Artofficial

AIDS Activism! Death Metal! Soey Milk!

2012-01-11T13:56:00.001-08:00

Whenever I wait more than a couple of weeks, I end up having to relate a TON of info in a relatively short space, so I'll apologize NOW for a slightly long update, but trust me –this is worth it!

That video above was just delivered to me by director Thomas Mignone. It is the latest promotional clip from seminal Florida Death Metal band, Morbid Angel, and it features set decoration from Krystopher Sapp. Mignone contacted Sapp shortly before the opening of "When a Good Man Goes to War," and incorporated several of the pieces from the exhibition into the art design of the video. More than half of the art in Krystopher's current show is sold, but several of the pieces highlighted here are still available. The film is quite good and the band is in top form, so congratulations, Krys Sapp! We're proud of you!

Yesterday, Wayne Martin Belger completed a marathon session of work from his new series of photographs called Bloodworks utilizing his "Untouchable (HIV)" camera. Kim Saigh and Shawn Barber's Memoir Tattoo Shop supplied the backdrop (doubling as studio space) for this landmark shoot. The Bloodworks series portraits will reflect the Los Angeles HIV+ community in the thirty years since the disease’s appearance. Los Angeles is only one of the U.S. cities Belger is visiting as part of his photo essay of HIV+ populations. Belger has already photographed over 60 men women and children in Grand Rapids, New York, San Francisco, and Tucson for the series.

The pinhole camera designed and built by Belger for Bloodworks pumps HIV+ blood through filters across the pinhole aperture, producing ghostly and luminous portraits. “This camera was designed specifically for ‘Bloodworks,’ which is an ongoing photo series of people living with HIV/AIDS. The portraits create a vital, artistic record of the epidemic 30 years after its start, with the camera as the window,” Belger explains. “Each pinhole camera I build to be sacred bridge of a communion offering between myself and the subject.”

The images captured for this series will be featured in a prestigious exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada as part of an exhibition that also includes Joel Peter Witkin, Steven Gregory, Mark Prent and Marc Quinn.

It's not often that a curator can premiere an artist with the full knowledge that they are already on track to become the next big thing, but there is only one Soey Milk, and the anticipation for her featured gallery debut next month is astronomical.

Miss Milk is still in school, but is already the stuff of legends. She's been featured in the Hi-Fructose Blog, within the pages of Blue Canvas Magazine and will have a limited edition portfolio released in time for Comicon through Éditions Panik. Her ability is top notch and her subject matter interesting.

Such mature composition and raw talent made here a perfect pairing with Christine Wu, whose previous body of absolutely stunning work recently entered the collection of a certain Pirate of the Carribean. During Wu's October 2010 exhibit it was quite common to see other artists nosing up against her paintings to try and figure out her technique. I can count on one hand how many times I've seen that happen. Wu's newest series (above) is absolutely stunning. I've seen the pieces in her studio and as soon as I have a set of images, I'll post them, so be sure to get on the preview list by shooting me an email or calling.

In addition to their individual concepts, both Christine and Soey have incorporated each other into their individual exhibitions, so Soey has painted Christine, and Christine has painted Soey. Both, incidentally, have painted La Luz de Jesus gallery assistant Mia Matsumiya, so I expect nothing less than a complete sell out from each of them.

Bonni Reid and Matthew Bone will be sharing the four walls in the other room next month, and Bonni has already delivered a complete preview of her show, Cartes de Visite. More top notch work from one of our most requested Canadian artists –and at incredibly affordable prices. One of my favorite photos that I ever took is a shot of Robert Williams standing in front of Bonni's work at her last show.

Last week I had the privilege of a studio visit with Matthew Bone, where our conversation traversed comic books in the 80s and 90s, the benefits of using adult film stars as models, and the pros and cons of building one's own studio. I've already had people asking me for a preview for weeks and you can see some works in progress behind him in the picture I took below, but finished works won't be previewing until just before showtime –so stay tuned. To use the vernacular from my home town, I am wicked excited about Matthew's show and look forward to an ongoing relationship between he and La Luz de Jesus because the guy is as cool as he is talented.

Excelsior!

I'd say we're off to a fine start in the new year, and each month seems to be taking the 25th Anniversary another step further. If you haven't been to La Luz de Jesus Gallery in a while, now is a good to time to do it!

Check out our new Art in the Hallway Exhibit!

2011-12-15T18:36:00.000-08:00

We've just added a new semi-permanent exhibition page to the website. It's called "ART in the HALLWAY."
For years, we've filled the hallway that runs from the east wall of gallery one to the restroom with pieces from previous shows and occasional, special pieces that our artists or patrons consign to us. Believe it or not, there are more pieces on the two walls of this corridor than in gallery one and gallery two combined! In fact, there are always between 90 and 100 individual art works exhibiting in this space, which is among the highest traffic areas on the premises. And to make this even more special, José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros delivered a new set of Kissing Prince and Kissing Princess portraits along with some original animation cels.

Since I received more requests for these portraits than I could keep track of, Rodolfo painted variations on the pieces included in his Sold Out August show just in time for the holidays! Click Mort delivered an entirely new series of his surrealist remixes of classic, nostalgic pop-sculptures, some starting below $200!

There are ninety-nine incredible selections, many perfect for gifting -whether for friends, family or for yourself. It's really a Who's Who, featuring new work by Nathan Ota, Jeff Soto, Joe Sorren, as well as some classic (and very risqué) Byron Werner erotic collages from the 90s and a Bill Ward color drawing from 1978.

Art Center Portfolio Review/Report

2011-12-08T17:59:00.000-08:00

At the end of each term, Billy Shire and I are invited to review the Design and Illustration portfolios of the Art Center College of Design's senior class. Most of those soon-to-graduate are seeking industrial jobs in editorial or animation, but a brave handful are hoping for gallery representation. The quality of work from these young artists is almost invariably stellar, but I've singled out a few highlights below. These images represent the work of those I hope to work with (in some capacity) over the course of the next year and beyond. Some will participate in the Laluzapalooza group show in March 2012, and some will be getting feature exhibitions after that, while others will participate in satellite projects to be revealed later. These young folks epitomize the creative impulse of the next generation, and I'm always honored to be asked to jury their portfolios. I spent a lot of time at Art Center in the 90s, and many of the instructors are friends, colleagues and artists I've had the pleasure of representing, so it's exciting to see their students taking unique steps along the same path.

Timothy Cheng is a painter, a sculptor and animator who is sure to be scooped up by a smart Pixar supervisor before the holiday break. Check out these two examples of his painted illustration work and three-dimensional, hand-crafted statues. The image at left is a tribute to Park Chan-wook's ultraviolent and groundbreaking film, Oldboy, and the image below is an example of his surreal, situation sculptures. He also had an intensely realistic sculpture of a baked fish on sushi rice (visible on his website), which will feature prominently in a senior exhibition that also includes drawings and a video installation. Timothy's animation reel was no joke, and it's been a long time since I've seen a triple-crown talent like his.

Shaun Berke first blipped onto my radar when Christine Wu recommended I check out a Rembrandt master-study he had painted for possible inclusion in our Everything But the Kitschen Sync exhibition. It would definitely have passed jury, but I wouldn't have been able to guarantee its return for his senor exhibition upon sale –and I'm certain it would have sold. The heavy subject matter of his work is counter-balanced by his easy-going, good-naturedness. The painting shown here is titled "The Intersection of Hecate, Drowning of Noah, and Disappointment of Ludovica -or Deathboner Blueballs." It's an oil on linen painting measuring 40" x 51". What can I say? The kid can paint!

One of Shaun's good friends, Elliot Brown, graduated last term, and had previously submitted for possible inclusion in our next group show. I returned an email letting him know we weren't looking at submissions yet (this was back in August), but that his portrait of Motorhead frontman, Lemmy, was the best heavy metal portrait I'd seen since Martin Emond passed away three-quarters of a decade ago. Elliot brings his own sharp vision to narrative painting via his superb illustration and painting chops without sacrificing style. He'll definitely be featured in Laluzapalooza in March, possibly via multiple mediums, as he can also sculpt and draw like a motherf**ker.

Sharry Lai first attended Otis College of Art & Design, studying Communication Design before switching majors and schools to study Illustration and Textile Design at Art Center. Her simple, but hyper-stylized drawings are succinctly fashion driven, and the application of her work inherently lends itself to packaging and product lines. I actually purchased a piece from Madame Lai's senior exhibition without seeing it framed, but I trust her instincts and can barely wait to see it on my walls. I think she's one to watch, and look forward to seeing what a smart, intuitive couture designer can bring to a gallery sensibility.

Everybody knows that we don't generally showcase digital work, but there was something fresh and unique to Sara Saedi's mock rock posters, so I asked her about making monoprints, and she offered an even better solution: unique silk screens! Also a talented pattern-maker, Sara is sure to connect with fans of Tara McPerson, Mark Atamos Pilon and even Shag –but with a new-jack twist.

And there you have it: a short survey of the wonderful work presented by the class of 2011. Not pictured but equally intriguing was a miniature, cloth-and-wood diorama by Li Kai Lai, called "My Grandfather's Closet," and Liz Mamont's proto-Victorian illustrated zine, "Uncle Tiberius."

Big props also to my two former assistants, Ann Shen and Sana Park for presenting incredible design portfolios. Ann included pages from Pop-Sequentialism and La Luz de Jesus 25, both of which she designed, and Sana would have had pages from The Panik Diaries, but the content might have been a bit questionable for a senior project. More on that later...

I'll leave you with Jon Lau's loving caricature of Korean, hip-hop girl-group 2NE1, a wonderful miniature print of which is currently under a magnet on my refrigerator:

Here, Kitty, Kitty!

2011-12-03T15:44:00.000-08:00

Last night we opened two incredible new shows from a couple of artists whose styles couldn't be much more different, yet manage to complement each other perfectly. I'm speaking of course of Daniel Martin Diaz's Quantum Mysticism (LA Canvas' Gallery Pick of the Week), and Rob Burden's Toy Box.

Daniel appeared in person to sign his latest art volume Anatomy of Sorrow (La Luz de Jesus Press, 2011) which contains many of the pieces featured in this exhibition of symbols steeped in the lore of Christianity with roots in pre-Christian dogma possessed of sigil-like power. Prints, drawings and paintings combined to make Quantum Mysticism an incredibly enlightened gallery experience.

In Gallery II, Rob Burden's larger-than-life portraits of toys required special loading, assembly and hanging apparatus, and it's hard to believe how quickly the rear gallery transformed from a work-in-progress to a stunning display of mind-blowing nostalgia. At least one top ten performer marveled at the scale of Rob's paintings when he stopped by for a sneak peak of Toy Box on Thursday evening.

TONIGHT, we'll be hosting a special signing event for Taschen's The Big Book of Pussy, edited by Dian Hanson, and featuring the work of dozens of photographers and models -many of whom will be in attendance, including our good friend Ed Fox (pictured at our last signing extravaganza). I'm not allowed to confirm which models will be arriving for this, but I can say that if you are even remotely interested in the body part that all of us have passed through at one moment or another, you will hate yourself for missing this.

The event opens at 7 PM and runs until 10 o'clock. And yes, it's exactly what you think it is –only more!

La Luz de Jesus 25, Part 2: Photo Blog

2011-11-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

Oops! We did it again!

La Luz de Jesus 25, the groundbreaking, retrospective exhibition of all of the artists given feature exhibitions in the last quarter century continued last night (and tonight!). Here's an assortment of images from the Thursday night, artist-only mixer. It was like a combination class reunion and yearbook signing event that once again brought together three generations of Pop Surrealism's finest. Check out these images and come on down tonight to revel in the glow of the the final reception for this historic show.

La Luz de Jesus Gallery is located inside the Soap Plant / Wacko complex on the corner of Rodney, one block east of Vermont at 4633 Hollywood Blvd, LA, CA 90027. Call gallery director Matt Kennedy for art purchases: (323) 666-7667.

And now, a word from our guest blogger: Mia Matsumiya

2011-10-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

Happy 25th birthday, La Luz de Jesus!
To celebrate, we rabidly frothed out a massive exhibit on Friday and Saturday, October 7 & 8, showcasing a staggering 76 boatloads of pop surrealist artists (some of them very prominent!) that have shown here over the last twenty-five years. Okay, so we didn’t actually calculate the exact number of boats, but it was a lot of artists – 142, to be exact, so it was at least the equivalent of a small fleet. This is actually only the first half of the show; the second half will be premiering in November and will feature 117 more artists.

The place was packed. Being 4’9”, it was pretty much a sea of torsos and nose hair with occasional flashes of artwork, but hey, that’s just the way it is for a 4’9”er. (NOT to be confused with a 49er in football.) Honestly, it was one of the most impressive shows I’ve seen in the last few years. It kind of blows my teensy, human mind that so much awesomeness can exist in such a small amount of physical space.Check out a couple of my favorites from the first installment: Paul Barnes’ “King Charles,” and Pol Turgeon’s “The Bishop, the Flower, and the Egg" (both above).

Craig LaRotunda’s “Feast of the Undead” (featuring nipple injury and flying, demonic, skull-carrying babies) makes me terrified of motherhood, so thanks a lot for that, Craig LaRotunda.

Also pictured from the first show: Sam Doyle's "He/She," Kim Scott's "Lookout," Joe Coleman's "The Triumph of Burlesque in the Age of Sodom and Gomorrah," Mark Gleason's "Sissy," and Jason D'Aquino's "From the Mouths of Babes."

Mia's favorites from La Luz de Jesus 25 Part 2 will be posted soon...

Ed Fox vol. 2: Pics & Press

2011-10-24T18:28:00.000-07:00

The great folks over at TASCHEN sent links to a complete gallery of photos from Saturday night's Ed Fox II book release party and exhibition. Ed was joined by Adrienne Manning, Kayla-Jane Danger, Athena Fatale, April Flores, Sarah Boyd, Dian Hanson, Georgia Jones, Ashley Blue, Maxine, Lisa Boyle, Autumn Rose, Marriah, Destiney Walker, Julie K. Smith, Dave Naz, Carlos Batts and a whole bunch of fans, friends and family. Some of the Models featured in Ed's brand-spanking-new 2nd volume are: Jelena Jensen, Tori Black, Ryan Keely, Athena Fatale, Kagney Linn Karter, January Seraph, Violet Monroe, Kelly Space, April Flores, Kayla Jane Danger, Jessica, Codi Charmichael and Adrienne Manning. Special appearances by Aria Giovanni, Julie K. Smith, Destiney and Sadie West. If you couldn't attend but would still like to get a signed copy of the book, contact the shop pronto at (323) 663-0122, because we've got a limited number of copies left over!

The photos above are courtesy of Gordon from www.emmreport.com
And here are a handful of mentions (WARNING: may contain Not Work Safe content):

flavorpill
Artslant
Naz
Schmap
AVN
Fleshbot

Glamour From the Ground Up - Tomorrow Night!

2011-10-21T17:42:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow night (Saturday, October 22) join us from 7-10 PM to celebrate with Taschen Books and photographer Ed Fox, the release of Ed's second art volume of fantastic foot fetishism. Fox will be joined by 15 of his subject models, all of whom will be happy to sign your copy of either volume of the book or DVD.

We'll be exhibiting 15 of the artist's best photographic prints (as featured in the new publication) in both large and intimate sizes –all of which are available for sale. This is an adults only exhibition, and one that promises to be WILD!

