Archive for November, 2008
Friday, November 28th, 2008
Bobby Hutton Benefit Featuring McGee, Swoon + more
The Bobby Hutton Memorial Benefit art exhibit opens tomorrow, Nov. 29, at the Luggage Store in San Francisco. Hutton was amongst the earliest members of the Black Panther Party, who lost his life at the age of 16 during a 1968 confrontation with police. Proceeds from the show (not auction) will help fund the completion of a memorial sculpture which will be placed in Oakland California’s (the birthplace of the Panthers) De Fremery Park.
The exhibit includes works for sale by Barry McGee, Swoon, Rigo 23, Andrew Schoultz, Date Farmers, Monica Canilao, and many others. The Luggage Store opening will be followed by a party at On Six Gallery, and will feature a performance by Digital Underground.
Here’s a brief biography of Hutton, courtesy of Babylon Falling:
For those of you who might be familiar with the name but not the story, Lil’ Bobby Hutton was the first member of the Black Panther Party and was also the first Party member murdered by the police. Having joined the Panthers as a 15 year old, by the time of his death in 1968 (just two weeks shy of turning 17) Lil’ Bobby was the Treasurer of a rapidly growing organization. Although the circumstances leading up to the confrontation that resulted in his death are the subject of dispute, there is no confusion over the fact that members of the Oakland and Emeryville Police Departments gunned down (12 shots, the first to the head at point blank range) an unarmed black teenager who had surrendered and was in their custody. His murder was the catalyst that increased the urgency and the intensity of the implementation of the Black Panther Party platform.
Bobby Hutton Memorial Benefit
organized by Sham Saenz
Nov. 29
Art Show and Sale
8 – 10 pm
Luggage Store
1007 Market St. (at 6th)
After Party
10pm – 2 am
On Six Gallery
60 6th St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
Thursday, November 27th, 2008
London::Herakut’s Dirty Laundry Aired
Courtesy of our man on the scene, Romanywg aka Jeremy Gibbs, we bring you a look into the highly anticipated Herakut exhibition. Official opening is this week.
28th Nov through to 7th Dec 2008
Preview 27th Nov 6.30pm – 9.30pm (RSVP info@campbarbossa.com)
22 Wellington Street
Opera Quarter
Covent Garden
WC2E 7DD
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
Aaron Rose
Artist, curator, Beautiful Loser visionary, and conceptual synergist, Aaron Rose, sporting a Matt Leines head at home. Check out the rest of the photo set over at The Selby
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
Emmanuel Perrotin Launches Investment Fund
These are exciting times for Emmanuel Perrotin. Just a few short weeks after reinstating his representation of Damien Hirst, the international gallery owner has announced the launch of Artists’ Dreams, an investment firm that will pool collectors’ funds to finance the production of major works of art. By removing financial barriers to otherwise cost prohibitive projects, the venture will allow emerging artists to compete with art titans such as Hirst and Koons, whose monumental success has risen with the production of large scale installation and museum-worthy works.
The arrangement will upset the traditional gallery – artist relationship, in which profits are typically split evenly. Works will be sold exclusively via Perrotin’s Miami and Paris galleries, and investors would share in the dealer’s profits, based on initial investment. This is not Perrotin’s first foray into this sort of investor relationship. He pooled collector funds for the production of Piotr Uklanski’s 1996, Untitled (Floor Dance), which went on to be exhibited at the Guggenheim in 2007.
The Art Collectors eagerly awaits to see which artists will be the lucky benefactors of these potentially career-shaping funds.
Source: Art Observed / The Art Newspaper
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
LA::Takashi Murakami to open animation studio
In an annoucement in today’s LA TIMES, Murakami is set to open an animation studio in Los Angeles in the Summer of 2009. “Animation and film have always been among my greatest influences, ever since I first saw ‘Star Wars’ and Hayao Miyazaki’s films,” Murakami said in a statement. “This studio represents a great step in the evolution of Kaikai Kiki and gives me a closer proximity to the community of artists with whom I hope to collaborate as I continue my explorations of animated and live-action film.”
