Archive for the 'Los Angeles' Category
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
MOCA Hires Deitch
Just in time to begin defining the new decade, LA’s venerable MOCA has hired NY Gallerist/Art Dealer Jefferey Deitch as Director, effective June 1. A letter went out to MOCA members today, outlining the details. In a partial quote of the announcement: “Jeffrey Deitch will succeed Dr. Charles E. Young, who was named MOCA chief executive officer in December 2008 when the museum was facing serious challenges. A widely respected leader with great dedication to preserving MOCA as an invaluable asset to the city of Los Angeles and the art world, Dr. Young worked closely with the Board of Trustees to restore stability and energy and strengthen the foundation of this prominent cultural center that serves thousands of visitors each year. We are deeply grateful for Dr. Young’s leadership in guiding MOCA through this pivotal transition and for successfully repositioning the museum to attract an outstanding new director.”
His three galleries are expected to close, leaving a palpable void in the New York art scene… however, speculation is rampant regarding the future of the artists he has represented. For many in the Deitch stable, a welcoming environment at MOCA is bound to be the result of this development.
Saturday, November 28th, 2009
Expect Delays for Koons’ Train
Train – Production Model © Jeff Koons Production / Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Bloomberg reports that due to budget constraints and a drastically shrunken endowment, Jeff Koons’ $25 million commission for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has been postponed, and may come to a complete halt altogether. Dubbed by The Art Newspaper as most expensive museum commission ever, the proposed sculpture would dangle a full-scale motorized replica of a 70-foot 1943 Baldwin locomotive from a crane in front of the museum’s entrance. Three times a day the train’s wheels would start up, while sounding its whistle and blowing off steam. “We wouldn’t do it unless someone funds it; someone has to write us a check,” said Barbara Pflaumer, LACMA’s associate vice president for communications and marketing.
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
Reach for the Sky :: Tomoo Gokita at Honor Fraser, LA
(All Images © Honor Fraser)
With Heaven, Tomoo Gokita reaches deeper into the metaphysical, further deconstructing the figurative forms that have come to occupy his works less and less. The increasingly abstract canvases in his second solo show with Honor Fraser (Los Angeles) also mark a shift in technique, substituting monochrome black and white gouaches for blue and white acrylics. On view now through Dec. 19. Read on for more images – click for detailed views.
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Shag’s Autumn’s Come Undone @ Corey Helford Gallery
Shag, 2009. (All Images © Pirovino/TheArtCollectors)
Culver City’s gem Corey Helford Gallery adroitly puntuated the onset of the Thanksgiving holiday week with the opening of Autumn’s Come Undone, a solo exhibition by Shag, aka Josh Agle. In what is easily the artist’s largest works available to date, Agle is releasing gigantic giclee print canvases in editions of 5, including two immense tryptichs and several expansive dyptichs. The offering of the giclees is balanced by small original paintings. With prices that could be easily described as friendly, this show represents a true opportunity for collectors to acquire superb artwork by a established artist. Increasingly, Shag’s work is heading in a museum trajectory, with his prominence growing well beyond ‘cult’ status. The artist’s masterful sense of color is evidenced in every single composition. Each piece’s color palette is impeccable and astoundingly cohesive. One of Los Angeles’ most potent moments in pop art is presently upon us, open to view until December 9. Read the rest of this entry »
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
McGee and Frost to Inaugurate Prism Gallery
Curated by RVCA/ANP founder, P.M. Tenore, Mind the Gap will present Barry McGee and Phil Frost side by side, signaling an impressive inaugural show for PRISM Gallery in Hollywood, CA.
McGee and Frost share a close history of collaboration and artistic development. The two artists are amongst the earliest with street roots to cross over into the fine art world, both with representation in highly respected galleries. This will be their first major joint installation effort since 2007’s Family Tree show (also with Creg R Stecyk) at RVCA/VASF. In 2003, they made their major L.A. gallery debut together (alongside Thomas Campbell) with Scribble and Scripture at Roberts and Tilton, Los Angeles.
McGee also has a new monograph due out early next year.
More to come…..
Barry McGee & Phil Frost – Mind the Gap
Nov. 20 – Feb. 20, 2010
Preview Dates: November 12th – 19
PRISM Gallery
8746 West Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Sunday, November 8th, 2009
14 Artists at New Image
Richard Colman
14 Artists opened this weekend at New Image Art in Los Angeles, including works by Richard Colman, Erik Foss, Jordin Isip, Cleon Peterson, and Judith Supine.
Erik Foss
Judith Supine
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
Dan Witz at Carmichael Gallery
Dan Witz’s latest offerings debut tonight with an opening reception at the Carmichael Gallery in Los Angeles. The show runs from Nov. 5 – Dec. 3, 2009. In Dark Doings, Witz will showcase a selection of pieces from his expansive summer street project of the same name. Created both for the street and gallery, the subtle, haunting images of human and animal faces trapped behind dirty glass windows are inspired by a recent visit earlier in the year to the red light district of Amsterdam.