Among the models on the walls will be: Alexis Love, Aria Giovanni, Belladonna, Dita Von Teese, Faye Reagan, Kagney Linn Karter, Lacie Heart, Roxy DeVille, Tori Black, Valentina Vaughn and more!

Ed Fox is a native Californian. He studied commercial photography at the Art Center College of Design, where he was frequently admonished for his focus on erotic imagery. But passion for the art form drove him to make a difference in the adult industry. "I'm a well respected artist in an industry that is not well respected".

Commercially, his photography has earned him two Key Art Awards and distinguished recognition in the adult industry via Leg Show, Club, Penthouse, Barely Legal, Cheri, and several TASCHEN publications.

"My fascination with the female form and appreciation for light is what inspired me to become a photographer. "I create to satisfy the need to see a better image than the last and there is ample gratification if at least one other person values my work. The fans validate my vision and inspire me to create more."

Ed Fox: Glamour from the Ground Up DVD $17.99 each
Ed Fox: Volume 2 Book & DVD $39.99 each

The event starts at 7pm and closes at 10pm.

La Luz de Jesus 25 Part 1: Pictures from an Exhibition

2011-10-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of my favorite pics from the first La Luz de Jesus 25 exhibition. Richard Salazar documented the whole weekend, and his pictures are viewable here, here, here & here. Join the Friends of La Luz de Jesus Gallery group on Facebook to access everything!

Preparing for Beyond Eden...

2011-09-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

Empire of Death Book & Photo Exhibit Tonight!

2011-09-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

Artist Reception & Book Signing:
Saturday, September 24th; 7-10 PM
Special DJ performance by Don Bolles
(The Germs, Celebrity Skin)

For centuries, religious establishments constructed decorated ossuaries and charnel houses from human bone. These unique structures which stand as masterpieces of art have been pushed into the footnotes of history; they were part of a dialogue with death that is now silent.

In 2006, Dr. Paul Koudounaris who two years earlier completed a PhD in Art History at UCLA, found a research topic which would preoccupy the next four years of his existence. Koudounaris’ interest in the bizarre and suspicious led him to an extraordinary charnel house in the crypt under the Church of Sts Peter and Paul in the Czeck Republic town of Melnik. Unlike the “Bone Church” in nearby Sedlec, it was gritty and dirty, not for tourists and even unknown by most locals, but contained an arrangement of bones that reflected both a beauty in artistic principles and an understanding of philosophy and theology. Upon discovering that the local hostel receptionist had no idea of its existence, Dr. Koudounaris set his sights on discovering how many more of these charnel houses might still be standing.

Dr. Koudounaris eventually visited researched and photographed charnel houses on four continents - plus countless others he found in historic documents, grande dames which had fallen by the wayside of the passing centuries. They are presented in the book The Empire of Death which, with detailed photos and text not only recovers their history, but the history of the religious movement which gave birth to them. This is not a book about the macabre or death. It is a book about beauty and salvation.

In this tour de force of original cultural history, Dr. Koudounaris takes the reader on an unprecedented international tour of macabre and devotional architectural masterpieces in nearly 20 countries. The sites in this brilliantly original study range from the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Palermo, where the living would visit mummified or skeletal remains and lovingly dress them, to the Paris catacombs, to elaborate bone-encrusted creations in Austria, Cambodia, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Italy, Peru, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and elsewhere. Koudounaris photographed and analyzed the role of these remarkable memorials within the cultures that created them, as well as the mythology and folklore that developed around them, and skillfully traces a remarkable human endeavor with 250 full-color and 50 black-and-white photographs in a beautifully bound leather covered book. Books are available for $50.00 each while supplies last.

Click here for access to the online gallery of photographs available for purchase.

Simply Iconic Examined

2011-09-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

Special thanks to columnist Meaghan Boyd for this rave review of the Simply Iconic Exhibition that ran on Examiner.com:

Simply Iconic is the title and the words I would use to describe the current exhibition at La Luz De Jesus Gallery located on Hollywood Blvd in the quaint region of Los Feliz. The breathtaking collection of work from seven Southern-raised, African American artists hold such a pure and intuitive energy. The exhibition includes work from Pu rvis Young, Sam Doyle, Charlie Lucas, O.L. Samuels, Sulton Rogers, Roy Ferdinand, and Herbert Singleton. Each artist has an interesting story that describes their passageway into the art making realm. This art is extremely un-pretentious and brilliant, coming from people who decided mid-way through life to embark on their artistic journey. The work is so honest and moving, resembling folk-art, but speaking in a deeply soulful way that grabs the attention of the so-called “High Art” crowd. It’s actually quite refreshing to see work like this in the La Luz De Jesus, which is a gallery that seems to appeal to the art genre of Pop Surrealism or Low-Brow. However, upon speaking with the curator, Matt Kennedy, the Simply Iconic collection (owned by Gordon Bailey) seemed to be a perfect fit. It is art that makes a statement with the way in which it is made, not necessarily the conceptual aspect. That being said, just because a piece of art is not considered to be “conceptual”, doesn’t mean that it lacks depth. I actually feel that crafty art can speak in a very pure way. The work holds the essence of one’s personality or being, as if parts of the artist’s soul are transferred into the piece as they work. Heavy concept is written in the paint, in the wood, in the clay. To cite one of my favorite conceptual artists of all time, Yoko Ono, “The medium is the message.”

The first artist I would like to talk about is Sam Doyle (1906-1985), a man who considered himself more of a historian rather than an artist. He was interested in documenting events that took place in his home town of Saint Helena, South Carolina, by means of painting and displayed the works in his backyard, which became known as a sort of outdoor museum. His work is executed with the pure, unadulterated expression of a child, so in a sense it is very liberating to witness. The paintings are done on large scale pieces or tin or wood with house paint. There is an essence about the work that feels very touched and worked with, lived with, like a piece of old furniture that holds on to memories. In fact, the work seems to be replications of memories. As Doyle once said “I paint from, I would say, the mind’s eye”. In my opinion, Doyle somewhat paved a gateway for neo-expressionism. One of his biggest fans was the famous Jean Michel Basquiat, who, at one point, actually traded all of the work in one of his shows for two Sam Doyle paintings. Another appreciator of Doyle is Ed Ruscha, who created a body of work as a tribute to Sam Doyle, which was purchased by Edith and Eli Broad.

O.L. Samuels (b.1931) has some work in the center of the gallery that is quite mystifying. Dark animal figures accented by glittering rainbow colors seem to watch over the room in a haunting sort of way. Samuels began making work after he was in a life threatening accident in which he was hit by a falling tree trunk while working as a tree surgeon. After the accident he became incredibly depressed. One day the voice of his grandmother, who was a freed slave, floated into his mind. She suggested carving a spool as a means to get out of depression. He felt so compelled to create upon remembering this old advice given to him by his grandmother, and began carving dreamy figures out of wood. The three works that are displayed in this collection are “Dog”, “Horse” and “Ickitty Chicks” , all made in the 1980’s. Each piece is painted black and is textured and colored with a concoction Samuels cooked up in his kitchen out of glue, saw dust, glitter and paint. So his work has this beautiful dark magic vibe to it. Although the work was full of color, Samuels was in fact, color-blind. When people would ask him why he used such an intense gradient of rainbow hues in his work, he replied that he was only using so many colors to make sure that he got the right one. What I found most interesting about Samuels wooden friends, was that each piece seemed to actually have a soul. The eyes of each figure were very captivating in a human-like way. All the figures were carved out of wood, but he used different materials for the eyes. Some had amber-colored marbles for the eyes and some had raven stones, even some had beer bottle caps. I actually felt myself very entranced by his work, as if the observation wasn’t exactly one-sided. I felt his work observing me, looking into me. His creatures seem to be psychically connected to everything and everyone around them.

Sulton Rogers (1922-2003) displays a more light-hearted approach to the art of whittling, compared to the sultry depths displayed in the work of his counterpart, O.L. Samuels. Rogers was taught wood carving as a child by his father. His tool of choice was his pocket knife. His small to medium scale wooden sculptures are smoothly worked allowing viewers to get lost in the simple patterns in the wood-grain. There is a boyish grit to the work that is actually a bit humorous and endearing. His piece, “Devil Family” (1990’s) depicts a group of red devils with pitchforks, nude and lustful, with delicately detailed genitals and pubic hair to form the perfect family, mother, father, and two children, a boy and girl. The juxtaposition of something considered evil or lusty with the ideal of a loving wholesome family is pretty amazing. Although Sulton Rogers was making this kind of work in the 1990’s when he was in his 70’s, there is incredibly boyish nature to his figures.

Herbert Singleton (1945-2003) seems to take the role of the bad boy in this collection, an artist who spent many years in and out of jail, and suffered through serious drug addictions. In contrast to the dark yet heavenly aspects of Samuels work, Singleton makes work that is just plain dark and hellish, including themes of voodoo and disease. He used a lot of opaque primary colors on carved bas-relief wood pieces. The imagery is painful and characterized by religious symbols and themes. Snakes seem to slither their way into a lot of his work. Most of the work is pictorial, but there are also some interesting totem-like masks on the wall resembling tribal African art. The most chilling of his paintings is entitled, “The Old Religion”, in which a person holding bone is sitting in a black caldron over a wild fire, while a man comes in with an enormous snake. Singleton’s work is very narrative and tells a dark, creepy story. It’s a bit like witnessing a car crash or like watching someone have a nervous breakdown right in front of you. Something you feel like you shouldn’t be so enthralled by, but you just can’t help it.

On the same wall as Singleton is the work of the esteemed “Goya of the Ghetto”, Roy Ferdinand (1959-2004) from New Orleans. His work has been described as “Rap in pictures” by his appreciators. His medium scale drawings are actually quite unsettling. There are many factors that come together to create this effect. First and most importantly is the imagery itself, which is very graphic and even border-lining on violent, then the quality of line and texture, and lastly the proportions of the figures depicted in his works. The line-work is manic, particularly the cross-hatching. Each piece is sort of vibrating with a bi-polar sense of line and texture. Parts of the piece are rendered in a soft patient manner, and other parts are fast and neurotic. The scenes displayed in this group of work are very honest and real, showing people from the streets of New Orleans, and one piece that depicts a baptism in a lake near a Southern Baptist church. Ferdinand’s work makes a lot of sense on the same wall as Singleton. The two artists create work that speaks in a painful tone, and seem to relate to each other in similar ways.

Purvis Young (1943-2010), the romantic of the group was motivated to create work by a need to spread peace to the world. His work resembles early expressionism, and even seems to unknowingly take from artists like William DeKooning because of his visionary emotional nature. His work is a lovely contrast to the works of Singleton and Ferdinand. Young enjoyed painting dreamy, mirage-like, spiritual scenes on scavenged pieces of wood. One piece was even painted on a piece of wood that had once been a step in an old factory. His color usage is soft and vibrant with lots of sea-greens and turquoises with hints of warm yellows mimicking light. There is a lot of movement in his work as well, creating this feeling that you are witnessing a reunion of angels dancing in a celebration of peace. The imagery holds a warm transcendental, ethereal energy, while the scavenged wood holds the energy of life. So many hands have touched that wood before Young was able to paint on it, so the actual wood itself seems to tell a story. I found his body of work to be the most poetic and inviting.

Lastly, the work Charlie Lucas (b. 1951) is very playful and lively. Like Samuels, Lucas also suffered from a life threatening accident in the 1980’s, and decided to take up painting shortly after his recovery. Lucas strikes me as the type of artist who really just loves to explore mediums. His paintings and mixed-media works exude a sense of excitement and discovery. There is a simple yet chaotic nature to Lucas’s work that is a bit disorienting. The work is all pretty flat, but accented by textured surfaces, like shattered glass, for example. What I love about Lucas is the way he used the materials, with such enthusiasm! Every piece is a type of journey, a new territory for opportunities to use new kinds of media, texture, and color.

It is seriously such a delight to view this wonderful harmony of art in the same space. There is a perfect balance in this collection of work that shines a new kind of light out of La Luz De Jesus. Simply Iconic is a small exhibition that one will want to ponder for quite a while. There is so much soul to take in from each and every piece of this brilliant collection. The show is certainly what the title claims to be. Certain artists from this exhibition have inspired famous artists, such as Ed Ruscha and Jean Michel Basquiat. Perhaps it will be of inspiration to you too! The exhibition will be up until October 3rd. Come get lost.

Article reproduced by kind permission of the author.

Preview for La Luz de Jesus 25 is Posted!

2011-09-15T16:00:00.000-07:00

In just two more weeks we'll open the biggest exhibition in our history. In fact it's so big that it's going to take two months to showcase it all. This is LA LUZ DE JESUS 25.

On the weekends of October 7th and November 4th we'll be celebrating our twenty-fifth year of groundbreaking exhibitions with a show including almost everyone who's ever been featured here. Billy Shire has masterminded and organized a monumental group show featuring over 250 artists, each of whom have contributed one new piece and a written anecdote about their experience with the gallery. This is La Luz de Jesus Gallery's first survey, featuring three generations of the most important artists working today. There will also be a book –a companion to the show, chronicling the rich legacy of La Luz de Jesus and the movements it helped launch.
The full exhibition roster is below, organized by date.
A full index for both exhibitions can be found here.

