The Coaster Show au Go-Go!

We opened the second annual Coaster Show this past Friday night (September 5th), and it was a smashing success. Our partners, LA Beer Week, brought libations from Eagle Rock Brewery and at least three other craft brewers and I'd estimate that somewhere between four and five thousand people showed up to sample the art and the beer. Eric Minh Swenson took some amazing photos on opening night (like the one below) that help verify that estimate.

The exhibition features the work of over 300 artists, comprising over 1,050 unique pieces, which required about 4,000 pushpins to display on the walls. Additional works were pedestalled. We contacted our friends at Mondo Bizarro and Dorothy Circus in Rome, and other galleries in Paris, Tokyo, Melbourne, and elsewhere in order to assemble the most diverse presentation of international Post-Pop artists you are likely to see–at least until we do this again next year!

For those interested in just how long it takes to hang a show like, Lee Joseph of Reverberations Media has put together a neat gallery of installation progress photos on his Flickr page. Above is a shot taken by gallery assistant Misty Zhou of the final touch to this week-long install: director Matt Kennedy and LA Beer Week principal Brandon Bradford removing the backing of the wall vinyl.


Below is a wonderful start-to-finish video by Daisuke Okamoto of one of his pieces featured in The Coaster Show (still available as I type this). Other artists have made similar progress videos that offer a glimpse inside their artistic processes:



There are so many incredible and affordable pieces, that The Coaster Show (only in its second year!) has already established itself as the collector's starter kit unparalleled. Many artists' full sets of coasters were quick to sell out, including Jessicka Addams, Shaun Berke, Frank Forte, Renee French, Aaron Bo Heimlich, Alessia Iannetti, Dierdre Sullivan-Beeman, Christine Wu, and a lot of other well-known folks and first timers. Check out the preview online and, if at all possible, come to see the show in person, as it is a uniquely overwhelming experience; an embarrassment of riches, really!

And not least of all, congrats to Harold Fox for completely selling out his solo exhibition in the front room, On the Fringe of the Mundane. This is a not a very common occurrence, and we're proud to have accomplished this for him. Both exhibitions will be up all month long, until Sunday, September 28th. La Luz de Jesus gallery is opened 7 days a week. Call for info: (323)666-7667.