The Reckoning Explained

For the past two weekends, Christopher Ulrich has been hosting adhoc lectures to explain the work that consumed the last two years of his life. Below is a link to our new Vimeo page, and an 18 minute edit of the first talk, hosted by artist Myron Conan Dyal here at La Luz de Jesus Gallery, home of THE RECKONING.

We'll pop up some highlights from the second lecture as soon as we get the clips edited. Meanwhile, There are three pages in the debut issue of L.A. Pop Magazine dedicated to Christopher. The article was written by gallery director Matt Kennedy as part of an Artist Profile series that also included Nathan Ota. Click to enlarge the images below, or preview the entire issue here.

Ulrich was also interviewed by Platinum Cheese for their signature rapid-fire, word association "F List," and Spanish art blog 20 Minutos delved deep into the soul of the series en Español.

The Reckoning is Almost Here!

We began the task of installing Christopher Ulrich's latest exhibition today. As you can see in the photos below, these are large format paintings–the likes of which you just don't see anymore. This third and final cycle in the Christ Chronocrater Series brings fine art painting to levels not seen since the Rococo era. Ulrich's allegorical imagery pervades a Zodiacal exploration of western myth and religion. The centerpiece is a sixteen feet wide and eight feet tall Last Supper which substitutes pre-Christian templates for the apostles. You can catch a glimpse below in a pre-framed state. The remainder of the photographs give a sense of the size and scope of the rest of the exhibition: a full gallery takeover by the greatest painter of his generation.

All paintings are oil on wood panel, and all but the Last Supper are resin-coated, adding an almost three-dimensional feel that is sure to cause Stendahl Syndrome.

The Reckoning opens on Friday at 8PM.
You can preview the images here:
http://www.laluzdejesus.com/shows/2012/Ulrich/Ulrich2012.htm

Call gallery director Matt Kennedy for purchase info:
(323) 547-3227

Metal Thrashing Mad!

My adolescence was primarily spent in my friend Kevin Maloney's basement listening (to) and playing heavy metal.
Our post-elementary years (1983-1989) were the golden age of Thrash, which was a style of speed metal born in Los Angeles as a response to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal that really took hold in the San Francisco Bay area.

Tomorrow night, indie publisher Bazillion Points will host a signing here at La Luz de Jesus Gallery for Harald Oimoen and Brian Lew's MURDER IN THE FRONT ROW: Shots from the Bay Area Thrash Metal Epicenter. There are incredibly rare pics from the scene including shots of Slayer in make-up and the original McGovney and Mustaine line-up of Metallica. Liner notes from some of the lords of the scene (Exodus' Gary Holt, Testament's Alex Skolnick, Vio-lence frontman Rob Flynn, and legendary DJ and Metal Mania publisher Ron Quintana) greatly enrich this thorough headbanging history.

Author Brian Lew will appear in person to sign copies of the book.

Mustaine, Hetfield & Ulrich 1982

There will be a pop-up display of photographic prints from this and two other amazing books.

METALION: The Slayer Magazine Diaries was the zine that chronicled the Norwegian Black Metal scene as it was happening. The highly satanic, church-burning actions in Norway made international headlines in 1993 when a beef between rival band members of Burzum and Mayhem resulted in murder, the discovery of which also shed light on other scene murders and serial arson. These unfortunate actions helped launch extreme metal worldwide, and the dress and affectations of a core group of die hard metalheads would be appropriated by mallrats all over suburbia. Fans of LORDS OF CHAOS need to see the rare pics from Jon Kristiansen's collection.

Of course without the California Hardcore scene, it's hard to imagine the crossover genre of Thrash ever taking root. WE GOT POWER! presents Hardcore Punk Scenes From 1980s Southern California. Included are images from the seminal Black Flag and Circle Jerks shows at The Church, and follows the scene as it was originally documented in the zine of the same name. Authors Markey & Schwartz will be present to sign copies and discuss the pics on the book and on the walls.

DJ Adam Bomb will be spinning punk and metal records live.