Part 1
Opening October 7 & 8
Friday & Saturday, 8–11 pm

Jennybird Alcantara
Marco Almera
David Anderle
Rick Araluce
Robert Armstrong
Axel
Roberto Baldazzini
Paul Barnes
Glenn Barr
Lou Beach
Vicki Berndt
Cathie Bleck
Jon Bok
Walter Bortolossi
Frijol Boy
Scott G. Brooks
Calef Brown
Ken Brown
Mark Bryan
Robert Burden
Kalynn Campbell
Christian Clayton
Rob Clayton
Joe Coleman
R.S. Connett
Dave Cooper
Lisa Crafts
Bryan Cunningham
Jason D'Aquino
DAST
Glen C. Davies
Alfredo de Batuc
John de Fazio
Gerald de Jesus
Alex de Leon
Georganne Deen
Marc Dennis
Daniel Martin Díaz
Sam Doyle
Myron Conan Dyal
Brice Eichelberger
Bruce Eichelberger
P-Jay Fidler
Matt Fink
Tony Fitzpatrick
Mary Fleener
Don Fritz
Gregg Gibbs
Mark Gleason
Paul Glynn
Ralfka Gonzalez
Josh Gosfield
Bruce Gossett
Phillip Graffham
Matt Groening
Tamara Guion
Don Ed Hardy
Scott Harrison
Ric Heitzman
Al Honig
Jason Houchen
Norma Jones
Damara Kaminecki
Christine Karas-Gough
Dean Karr
Norbert H. Kox
Frank Kozik
Krystine Kryttre
Stacy Lande
Jon Langford
Craig LaRotonda
Laura Levine
Laurie Lipton
Alpha Lubicz
Sam Lubicz
Snow Mack
Jason Maloney
ManWoman
Hudson Marquez
Lyn Mayer
Matjames Metson
Sergio Mora
Victor Moscoso
Stanley Mouse
Clare O'Callaghan
Mu Pan
Gary Panter
Brad "Tiki Shark" Parker
Robert Pasternak
Lisa Petrucci
Gail Potocki
Matthew Price
Moritz R*
Brent Riley
Chris Roberts-Antieau
Francisco Rodriguez Maruca
Spain Rodriguez
Jonathon Rosen
Isabel Samaras
Corey Sandelius
David Sandlin
Kim Scott
Anna Sea
Daniel "DX" Segura
Jonathan Shaw
Jacqueline Shepard
Shrine
Aaron Smith
Owen Smith
Alyson Souza
Karl Stalnaker
Joanne Stephens
Stanislav Szukalski
Yoko Tanaka
Gary Taxali
Michael Teague
Pol Turgeon
Christopher Umana
Elizabeth Uyehara
Sarita Vendetta
Trici Venola
Nicola Verlato
Byron Werner
Robert Williams
Suzanne Williams
S. Clay Wilson
Martin Wittfooth
Dennis Worden
XNO
Trevor Young

Part 2
Opening November 4 & 5
Friday & Saturday, 8–11 pm

Ray Martin Abeyta
Jessicka Addams
Carrie Ann Baade
Ana Bagayan
Shawn Barber
Bill Barminski
Gary Baseman
Humberto Batista
becca
Wayne Martin Belger
Tim Biskup
Mark Bodnar
Michael Brown
Graham Chaffee
Albert Chow
Saiman Chow
JAW Cooper
Torii B. Cooper
Freddy Corbin
CrAiGer
Steven Daily
Jessica Dalva
Patrick "Star27" Deignan
David Dexter
Bob Dob
Daniel Elson
Catalina Estrada
Al Farrow
Eric Finzi
Warren Fitzgerald
Alan Forbes
Damian Fulton
Lauren Gardiner
Massimo Giacon
Frieda Gossett
Max Grundy
Raul Guerrero
Walt Hall
Howard Hallis
Derek Harrison
Samantha Harrison
Jim Heimann
Danny Heller
Fiona Hewitt
Scott Holloway
Scott Hove
Karen Hsiao
Michael Hussar
Charlie Immer
Jordin Isip
Jennifer Jelenski
Jill Jordan
Jessica Joslin
Eric Joyner
Yumiko Kayukawa
Magda Keriakos
Susie Ketchum
Miran Kim
Caia Koopman
Bari Kumar
Dennis Larkins
Dave Leamon
Daniel Lim
José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros
Carl Lozada
Danni Shinya Luo
Chris Mars
Aaron Marshall
Elizabeth McGrath
Tara McPherson
Jason Mecier
Miss Mindy
Iva Morris
Click Mort
Mark Mothersbaugh
Lyle Motley
Scott Musgrove
Joel Nakamura
Mitch O'Connell
Brian O'Connor
Manuel Ocampo
Jayme Odgers
Nathan Ota
Misato Otake
Tammi Otis
Robert Palacios
Cristina Paulos
Daniel Peacock
Marion Peck
Mark Atomos Pilon
The Pizz
Jenn Porreca
John Puglisi
Rob Reger
Bonni Reid
Lesley Reppeteaux
Martha Rich
Noble Richardson
Mark Ryden
Samvel Saghatelian
Krystopher Sapp
Van Saro
Judith Schaechter
Shag
Peter Shire
Dale Sizer
Morgan Slade
Joe Sorren
Mike Sosnowski
SiMON Sotelo
Andy Steele
Gin Stevens
Adam Strange
Hui Tan
Ken Tanaka
Tim Tate
Miles Thompson
Cameron Tiede
Mark Todd
Yosuke Ueno
Christopher Ulrich
Shawn Warcot
Thomas Wargin
Heather Watts
Mel Weiner
Eric White
Marc Willey
Jasmine Worth
Christine Wu

There will also be altars in each of the two exhibitions featuring original art work from several of our fallen comrades:

Ned Baughman
Charles Binger
Martin Emond
Rev. Howard Finster
Gidget Gein
Neon Park
Will Powers
William Reagh
Pam Roberts
Hank Shire
R.K. Sloane
Chick Strand
Bill Ward
Miriam Wosk

Some pricing and images forthcoming. Some works are already sold.
Contact gallery director Matt Kennedy for availability and purchase info:
(323) 666-7667
info@laluzdejesus.com

Rob Reger: From Emily the Strange to Encyclopedia of Hallucinations!

2011-09-13T15:10:00.000-07:00

"The function of the imagination is not to make strange things settled, so much as to make settled things strange." –G.K. Chesterton

In the past fifteen years, the character Emily the Strange has risen in popularity from a seemingly random illustration on a skateboard deck into a generational touchstone for tween girls (particularly the non-Barbie crowd). At this point, the licensing of artist Rob Reger's signature character has become a cottage industry for future goths; one that includes comics, an apparel line and soon a major motion picture starring current teen it-girl (or should I say Hit Girl), Chloe Moretz. As this latest news was lighting up the showbiz wire, Reger was quietly opening his first major Hollywood art exhibit, called The Encyclopedia of Hallucinations. Part of that exhibition involves a contest, so alert your little sister (details at the bottom of this column)!

It's always a challenge to impact the fine art world in a significant way, but for toy designers, comic artists and character licensors that challenge is different and perhaps more difficult. On one hand, the familiarity of their best known work enables them to reach an established audience, which can be an incredible asset for selling original art work. But on the other hand, that familiarity can remain unchampioned by art critics and highbrow patrons who might dismiss those works as kitsch. So while it may not be very hard for a commercial artist to enter the gallery world based on the success of their strongest brand, reaching that next level (cover features in respected art publications, auction house representation and ultimately museum exhibition) is difficult if not impossible. For every Murakami, there are hundreds if not thousands of lesser known designers fighting to maintain relevancy while introducing new product lines and simultaneously working to realize lofty, artistic goals. Enter Rob Reger.

Rob's art aesthetic and his design house, Cosmic Debris, grew from a tangle of roots joining the DIY punk scene of the 1980s with guerilla art, surrealism, and nostalgia for the psychedelic 60s. Emily the Strange came to life in the early 1990s and became a beloved counterculture icon all around the world moving quickly from a sharp-witted T-Shirt sloganeer to the subject of gift books, comics, and ultimately a series of novels for young adults. She continues to be a voice for individualism, but in a greater context has become an icon of non-conformity. In many ways, Emily the Strange is the Mr. Natural of the middle school set, and like Robert Crumb (who also found fame in the Bay Area), Rob Reger must walk a tightrope between the two very different worlds of fine art and pop-recognition. Unlike Crumb, Reger is incredibly accessible, business savvy, and plugged into a network of friends and colleagues who have already reached that next plateau; people like Tim Biskup, who successfully charted a course of pop-sensibility, fine art acceptance and overall success. While neither yet has attained the kwan of Murakami, Biskup's art is personally collected by museum curators, gallerists, other artists, celebrities and captains of industry, and it's only a matter of time before an extra set of zeroes suffixes his current price points (which are none-too-shabby as is). And Reger's influence over two generations of young girls could easily follow the purchasing trends of Baby Boomers who grew up in the original age of Pop Art, eventually setting record purchase prices for Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Jeff Koons. If the history of the twentieth century has taught us nothing else about marketing and collectibility, it has at least taught us that children become adults who make enough money to buy back their childhoods. Now, in the twenty-first century, that process seems to have expedited; millionaire twenty-somethings are blowing a lot of loot on nostalgia from the previous decade (exemplified by Justin Timberlake's recent purchases of Michael Jackson memorabilia).

With The Encyclopedia of Hallucinations, Rob Reger has taken a handful of elements from his best-known work (bats, cats, and Emily) and produced a series of paintings that can be viewed from multiple angles, welcoming an abstract element to his mainly figurative work. He also priced everything quite affordably, reflecting the current economic climate but also welcoming early collectors, much like Keith Haring and Yoshitomo Nara did in the formative years of their exhibition cycles. Reger has created a body of work with maturity and sophistication that embraces the recognizable without catering to easy money. Investment-minded parents would be wise to buy now and bestow later. What a cool graduation present one of his paintings will make some day for your eleven year old daughter. I'm not saying that it will help pay off her college loans, but it might...

Rob Reger's Encyclopedia of Hallucinations opened on September 2nd and remains on view until October 3rd at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. Attendees (both onsite and online) are asked to write a short description of what they see in Rob's paintings. The best of these writings will be documented here, on the ArtOfficial Blog, and promoted on Reger's website as well, offering at least fifteen kilobytes of fame to enthusiastic little sisters everywhere!

Also check out Lauren Gardiner's Misfits of the Forest exhibition in the same space, which wrangled the Art Pick of the Week in the L.A. Weekly's Events Calendar (in both print and web editions). In fact between the two of them, the press has been quite extraordinary:

Beinart International Surreal Art Collective
Supahcute
Radio Baby Tattoo
On Stage Los Angeles
Los Angeles Times
LA Weekly
Flavorpill
Daily Dujour
Fine Art Magazine
and there are a whole lot more, so come on down and see what everyone's talking about!

La Luz de Jesus Gallery, 4633 Hollywood Blvd., LA, CA 90027
Hours: Sun. 12-6, Mon-Wed 11-7, Thur-Sat 11-9.
(323) 666-7667

Encyclopaedia of Hell Signing is now underway!

2011-09-03T18:10:00.000-07:00

THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HELL
by Martin Olson
Book Signing: Saturday, Sept. 3, 6-9PM

What do Lemmy, Coop and Ben Vereen all have in common? They're here!

A tour de force of darkness, Encyclopaedia of Hell is a manual of Earth written by Lord Satan for his invading hordes of demons, complete with hundreds of unpleasant illustrations, diagrams, and a comprehensive and utterly repulsive dictionary of Earth terms.

Since the customs and mores of humanity are alien and inconceivable to demons, Satan wrote this strangely poetic military handbook for the enlightenment and edification of his demon armies. A masterpiece expressing Satan's hatred for humanity and himself, the Encyclopaedia includes "Techniques of Stalking and Eating Humans," "Methods of Canning Human Pus," and "Dicing and Slicing Orphaned Children."

Why the invasion? During the last century in particular, Hell has become seriously overcrowded. Satan needs more land mass for the damned and to use the human livestock to feed his hungry demon invaders. Since this book is the 666th commemorative edition, this Encyclopaedia contains special commemorative material.

Martin Olson's savage wit provides the firepower for a preposterous literary feat unaccomplished since Mark Twain passed—channeling the real voice of Satan. Over the past fifteen years, Olson has written and produced nine comedy specials, inflicted on the populace via CBS, HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, and A&E.

"[An inferno] is probably just where Martin Olson was sitting when tasked with translating The Encyclopedia of Hell. How he learned to speak demonic is anybody’s guess. What’s more puzzling is where Olson got the nerve to actually translate the text in the first place. After all, it is An Invasion Manual for Demons Concerning the Planet Earth and the Human Race Which Infests It. Hardly the kinda thing one wants to bring home to baby. Maybe Olson’s a demon himself. If you wanna learn how the evil see us, this Encyclopedia is all you’ll need."

– SunPost Weekly July 28, 2011 | John Hood

“The Encyclopaedia of Hell” – written by Martin Olson, illustrated by Tony Millionaire and Mahendra Singh. 2011. Paperback, 240 pages in English published by Feral House, ISBN-13: 978-1936239047

About The Author
Martin Olson has written and produced nine comedy specials, inflicted on the populace via CBS, HBO, Showtime, Cinemax and A&E. As a composer, he has been honored with a 2010 Emmy Nomination for Songwriting, a 2009 Emmy Nomination for Primetime Songwriting, and a 1997 Annie Award Nomination for Songwriting in an Animated Series. This is his first book.

SIMPLY ICONIC: Self-Taught Artists included in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Permanent Collection opens this FRIDAY!

2011-08-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

I've just acquired the wood to build new pedestals for the exhibition we're hosting in the white-walled gallery. It's a project with roots in our glorious past, but featuring the highest calibre of self-taught artists we've ever assembled under one roof. We're utilizing a completely different set of mounting materials and exercising a whole new display scenario to accommodate some of the most impassioned artwork to emerge in America during the past 150 years; all of it conceived in our conflicted South. Simply Iconic showcases soul-stirring works from some of the most gifted vernacular artists included in the Smithsonian American art Museum's permanent collection:

Sam Doyle, Purvis Young, Herbert Singleton, Roy Ferdinand, Charlie Lucas, Sulton Rogers and O. L. Samuels

Come bear witness. You will leave inspired!

Sam Doyle
(1906-1985) South Carolina

"I paint from, I would say, the mind's eye" said Sam Doyle, who fashioned his personal portraits and tributes with evangelical enthusiasm, blending ancestral Gullah lore and his devout Baptist faith into a multi-cultural impasto. As a youth, Doyle attended Penn School, established in 1862 to provide educational and vocational skills to newly liberated slaves. Following his retirement in the late 1960s, Doyle fully committed to painting the history of his beloved Gullah community and more generally African-American advancement. Over the next decade his museum-like exhibition evolved into the St. Helena Out Door Art Gallery where haints and saints rubbed rusty shoulders and shared the boughs of Spanish moss laden oak trees with other celebrated figures.

Doyle's artwork brought him much acclaim, particularly after his inclusion in the Corcoran Gallery of Art's seminal 1982 exhibition Black Folk Art in America 1930 - 1980. Curated by Jane Livingston. He had the sublime pleasure of seeing his artworks formally presented and shaking the hand of First Lady Nancy Reagan. Aficionados traveled from around the world to view Doyle's outdoor history lesson. He commemorated many of their visits by painting their hometowns or countries of origin on a 4ft x 8ft plywood panel and he amended his gallery sign, adding "Nation Wide" parenthetically to emphasize its broad appeal. As evidenced by his "Visitors" sign, Doyle's influence is far and wide.

The late Neo-expressionist Jean-Michel Basquiat once traded some of his own artworks to a gallery owner for a few of Doyle's and noted contemporary master Ed Ruscha paid posthumous tribute to the artist with his painting "Where Are You Going, Man? (For Sam Doyle), 1985." Ruscha recently cited Doyle as a strong influence, saying "When I look at them {Doyle's paintings} alarm bells go off warning me of their power." His tribute painting is in the collection of Eli Broad.

Roy Ferdinand
(1959-2004) Louisiana

Known in New Orleans art circles as a sort of 'Goya of the ghetto,' Ferdinand has described his work as rap in pictures, while some critics have placed his utterly honest depictions of inner city decay within the social realist tradition of Courbet. "I've been around long enough to know what's good and what's not good, and I instantly knew that Roy was good," says Willie Birch, a nationally prominent African-American artist who nominated Ferdinand for inclusion in the 2001 New Orleans Triennial.

Charlie Lucas
(b. 1951) Alabama

Popularly known as "Tin Man," Charlie Lucas has attracted a large following. In recent years, he has traveled widely, lecturing at Yale University at the invitation of an African-American studies scholar and spending time as an artist-in-residence in France. A job-related accident in 1984 forced Lucas to give up his job as a maintenance man at a healthcare facility. While recovering from back surgery, he asked God to help him find something to do that no one else could do. Soon he began fashioning sculpture out of recycled metal. Gradually, his creations morphed in two directions: upward, to towering, gigantic men made entirely of spot-welded steel ribbons and 12 to 15-foot dinosaurs and downward, to 10 to 15-inch men and animals made of railroad spikes and bent wire. Although he has no formal art training, Lucas' sculptural work clearly combines skills he learned from observing his grandfather's mechanical and automotive repair techniques, his grandmother's basket-weaving, and his great grandfather's blacksmithing.

