Happy Diwali from Laurie Lipton & Jessica Joslin!

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!

200 Posters Later...

The print release and artist reception for Nathan Ota & Yumiko Kayukawa was an elbow-to-elbow success! We actually gave away about 150 free posters for each artist (instead of the 100 we announced) to the throngs of patient fans who attended the opening night celebration. It's a rare pleasure to host Yumiko Kayukawa for a brief stay in Los Angeles, and it's always great to be able to spend time with Nathan Ota, who is perpetually busy at work as a professor at Otis and SMC when not working tirelessly on an exhibition or commercial assignment. Both artists were overwhelmed (in a good way) with the tremendous response that their work received, and were likewise bowled-over by the special show posters we printed for them (sponsored by Sino Tequila).

We were able to hold back a very small portion of the 200 edition run of Nathan's "An Unforeseen Homecoming" and Yumiko's "49 Days" prints.

We currently have them on the website in the online galleries for each of them, and for a limited time they will be available for $20.00 each. I don't think they'll last through the next couple of weekends, so if you couldn't attend the opening but still want a keepsake (and can't afford a painting), here's your chance –and don't blow it! I'm still lamenting the pair of Yohji Yamamoto Y3 Swarovski Edition Adidas that I didn't buy when I had the chance back in 2007. They were my size and everything! Trust me, you don't want to live with this kind of regret, so call or come in and get yourself one of these before they're gone.

Later this week we've got a Brian McCarty book signing (for his beautiful photography tome ART-TOYS on Thursday), as well as welcoming back Mick Farren to read and sign his new alt-deviant-non-fiction-history book, Speed-Speed-Speadfreak: A Fast History of Amphetamine (on Friday). The following weekend on September 18th, we'll be hosting a posthumous birthday exhibition of Punk Rock Legend Dee Dee Ramone's lowbrow art, for which we'll be debuting a new, extremely limited edition screen print featuring Dee Dee's art and selling silver-gelatin prints of some Ramones photos from the Jenny Lens Photo Archive. This event is fully sanctioned by the Ramones estate, and ought to draw some very special guests.

Stay tuned!