The event is on Thursday, November 8, from 7-9 PM. The pop-up exhibition will last until Saturday afternoon, when we host a pop-up and signing for Peter Moruzzi's CLASSIC DINING.

Killing Big Bird

Tonight we open two shows that have been two and three years in the making. Bob Dob's Mouseketeer Army features a mural-sized American Flag composed of 76 inter-connected paintings that function as well alone as they do together. They are being sold individually for as little as $250 each!

Bob is also debuting two, lifesize, fiberglass Luey statues (each from an edition of only five figures), and a preview edition of badass Mouseketeer toys that come with hand-screened prints (from an edition of only twenty total).

Among the panels that completes Dob's flag is "Death of an Icon," which depicts the killing of Big Bird. Ironically, this current hot-topic, political meme was completed almost ten months ago lending an air of prophetic coincidence to an already stellar show.

Bob is quick to admit, "Well, I killed him for a completely different reason..."

In the front gallery on the grey walls is the triumphant return Nathan Ota. His Pop! Goes the Weasel indicates his revitalization through a chance encounter with a childhood friend. Ota got his start in the arts as graffiti writer, and after reconnecting with spray can allstar RISK, the two embarked on a body of work that changed each of their individual methodologies.

The centerpiece of Nathan's new exhibition is a five foot by four foot, two-panel collaborative piece, titled, "Rest When You're Dead," but his old Cooz tag is all over this show. By finally bridging his two identities, Ota has moved his work forward into a new, completely relevant direction that is as exciting to the artist as to his fans and patrons.

Both Dob & Ota are featured in Morphik's line of wearable art wristbands, and one of each of their lucky patrons will win a wristband with the art tile of their choice. They are available for purchase as well, so really, everybody can be a winner.

We'll also be giving away 100 free posters tonight, so get here early and enjoy the most exciting presentation of homegrown, southern California art.

Friday, November 2nd. 8-11 PM.
Exhibitions run through December 2nd.

Streaming it Live!

Click HERE for Ustream

Click HERE for Ustream

Click HERE for Ustream

MACABRE is NOW!

New Gallery intern Julie with
Myron Conan Dyal's Marching Silence

We finished the installation late last night and spent the majority of today responding to media requests for THE MACABRE SHOW, which is opening in a little less than an hour.

The L.A. Times named us the "Art Pick of the Week." Cartwheel highlighted the "Grotesque Beauty" of the show and included examples of the work of each artist featured: Steven Daily, Myron Conan Dyal, Scott Holloway, Craig LaRotonda, Mavis Leahy, Miso, Gail Potocki, Jasmine Worth. 

Of course the joy of a curated theme exhibition in October is tackling the preconceptions that the season brings with it. Autumn is heralded by an Equinox, and the works of Myron Conan Dyal ("Rivaled only by Richard Serra in the contest for best living sculptor"), Gail Potocki ("The greatest contemporary symbolist painter"), and exquisite fabric artist Mavis Leahy channel the changes of nature within that context. Craig LaRotonda and Steven Daily use classic master techniques to expose the darkness of technology and secret societies respectively. Jasmine Worth has adopted and adapted Christian symbolism for her sold-out-before-opening show, and Scott Holloway takes a Gothic, somewhat Corinthian approach to subjects of life, love, death and dissection. Miso funnels the high concepts of birth and defect dichotomies into an adorably minimalist proposition some may find to be the most disturbing of all the works on display.

This is no doubt the best show you are going to see this weekend, and probably all month long. I just scanned the streets and the parking situation hasn't turned cutthroat just yet, so stop what you're doing and head on over before the fire marshall shuts us down.

Contact gallery director Matt Kennedy for purchase and exhibition info:
info[at]laluzdejesus.com
(323) 666-7667

THE MACABRE SHOW
Opens Friday, October 5th, 8-11 PM
Runs through Sunday, October 28th

La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Laluzapalooza 2013 Jury is Open!