Sulton Rogers
(1922-2003) Mississippi

Sulton Rogers was originally taught woodcarving as a child by his father, who Rogers claimed could "build anything." Rogers' fantastic wood figures and captivating parings are renowned for their satirical style, mirroring the apparently amenable character of the artist himself. Rogers spent many years away from Mississippi, joining the army and later traveling through numerous states in the early 1950s before finally settling in New York State and finding work as a foreman. The boredom of the job led him to carve in earnest, which he continued to do following his retirement and return to Mississippi. Rogers carved his figures with a pocketknife, then painted his creations with acrylic. Most themes are human-related, but Rogers also enjoyed depicting snakes, 'haints' (spirits) and vampires, with occasional sexual or erotic references. His humans sometimes have exaggerated and comedic features, or amusing facial expressions. Rogers claims inspiration from dreams or people he has met during his travels.

O.L. Samuels
(b. 1931) Florida

O.L. "Geech" Samuels left home at the age of 8 to work as a pineraker on Georgia farms, and, later, for the railroad. He boxed professionally as a middleweight. Samuels has had many near misses with death: his home was dynamited after he complained to the cops about drug-dealing in the neighborhood; he was knifed; and, in 1982, while working as a tree surgeon, he was hit in the head by a swinging trunk. He barely survived that event and was confined to a wheelchair. Samuels fell into a deep depression. The words his great great grandmother, a freed slave, told him long ago finally pulled him out of his sadness. She told him that when a person became sad he could carve on a spool and it would help him heal. Samuels took her advice and picked up some wood and started carving. Although he is colorblind, he paints his carvings and says the colors seem to match up. He combines paint, glitter, sawdust, and glue into a secret formula, which he warms on the stove, and applies to his wood sculptures. Samuels explains, "They ask me why I use so many colors and I say I want to be sure I get the right one." .Samuels' unique artwork is in a number of important collections including the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Herbert Singleton
(1945-2007) Louisiana

Herbert Singleton first derived meaningful income from artistic endeavors in the early 1980s, carving walking sticks for New Orleans buggy drivers and "voodoo protection" stumps for friends. After his final stint of incarceration, the dispirited artist was encouraged by a French Quarter gallery owner to carve out his pain. Singleton dismantled an old chifforobe and created his first bas-relief panel: a stark white skeletal figure cut out of a black background, bordered by red. The heads of serpents are shown peering from the "infected" figure's ribcage. In works such as "Who Do We Trust" and "Who Speak For Man" Singleton addressed our seeming inability to meet the standards we set for others. In one masterwork, he carved self-destructive indulgences -- drugs, gambling, sex -- into a huge cypress log he salvaged from the Mississippi River. Exhibited as the "Algiers Rosetta" in High on Life: Transcending Addiction at the American Visionary Art Museum, Singleton referred to his work more directly as the "Tree of Death." In other more festive works he paid tribute to the uniqueness of New Orleans culture. Singleton's artworks are in numerous important public and private collections worldwide including the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., and Collection de l'Art Brut in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Purvis Young
(1943-2010) Florida

"I paint what I see...I paint the problems of the world." said Purvis Young. He often wore dark glasses to "hide his tears" at the injustice and sadness he witnessed. As a wayward youth, he was convicted of breaking and entering and spent time in prison, where he began drawing again and perusing art books. "I didn't have anything going for myself," he explained. "That's the only thing I could mostly do. I was just looking through art books, looking at guys painting their feelings." In the mid 1960s he was inspired to make art by Vietnam War demonstrations and by protest art, notably the Wall of Respect mural in Chicago, painted by members of the Black Arts Movement. In the early 1970s he created a mural of his own, plastering a wall along a deserted stretch of Overtown's Goodbread Alley with dozens of his artworks. The mural drew attention from the news media and from Miami's art establishment, including an eccentric millionaire, Bernard Davis, who owned the Miami Museum of Modern Art and briefly became Mr. Young's patron, providing him with painting supplies until his death. For over forty years he created art with scavenged plywood, nails, books, cardboard, Masonite board, broken doors and mirrors. Of his own work Purvis Young had this to say: "I want people to know that I wish there would be peace in the world, and I will paint the way I paint until there is, and then one day maybe I could just hang up my brush and not paint any more."

SIMPLY ICONIC opens on Friday, September 2nd, 8-11 PM and runs through Sunday, October 3rd. Prices will not be posted online, so contact Billy Shire or gallery director Matt Kennedy for pricing or purchase inquiries.

The Whales of August and the Beach that Launched Them

2011-08-26T17:37:00.000-07:00

CONGRATS TO THE CLASS OF 2011!

This year's Kitschen Sync jury winners who were selected for expanded, highlight exhibitions delivered killer shows. Sales were brisk, steady and (in a word) phenomenal! We're throwing them a closing party tomorrow night (Saturday, August 27th 6-9PM) to show our appreciation for a job well done. Come on down and party with us. It'll be your last chance to buy pieces from Miso, Jasmine Worth, and Rodolfo Loaiza, who have only a single piece available each at this writing. Below are some pics form the opening that I never got a chance to post –been too busy selling art!

Jessicka Addams, Click Mort and Walt Hall have all sold through half or better of their works, too, and Derek Harrison has raised the bar on affordable, painterly work. The level of artistry within this month's exhibitions is indicative of Los Angeles' status as the new center of the contemporary art world. It's not often we get to pat ourselves on the backs, but this group of talent made it really easy for us.

Walt Hall escaped before we could snap his picture!

The Lubicz family gave a veritable clinic in collage art this past month, and the patrons who have added their work to their collections include well known musicians, publishers and other artists. I give a standing ovation to Lou Beach, Alpha Lubicz and Sam Lubicz.

"Proud" doesn't even begin to describe how I personally feel about presenting this month's artists, but it'll have to do until we open next month's exhibitions of Rob Reger (creator of Emily the Strange) and Lauren Gardiner (exhibiting for her 8th time at La Luz de Jesus).

Sketch Theater Signing Live

2011-08-11T21:04:00.000-07:00

We're turning the Gallery into a Sketch Theater!

2011-08-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

This Thursday (August 11) from 6-9 PM, La Luz de Jesus Gallery will be hosting a special book signing event for SKETCH THEATER Volume 1. This fabulous collection of quick draw artistry is something of a who's who at the crossroads of commercial illustration and gallery exhibition. You'll recognize more than a few La Luz alumni, many of whom will be here in person to sign your books (which will be in stock and available for purchase).

A full list is below, with confirmed attendees marked with an asterix*:

Aaron Sims
Aimée Kuester*
Alex Alvarez*
Alvin Lee
Amy Botello
Ana Bagayan*
Apricot Mantle*
Axel #13*
Brandi Milne*
Brian Smith*
Cameron Davis*
Charles Hu*
Chet Zar*
Chris Ryniak
Christian Lorenz-Scheurer*
The Chung *
Corey Miller
Daphne Yap*
Dave Dorman
Dave Hill
Fred Harper
Gene Guynn
Greg "Craola" Simkins*
Gris Grimly*
Jeff McMillan
Jessica Ward*
Jon Beinart
Jon Schnepp
Jordu Schell
Kali Fontecchio
Lola*
Luke Chueh*
Marc Gabbana
Mari Inukai
Marshall Vandruff *
Meats Meier *
Michael Broom*
Michael Hussar *
Miss Mindy*
Molly Crabapple
Munk One*
Nat Jones
Nate Frizzell
Nick Baxter
Nicolas Villareal
Rick O'Brien*
Ron English
S. Fisher Williams
Sam Shearon
Shawn Barber
Steven Daily*
Sze Jones
Tara McPherson
Terryl Whitlatch
Tom Baxa
Travis Louie
Wayne Barlowe

This will give you a good excuse to pop in and see the exhibition that yielded the highest attendance record of any gallery opening this season. Lou Beach, Sam Lubicz & Alpha Lubicz turned in the quintessential collection of collage art in Gallery I. And in Gallery II, there seems to be a race to see whose work will sell out first! Miso has already sold ten of her eleven exquisite mini paintings; rabid collectors snatched up twelve of Rodolfo Loaiza's sixteen, socially-critical dissections of pop-culture iconography; eleven of fourteen pieces from Jasmine Worth have red dots on the labels; and Click Mort and Jessicka Addams are each halfway to gone (he having sold nine of his eighteen, she seven of fourteen). Not far away are Walt Hall and Derek Harrison who each turned in magnificent portfolios.
Call Matt to purchase art: (323) 547-3227
Call Wacko to reserve books for mailing: (323) 663-0122

Post Comic Con Previews Now LIVE!

2011-07-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

August is almost upon us, and with it comes one of the most anticipated exhibitions of the year. I've recently received additional images from José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros and a near full set of pics from Jessicka Addams (pictured left, with more pieces to come) so that the entire selection of Kitschen Sync Jury Winners have previews live on the website right now! Gallery II will also feature never before seen work from Walt Hall, Derek Harrison, Miso, Click Mort and Jasmine Worth.

Lou Beach sent some new images for his Gene Pool exhibition with daughter Alpha Lubicz (left) and son Sam Lubicz. Father and daughter have previews online now, Sam's will be forthcoming. This represents over twenty years of La Luz de Jesus exhibition history, as Lou first showed here back in 1988. Expect a who's who of (very) special guest attendees for this one!

Freshly back from Comicon, I'll be attending a few local lectures by the hardest working man in heroic fiction, Grant Morrison, whose many groundbreaking highlights were featured in the Pop-Sequentialism exhibit back in May. While in San Diego I ironed out the plans to travel this exhibit to Europe (Tuscanny in October, Paris soon after), before bringing it back to Los Angeles next year -with an ever changing line-up of key pieces from the Modern Age. The seeds have also been planted for an all-star Bronze Age exhibition some time in 2013. Be sure to pick-up a Show Catalog, which features over 40 essays on pieces within the inaugural presentation. Special congrats to Danni Shinya Luo for landing in a story that appeared on the front page of the San Diego Union Tribune this past Sunday (the final day of Comicon). She's one of three artists (with and JJ Villard and Daniel Clowes) profiled in the currently-shooting documentary, "Comics Are Everywhere," which looks to reveal what motivates artists in their creative process. Shinya will be releasing her new book "The Girls of Danni Shinya Luo" this fall via Last Gasp Books, with a signing here at La Luz de Jesus planned to coincide with that debut. Most of her drawings will be in Rome (at the wonderful Mondo Pop gallery), but we hope she'll hang onto a few to display here while she signs. Kudos also to Karen Hsiao who earned a full-page photo feature in UK's Knave Magazine for her excellent photography tome, Rubber Duck. Karen is one of a very few people to have exhibited here under two different identities, producing wildly different artwork as each. We're thrilled to have her here next month, and we're sure that a few of her photography subjects will come to support her Miso show!

More news soon –including a sneak peek at the lineup of artists featured in La Luz de Jesus 25!

Did I mention that we're HUGE in Africa?

2011-07-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

Mwari (pronounced Marh-ree, and translating as "Young Woman" in Swahili) Magazine is the only lifestyle publication created for women of the African Diaspora aged 18-24. Within this 152 page digital and print publication readers are exposed to captivating articles about politics, fashion, world affairs, gastronomic trends, personal finance, travel, college life, health and fitness, arts & entertainment, health, and other areas that will develop them into well-rounded leaders of our global society. In their most recent issue, Amber Stevens (pictured above) of the hit TV show Greek, selected her ten favorite places in Los Angeles, and we scored position #3!
Click the article page below to see it in context, or read the following extract:

"3. Wacko - Every once in a while I like to check out the latest artwork featured in the La Luz de Jesus Gallery at Wacko. They always have really cool, interesting stuff by Southern California artists. They also have a fun selection of books and novelty toys in the store. It's a pretty silly place but lots of fun to browse."

Readers can currently access the magazine via MwariMag.com/subscribe.html. The current circulation is 120,000, and they've recently partnered with Chapman University, University of Maryland, Northwestern University, Cleveland State University and Keuka College providing access to their entire student bodies.

Who knew?

We've also just recently posted the previews for several of the Everything But the Kitschen Sync jury winners who were brought back for expanded exhibitions in August. José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros has already sold half of his show to a lucky group of determined patrons, but there are still some extraordinary paintings available. Click Mort's recombined sculpture collages are now available for purchase as are Miso and Jasmine Worth's anatomical and gothic, oil mini-paintings and Derek Harrison's exceptional contemporary nudes. We'll have previews for Walt Hall and Jessica Addams in time for Comicon, so check back to the website or email me with preview requests and purchases. The previews for the Gene Pool show, featuring new works from Lou Beach and Alpha and Sam Lubicz will be available on August 1st.

There are fireworks and then there's Yellow Cake Uranium!

2011-07-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

Mark Todd's Powerfury Fireworks Stand from his Force Field exhibition (now on display at La Luz de Jesus) has been a huge hit with Independence Weekend crowds. His high concept idea to blend two great juvenile obsessions (comics and fireworks) has rendered a very mature art piece –an installation that is already being hailed as one of the landmarks of the year. All of the collage pieces and most of the paintings have already sold, so Mark has decided to allow collectors to buy individual pieces from the fireworks stand. The fireworks themselves are now available for purchase in five sizes at incremental price points between $100 - $200, which is a real steal. Todd has also been adding to the stand with each visit to the gallery, making the installation a continuing work in progress adding a deeper degree of vitality to an already ostentatious centerpiece. Far from an art snob, Mark Todd is a prolific zine publisher, will be exhibiting at both Comicon and A.P.E. and teaches at Art Center College of Design. He's also amassed an impressive fan following if the attendees to his opening reception are any indication of his collectors: Ashton Kutcher & Demi Moore, Jeanne Tripplehorn & Leland Orser, director Patty Jenkins, Simpsons creator Matt Groening, and several rock 'n rollers, museum curators and journalists.

Mark Todd will also have a new piece in the Lucid Dreams exhibit which opens tomorrow night at the Noel-Baza Fine Art Gallery in San Diego (July 8 through August 9) featuring 45 internationally renowned artists. Lucid Dreams is the 26th artist survey and fine art exhibit curated by San Diego based designer Mark Murphy of Murphy Design, following up last year’s Narrative Museum exhibition, “Survey Select,” which featured 32 live events over eight weeks.

Wayne Martin Belger previously exhibited at Billy Shire Fine Arts in 2006. Wayne's preferred medium is the construction of specialty pin-hole cameras which often feature a biological or organic element. Among that collection was a camera fashioned from steel from the World Trade Center (Post 9/11), a camera featuring a mini-dialysis pump containing HIV+ blood, and a formaldehyde-preserved infant heart. Patrons of Belger's functional fine art pieces also receive a series of themed photographs shot with their cameras. While I've spoken with Wayne several times over the years, I had never actually met him until last week when he visited the gallery and discussed some of the projects he's been conceptualizing. He brought two new cameras, one of which will be in the La Luz de Jesus 25 show this fall. With the other, Belger will photograph X-rays from inside a giant particle accelerator. The Divine Proportion camera is a lead glass encased pinhole camera, specifically designed to capture on film the scatter from the impact of a high intensity X-ray beam on sculptures representing creation and destruction. The sculptures will be selected based on iconic figures of creation and destruction (such as Robert Oppenheimer and Shiva) formed of materials from the region in which the particle accelerator is located. One of the organic elements attached to this particular camera is a vial of yellow cake uranium (pictured with Wayne, above right). He's recently received an invitation to enter the hot zone (Congo, Liberia) to document the AIDS epidemic in Africa with his HIV Cam. We'll be working hard this summer to get a grant for this important endeavor.

