A Third of the Way Home

It's just a little over a week into THE COASTER SHOW exhibition, and already one third of the pieces have sold! As I walked a fellow curator through the show on his return trip to buy more coasters, we noticed how many incredible pieces are still available from artists whose work is generally very expensive. Some of the still-available coasters are priced far below the ceiling price we set of $250, making them incredible bargains for savvy collectors.

For those of you not in the know, I've highlighted the following pieces that popped up in conversation yesterday, with some others that I'm surprised didn't sell before the show opened:

Dennis Larkins is the official artist of the Grateful Dead.
Try and find a painting elsewhere for under $5,000!

3 of Lucasfilm & Disney artist Steven Daily's coasters are up for grabs.
Stellar draftsmanship that you'll never see at these prices again.

Dave Dexter's work confronts issues of race and stereotype head-on.
He's getting a career retrospective at IMOCA next summer.

Kaz is a true punk rock icon!
When's the last time you saw one available for purchase? 

Danni Shinya Luo's girls are rarely this affordable and always sell out.

Nathan Ota has two coasters available as I write this,
but they'll probably sell by the time this goes live.

At 4" tondo, these are the smallest pieces Christopher Ulrich has ever painted.
The last exhibition piece we sold was $10,000.

Simone Gad recently exhibited at the Hammer Museum
and was included in a Getty Catalog.

Japanese artist Teiji Hayama has beed in Juxtapoz & Hi Fructose
and rarely exhibits in Los Angeles.

Italian Zoe Lacchei is in the collections of Long Gone John & Crispin Glover.
Every piece we've ever shown of hers has sold.

Small work is nothing new for Jasmine Worth.
But at these prices? Forget about it!

Miroslav Pecho is a Slovakian student of the Giger tradition.
His work generally goes straight into prominent European collections.

It would be easy to list several hundred pieces that I am surprised are still available–especially after all the incredible coverage this show has been receiving. But truth be told, these only scratch the surface. There are still many pieces at or below $20, and several museum exhibited artists for between $50 and $150. And the pieces that are at the top of the pricing spectrum for this show are still listed way below those artists' usual retail pricing.


Do yourself a favor: click HERE and check out the online gallery. You are going to find some incredible work. Pricing and description of media is available for every piece. Depending on the size of your browser window, you may need to scroll down after clicking the preview image. It'll say if it's sold, too.

Call me with questions about purchasing and availability: (323)666-7667
Cheers!

Matt Kennedy, gallery director.
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027

The Reckoning Explained

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

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

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

Killing Big Bird

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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:

Installing the next show already!

Christopher Ulrich gave a great lecture yesterday about his artistic process and regarding the impact of fables on art. Afterwards, most of the die-hard Ulrich fans headed over to Umami Burger for a tasty dinner and to reflect on the wonder and spectacle that was Illuminator: The Royal Wedding.

Today the work is off the walls, but if you didn't get to see it, about half of the paintings from the series will be on display October 9 & 10 at the Beyond Eden Contemporary Art Fair inside the L.A. Municipal Art Gallery within historic Barnsdall Park.


Right now, we are preparing the next installation of Nathan Ota's An Unforeseen Homecoming. Nathan stopped by the shop today to help layout the show and let us know that American Illustration has included his work from this Friday's show in their upcoming published annual. Earlier this morning I received a phone call from the Hollywood Arts Counsel requesting images from Nathan and also from Yumiko Kayukawa's 49 Days series for print in their quarterly magazine, so this Friday (September 3rd) will be another great show. Don't forget that we'll be giving away posters to the first 100 people here at 7PM on Friday night, and both Nathan and Yumiko will be signing them. They were produced specifically for this occasion, which is sponsored by Sino Tequila. I'd like to give a special shout out to our pal Spanky Stokes who will be celebrating his birthday that evening and is completely open to someone buying him a Nathan Ota painting as a B-Day gift.

Pre-sale options are available for these shows and many others on our calendar, and there are still works available from several of the recent exhibitions, so browse the site and give me a call on the gallery line: (323) 666-7667. Ask for Matt!

All the small things...

On Friday night Rick Araluce debuted his latest collection of painstakingly crafted miniatures -his first area exhibition in over a decade and a half. There hasn't been an art event this important in a good long time, and the names that come to mind by way of comparison are Koons, Hirst, Murakami and Ruscha.

If you haven't visited the New La Luz de Jesus, you really need to get in here!

Rick's miniature masterpieces are crafted with a level of detail that would drive lesser (ie. most) men mad. Handwritten letters are rendered in nano script. Wallpaper, tiles and bricks are each designed by hand to maintain the illusion achieved in these micro-scale decors. Araluce has built working light switches, bulbs and clocks that wouldn't dwarf an insect, and designed end pages for books stacked 42 high, barely thick as a thumbnail. He makes everything -including the boxes that house the pieces, by hand. Inside the opened doorway of the piece pictured is a microscopic painting, that can only be seen from the extreme left side. Rest assured that tiny is the next big thing!

Also on display are works by Bonni Reid, JAW Cooper, Jessica Dalva, and Krystopher Sapp (who also has a piece in the 100 Artists See Satan fundraiser at Grand Central Art

Center).

On Thursday, from 6-9PM we'll be hosting a book signing for L.A. Weekly "Night Ranger" columnist Lina Lecaro's Los Angeles's Best Dive Bars, a testimonial to this city's best watering holes. This event will feature special guests and special cocktail concoctions courtesy of Sino Tequila.

In Los Angeles’ Best Dive Bars, you’ll get the scoop and the poop on the city’s liveliest, lowlife n’ liquor-soaked landmarks. This essential booze bible has the lowdown on which bars serve free food, which have great—and not so great—karaoke, bars that appear in your favorite movies and much, much more. Whether you’re looking for a friendly spot where “everybody knows your name,” a filthy blackened cave where nobody ever will, a gently-gentrified hole specked with dive-obsessed hipsters or a dusty relic full of hip-replacements, you’re sure to find a spot to soak up—and get soaked in—here in these pages.

And we know how to party! Check out these shots from Friday night's opening. The steely-eyed among you may notice (in addition to the artists whose work was on display) Billy Shire, Robert Williams, Nathan Ota, Andrew Hem, Jon Beinart, Daniel Lim, Misato Otake, and a few other La Luz de Jesus Alumni.

Photo credit: Isabele Craik