The jury for the original, massive, multi-artist group show is now opened! The 2013 Laluzapalooza (our 26th annual sampler show) will open on March 1st, and we estimate that between October 1st and December 31st, we'll have rooted through upwards of 10,000 submissions to finalize our selections. This is the only way for emerging artists to enter La Luz de Jesus Gallery, and the best of each year's roster gets an August feature alongside a handful of their peers. That, in turn, can lead to a solo exhibition and possibly even world fame. If you are an artist looking to showcase in this influential, career-launching show you've got until the end of this year to submit to our guidelines. This is an open call requiring our veterans to pass jury alongside the newbies, raising the bar for all. We encourage artists, collectors and curators to forward this email to their friends and colleagues as this show has habitually proven instrumental in establishing artists in the Los Angeles Art market. This high profile show presents a rare opportunity for artists who exhibit elsewhere to broaden their buyer base while providing a fertile discovery ground for our collectors. Click the image above to link to the complete rules and submission guidelines and feel free to share it! The Jury is Opened for Submissions From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2012. Submissions that don't follow the guidelines won't be considered.

Our Favorite Things in Retrospect

Neon Park & Chick Strand

Tonight, as part of our Closing Night Memorial for the Chick Strand and Neon Park Retrospective exhibitions, we are running a program of Chick's experimental films projected in 16mm from the original film elements, making this very special indeed.

Filmmaker Chick Strand was one of the founders of the San Francisco Cinematheque and of Canyon Cinema, one of the principal distributors of avant garde films in North America. As if that weren't enough, she also created the film program at Occidental College where she taught for 25 years. Chick passed away in 2009, but her astonishing, sexy, exhilaratingly beautiful films remain and so do her paintings.

Her husband, painter Neon Park (aka Marty Muller) is best known for his powerful record album covers, most famously Frank Zappa's Weasels Ripped My Flesh, and many LPs by Little Feat. Marty succumbed to ALS in 1993, but his impact on the music industry's art direction can still be seen today, and his multi-image, painted technique still inspires wonder in the generations of post-Photoshop designers who have inherited his legacy along with a much more versatile set of tools.

The atmosphere of delight, dread, silliness, and ecstasy that Chick and Neon generated not only lingers–it thrives. Since the show opened earlier this month, some of their seminal works have been acquired by private collectors making this the last likely opportunity to view them all in one place. Friends and students of this California power couple will reminisce over refreshments from 7-9PM and the show will come to an end tomorrow.

NEGATIVLAND

NEGATIVLAND had a blast putting together Our Favorite Things, and their live performance is yet another legendary addition the the storied La Luz de Jesus musical legacy that includes The Dwarves' explosive (literally!) gig in the backlot that has since become the stuff of punk rock folklore. The picture at right documents fans of the original culture jammers packing the gallery in record numbers for the opening of their first ever Los Angeles retrospective earlier this month.

Check out this great interview with NEGATIVLAND at Cartwheel.

Billy's Thursday Night Fish Fry

This great marriage of music and multi-media art has helped to shed light on our other monthly musical revue, Billy's Thursday Night Fish Fry & Community Social, hailed by the L.A. Weekly as "One of the Ten Best Night Clubs for People Who Don't Like Night Clubs." Held (mostly) on the last Thursday of each month, lucky patrons have been treated to free shows from Grant Lee Phillips, Gitane Demone of Christian Death, Debora Iyall of Romeo Void, Thelonious Monster, Joe Wood of T.S.O.L., and a series of rock star jams with Johnny Indovina (of Human Drama) and friends. These aren't just rock shows, either. The Fish Fry is a showcase for comedians and novelty acts and often includes live painting, avant garde theater and much more. Just getting the chance to see Billy Shire rock the harmonica is worth the price of admission, which is free, but you know what I mean. On October 25th we'll be welcoming Concrete Blonde's Johnette Napolitano and Greg Behrendt among others. 

Right now, you can preview October's MACABRE SHOW, featuring eight incredible artists (including several museum veterans) with diverse methods for creating darkness that is as illuminating as it is mysterious. Pre-sales are happening and Jasmine Worth only has two pieces unsold, so click over and contact the gallery director ASAP!