Have I mentioned that Wayne is one of my new favorite people on the planet?

La Luz tops L.A. Times & Huffington Post Art Picks; lands on NPR!

2011-07-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

Tonight we'll unveil the Mark Todd's Force Field exhibition which (in timely July 4th fashion) features the Powerfury Fireworks Stand installation. We've archived fifty photos of the construction of this incredibly important work, accessible at the bottom of the preview page. The Los Angeles Times selected this show as their Top Pick. Several of Mark's pieces have already sold, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is a complete sell out. In addition to his signature comic book deconstruction paintings and collages, he'll be offering custom, non-explosive fireworks in four sizes for as little as $100 each. We'll be holding a BBQ in the back lot for this show, which will also serve as the public party for the Soap Plant 40th Anniversary! Hard as it is to believe that the shop that spawned Wacko and La Luz de Jesus Gallery has been around for 40 years now, it's been a pleasure and a privilege to reflect and contribute to the counter culture as we head towards our fifth decade. NPR just profiled us:

Also on exhibit this evening and for the rest of the month will be new work from Simon Sotelo, Andy Steele, Hui Tan and Van Saro -who earned the distinction of landing a highlight on the Huffington Post as all four were recommended by Artweek.
The breakout stars of this year's Everything But the Kitschen Sync group show cover a lot of ground between Van Saro's graffiti verite, Hui Tan's Chinese nostalgia, Simon Sotelo's Dia de Los Muertos portraits and Andy Steele's deformed children's book illustrations. Come on down and have a hotdog on us!

Comic Book Deconstruction: Why July is Going to Rule!

2011-06-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

I just received this image of Mark Todd's Powerfury Fireworks Stand, which will anchor his upcoming Force Field exhibition, which opens on July 1st, 2011. Mark has delivered an incredible variety of his signature comic book deconstructions for this prestige installation that will occupy the entire space that currently showcases Glenn Barr's Faces show. When last we showcased Mark (at BSFA), he caught the attention of USA Today. A mere two weeks after this show opens, Mark will head down to San Diego Comicon International, where he'll be further promoting this installation. Click the image at left to access a preview gallery.

There's a maturity in the childlike simplicity of this project, which has been underway for quite some time. The explosive presentation of the sequential action that Todd's art celebrates is less juxtaposed than forced upon the public in a clever and relevant construction that configures the 4th of July holiday opening directly into the oeuvre of the show. I rarely venture into art critique with this column, but I find this particular object to be absolutely brilliant. It's a work of powerful significance that posits a logical progression from Duchamp's Urinal to Warhol's Brillo boxes to Hirst's Pharmacy and finally to Mark Todd's Fireworks Stand. This may be one of the most important pieces to come from our Los Angeles Post-Pop culture, in that it undeniably references the nostalgic appeal of the movement that started as Lowbrow, graduated to Pop-Surrealism, and has recently found acceptance under the greater umbrella of California Modern/Figurative. It also closes the circle from comic books to graffiti to pop-art and back again. I think that 2011 is going to stand as a pivotal year for modern art, specifically with respect to the city of Los Angeles. It will be impossible to have any such discussion without referencing the "new school" that started 25 years ago at La Luz de Jesus and how this single gallery has pushed the envelope in ways that few others could and no others did.

There's a full page advertising Mark Todd's upcoming show in the previous and latest issue of Hi-Fructose Magazine, in WHOA's Summer Art Special, and in the upcoming issue of Pop Surrealism Magazine. Also in the pages of the latter is a two page profile of the recent Pop-Sequentialism Exhibition of modern comic book art. With Green Lantern sure to top the box office this weekend, and Captain America: The First Avenger following soon after on July 22 (during Comicon) it seems that the culture at large is once again dancing to a beat that started here.

Also showing in July, we've already got previews posted for Van Saro, Andy Steele and Hui Tan (check back for a Simon Sotelo preview).

Still WACKO After All These Years...

2011-06-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be." – Douglas Adams

The shop on the masthead of my paycheck turns 40 next week. Coming from New England, where there are churches, banks and possibly even barber shops dating back to the seventeenth century, I realize that doesn't sound like such a long time. But when you consider that The Soap Plant / WACKO is a retail operation built entirely around the Los Angeles pop-culture it reflects and celebrates, this ruby anniversary is a momentous occasion unparalleled. A renown shopping destination for celebrities, stylists, and other taste makers since its doors first opened in 1971, Billy Shire's entrepreneurial empire grew to include one of the most influential West Coast art galleries (La Luz de Jesus, which includes a publishing imprint) and opened up a first-time distribution chain for thousands of boutique toy, apparel, and book vendors from every corner of the planet. Last month Los Angeles magazine published a Wacko timeline, last week People Magazine gave us a shout out following a Bradgelina shopping spree, and tomorrow night the folks at Mnet America | Where asian pop lives kick off the first media profile (at 7PM Pacific Time) with a guided tour from yours truly. The segment (which airs on the BPM program) includes footage of April's exhibitions of Mark Gleason, Daniel Lim, Danni Shinya Luo, and Heather Watts, and highlights work from Frank Kozik. Tune in and tease me later!

Barr Association

2011-06-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

Last night's Faces release party and opening reception for Glenn Barr was well certainly well attended –with many of the visitors being well known artists themselves. Photographers from Arrested Motion, Hi-Fructose and Coagula were busy snapping crowd pictures of exhibiting artists Glenn Barr and Lyle Motley flanked by fellow painters Shag, Chet Zar, Laurie Lipton, Anthony Ausgang, THH70, Steven Daily, Danni Shinya Luo, Adam Strange, Christine Wu, and a healthy crowd of collectors and fans.

I spotted a Huffington Post journalist shortly after Los Angeles kitsch-icon Angelyne managed to score a prime spot for her famous hot-pink corvette, right in front of the shop. The former billboard queen caused quite a commotion, which may or may not have contributed to a fender-bender at the corner of Hollywood and Rodney that lured a handful of TMZ reporters. Definitely not just another night in Hollywood!

Exhibitions Extended!

2011-05-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

As the month of May draws to a close, two exhibits at La Luz de Jesus Gallery have been extended! The overwhelming response to Pop-Sequentialism: Great Comic Book Art of the Modern Age and Peter Shire's Hokkaido Story, have convinced us to prolong them through Monday evening on MEMORIAL DAY.

A lecture will be held on Saturday afternoon (MAY 28TH) at 2PM focusing on the great collaborations of writers and artists in comic books of the Modern Age. Then, on Monday evening, following the close of the shows, we'll be holding a Memorial Day after-party at Ground Control Alternative Karaoke at Jewel's Catch One (4067 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90019). 6:30-9PM will be happy hour with no cover charge.

One week from today, we open a new exhibit of paintings from Glenn Barr, coinciding with the early release of his new graphic album from La Luz de Jesus Press & Last Gasp Books. It's been three long years since Glenn's shown solo, and the work in this new show is well worth the wait. In the other gallery, we'll be showcasing a room full of new Lyle Motley paintings that incorporate hand brazed steel with with his oil on panel meditations of figurative abstractions. In other words, there will be two great reasons to head back into the gallery next weekend. We'll have our old friends at Sino Tequila mixing up the best margaritas in town while our new pals at Perrier supply the soft drinks –and we just might have a food truck or two nearby.
Here's a taste of what's to come. Click the images to access full gallery previews!

La bande dessinée: Pop-Sequentialism in France

2011-05-23T10:17:00.000-07:00

Almost immediately after the Pop-Sequentialism exhibition opened, I ventured to Paris to cement international relations with a few, select galleries. To my surprise and delight, the exhibition and the show catalog were enthusiastically received and planning has begun for a European tour. This traveling, European version of the landmark exhibition of modern comic book art will include some of the pieces from the inaugural show, expanding to include more examples of original production pages from several of the same creative teams and a roster of new, landmark collaborations –addressing the slight differences in taste between American and European collectors.

By the time I packed my luggage to embark on this journey, the synergy at home had launched a media storm that could not be contained: Free Comic Book Day resulted in unprecedented "sold-out" status for more titles than ever before; the Frank Miller and Klaus Jansen Dark Knight splash page offered at auction by Heritage realized the record price of $448,125.00 (plus a 19% buyer premium); and Kenneth Branagh's blockbuster Thor movie opened to critical and public praise as billboards for Captain America and Green Lantern began popping up all over the nation. The Pop-Sequentialism exhibit garnered the pick of the week in the L.A. Weekly, and the blogosphere was lit-up with feature reports on Artlog, Newsarama, Gothic.Net, Comic Book Resources, Illustration.org, Campus Circle, ChinaShop, Spectrum, SupahCute, Crackajack, Forces Of Geek, Bleeding Cool, Wizards World, and a little over 11,000 other site pages!

The Pop-Sequentialism exhibition catalog is available now for a limited time. It's formatted like an 80-Page Giant and priced accordingly at $7.95. The print run of 1,000 copies isn't expected to last beyond this year's Alternative Press Expo. Wholesale and retail orders can be fulfilled by emailing info@laluzdejesus.com.

In preparing the catalog for publication along with Peter Shire's Hokkaido Story, I realized that the La Luz de Jesus Press website was well out of date. So I completely redesigned the front page to reflect greater consistency with the La Luz de Jesus Gallery website, and updated the book list to reflect the 25 titles currently available or in solicitation.

In the last two years we've published new art volumes by Dennis Larkins, Chris Mars, Scott Musgrove, Myron Conan Dyal & Jennifer Logan. Next month we'll be presenting a new Glenn Barr book and by the fall, we'll be publishing a massive tome to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of La Luz de Jesus Gallery. By the end of the year, there will be a new Daniel Martin Diaz collection and we'll be announcing new titles from past collaborators alongside a handful of print debuts. A work in progress, the new La Luz de Jesus Press site will soon be expanded to include a selection of antiquarian titles from Billy Shire's personal archive, an easy to use shopping cart, and links to signing events and exhibitions at other galleries featuring our roster of published artists. The gallery site will soon feature a comprehensive, artist search index and a revamped posters & prints menu. These improvements have been a long time coming, and it's my intent to present a better, more user-friendly experience for visitors both actual and virtual.

It's going to be a very exciting summer!

Comic Books Are Fine Art!

2011-05-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

"It's incredible that the fine art world is finally taking (superhero) comics seriously. An exhibition like this would have been out of the question not so very long ago."

–Stan Lee

"With great power must also come great responsibility." –Amazing Fantasy #15

Few art forms have gone as unchanged and unrespected for as long as sequential art, and yet none has had as tremendous an impact as the superhero comic book. Veritable templates for inspiration, comic book superheroes are the post-modern mythology, encouraging generations of global youth while reflecting the society that spawned them. More than just dynamic illustrations on a page, the comic book is a medium that tells stories, and by presenting an exhibition that celebrates the collaborations of the greatest storytellers, my intention is to open a serious dialogue on the importance of this art form.

And this would seem to be the time for it.

This past year, ten paintings by Andy Warhol – an artist who began his career riffing on the iconography of comic books, broke auction house records with realized sales surpassing one hundred, thirty-six million dollars. If there is a single bridge between post-war and pop art, it would have to be comic books. The fact that painted misappropriations of iconic comic book images command the respect (and extravagant prices) long denied to their source material is ironic in the truest sense of the word. Collectors of sequential production art have been privy to the biggest bargain in contemporary art for decades, making it all but impossible to organize a gallery sale of the absolute best. This show features forty important examples of modern comic book art from multiple, award-winning writers and artists, and there isn’t a single piece priced above three thousand dollars thus presenting a golden point of entry for patrons looking to diversify their Pop-Art collections with some of the most exciting creations from the pride of the genre.

This is the first important survey of comic book art from the modern era.

In years past there have been a handful of museum exhibitions showcasing art from comic’s Golden and Silver Ages and there have been several shows dedicated to individual titles or imprints, but never before has such a landmark, and all-encompassing collection been offered for sale as part of a single, gallery exhibition. I started collecting some of the pieces for this show over fifteen years ago, and it became apparent very quickly that hesitation was not an option. Most collectors of comic book art are voracious readers and collectors of the comic books that showcase that art. As such, pages depicting pivotal events from popular titles become highly sought not only for the art, but for the significance within the cannon. Pages featuring main characters in dynamic action are among the most highly sought, but more so are the first and final appearances of new heroes and villains, and those in which the story changes direction or a character’s origin is revealed. Once purchased, the odds of them ever coming up for resale (affordably) is usually between slim and none. These pages represent more than just that which is pictured to the collectors who fondly recall all of the events of a series in that single page. To the comic book faithful, owning a Watchmen or All-Star Superman page is like owning the entire era in which those series were released, which also represents the rise of the comic book writer as media superstar.

All of the works featured in this show are from comic books released in the last 25 years. To some, this is the Copper Age, the Iron Age or the Dark Age, but to most it is simply the Modern Age. This era was christened by the back-to-back releases of Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen. These and other early masterpieces from writers Moore & Miller helped to shape all the relevant work that followed, including every piece highlighted in this focused exhibition of heroic fiction. I’d love to be able to claim that every signature collaboration released in the two and a half decades that have followed is represented herein, but that was simply not possible. Pages from modern masterpieces like Miller’s Daredevil and Dark Knight Returns or Moore’s Miracle Man and Killing Joke were snatched up long ago and routinely command peak prices on the rare occasions that they re-enter the marketplace. Bidding on a Dark Knight splash just opened at Heritage Auctions for $100,000.00. There are many others who have made tremendous contributions to the medium who are likewise not represented, due mostly to the unavailability of key pieces, but I think you’d be hard pressed to find a better collection of Eisner, Harvey, and Inkpot Award winning work from the last 25 years.

Beginning with Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen (first published in 1986) and arriving at Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming’s Powers (still publishing, and headed for a television set near you), Pop- Sequentialism includes original artwork from the landmark series and quintessential collaborations that have crossed beyond comic book fandom into the Pop zeitgeist, changing the perceptions and preconceptions of the hobby, the format and the culture.

I've been collecting pieces for this show for more than 15 years, so clearly this is not a passing fancy of mine. And I while I may be preaching to the choir, it is my very strong belief that comic books are fine art. That this particular brand of fine art happens also to be commercial should be cause for celebration not condemnation. When I selected the show premiere date of May 6, 2011 (two years ago), this was the only event happening in the world of comic book art. When I handed out over 5,000 postcards at Comicon International last year announcing the line-up of artist and writers, the release date of the Thor film had not yet been selected and Free Comic Book Day was barely slated for the first Saturday in May. There was definitely no evidence to suggest that a Frank Miller Dark Knight page would be offered via Heritage Auctions or that it would sell for more than one hundred thousand dollars on the same weekend. I by no means claim credit for this convergence of events, but I thank the powers that be for this incredible synergy. There will be three separate film crews covering the opening night celebration. I will be releasing my first book, a catalog of this exhibition. That book is 80 pages from cover-to-cover and it's available now from La Luz de Jesus Press for $7.95 plus shipping. It was important to me to keep it comic book sized (prestige format, like Dark Knight) and to make it affordable like the 80-Page Giants that inspired it.