The studio’s first project will be a feature-length animated film based on “Planting the Seeds,” the shorts that premiered at Murakami’s mid-career retrospective at MOCA.
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
Broad Injects Millions Into LA Art Institutions
Image: LA Times
This past week billionaire collector, Eli Broad, officially announced he will move ahead with plans to open a new contemporary art museum in Beverly Hills. The new 25,000 square foot institution will house the Broad Art Foundation and permanent collection, including seminal works by Jean Michel Basquiat, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Damien Hirst. The announcement comes less that a year after Broad gifted $56 million in funds to open the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Broad Contemporary Art Museum.
Broad’s philanthropic pursuits don’t stop here. This week he offered an additional $30 million to help keep Los Angeles MOCA afloat. As previously reported, the museum has burned up its funds and is is on the brink of financial disaster. In a Nov. 21 LA Times op-ed, Broad said, “I’d like to make a proposal to the MOCA board and to the civic angels of Los Angeles. I’ll step up if you do too. The Broad Art Foundation is prepared to make a significant investment in MOCA — $30 million…It is vital that the museum remain on Grand Avenue, keep its collection and continue its tradition of world-class exhibitions…This is not a one-philanthropist town…with a global recession that has hit every American’s pocketbook, charitable giving has declined…The philanthropic community must not turn its back on MOCA. We must make it one of our civic priorities.”
In total, Broad’s spending would represent a cash injection into Los Angeles’ art institutions in excess of $1 billion.
Sources: The New York Times / LA Times / Art Observed
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
Matt Furie for RVCA
Matt Furie has a nice t-shirt out with RVCA. Buy it here and check out more of Matt’s illustrations after the jump – click pics for detailed views. Read the rest of this entry »
Monday, November 24th, 2008
KRUNK::Futura Prints Release
KRUNK is releasing two seminal prints by Futura very soon. The pieces will be available online through the KRUNK website. Enlisted ‘mailing list’ members will be the first to be notified with the opportunity to purchase.
Details of the prints are as follows:
“Fornax Alpha” (Green)
Hand-silkscreened
17 colors: 3 blues, 5 greens, 4 blacks, and 5 whites
Edition of 100
Size: 36 x 40 inches
Signed, numbered and dated
“Helix Object” (Red)
Hand-silkscreened
19 colors: 6 reds, 4 blacks, 2 purples, 1 yellow, 3 grays, and 3 whites
Edition of 100
Size: 36 x 40 inches
Signed, numbered and dated
Keep an eye out for more information…
Monday, November 24th, 2008
Christies Punk/Rock Rundown
Sex Pistols Promotional Poster, 1977.
Estimate: $2000-3,000, Price Realized: $6,250
Results are in for Christies Nov. 24th Rock/Punk auction. While the majority of lots consisted of music memorabilia, including show flyers, photographs, records and clothing, a somewhat random selection of art toys were thrown into the mix, perhaps in an attempt to introduce the genre to a wider audience. Here, we present you with a (biased) selection of some of our favorite lots. Read the rest of this entry »
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
London::Mutate Britain at Cordy House
Thanks to our new reporter/photographer in the UK, Romanywg aka Jeremy Gibbs, we have the opportunity to expand our coverage to London. All photos by Romanywg.
Promising a multimedia pile-up of artistic endeavours celebrating the evolution of artistic spirit, Mutoid Waste take over the five floors of Behind The Shutters Gallery for five weeks. Paintings, prints, live art performances, sculptures, film and more. One of the most exciting collectives in the country, Mutoid Waste are famed for their post-apocolyptic Trash City seen at Glastonbury and Burning Man this year, and guarantee a thoroughly modern, edgy show.
Cordy House
87-95 Curtain Road
London EC2 3SB
Every Fri.Sat.Sun 1.30PM – 10PM