In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up Live

NEGATIVLAND @ La Luz de Jesus 9/7/12

Fishfry with the Purple Gang & Vogue Italia

Fish Fry 7: Click for Line-up

Tomorrow night is the last Thursday of the month. You know what that means: BILLY'S THURSDAY NIGHT FISH FRY!

You've not heard of this?
On the last Thursday of each month, Southern California's axis of underground pop culture, Wacko / La Luz de Jesus Gallery, hosts "Billy's Thursday Night Fish Fry & Community Social." The monthly event presents a diverse multi-media mixed-bag variety show of music, spoken word, unusual performance and more, putting a spotlight on several generations of Los Angeles performers. Billy Shire calls the night a "21st century salon" and aims to re-connect the local creative community with a free, two plus hour "in the round" show, with the performers in the center of the gallery. The Fish Fry promises short revolving acoustic based musical sets, poetry, odd pairings of performers and much more. The show is open to all ages and there is NO cover charge!

Click below the image (top left) for this month's line-up, starring The Purple Gang (featuring members of Tex & the Horseheads, The DIs, The Hangmen, Kix, Thelonious Monster, The Joneses & Rhino Bucket) and a special live painting event with Van Saro!

While you may not instantly connect La Luz de Jesus Gallery with haute couture (no matter how much money I spend on custom sneakers), we've managed to follow our April coverage in Elle Magazine with an August feature in Italian Vogue!  In the column, Vogue Curvy, Irene Tamagnone singled out "Loaiza'a Curvy Snow White" (pictured right), further adding, "Rodolfo Loaiza plays with the imaginary of the cartoons, at it amazes us thanks to a Snow-White character with a curvy body."

While highlighting Loaiza'a After The Loving from last year's La Luz de Jesus 25 Exhibition (and featured in the anniversary catalog of the same name), the article went on to discuss the Disasterland exhibition and the online version had a gallery and links back the La Luz de Jesus website. Congrats, Rodolfo!

If you can't get enough of the live music events at La Luz de Jesus, you absolutely must not miss the Negativland "Our Favorite Things" opening reception which will feature an incredibly rare performance by the band to kick off a career retrospective of their subversive art projects. It took almost two years to set up this gig, and the fact that Neon Park and Chick Strand will be the other headliners (in Gallery II) for the prestigious September slot makes this an evening for the ages. There will be more special events connected to these exhibitions that we'll be announcing throughout the month, so check back to our Events page often.

Tiki Invasion Tonight!

Tonight (7-9 PM) we'll be hosting the release party for THE DVD OF TIKI, which will feature a screening of the film fully packed with everything that makes a Tiki-lover's heart go crazy. Documentary producer Jochen Hirschfeld's guerilla crew travelled the Pacific for 101 days and captured the true South Seas as well as its pop culture interpretation.

Viewers will get insight in the work of veteran and present day tiki artists: writers, musicians, painters, carvers, illustrators, and of course, bartenders.

Meet Book of Tiki and Tiki Modern author Sven A. Kirsten (who will also be on hand to sign copies of the DVD), and see Edgar Leetag's house in Moorea.

Mr. Hirschfeld will be hosting the event, and will not only be signing copies of the DVD, but willing to answer all of your probing questions about Tiki.

In preparation for this event, we've hung some Tiki-themed pieces in the Art Hallway, including Doug P'Gosh's "One Way Trip to the Tiki Grotto," and several of Brad Parker (aka Tiki Shark) one of a kind giclées on canvas from his recent and very successful "Tales from the Tiki Lounge" exhibition. 

We've also got a very small quantity (less than five as of this writing) of Brad's Tiki Cat giclée on paper prints, which were limited to 25 total. Any of the tiki art pieces purchased at this event can be taken home tonight, so be sure to ask a store manager for details.

Mahalo!

Mechanical Butterflies in Motion!

Ave Rose's Watchbot City has been getting a lot of attention, but unless you've seen her magnificent Butterflyport in person, it's difficult to understand exactly how much more the motion enriches these delicate sculptures. The butterflies are real, by the way, and the antique gear mechanisms were acquired on a recent trip to the Philippines. The film above (shot by Treiops Treyfid) will be quite illuminating to those too far away to travel to La Luz de Jesus Gallery and witness in person the exquisite miniscule metropolis.