Many comic book pros, filmmakers, musicians and other kindred spirits will be there, and I invite all of you and all of your friends. Please RSVP to info@laluzdejesus.com to get added to the guest list or to buy a catalog for the first Fine Art survey of Modern Comic Book Art. If this is a success, I'm sure that museum exhibitions will be next, and Pop-Sequentialism will become an ongoing event that can change focus by genre, process and other criteria that will keep the idea fresh while furthering the cause for increasing the respect for this criminally underrated medium.

Sincerely,
Matt Kennedy, your brother in geekdom.

POP-SEQUENTIALISM: Great Comic Book Art of the Modern Age
May 6-29, 2011. Opens Friday, May 6th @ 8PM.

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

We got Pick of the Week in the L.A. Weekly's Go LA Section!

Hokkaido Story Revisited: Previews Tomorrow Night!

2011-05-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

"Mystical practical absurdism, amazing, astounding phenomena on a human scale and what is funny about the way we love and hate industrial things...is what interests me." –Peter Shire

I first met Peter Shire in 1991 when I was a register jockey at his brother Billy Shire’s shop, The Soap Plant, then on Melrose Ave. He struck me as a good-natured, gregarious fellow with a penchant for bad puns and a quiet, steady vocal delivery that almost invariably ended with a smile. I’m happy to say that twenty years later not much has changed. His amiability is as delightfully forthright as ever and his puns are even more groan-worthy. What has changed in the two decades past is the sheer volume of acclaim that his work has received.

Peter’s first public art commission in 1986 has grown to more than thirty worldwide. His teapots are ubiquitous and (along with his other ceramics and furniture designs) have caused something of a pop revolution. Whether fashioning delicate-looking flowers from steel or evoking monumental scale via fragile, hand-forged porcelain, his bright and eclectic color palette remains consistent with his colorful and playful personality.

If you’ve ever visited Shire’s Echo Park studio, located mere blocks from the house he grew up in, you’ll have been treated to a proper espresso, ground and brewed from a machine gifted him by his fellow Memphis Group collaborators. His graciousness as a host is a copacetic antithesis to the stimulation overload that doubles as his think tank, office, and work space. Once you’ve recovered from the organized chaos, keen observation will reveal a single pattern that pervades nearly all his multi-faceted work: succinct minimalism, redolent of Japanese flower arrangement. How a Sephardic Jew raised in a predominantly Latino neighborhood came to embody the essence of Ikebana is anyone’s guess, but Japanese Industrialists came to notice it.

The selection of pieces contained in this volume are the beneficiaries of a three-month 1992 design project in Hokkaido, Japan. Salvaged brewing factory materials were transformed into incredible, contemporary and fundamentally Japanese works of art. These sculptures remained on display in Japan until 2008, when they were rescued from receivership and returned to California. In November 2010, they were loaned to Santa Monica College and exhibited in the Barrett Art Gallery.

Now, in May 2011, on the 25^th anniversary of Peter Shire’s first public art project –and nearly twenty years after these seminal works were first constructed, La Luz de Jesus Gallery is pleased to be the first commercial space to not only display these great works of art, but offer them publicly to private collections: Hokkaido Story Revisited.

It is perfectly fitting that Shire’s work should return to the neighborhood of his childhood, and personally gratifying that on the vigintennial of our first meeting, I get to be the one to present it.

Matthew Kennedy

PETER SHIRE
Hokkaido Story Revisited: Late Spring
May 6th - May 29th
Artist Reception & Preview:
Thursday May, 5th 7-9PM

THE SHOW CATALOG IS AVAILABLE FOR $15.00

LAMAG Benefit Auction: Sunday, May 1st · 3-6 PM

2011-04-28T03:58:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery is a facility of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. Founded and opened in 1954, its mission is to promote, interpret, and present the art of emerging, mid career, and established artists from culturally diverse Southern California but also showcases art from other parts of the world that is of relevance to the people of the City of Los Angeles. Its 10,000 square foot venue offers a dramatic exhibition space for large thematic group exhibitions that represent the current endeavors of area artists as well as exhibitions of work by individuals who have made a significant contribution to art in Los Angeles in particular and Southern California at large. The curatorial focus of the Gallery includes painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, design, video, sound, electronic, performance, and installation works. Its principal mandates have been to enhance the exhibition programs, promote visitor understanding and appreciation of art through the education program, and to insure the Gallery’s accessibility and involvement with City-wide audiences and the surrounding immigrant communities.

This Sunday, an Auction and Reception featuring more than 100 artists' work will benefit the Gallery to insure LAMAG's legacy and its bright future.

La Luz de Jesus Gallery is a proud sponsor and supporter of this event, which includes affordable works from John Baldessari, Sandow Birk and a hundred or so others. Access the auction preview here.

Added Provenance

2011-04-22T09:35:00.000-07:00

I've just been notified that the paintings from Danni Shinya Luo's Chaotic Harmony exhibition will be featured in her forthcoming art volume from Last Gasp Books, entitled Soft Candy. Additionally, Blue Canvas magazine will be highlighting some of the same paintings for their October issue, which hits newsstands around the same time as her book releases. This additional provenance equates added value for those who have purchased pieces from her show, which remains on display with Heather Watts (while Daniel Lim and Mark Gleason fill Gallery II) through May 1st.

Renown South African artist Andre van Sijl will be receiving a career retrospective in Beverly Hills next month. Through my friendship with this extraordinary man, we've got five tribal masks to offer to our collectors. Andre was part of the long struggle to end apartheid and his art was featured prominently in Nelson Mandela's inauguration ceremony. He mixes his award winning poetry with his sculptural craft to create moving works of spiritual and humanitarian reflection. It's a wondrous bonus that these works elicit a higher consciousness of the political events that inspired them.

The Tax Refund Sale is over! We found new homes for several key pieces of artwork by Gary Baseman, Isabel Samaras, Mark Todd, and others. If you have a wish list, don't hesitate to contact me, as we routinely represent estates and collections that include classic paintings, drawings, and sculptures by these and other top-shelf pop-surrealists and street artists like Becca, Tim Biskup, David Choe, Dalek, Camille Rose Garcia, Kozik, Elizabeth McGrath, Owen Smith, and Eric White. We also frequently receive rare serigraphs and prints by Coop, Shag, Mark Ryden, Shepard Fairey, and others.

I'd also like to announce our ongoing dedication to the Self-Taught movement of American Folk Art. We have entered into a partnership with the owner of the quintessential collection of South Eastern self-taught art. I'll apologize right now for the cryptic anonymity, but I can not post the names publicly that are contained herein. Suffice to say that there are masterpieces Smithsonian exhibited artists. This includes the African American craftsmen who helped to inspire Basquiat and Ruscha; no rhetoric –this is well documented. Whether you are a long-time patron or a fledgling collector, there are pieces within your grasp. Shoot me an email, or call the gallery line and I'll be happy to elaborate.

TAX REFUND SALE brings interesting visitors!

2011-04-08T18:05:00.000-07:00

Estonian gothic-lolita pop diva Kerli stopped by the gallery today to hang with a contest winner and check out the Danni Shinya Luo exhibition, Chaotic Harmony. Kerli bought some items in the shop (including that stuffed, tiger head pillow) and we discussed hosting a musical performance in the not-so-distant future. Her videos on YouTube are pretty extravagant, and have collectively drawn over 12 million views. I'll keep you posted as the gig develops!

If you're not subscribing to our newsletter, get on it. We've already sold some key pieces from the TAX REFUND SALE! But there are still killer pieces from David Choe, Camille Rose Garcia, Biskup, Baseman and others!

La Luz de Jesus has also been granted access to the single most impressive collection of self-taught and outsider art in America. I can't name names, but there are some real national treasures here, including work from Smithsonian Exhibited artists.
Call the gallery director for details (323) 666-7667.

Niceness in the 90s - This Saturday!

2011-03-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

Niceness In The '90s: An Indie Music Memoir by Jim Miller will be released on March 23, 2011. La Luz De Jesus will host a book release event four days early on March 19th (this Saturday!) from 6-9 PM. Jim Miller will be available to sign books, reminisce and answer questions. Anyone attending who is mentioned in the book by name will receive a complimentary copy. Event is free and open to the public.

At its core, Niceness In The '90s is a behind the scenes, club level look at the rise and fall of grunge from the touring guitarist and songwriter of Black Angel’s Death Song and Trash Can School. This very personal memoir chronicles Miller’s life in and around bands during the late eighties and early nineties as he transitioned from musician to manager and became one of the most influential promoters in rock as the live music booker at legendary downtown L.A. dive, Al’s Bar. Although the book spans 1985 to 1996, most of the action takes place from 1989 to 1992: the years Punk broke.

Fellow musicians and L.A. denizens come to life in chapters dedicated to Jane's Addiction, L7, Hole, Tad and Nirvana. "Anyone interested in the early days of grunge music should find this book a quick read, chock full of grunge action," Miller explains. He adds "2011 marks the twentieth anniversary of the release of Nirvana's Nevermind. It's a good time for older hipsters to look back and for younger hipsters to discover what all the fuss was about."

You can call the book manager to reserve your copy: (323) 663-0122.
And I almost forgot to mention that we got PICK OF THE WEEK in the LA WEEKLY –AGAIN!

Japanese Disaster Relief: Buy Art & Save Lives!

2011-03-14T17:54:00.000-07:00

"The events of this past weekend in Japan have been devastating, and I couldn't sit idly by and watch the alarming coverage without doing something about it. As a compassionate human being, I don't know how anyone could. I've decided to donate 100% of my proceeds from my upcoming show to the relief effort."

So began the email I received from Daniel Lim that accompanied the images of his new body of work, "Sweet Imperfections," debuting at La Luz de Jesus on April 1st. He'll be showing as part of two separate two-
person exhibitions that also feature Mark Gleason, Danni Shinya Luo and Heather Watts.

The Hi-Fructose & Juxtapoz Blogs have each posted pictures from our gala opening for Everything But the Kitschen Sync vol. 14. There were some really impressive pieces this year, and we singled out 11 people for feature exhibitions in July and August, 2011.

Mark Melchior, whose cigarbox guitars are currently on display in the Everything But the Kitschen Sync show, was profiled by the Los Angeles Times in this past Sunday's Calendar section The article also references long-time La Luz patron Johnny Depp, who poses with a wine box guitar purchased from another local artisan. From Randy Lewis' Article:

Melchior has recently built his 50th cigar box guitar out of his residence in Highland Park, and sells the instruments mostly by word of mouth. Several are on display at La Luz de Jesus in Los Feliz as part of the gallery's annual Everything But the Kitschen Sync group exhibition that opened Friday and runs through March 27.

"I've left a footprint in a lot of areas, but this seemed like fertile ground, something with which I could get neck deep into American folk art," said Melchior, who is also a singer and songwriter. "It's taken me a lot farther than anything else I've done. This is very pure [craftsmanship] in an old world way," which is how Melchior was trained in Wisconsin, working as an apprentice to Italian-born accordion builder Alfonso Baldoni.
"Guitar technology is moving into things like self-tuning bridges. But if you can't tune your own guitar…." he said, letting the thought finish itself. "I've got to grab the reins and do my thing. I feel like a frontiersman, and this is a lot more exciting."

Tonight the Unveiling: 250 Works in our 14th Annual Everything But the Kitschen Sync Show

2011-03-04T10:55:00.000-08:00

Sometimes a picture really does paint a thousand words. Below is a mere sampling of what's on display tonight -and available for purchase at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. These new works from John Brosio, JAW Cooper, Matthew Couper, Dimitri Drjuchin, Jeff Gillette, Mark Gleason, Max Grundy, Derek Harrison, Brett Hess, Jeremy Hush, Damara Kaminecki, Da Hae Kim, Dennis Larkins, Monika Malewska, Nathan Ota, Simon Sotelo, Edith Waddell, Mel Weiner, and Kim Zsebe are only a handful of highlights from the 125+ artists who have rendered over 250 artworks to make this year's Everything But the Kitschen Sync show one of the strongest ever:

Cakeland –Louisiana Style!

2011-03-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

If you're anywhere near Shreveport, Louisiana you absolutely owe it to yourself to check out Scott Hove's Cakeland exhibition at ARTSPACE, co-curated by yours truly & La Luz de Jesus Gallery. It opened on February 25th and runs through May 7th, 2011 in the Marcy G. & Jack T. Everett mainspace.

From the show catalog:
"Cakeland is a series of sculptures resembling perfect delicious cakes. The sculptures, with their display of beauty, lure the viewer into a sens of anticipation."

Artspace is funded by the Shreveport Regional Arts Council. They've arranged to include a giant cake designed and decorated by Tanya Clark and Sydney Bell-Foster with a frosted beverages cash bar and Think Pink bites. Located on Texas St., Cakeland is currently the epicenter of the Downtown Shreveport redevelopment project.

We're up to some pretty special events ourselves right now, too.

The 14th Annual Everything But the Kitschen Sync exhibition opens tomorrow night at 8PM. We're having all the artists stop by tonight to make sure everything is priced and labeled correctly for the big unveiling on Friday. The show is about 80% presented as I write this, and should be completely hung, poised and pedestaled by 6PM.

There are a lot of functional pieces this time around that are hard-conveyed via the website, so come on down to see these works of art in person. The piece at left is Nicole Moan's life-size, three-dimensional ceramic torso which lights up. It could be yours! Don't hesitate, as I've been selling pieces all day long and updating the website as often as possible. Edward Robin Coronel, Walter Hall, José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros, Jasmine Worth, and many others have already sold all of their juried pieces, but there are incredible paintings, sculptures, drawings, craftworks, functional art and more still available.

Big congrats to Myron Dyal & Jennifer Logan for landing a Huffington Post review for their collaborative work, Charon's Pantheon! Columnist Lisa Derrick included many pictures and links to several You Tube videos. Art critic Peter Frank also had occasion to visit the exhibition on its final day and I wouldn't be surprised if he were to put some words together for the L.A. Weekly about it.

A Snow Yak Valentine

2011-02-14T17:37:00.000-08:00

Mark Ryden & Marion Peck stayed and signed books until eight o'clock, as the Valentine's Day crowd lined-up around the corner on Rodney from Hollywood Blvd., half-way to Franklin. We saw pretty much every edition of each published book bearing the Ryden name, as Mark & Marion handed out chocolates to their fans and took occasional camera-phone pics to update their twitter accounts.

The first hundred or so folks got free, limited-edition lapel pins bearing Mark's Pink Lincoln and everyone got a free bookmark from Marion. I definitely ate more than my share of Russell Stover chocolates while updating the website with images from this coming Friday's Henry & Glenn Gang Bang art exhibition. Nobody does a holiday like the Rydens!

Thanks once again to Mark & Marion for the happiest Valentine's day on record! The crowd was incredibly enthusiastic and well-behaved, and it's safe to say that everybody had a wonderful time.

After having experienced Christmas and Valentine's Day with the Ryden's I can scarcely imagine what they've got in store for Easter...
:)

The King & Queen Shall Herald Cupid's Return!

2011-02-12T06:46:00.000-08:00

You've probably seen our ad in the L.A. Weekly by now, but in case you haven't, Mark Ryden & Marion Peck will be holding a book signing on Monday, Valentine's Day from 5-7PM at La Luz de Jesus Gallery!

This is a first-come, first-serve dealio, so call and pre-order your books to be guaranteed a ticket to this event. You can bring your own items, but purchasers will be given preference in the line which is sure to wind around the block.

