Werner Herzog: The Best Video Art Piece of 2013

I worked on the home video releases of most of Werner Herzog's films when I worked at Anchor Bay Entertainment. The incredibly talented director has created a vehemently anti texting-while-driving PSA that is sure to make an impact among the target demographic of young people who will see it in their schools as part of an AT&T community outreach program. We've all done it, I'm sure. Luckily most of us have not had to deal with the consequences that would result from a fatality.

The film is 35 minutes long and sure to disturb. The film is titled "From One Second to the Next."

I don't claim to have permission of any kind to re-post it, but do so as a public service in the hope that video art this powerful is respected in the context of high art.

Our 5th of July Celebration Opens Tonight!

We know that most of you had your 4th of July plans set in stone a long time ago, which is why La Luz de Jesus Gallery put together a killer quartet for the 5th of July instead!

JASMINE WORTH's gothic oil paintings have amassed a rabid following that has resulted in three straight sold-out shows. She continues to explore the Cultus Sanguine concept in a mini exhibition that is sure to sell out again. CLICK MORT is presenting a collection of his remixed nostalgia sculptures that is so impressive, it's worthy of a swan song. The difficulty in locating pieces worthy of his impeccable taste and the growing collector base for his exceptional work may make this a last chance opportunity to add one of his amazingly affordable pieces to your collection. DEREK HARRISON gives us multiple interpretations of the women of Los Angeles in his L.A. Woman exhibition which is less objectification than outright worship. MEL WEINER elevates caricature to a high-concept statement about celebrity cronyism in his Esther Milkfat and Other Characters. These New Yorker-esque drawings are exquisite, and smart collectors will snatch up these inexpensive works from an important Echo Park original-I just hope they'll be willing to loan them back when museum curators request them in a few years. Pre-sales are happening now, so click the artist names above and get in touch with gallery director Matt Kennedy before the pieces you want are purchased by someone else.






For those of you who missed the pop-up show for RUBY RAY's California Punk Photo-show, From the Edge, I've got some good news: We'll be continuing to represent her iconic photography, so click her name above to access some of the pieces we currently have of Darby Crash, Sid Vicious, The Cramps, X and many of the punk rockers that helped establish the music and the scene that changed the culture.

Photo by Chris Cuffaro

Mid-month on Saturday, July 13th, join PATTON OSWALT in paying tribute to the greatest living author of juvenile delinquent fiction, HARLAN ELLISON. The feisty, prolific author reads and signs his Kicks Books releases, Pulling a Train and Getting in the Wind. The event, dubbed Harlan in Hollywood, insures to be an afternoon of pizzazz and vinegar with a true living legend. There are restrictions to what Harlan will sign, so call the book store at (323) 663-0122 for details. Mr. Ellison's public appearances are incredibly rare and the duration of this event will depend upon the audience size at the time of the author's arrival, so be sure to get there early! It all starts at 2 PM.

This Is What You Missed on Saturday Night

And here's what a few others had to say about it:

http://boingboing.net/2013/06/19/to-do-this-weekend-in-la-tale.html

http://thelosangelesbeat.com/2013/06/celebrating-the-cacophony-society-this-weekend/

http://www.lamag.com/citythink/askchris/2013/06/21/ten-weird-and-wonderful-la-things-to-do-this-weekend

http://www.cartwheelart.com/2013/06/18/book-review-tales-of-the-san-francisco-cacophony-society/

http://laughingsquid.com/tales-of-the-san-francisco-cacophony-society-book-release-party-in-los-angeles/

http://beta.flavorpill.com/events/tales-of-the-san-francisco-cacophony-society-1

http://losangeles.about.com/b/2013/06/06/the-cacophony-society-alternative-book-event-in-la.htm

http://mickieszoo.blogspot.com/2013/06/cacophony-society-book-release-party.html

http://flavorwire.com/398370/lajune17-23

Photos by Isabel Craik

R.I.P.: Chris Pfouts

Chris Pfouts grew up in Los Angeles in the 1950s and 60s, in the relentless heat of the California motor and surf cultures. During the disco plague years he hit the road, criss-cossing America like a bug in a shoebox. After graduating from N.Y.U.'s journalism school, Pfouts clocked in for a career in magazines. He kept old titles alive and put new ones on the stands. He has edited “International Tattoo Art” magazine since its launch in 1991. He has written six books, including “Lead Poisoning: 25 True Stories from the Wrong End of a Gun,” “Hula Dancers and Tiki Gods,” and “Vacation from Reality: The Art of Anthony Ausgang.” But Chris's biggest accomplishment wasn't his career, but his ability to connect with people. Chris will be missed by his family and many friends. Some folks have asked for a way to contribute to his memorial. There is now a PayPal account set up for that purpose at ChrisPfoutsMemorial.com.

As Chris wrote "I go through life like it's a Chinese grocery Store. I didn't understand half the stuff on the shelves, but here and there I find some special, toothsome treasure to keep for myself."

Can Art Be Offensive?