Extended by Popular Demand: Disasterland!

Drunk on Love 2

 We generally open our shows on the first Friday of each month and end them on the last Sunday, but the overwhelming popularity of José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros' latest exhibition Disasterland has necessitated that we extend to the first Sunday of next month!

By now you probably know that his Drunk Snow White image (above) is at the center of the Twihard break-up between Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. A scorned wife upon hearing of Stewart's affair with her husband tweeted the image just about a week before Disasterland opened. We were quickly flooded with press requests and international sales (and Perez Hilton hyped us –twice!), and now there are only a handful of pieces not yet sold . But if you think Rodolfo is in the only reason to rush in and check out the show, you'll be very pleasantly surprised by the steampunky exhibitions in Gallery II.

Christopher Bales

Ave Rose

 Christopher Bales sold three pieces in a single day last week to different buyers from his current feature in a show that highlights the jury winners form this year's Laluzapalooza. That tallies four displayed pieces sold over all, and while it's a common sentiment that the images on the site don't do justice to the works in person, his really is a collection that must be seen. The works are three dimensional collages with delicate and antique components. All are wall-hanging and quite beautiful.

Ave Rose is another of the jury winners whose work is on display, and her creations are so layered, intricate and complex that  we had to showcase multiple angle photos that still don't do justice to the movement of her mechanized butterflies that recall Fritz Lang's Metropolis by way of Victorian entomology. She recently gave a presentation of her work for a few lucky patrons on Thursday evening, explaining that she warmed to the idea of incorporating insects into her watchbot world after coming across a video of ChouChou, the Japanese electric butterfly –and taking it to the next logical (and slightly gothic) extreme. Her battery powered display stands allow 360° views, but her hand-cranked butterfly wing flappers really have to be seen to be believed.


Click Mort sold a great many of his pieces before the exhibition opened, allowing more pieces to be brought and displayed in their stead. His remixed novelty sculptures reveal a basic creepiness inherent in all table-top nostalgia pieces –but with a true surrealist perspective.

Many of Anthony Purcell's Victorian-style portraits look normal enough until you walk past them, and you realize the sausage pocket watch chains or miniature eyeballs adorning the frames. But even when the twist is as obvious as spaghetti exploding from a hole in the head, the technicality of his brush work keeps you lingering.

Byung's military animals, D.W. Marino's culture bombs, Heather O'Shaughnessy's beeswax reliefs, and Richard Meyer's perplexed pets all carry an element of awesome that demands a second look, too.

And they'll all be on display until September 2nd, so now you've no reason to miss them.

Midwestern Mysticism

Some of you may have heard that I drove a truck to Indianapolis a couple of weeks ago. I did it in 40 hours, sleeping for a single hour on the New Mexico / Texas border, and pretty much only stopping for fuel the rest of the way. To keep fuel costs low, I drove the entire way without any air conditioning during the hottest summer on record. Suffice to say that there aren't a lot of people that I would do this for, but Myron Dyal is definitely one of them.

Shauta Marsh of the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art contacted me about half a year ago to discuss me acting as a guest curator for an available spot in August. I've been looking for a museum setting for Myron's work since we hosted the original Charon's Pantheon back in February 2011. We were able to showcase this important exhibition in Orange County at the Grand Central Art Center of Santa Ana, and performances of Jennifer Logan's musical score to Myron's sculptures were held at Occidental College and elsewhere, but the opportunity to indoctrinate a completely new audience in a MOCA setting was a dream come true.

We were a little worried at first about how the people in Chick-fil-A, territory would react to Myron's intensely spiritual portraits and sculptures. Since I was unable to attend, I was concerned about not being able to help explain the pieces if things got rowdy, but the press and reviews have been absolute raves. The Indianapolis Star listed the show as a top-five, must-see event, and below is a 5 star review from NUVO's Dan Grossman, who might be the most important art critic in the mid-west. So, many thanks to Shauta Marsh for having the courage to book us, and a warm, hearty congrats to Myron Dyal for getting some serious recognition in a serious space.