The Rules:
1. The line-up starts at 3PM
2. There is a three book limit.
3. All books must be signed to a specific reader.
4. Keep it brief.
5. Have fun.

The authors are only here for two hours, and we want to accommodate as many fans as possible, so we're enforcing a strict limit on the number of items you can get signed (three) and we want to keep the line moving, so don't get long winded when you get your turn with the King & Queen of Pop-Surrealism.

Tonight is the second Listening Party & Lecture with Charon's Pantheon architects Myron Conan Dyal and Jennifer Logan. The artists will meet and greet attendees from 6-7pm, and will be happy to sign your books during that time. At 7PM sharp a brief lecture will precede the performance of the complete audio transcendence, which is 70 minutes long. There will be no in-and-outs once the performance starts. If you need to leave in the middle, we ask that you do so quietly to respect the enjoyment of your fellow audience members, and bear in mind that you will not be allowed re-entry. So use the bathroom before the music starts. ;)

This Friday, February 18th, in honor of Henry Rollins 50th belated Birthday, La Luz de Jesus Gallery and those irreverent upstarts The Igloo Tornado will co-host the Henry and Glenn Gang Bang Art Show. Based around the hilarious comic book project, Henry & Glenn Forever, this exhibition contains new art from curators Tom Neely and Gin Stevens, as well as Coop, the Clayton Brothers, Johnny Ryan, Ed Luce, Eric Yahnker and Kaz, among others. Punk Rock cover bands Black Fag and Glenn will perform brief sets in the La Luz back patio. We've stocked up on copies of the book, which posits the timeless question: What if Henry and Glenn were more than just friends?

And with just under three weeks left until Artageddon, the Everything But the Kitschen Sync Annual Group Show volume 14 has been locked and loaded: the preview page is now live, and pre-sales are opened! Discover tomorrow's stars today and become a full-fledged patron to the arts for as little as a hundred bucks. There are over 225 pieces from over 120 artists. Paintings, drawings, sculpture, assemblage, functional, craft, musical instruments, silkscreens, art-dolls, dioramas and even lewd cross-stitching all share space in the most eagerly anticipated show of the year -now celebrating its fourteenth birthday and just as edgy as ever!

Head over to the Upcoming Exhibitions Calendar and check out some early posted previews, like Mark Gleason and Danni Shinya Luo's April comeback shows. We've also announced a few new additions to the coming schedule and highly recommend that you sign-up for the artist notification list of your choice.

Kitschen Sync Line-up Announced!

2011-02-08T11:11:00.000-08:00

La Luz de Jesus Gallery presents:
“Everything but the Kitschen Sync XIV"

March 4 - 27
Opening Reception: Friday, March 4th, 8-11 pm
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90027

La Luz De Jesus Gallery proudly presents our annual juried group exhibition, "Everything But the Kitschen Sync.” This gigantic, no-theme show features works from some of the freshest and most relevant artists working today. Over 8,000 commercial illustrators, graphic designers, tattooists, scenics, students, animators and working gallery artists have submitted images, and we've finally narrowed it down to 123 artists showcasing just over 225 pieces. The show includes artists we've previously exhibited (who consistently produce some of the most interesting paintings and sculptures in pop contemporary), as well as a large selection of work from a brand new batch of undiscovered, underground talent.

“Everything but the Kitschen Sync” began in October 1986 as the “Día de los Muertos” show which was entirely focused on the folk art, sculptures and imagery of Mexico’s “Day of the Dead” celebration. By 1995, gallery owner and curator Billy Shire felt the show had run its course and presented other themed group exhibitions such as the 1996 “21st Century Tiki Show” curated with Otto Von Stroheim. In 1998 Shire decided to present a non-themed show dedicated to illustrative and narrative artwork. As many local artists work in commercial graphic art fields such as illustration, cartooning, animation, etc., the show was named “Uncommercial Art by Commercial Artists.” In 2004, Shire changed the show title to the more encompassing and less-cumbersome “Everything But the Kitschen Synch.” Several spelling variations later, here we are at volume XIV.

“Everyone looks at this show for new and interesting artists” states Shire – and indeed, not only does La Luz de Jesus pick artists from the Kitchen Sync for future smaller group and solo shows – numerous curators and owners of other galleries also keep their eyes on the yearly show for potential artists to add to their rosters.

This is the only opportunity for emerging artists to show at the most prestigious gallery in post-pop and it is one of the most anticipated shows of the year because patrons get a crack at buying art from future superstars.

Please join La Luz de Jesus as we continue to support the latest and most original efforts from the nation's alternative art scene.

The “Everything But The Kitschen Sync” 2011 Artist List:

Jessicka Addams
Ron Adkins
Marco Almera
Betty Alvarez
Susanne Apgar
Chris Athans
Davidd Batalon
John Brosio
Greg Brotherton
Michael Brown
Blue Broxton
Jeaneen Carlino
Evan Chambers
Andy Clark
Lacey Clemens
JAW Cooper
Edward Robin Coronel
Matthew Couper
Robert Craig
Will Crane
Jessica Dalva
Patrick “Star27” Deignan
Delphia
Robert Doucette
Dimitri Drjuchin
Jesse Fillingham
Mary Fleener
Vanessa Flores
Tim Forbus
Harold Fox
Frijol Boy
Don Fritz
Richard Frost
Rachel Fujii
Damian Fulton
Jeff Gillette
Mark Gleason
Bruce Gossett
Desiree Grisham
Max Grundy
Sunny Gu
Tamara Guion
Conrad Haberland
Caitlin Hackett
August Hall
Walt Hall
Ashley Harrison
Derek Harrison
Gale Hart
Andy Hernandez
Brett Hess
Scott Holloway
Jack Howe
Bree Hranek
Eric Hudgins
Jeremy Hush
Jennifer Jelenski
JoKa
Damara Kaminecki
Da Hae Kim
Miran Kim
Tara Krebs
Eunbyul Kwak
Dennis Larkins
Craig LaRotonda
Dave Lebow
Caroline Lee
Alexis Lopez
Carl Lozada
Danni Shinya Luo
Dion Macellari
Jon MacNair
Monika Malewska
Apricot Mantle
Robert Marbury
Aya Masuda
Mark Melchior
Miso
Junko Mizuno
Nicole Moan
Roberto Morales
Click Mort
Emi Motokawa
Munk One
Corinne Odermatt
Daisuke Okamoto
José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros
Amy Ortiz
Nathan Ota
Cristina Paulos
Celene Petrulak
Linda Quakenbush
Cate Rangel
Brian Raszka
Bonni Reid
Eric Richardson
Gustavo Rimada
Antonio Roybal
Leigh Salgado
Van Saro
Scott Saw
Kim Scott
Simon Sotelo
Sean Stepanoff
Andy Steele
Bryce Takara
David Russell Talbott
Hui Tan
Johnny Taylor
Pol Turgeon
Marietta Villalva
Javier Villanueva
Edith Waddell
Jessica Ward
Dave Warshaw
Mel Weiner
Mirmy Winn
Jasmine Worth
Christine Wu
Adam Ybarra
George Yepes
James Zar
Kim Zsebe

Congrats to each of you!

When you consider past Kitschen Sync alumni like Glenn Barr, Gary Baseman, Sandow Birk, Tim Biskup, The Clayton Brothers, Daniel Martin Diaz, Camille Rose Garcia, Michael Hussar, Jessica Joslin, Chris Mars, Scott Musgrove, Liz McGrath, Tara McPherson, Nathan Ota, Mark Ryden, David Sandlin, Shag, Owen Smith, Jeff Soto, Gary Taxali, Mark Todd, Esther Pearl Watson, and Eric White, there's just no telling who you may discover this year...

Fire Walk With Us

2011-02-05T10:17:00.000-08:00

We held the soft opening for Charon's Pantheon last night, and tonight we hold the artists' reception with Myron Conan Dyal and Jennifer Logan on hand to explain the origins of this heavily conceptual exhibition. There will be three performances of the 69 minute audio counterpart to the sculptures. Seating and standing room is limited, therefore RSVPs will be necessary. At least two professors attending the event on Friday evening intimated that this exhibition would become part of their mandatory curriculum this semester.

Since images alone do not capture the essence or mood of this incredible show, I encourage you to view the two videos below.
The images are taken from the exhibition catalog, which comes with an audio CD of the music. The book of Charon's Pantheon is published by Last Gasp Books for La Luz de Jesus Press, and is available for $25.

Charon's Pantheon: DEATH

Charon's Pantheon: GODDESS of TREES

These promotional videos give a basic introduction to what is now on view at La Luz de Jesus Gallery, but missing from them is the relative weight and the atmosphere of mysticism that permeates the live setting. Each of these sculptures has been "danced" by Myron Dyal in a spiritual ritual. The goddesses of the Pantheon are products of Myron's rebirth, as he terms it –a coma from which he emerged at the age of four that triggered a lifetime of visions, the result of his Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

The gallery has been completely transformed, and this will be a one month show, after which the entire exhibit moves to Grand Central Art Center as part of a rotating museum tour. The intimacy that La Luz de Jesus Gallery lends to the proceedings will be lost even if the grandiosity is enhanced.

In addition to tonight's Artist Reception, there will be three more lecture-and-listening parties throughout the month. On each Saturday in February (12, 19, 26) from 6-9PM, Dyal & Logan will host a seated performance of the music followed by an informal discussion of the work, during which they'll be happy to sign books and answer questions. I urge you to RSVP for at least one of these. This is no mere show, it is an experience. The feedback has been quite polarizing, with some attendees empowered and enlightened while others are utterly and completely horrified.

I offer you a chance to decide for yourself.

Our New Art Lecture Series Begins Today!

2011-01-29T13:18:00.000-08:00

Today we celebrate the end of an extraordinary pair of exhibitions by hosting two informative lectures. Steven Daily will illuminate the hidden symbols and secret handshakes that populate his dense expose of Masonic Conspiracies: Covenant.

Howard Hallis will relate the creative process and personal sacrifices that culminated in the completion of his thirteen-year and fifteen-feet-tall project The Picture of Everything.
4pm until 7pm on Saturday, January 29th.

This weekend is also the last chance to catch Tammi Otis' A Fertile Madness and Charles Binger's posthumous A Pulp Life. Two absolutely stunning collections that need to be seen.

Next Week we'll be opening an extraordinary collaboration of art and music as we unveil Charon's Pantheon by Myron Conan Dyal and Jennifer Logan. We've published a catalog of this exhibition with an audio CD of the music written specifically for the statues on display. This is an installation unlike any we've ever hosted before. There will be a lecture series on each Saturday in the month of February that will begin with a talk and continue with a live musical demonstration.

On Valentine's Day we'll be hosting a very special signing with Marion Peck and Mark Ryden. This will undoubtedly be very crowded and we anticipate a long line, so mark your calendars. You can call the Soap Plant / Wacko for details: (323) 663-0122.

The following Friday we'll hand the gallery keys over to The Igloo Tornado for an event so wonderfully bizarre that I'm hesitant to post the details. Suffice to say that will be a Henry & Glenn Forever themed evening, and there will be art and music.

February heats up, courtesy of La Luz de Jesus!

No Fez Required

2011-01-17T17:47:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the First in a series of LLdJ Guest Blogs!

Hi, everyone!
Brand new La Luz de Jesus gallery employee M ia Matsumiya reporting! I'm sorry; that was a really cheesy introduction but I think it's somewhat excusable and maybe even appropriate to talk like that when you carry a clipboard –I mean, officially.
(That's me at left.)

So speaking of official, my very first official exhibition as an employee was the January 7th opening, highlighting artists Steven Daily, Howard Hallis, Tammi Otis, and Charles Binger. So fun!

As the show attendees began swarming into the gallery, I was a little nervous and didn't know what to expect; it was my first official show ever! I had been to a gazillion La Luz de Jesus shows but this was my first as a gallery employee. Ack! But then my friend/gallery director, Matt Kennedy, handed me a clipboard and woosh! Suddenly, everything changed. My back magically erected into a straighter and more confident line! My mini-shakiness disappeared! I have never, ever publicly carried around a clipboard in my life but let me tell you, it totally infuses you with a new-found vigor and fearlessness. In fact, I'm 99% sure I could fight a bear and win using nothing but a clipboard. Anyway, onto the more important things: The Artwork!

When you first walk in (with or without a clipboard), Steven Daily's paintings zoom out at you immediately because they're just so drippingly sinister and mystic-looking. Bejeweled fetal skeletons! Two-headed mutant lambs! Creepy demons! Skulls and occult symbolism everywhere! These are the exact types of paintings you'd expect to see if you were roaming around a Freemason temple all alone in the dark, completely naked (except for a fez, of course), and accidentally wandered into a super-secret drawing room. You'd look up and there you'd have it: Stephen Daily paintings all over the walls!

"Dichotomy" is my favorite because I'm convinced there's an interesting story going on here. Check out the two skeleton guys on the very left. One is wearing an eyepatch and the other is wearing a monocle. Obviously, they both have afflictions in their right eyes, right? Well, that's why they're buddies/best friends and are always together. Now shift your eyes over to the guy in the back row, all the way at the end on the right. Note that he also has an eye affliction but he's wearing an eye patch on his LEFT eye. The right-eye-afflicted Freemason skeleton couple HATE him and shun him from their group for having his affliction in the wrong eye. Or I guess it could be that they just don't like him because he's a huge jerk. I don't know. In any case, they don't want to be anywhere near him. I asked Steven Daily if that's what was really going on and he didn't confirm or deny it. Suspicious!

Sharing the front space and spilling into the back gallery, Charles Binger's work hangs in all its gorgeous, pulp-fiction glory. This was a real treat because this was the first time in 45 years that his work was being exhibited! Binger was a British painter who was mostly known for his movie posters, portraits of Hollywood celebrities, and paperback covers, including classic sci-fi books "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley and "The Illustrated Man" by Ray Bradbury! In person, his paintings are seriously STUNNING. Sensuous, lush, colorful, and the very epitome of technical perfection. Pulp heaven! Check out the cover to "The Man from Brazil" or "The Golden Trollop" (pictured).

Tammi Otis's exhibition is called "A Fertile Madness" for good reason. The subjects of her paintings are lone, half-clothed women who look like they've taken a giant nosedive straight down the rabbit hole of deliriousness. I'm not exactly sure about the backstory, but all her paintings are done in a beautiful goldleaf and she uses a lot of candy apple red, black, and white - all Japanese kimono colors! That gives her artwork an automatic thumbs up from me, (being Japanese myself). Tammi was incredibly sweet and it filled me with glee to see that she was wearing a candy apple red outfit that perfectly matched her paintings!

The spectacle to end all spectacles was Howard Hallis' mindblowingly micro-detailed masterpiece, "The Picture of Everything." If you've never experienced psychedelics before and want to know what it's like, go stand in front of one of the over-sized lenticular lenses of this piece and rapidly shake your head back and forth while continuing to stare at it. This piece is impressively MASSIVE, measuring a whopping fifteen feet tall by twelve feet wide! Whoa. That's even bigger than an African bull elephant (and almost approaching the size of my clipboard-induced joy)! It's actually so humongous that it actually has to hang at an angle to fit inside the gallery.

While the original piece isn't likely to fit in many people's homes, it is for sale, and I'll be surprised if it doesn't go into a museum collection. For the rest of us, Hallis has made a limited edition (420) of movie poster sized prints (for only $100!). Go visit The Picture of Everything website to view sections in detail!

