibit's questionable reference to the 90s band's greatest hit, this evening's group show at Sunset's newest, freshest gallery is going to be a-mazing.

From the colorful work of the Clayton Brothers to the trippy, pattern heavy contributions of Ryan McGinness, alongside pieces by Prism staple, Barry McGee, the recently dearly departed, Dennis Hopper, and others, this show is one you shouldn't miss.

Prism Gallery
8746 W. Sunset Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90069