From NUVO: Indy's Alternative Voice:

Review: Myron Conan Dyal, 'Charon's Pantheon'

by Dan Grossman

As a child, Myron Conan Dyal's fundamentalist Christian parents subjected him to bouts of isolation and crude forms of exorcism in response to his epilepsy. The visions associated with this condition ultimately inspired a body of artwork that would puncture the boundaries of the religion that he was immersed in as a child.

Dyal's exhibit at iMOCA, curated by Matt Kennedy of Los Angeles's La Luz de Jesus Gallery, is grouped into two parts.

The smaller back gallery features a hothouse of colorful acrylic paintings and painted sculpture like "The Guardian of Male Energy," which seems a hybrid humanoid/flowering plant with a keyboard in hand (Dyal is a classically trained pianist). Paintings like "The Guardian," a chimerical humanoid figure with a ruminant-like skull for a head, suggest an animistic spirituality as well as a hermetic symbolism. Dyal's subjects seem to inhabit a netherworld between the living and the dead such as one might find in the rich rot of a tropical forest's floor.

The modus operandi behind Dyal's larger exhibit Charon's Pantheon, which occupies the larger, front gallery, is not diversity, as in the backroom, but unity. The piece collects 13 life-sized, paper mache sculptures in the forms of human - and humanoid - creatures. Six white sculptures and six black sculptures stand on either side of a "Red Shroud" statue, which remains completely veiled. This veil cannot be lifted physically; it's part of the sculpture.

While the "Red Shroud," by its placement, suggests a sort of birth mother from which the other figures spring, its exact symbolism remains hidden and mysterious, though Dyal offers interpretive clues via his poetry, included on the placards that identify each sculpture. Here and there, the figures bear a familiar countenance: the all-white figure of "As Above, So Below" resembles no one so much as the Virgin Mary.

If you've read your Joseph Campbell, you may know that Mary has her corollary in religious traditions more ancient than Christianity. And as you walk from left to right, from white to black, the figures become increasingly bizarre, chimerical, and foreboding - even primeval
While Dyal believes in conflict and dichotomies, he refuses to credit the black and white (and fundamentalist Christian) conception of good and evil. Like the Charon of Greek mythology, ferrying the dead across the River Styx to the afterlife, Dyal is leads past the boundary of art for art's sake toward his more primitive and all-encompassing vision. Through Sept. 15 at the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art

Are you ready for Disasterland?

The photo at left was taken last night in the back gallery around 9PM. The walls are now all completely arranged and ready for the heavy foot traffic we're expecting tomorrow night.

Rodolfo Loaiza has been covered by Huffington Post, AOL Music, Univision, and about 200+ other media outlets since his Drunk on Love 2 (below) was tweeted by Liberty Ross to Kristen Stewart as a retaliation for the latter's affair with the former's husband, director Rupert Sanders.

Then Lady Gaga's Little Monsters ran images of Rodolfo's Magic Meat Dress painting, and that got picked up by seemingly every remaining media outlet that already hopped on the Loaiza fame wagon.

Well rest assured that there are still many surprises to come! The painter has a very special concept for his exhibition tomorrow night and those who miss it will be kicking themselves blue when they see the feeds on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!

That doesn't even address the incredible roster of talent in the very steampunk themed second gallery. The mechanical butterflies in Ave Rose's intricate sculptures are sure to garner as much attention as the meme-heavy attractions in the front room –and the costume she's got planned is simply not to be missed. I could go on at length about the work by Click Mort, Heather O'Shaughnessy, D. W. Marino, Byung, Richard Meyer, Christopher Bales and Anthony Purcell, but I'll let their work speak for itself.

The opening reception begins at 8PM, closes at 11PM, and I can't urge strongly enough that would-be attendees get here early. The parking situation is going to be out of control. Bite the bullet and valet at the local restaurants or carpool or take the very convenient public transportation system (we're half a block from the major Hollywood and Vermont bus artery, and one and a half blocks from the Sunset and Vermont metro stop on the Redline). Ride your bike or walk, but do not miss this show which is without hyperbole, the best show you'll see this summer.