Well, that's it! My first-ever La Luz de Jesus exhibition report! Add this to your RSS feed, Okay? Bye-bye for now!

Love,
Mia

PS. Check out some of the reviews:
Hi Fructose
Flavorpill
Chinashop
Beinart
Airship
UWant2Go

The Post-Hanukkha, Week-Before-Christmas, Kwanzaa Preparation Sale!

2010-12-18T19:09:00.000-08:00

There are a handful of artists whose work is so highly sought that it almost never becomes available for sale. Acquiring a piece involves cozying up to a gallerist for a good, long time just to get added to the bottom of that artist's waiting list. If the artist is not prolific, the prospect of ever actually owning a painting is somewhere between slim and none.

Joe Coleman is such an artist.

His shows are almost entirely pre-sold, and his painstaking, three-hair brush technique doesn't lend itself to a large body of work. In a career that spans over three decades, his total output is still under 150 paintings.

We have two Joe Coleman paintings for sale, both of which are incredibly important and valuable works from his early gallery period. Pictured at left is Divine Comedy from 1993, a signature work which contains a self-portrait in his ubiquitous grotesque. This and 1991's The Need to Incorporate Sexual Fantasy into Everyday Life (a piece so controversial that we can't post it to our blogger account), are part of the Secret Holiday Sale of paintings from the collections of our collectors.

This is a very atypical collection of works, featuring the very first Joe Sorren experiment with oil paint, Marylin Monroe, from the Pin-Ups group show back in 1996 (the figure is acrylic, but the hair is oil). Joe's recent work has been snatched up by some of the most important and influential collectors in the market, and pure portraiture is extremely rare within his oeuvre. His work simply never hits the resale market, and this painting has the added cache of being historically significant in charting the artist's progression.

Similarly, we have a beautiful Daniel Martin Diaz painting (in a gorgeous hand made frame) that was featured in his published catalog Mysterium Fidelis. We have a classic Bill Ward conte crayon drawing from a 60s girlie magazine. We've got a seminal Eric White painting from 1996 that hints at the genius to come. We've got a Laurie Lipton commission from 1975 that might be the earliest example of her work that you will ever see!

What else? How about an authentic, signed Salvador Dali woodblock print from 1964, or two H. R. Giger silkscreened artist proofs from the early 70s? How about three Syd Mead gouaches from the late 1960s –from that most desirable body of work done for U.S. Steel! A big Clive Barker charcoal! A couple of small Camille Rose Garcia paintings! Three Clayton Brothers paintings from back in the day! Multiple Chris Mars, Shag, and Biskup paintings!

This is like Juxtapoz Magazine's Greatest Hits, all under a single banner: The Secret Holiday Sale!

This is seriously the kind of work that justifies selling vehicles, stock portfolios and taking on second mortgages to buy. And this is only the beginning. I'll be adding more paintings right up until Christmas Eve, including dream pieces by Gary Baseman, Scott Musgrove, and Isabel Samaras. First come, first served! This past week we sold multiple Robert Williams, Shepard Fairey and Marion Peck pieces, and if I had any more of their work, I'd list it, but I do not. There are pieces from other artists that I would loved to post that I can't. If you've got an artist whose work you've been dying to collect, let me know. I might have it right here already.

Don't be the last person without a chair when the music stops. Shoot me an email and get on the notification list. If you see a piece you want to buy, but don't think you can afford it, call me to see about working out some payment terms. You deserve this.
Get yourself a present this Christmas.
Spend some of that Hanukkha gelt!
Or just buy some high class decorations for Kwanzaa.

Of course there's really no excuse necessary for buying art, because owning art is its own reward, and the art in this collection offers a whole 'nother level of reward. Link here.

And did I mention we have a Dali?

2010-12-14T21:50:00.000-08:00

The Secret La Luz de Jesus X-Mas Art Sale is on!

People who signed up for our email list and checked off the boxes next to their favorite artists got a heads up on this, but we sold some Shepard Fairey, Robert Williams, and Marion Peck paintings a few days ago.

I ran out of available work from them, but I've restocked with H.R. Giger, Joe Sorren, Clive Barker and Salvador Dali.

Yes, you read that correctly. We've got a signed Salvador Dali piece!
We've also got three Syd Mead paintings! Click the image and check out the sale. This art is going fast...

There is a lot of stuff I couldn't list to preserve the anonymity of certain collectors and estates who have provided these choice selections. Shoot me an artist want list, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Two Chances for Holiday Patronage

2010-12-11T19:12:00.000-08:00

Christopher Ulrich has launched a holiday patronage program on Kickstarter:

"My name is Christopher Ulrich. I have done an alchemical journey through painting. The first series was called Demoneater and it represented “the black phase." I had my first one man show on November 2nd, 2007 at the Bergamot Station in which these works were featured. That set the process into motion. Two years later, after a lot of hard work, I began The Illuminator series which represents “the white phase." Those works were shown on my birthday August 6th, 2010 at The La Luz Jesus Gallery. I am now on the eve of completing this journey. The next and final series will be The Reckoning which represents "the red phase." I want to create 12 new paintings, one of which will be a large epic mural and it is scheduled to be shown on December 7th, 2012. I currently need the funding of $12,000 to pay for these new surfaces and frames that I have designed and materials to execute them with. My hopes are to complete the Great Work. When I first began to fulfill this dream, I was not widely known. However during the process, I have gained a growing recognition which has been very encouraging. If I could generate the funds for the 3rd project and reward any contributions with my various gift supplements, I would consider it not only an honor but the Universe's blessing to see this thing through."

Christopher Ulrich's work is rich with process; he routinely develops up to a dozen graphite design studies before initiating each of his paintings. He will be rewarding pledges with those studies from his next show, The Reckoning, which debuts at La Luz de Jesus on December 7th, 2012. If 240 people donated a mere $50 each, he would reach his budget goal, and be able to begin working on the last entry of his Christ Chronocrator series. I know that money is tight, but this is a worthy cause that would pay off in bragging rights alone –and you'll get artwork that is already worth a hell of a lot more than your donation.

There are pledge levels from $25 to $5,000.00, with each level of donation reaping greater rewards than the last. La Luz de Jesus Gallery will be taking no commission from these, so please donate knowing that all of your pledges go directly to funding Christopher's next show.

The Twelve Days of X-Mas Sale Begins Tomorrow!
GIGER! BARKER! SORREN!

I'll be sending out notification tonight at midnight to herald the beginning of our Twelve Days of X-Mas Sale.

Following the success of our Black Friday Art Sale, I was contacted by a handful of private patrons and estate managers to represent more high-profile, Blue Chip caliber works –including actual, museum exhibited paintings. In addition to a new assortment of pieces from The Clayton Brothers, Shepard Fairey and Camille Rose Garcia, this twelve-day, virtual exhibition and private sale includes original work from Swiss surrealist H.R. Giger and visionary futurist Syd Mead, whose collective influence reaches beyond the art world to have permanently impacted pop-culture, industrial design, entertainment and architecture.

Not every masterpiece will be posted (to preserve a degree of anonymity for the sellers), so if you would like to receive information on these and other once-in-a-lifetime purchase opportunities, shoot me an email (info@laluzdejesus.com) and I'll respond with images, sizes and prices.

Buying art changes lives.
Happy Holidays!

Zombie Time!

2010-12-06T20:38:00.000-08:00

It's almost Christmas, and that can only mean one thing...
ZOMBIES?

The Walking Dead season finale aired on AMC Sunday, which means we couldn't have planned it better to have Sean Yseult of White Zombie signing her new memoir, I'm in the Band, here on Tuesday night from 6-8pm. The folks at Sino Tequila will be mixing some drinks. Sorry, no zombies, just margaritas.

Below are some pics from our last two music-themed events. Friday, at the opening reception for the Winter Folk Art Show, we hosted the World-Wide Debut of James Slay & Carlos Grasso's new multi-media project, Dumfuxx. Coagula art journal gave the performance a rave review and included a YouTube link:

The following night we held a signing for Lesli Cabarga's Topless Summer Love Girls, which featured a Burlesque show and several incredible musical performances led by Will Ryan and the Cactus Cowboys including Ian Whitcomb, and Gunsmoke's Johnny Crawford!

On Sunday we held a signing for Joe Oesterle's Weird Hollywood and Muttpop's Fabien Mense. But this week we've got even more events that will challenge your work-week comfort zone:

On Thursday night we'll be hosting Adam Parfrey and the Feral House gang for a Winter Solstice Celebration. New ink from Genesis P. Orrige and others. Slide shows and total craziness is scheduled to ensue!

And by weeks end I'll be announcing something so ridiculous that you'll think I'm pulling the wool, but it will be True! Stay tuned!

Remembering Miriam Wosk

2010-11-11T17:20:00.000-08:00

Excerpted from the Los Angeles Times, November 11th:

"Her art was definitely a major deal and her use of materials broke a lot of boundaries," Billy Shire told The Los Angeles Times. "She kind of put forth in her work that art could be beautiful as well as meaningful."

Working in paint, pastel and collage on paper, Miriam Wosk often began with an anatomical image that she smothered "in veil upon veil of floral ornament and pattern, creating a sort of gothic, hyper-decorative Surrealism that is as invigorating for the imagination as it is for the eye," according to a 2006 Times review of the show "Sequins and Skeletons" held at the now-defunct Billy Shire Fine Arts Gallery in Culver City.

Happy Diwali from Laurie Lipton & Jessica Joslin!

2010-11-05T11:21:00.001-07:00

Diwali (a contraction of the word Deepavali, meaning row of lamps) is the festival of lights, the most important celebration in Hinduism. It's an occasion to wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks with family and friends. In western terms, it's something of a combination of Easter, Hannukkha and New Year's Day.

Diwali commemorates the return of Lord Rama along with Sita and Lakshman from his fourteen year long exile and vanquishing the demon-king Ravana. In joyous celebration of the return of their king, the people of Ayodhya, the Capital of Rama, illuminated the kingdom with earthen oil lamps and burst firecrackers. In Jainism, Diwali marks the attainment of moksha or nirvana by Mahavira in 527 BC. In Sikhism, Deepavali commemorates the return of Guru Har Gobind Ji to Amritsar after freeing 52 Hindu kings imprisoned in Fort Gwalior by defeating Emperor Jahangir.

Tonight, at La Luz de Jesus Gallery, we'll be celebrating Diwali by welcoming the return of artists Jessica Joslin and Laurie Lipton, who will each be signing collected volumes of their work from 7-8PM, before kicking off the opening reception that runs from 8-11 PM. The DOSA catering truck will be parked out front supplying the very best South Indian savory crepes, samosas, masalas and lassis, and the Los Angeles Absinthe Club will be set-up in the back patio, adding a green fairy to the air of Victorian mystery inherent in Laurie's intricate works on paper and Jessica's exquisite constructs of brass and bone. The pictures above and below offer a quick glimpse of the exhibition in mid-assembly.

Early arrival is recommended!

Christopher Ulrich Halloween Studio Sale

2010-10-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

This Sunday (on Halloween) from 11 AM to 7 PM, we'll be hosting a Studio Sale for Christopher Ulrich. This is a great opportunity for fans and collectors to buy large studies and completed paintings for less than you might expect to pay for prints! There are over 100 Illuminator Discovery Works, and they are priced to move so he can clean out his studio and get crackin' on the final series in his Christ Chronocrator Cylce: The Reckoning, which will be opening on December 7, 2012 at La Luz de Jesus.

On Sunday, there will be pieces for $100! Check the site for a few very special offers, too!

I know a few East Coast and International gallerists who will be using this opportunity to buy works for mark-up and resale, so call me to reserve your purchases before they grab the piece you want: (323) 547-3227.

The sale will be held on one day only at an off-campus location:
1223 Daniels Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90035.

A little love from the mainstream

2010-10-25T11:48:00.000-07:00

The November issue of Elle Magazine ran a feature on fashion mogul Erin Fetherston, who listed Soap Plant / Wacko & La Luz de Jesus as one of her favorite shopping spots in Los Angeles. She's a recent transplant to Los Feliz via New York, and the SoCal climate, geography and architecture plays heavily into her new designs. Welcome to the neighborhood, Erin!

In case you missed the Tiki Farm 10th Anniversary Exhibition, below are just a few pics from the opening, which saw the sale of almost 500 tiki mugs before the clock struck midnight!

People were lined up from the register to outside in the back parking lot for the six new Exclusive Glaze edition Tiki Mugs designed by Atomic Tony Tiki, Brad "Tiki Shark" Parker, Ghost, Joe Vitale and Mr. G. There must have been almost 2,000 attendees over the course of the evening, but we still have a handful of the mugs left. Call the Shop on the Wacko line: (323) 663-0122, or visit to snatch up those last remaining, limited edition tikis.

This coming weekend (on Halloween) we'll be hosting a studio sale that is not to be missed. Details soon to follow...

...to the Gods of TIKI!

2010-10-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the opening reception for the Tiki Farm 10th Anniversary Exhibition. We've got a hot little luau planned, too. We've got 30 gallons of Mai-Tai, Judy from Sino Tequila will mixing the best margaritas in town and at 7 o'clock Bogie's will be dropping off a full barrel of Tecate when Soap Plant/Wacko alumni Yvette Dudoit will be prepping her delicious hors d'oeuvres.

Holden Westland is still putting the final touches on the display, which will run through Halloween, but if you want to get your mitts on the six new Exclusive Glaze edition Tiki Mugs from Atomic Tony Tiki, Brad "Tiki Shark" Parker, Japanese tiki master Ghost, Joe Vitale and Mr. G., you'd better get in here tonight! These are expected to completely sell out, as the original planned editions were made even rarer when master molds on several designs were destroyed mid-production. What remains are true collector's pieces!

Literally, every single tiki mug ever produced by Tiki Farm will be on display. That includes every mug, bowl, decanter, bank and shot glass by Shag, Scheidly, Pizz, Squid, Big Toe, Mitch O'Connell, Drew Brophy, Derek Yaniger and everybody else! This special occasion is not to be missed, and tonight most of the artists who've contributed to the hardest working company in Tiki are expected to attend. Check out the installation below:

That's a lot of boxes of tiki mugs –and it's less than a fifth of what's on display.

Holden's helpers building the display cases.

Spacing and securing the newly built cases.

The Tiki man himself, Holden Westland, mid-installation.

The Dynotones will be keepin' the joint jumpin' with their driving Surf Sounds and DJ Big Tiki Dude will be spinnin' an eclectic mix of Exotica, Hawaiian Style, Hapa Haole & Surf tunes.

I'd like to give a big shout-out to Nathan Ota, who can't attend this evening because he's at a reception for his own new exhibition (featuring a collaboration with spray-can entrepreneur Risk) out in Costa Mesa at Hurley's )( Space.

And for all our Bay Area peeps who can't make it down to LA this weekend, I highly recommend that you check out APE: the Alternative Press Expo. La Luz de Jesus alumni Danni Shinya Luo and Karen Hsiao each have exhibition space, as do Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson. Stop by and say hello, or purchase the limited edition books, prints and fanzines that each has at their tables.

I'll be making a quick stop over to Hyaena Gallery in Burbank on my way back from Costco to check out a preview of regular Kitschen Sync contributor Bree Hranek's first solo show, but I'll be back at Wacko in time for the Luau.
Mahalo!