When I first put together the line-up that comprises this month's show over a year ago, I selected three artists whose visual styles and conceptual goals were completely different. Mark Gleason is a mannerist painter whose works maintain a sense of whimsy even though his palette is often dark. Vicki Berndt is the original Big Eye revivalist, having resurrected the work of Walter and Margaret Keane on her cover for Red Kross' Third Eye album long before it became a staple of lowbrow tribute. And Dave Dexter's gift for utilizing pre-programmed imagery to turn stereotypes upside down is both high concept and highly controversial. While we knew that the public reactions to Dave's paintings had the potential to run the spectrum, we expected critical coverage to explain the tradition of visual agitation from which such art extends. Critical reviews were absent, however, and here's why:

Charles Kraftt's Nazi art is under fire

A few months ago, the work of Charles Krafft came under fire when an article by Jen Graves in Seattle's The Stranger weekly paper exposed Kraftt as a Holocaust denier, causing a boycott of his Nazi-themed art. Collectors and curators had for decades interpreted his work as a critique of fascism and bigotry rather than an advertisement for them. A series of rants on his facebook page revealed the accusations to have merit and institutions across the globe removed his work from museum collections and annexed his contributions from planned and ongoing exhibitions. A Rachel Arons article in The New Yorker points out that much of the art Kraftt produced predates his conversion to holocaust denialism and "That work is worth continuing to examine, even if we are disgusted by Krafft’s current personal beliefs and unsure exactly to what extent, or for how long, they have been informing his work. It should always be difficult to look at art about Nazis. Now that looking at Krafft’s art is even more difficult, we shouldn’t look away."

It has occurred to me that critical review of art with such power to polarize can become a proverbial can of worms for art critics, newspapers and the op-ed society that makes up the art world as we know it. I don't think this stems from cowardice per sé, since many critics revel in the idea of controversy, but there is a definite fear of winding up on the wrong side of history. Most critics wait to applaud challenging work until after the artist's sales attain a level of generally undisputed success, and by that point a healthy dose of critical backlash will only help build a provocateur's reputation.

From Dave Dexter's exhibit Round Eye and the Switch

In that respect, it shouldn't surprise me that painting's like Dave Dexter's Human Safari (pictured) didn't garner much local or even web coverage. Dave Dexter isn't Damien Hirst yet. And it would be a great disservice to compare Dexter to Kraftt, because Dave is not a racist and happens to be a really lovely man who utilizes such imagery to open a dialogue about corporate culture and confronting the skeletons in the American closet. Much of the subject matter presented in his art comes straight from the headlines not on page one, but on page 36, exposing a mentality still present and which deserves discussion, debate and revelation.

In the grand scheme of things, what does this say about context or irony? In other words, how does an inanimate object offend? What gives a work of art the power to offend if not the singular viewer's own perception? James E. Young, the director of the Institute for Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, addressed such matters in an essay that accompanied a similarly controversial exhibition at the Jewish Museum in New York back in 2002: 

"We have every right to ask whether such obsession with these media-generated images of the past is aesthetically appropriate. Or whether by including such images in their work, the artists somehow affirm and extend them, even as they intend mainly to critique them and our connection to them. Yet this ambiguity between affirmation and criticism seems to be part of the artists’ aim here. As offensive as such work may seem on the surface, the artists might ask, is it the... imagery itself that offends, or the artists’ aesthetic manipulations of such imagery? Does such art become a victim of the imagery it depicts? Or does it actually tap into and thereby exploit the repugnant power of... imagery as a way merely to shock and move its viewers? Or is it both, and if so, can these artists have it both ways?”

The bottom line is that no painting or sculpture is by itself offensive. A specific mindset is required, and that mindset is itself a bi-product of intentional indoctrination. Perhaps what disturbs us is the realization that as sophisticated as we might think we are, we are easily manipulated by symbols. Anger doesn't stem from the affront of the imagery or even the reaction it originally solicited; it's the power of all pre-programmed imagery against ambivalence that incites us.

If you haven't stopped into the gallery to check out this show, I really can't recommend highly enough that you do. This is the last week, and I don't know how long it will be before you get the chance to view something this stimulating in a gallery again. This is an exhibition that confronts you not only with the artist's point of view, but demands that you confront yourself about your own. It's one thing to manipulate a reaction, and quite another thing to stimulate the national discourse. History will be kind to Dave Dexter, hopefully without diluting the courage of his message, which is this:

We've come a long way, baby. Or have we?

Bringing the Desert back to Hollywood

In a little more than a week, we'll be opening an exhibition for one of the Joshua Tree community's favorite sons, Bobby Furst. Bobby came to assemblage relatively late in life–after a celebrated career in photojournalism. Seeing his work now, fifteen years later, it's evident that this is what he was born to do. Furst's collectors are as many as his exhibitions are rare. Make no mistake: this is an event not to be missed. This collection of work, (titled, "Don't Push Me,") was hand picked by Billy Shire to recreate the look and feel of Bobby's desert studio. It'll be a veritable Burning Man reunion!

We'll also have a collection of customized Rat Fink statues and original Ed "Big Daddy" Roth art (and tribute pieces from like-minded individuals) along with original Fink toys, stickers and collectibles. It all happens on June 7th!

Mark Ryden Hypes La Luz de Jesus!

On Monday, LA WEEKLY ran an interview with Mark Ryden in which he discussed his new album cover for Tyler the Creator, and sent a little love our way with this comment:

Mark Ryden photographed by Liz Huston

"For the longest time La Luz de Jesus was the only gallery that showed this art," wrote Ryden. "Then there was Roq la Rue in Seattle. At a certain point the movement exploded and now there are 'pop surrealist' or 'lowbrow' galleries everywhere. It seems like there are dozens just in L.A. now. I do think it is still growing, but not at the explosive rate of the last decade."

The article's writer, Eva Recinos, also wrote:

Ryden has displayed at La Luz de Jesus, an alternative Los Angeles gallery known for showing artists with varied styles, usually in the vein of pop surrealism, which draws from popular culture. Like Ryden, many artists who showed in the space -- among them Shag, Matt Groening and Don Ed Hardy -- later reached considerable success. The gallery exposed their distinct styles to the art world and Ryden witnessed the trend grow beyond the gallery.

It's always great to be recognized for one's achievements!

Incidentally, Don Ed Hardy will be returning to La Luz de Jesus Gallery on Wednesday June 26th from 6-9PM to sign his autobiography, Wear Your Dreams: My Life in Tattoos.