Artwork at the show is comprised of mixed media on digital prints on plastic, presented either framed or mounted to wood doors, the latter serving as both canvas and contextual framework through which the work can be viewed. A selection of photographs depicting the Dark Doings series in situ will also be exhibited at the show, displayed alongside the piece with which they correspond.
Dan Witz – Dark Doings
Nov. 5 – Dec. 3
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art
1257 N. La Brea Avenue
West Hollywood, CA 90038
323.969.0600 for more information
Monday, October 5th, 2009
The LA case @ Carmichael Gallery
case, 2009.
Carmichael Gallery is exhibiting The L.A. case with new works on canvas by German artist case. This is case’s first US solo exhibition and the second time he has exhibited at Carmichael Gallery. Opens this Thursday October 8 2009 / 7.00pm – 10.00pm.
case’s new body of work references imagery from elaborate, self-staged photo shoots using spray paint on canvas. Combining exacting technical expertise with an innovative hint of liberation and irony, he investigates the parallels that exist between the conflicting states of convention and controversy, manipulating beauty in a dark, thrilling and provocative manner.
case is widely recognized as one of the best photorealistic spray paint artists in the world. His groundbreaking technique, detailed in the book Ma’Claim: Photorealistic Graffiti, Falk Lehmann and Steffen Petermann, Publikat Verlags und Handels GmbH and Co. KG, Germany, 2006, has set new standards and established a strong international collector base and fan network.
case prepares for LA:
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Renewed :: MOCA Celebrates 30 Years with Massive Permanent Collection Exhibition
Franz Kline – Buttress, 1956, oil on canvas, 46 ½ x 55 ½ in., collection of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, The Panza Collection, © 2009 The Franz Kline Estate/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
We’ve got to hand it to the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. After surviving near financial disaster and significant restructuring, MOCA is set to celebrate its 30 year anniversary with a new exhibition from its permanent holdings.
Opening November 15, 2009 at both of two of MOCA’s Los Angeles locations, Collection: MOCA’s First Thirty Years will be the most comprehensive exhibition of the museum’s renowned post-war collection to date, highlighting over 500 works by more than 200 artists, including Diane Arbus, Chris Burden, Willem de Kooning, Alberto Giacometti, Nan Goldin, Robert Irwin, Donald Judd, On Kawara, Mike Kelley, Paul McCarthy, Piet Mondrian, Bruce Nauman, Chris Ofilli, Claes Oldenburg, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, and Mark Rothko.
The exhibition is a bold and appropriate reassertion of the recently troubled institution’s vital contribution to the field of public arts. Paul Schimmel, MOCA’s Chief Curator noted that the museum “is approaching this exhibition of works from its collection with the same level of ambition and depth that has characterized the museum’s most celebrated thematic exhibitions. MOCA is assembling its major holdings into an unprecedented installation that will occupy 50,000 square feet in two museum buildings. The scope and scale of Collection: MOCA’s First Thirty Years will enable the community to build relationships with individual works of art and develop a sense of long-term engagement with the collection and the museum.”
To commemorate the event, the museum has launched a clever email campaign. Every week for 30 consecutive weeks members and mailing list subscribers will receive an image of a featured work from the museum’s permanent collection. Sign up here
Collection: MOCA’s First Thirty Years
Nov. 16, 2009 – May 3, 2010
MOCA Grand Avenue, 250 S. Grand Ave., L.A., 90012
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, N. Central Ave., L.A. 90013
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Twentieth Century Boy :: A new exhibit by Sashie Masakatsu celebrates T.Rex, supports arts school in Sierra Leone.
Masakatsu Sashie – Born to Boogie, oil on canvas. (Image courtesy of the artist)
It’s been nearly 40 years since Marc Bolan and his band released their first album under the T.Rex moniker. Next week, a new one-night exhibition will celebrate the late pioneer of glam-rock’s 62nd birthday, while raising funds to continue his legacy with a new school of arts in Sierra Leone, South Africa.
Taking place Sept. 30th, Twentieth Century Boy will unveil new T.Rex inspired paintings, created by Japanese artist Sashie Masakatsu . As a long-time fan, he has incorporated images of Marc Bolan into his signature culture-dense hovering orbs. A portion of sales will support Light of Love Foundation’s (founded by Bolan’s son Rolan and his mother, Gloria Jones) mission to build the Marc Bolan School of Music and Film in Sierra Leone.
The event is curated by Darren “Dr.” Romanelli and Giant Robot founder, Eric Nakamura, who presented Sashie’s first U.S. exhibit in 2006. Sashie won a Scout Award at the tenth annual edition of Kaikai Kiki/Murakami’s GEISAI fair, and is represented by Mizuma Art Gallery in Tokyo. The gallery quickly sold out all available paintings by the artist during last year’s PULSE Miami Art Fair.
We interviewed Rolan Bolan to find out more about Light of Love Foundation and the upcoming event. Read on for more. Read the rest of this entry »