Remedy for the Post ComiCon Blues

Tonight (at midnight, to be precise) I'll be filing into a movie theater with millions of other cinéastes fantastiques to see the final chapter of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. In honor of this momentous occasion, Billy has given me permission to offer a 25% discount on all graphic novels and comic books in WACKO. I don't know when was the last time you checked out our sequential art library, but we've got almost an entire aisle dedicated to comics and comix, and since we may not be the first place that springs to mind when you think of comic books, we've got a lot of harder to find and even out of print collections that you definitely can't find for cover price anywhere else –and we're offering a 25% discount on top of it! Sales items are excluded, but our sale books are so cheap already that you'd be hard pressed to complain. The sale ends when the doors close on Sunday night, July 22nd –which will be later than usual to accommodate the Los Feliz Village Street Fair.

My catalog about comic art, POP SEQUENTIALISM, will also be part of the sale even though it's technically not a graphic novel or comic. It's a perfect place to start if you've developed an interest in superhero fiction, and I strongly recommend that you follow the POP SEQUENTIALISM BLOG for up to date reviews and news about the fine art of sequential storytelling. I post a new column weekly on Thursday mornings, with the occasional update in between.

On Monday morning I embark on a cross country drive to deliver and install a major retrospective at the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art for one of my favorite artists (and good friend), Myron Dyal. The entire Charon's Pantheon exhibit will be exhibited along with important new and old works of papier-mâché and painted canvases. Myron will be flying out to attend his opening and hold court with patrons and contributors in a presentation that is sure to expand the local consciousness.

I won't even be able to stay and appreciate the fruits of my labor, as I have to hop a plane and return in time for Billy's Thursday Night Fishfry & Community Social, headlined by former CHRISTIAN DEATH vocalist Gitane Demone. Each of these monthly musical events has been better than the last, and the revolving roster of performers is lively and refreshing. Also appearing will be Sioux City Pete, Gabriel Hart, Michael Rozon, Scot Nery, and of course those Motorcycle Boys, Francois & John. Christy Kane will be projecting her Callalilly, and the festivities will be MC'ed by Blaine Capatch. Seth and Johnny will be behind the scenes with Billy, so be sure to cruise on over and enjoy yourself!

Tiki, Tats and Tarts!

Brad Parker & Miles Thomspon:
Two shows that blended nicely!

The La Luz de Jesus TIKI PARTY on Friday night was Smash Success!

Both Brad Parker and Miles Thompson experienced brisk sales all evening long in their dueling solo shows –each room complementing the next with matched themes of surf & sail.

Brad Parker stops to pose
with a longtime friend & patron

The summer gala was stockpiled with animators, other fine artists and tiki enthusiasts who had traveled as far as Hawaii to see in person the first Miles Thompson show since 2009, as well as witness the Tiki Shark himself, Brad Parker, who was able to include some awesome monster-themed skate decks mere hours before the exhibitions opened!

Miles is all smiles next to the proud
new owner of the showcard piece

Miles revisited the scene of his glory on Saturday to help a few patrons decide on which pieces to purchase and Brad returned on Sunday to host an audience of fans and students for an impromptu art talk that covered technique and tradition.

Our publicist Lee Joseph has posted some great photos from the opening on his Flickr account.

Shawn Barber & Danni Shinya Luo
Book Signing: Tuesday July 10th, 7-9PM

 While the holiday weekend is over and most have gotten back into the swing of the daily grind, I offer you a mid-week oasis of Tattoos and Trollops! I am speaking of course of the world premiere of Shawn Barber's latest art volume, Memoir as part of a two-person signing with Danni Shinya Luo, whose Soft Candy has finally arrived following her incredibly successful exhibition of the same name. Shawn's tattoo portraits and Danni's gorgeous girls seem like a great excuse to get out of the house again after the holiday weekend. Last Gasp Books is co-presenting this event tomorrow night (Tuesday, July 10th) which kicks of at 7 PM and runs until 9PM.

Miss Luo will have some of the sketches published in the book available for sale, too, so come on down and say, "Mahalo!