Metal Thrashing Mad!

My adolescence was primarily spent in my friend Kevin Maloney's basement listening (to) and playing heavy metal.
Our post-elementary years (1983-1989) were the golden age of Thrash, which was a style of speed metal born in Los Angeles as a response to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal that really took hold in the San Francisco Bay area.

Tomorrow night, indie publisher Bazillion Points will host a signing here at La Luz de Jesus Gallery for Harald Oimoen and Brian Lew's MURDER IN THE FRONT ROW: Shots from the Bay Area Thrash Metal Epicenter. There are incredibly rare pics from the scene including shots of Slayer in make-up and the original McGovney and Mustaine line-up of Metallica. Liner notes from some of the lords of the scene (Exodus' Gary Holt, Testament's Alex Skolnick, Vio-lence frontman Rob Flynn, and legendary DJ and Metal Mania publisher Ron Quintana) greatly enrich this thorough headbanging history.

Author Brian Lew will appear in person to sign copies of the book.

Mustaine, Hetfield & Ulrich 1982

There will be a pop-up display of photographic prints from this and two other amazing books.

METALION: The Slayer Magazine Diaries was the zine that chronicled the Norwegian Black Metal scene as it was happening. The highly satanic, church-burning actions in Norway made international headlines in 1993 when a beef between rival band members of Burzum and Mayhem resulted in murder, the discovery of which also shed light on other scene murders and serial arson. These unfortunate actions helped launch extreme metal worldwide, and the dress and affectations of a core group of die hard metalheads would be appropriated by mallrats all over suburbia. Fans of LORDS OF CHAOS need to see the rare pics from Jon Kristiansen's collection.

Of course without the California Hardcore scene, it's hard to imagine the crossover genre of Thrash ever taking root. WE GOT POWER! presents Hardcore Punk Scenes From 1980s Southern California. Included are images from the seminal Black Flag and Circle Jerks shows at The Church, and follows the scene as it was originally documented in the zine of the same name. Authors Markey & Schwartz will be present to sign copies and discuss the pics on the book and on the walls.

DJ Adam Bomb will be spinning punk and metal records live.

The event is on Thursday, November 8, from 7-9 PM. The pop-up exhibition will last until Saturday afternoon, when we host a pop-up and signing for Peter Moruzzi's CLASSIC DINING.

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.

Streaming it Live!

Click HERE for Ustream

Click HERE for Ustream

Click HERE for Ustream

MACABRE is NOW!

New Gallery intern Julie with
Myron Conan Dyal's Marching Silence

We finished the installation late last night and spent the majority of today responding to media requests for THE MACABRE SHOW, which is opening in a little less than an hour.

The L.A. Times named us the "Art Pick of the Week." Cartwheel highlighted the "Grotesque Beauty" of the show and included examples of the work of each artist featured: Steven Daily, Myron Conan Dyal, Scott Holloway, Craig LaRotonda, Mavis Leahy, Miso, Gail Potocki, Jasmine Worth. 

Of course the joy of a curated theme exhibition in October is tackling the preconceptions that the season brings with it. Autumn is heralded by an Equinox, and the works of Myron Conan Dyal ("Rivaled only by Richard Serra in the contest for best living sculptor"), Gail Potocki ("The greatest contemporary symbolist painter"), and exquisite fabric artist Mavis Leahy channel the changes of nature within that context. Craig LaRotonda and Steven Daily use classic master techniques to expose the darkness of technology and secret societies respectively. Jasmine Worth has adopted and adapted Christian symbolism for her sold-out-before-opening show, and Scott Holloway takes a Gothic, somewhat Corinthian approach to subjects of life, love, death and dissection. Miso funnels the high concepts of birth and defect dichotomies into an adorably minimalist proposition some may find to be the most disturbing of all the works on display.

This is no doubt the best show you are going to see this weekend, and probably all month long. I just scanned the streets and the parking situation hasn't turned cutthroat just yet, so stop what you're doing and head on over before the fire marshall shuts us down.

Contact gallery director Matt Kennedy for purchase and exhibition info:
info[at]laluzdejesus.com
(323) 666-7667

THE MACABRE SHOW
Opens Friday, October 5th, 8-11 PM
Runs through Sunday, October 28th

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

Laluzapalooza 2013 Jury is Open!

The jury for the original, massive, multi-artist group show is now opened! The 2013 Laluzapalooza (our 26th annual sampler show) will open on March 1st, and we estimate that between October 1st and December 31st, we'll have rooted through upwards of 10,000 submissions to finalize our selections. This is the only way for emerging artists to enter La Luz de Jesus Gallery, and the best of each year's roster gets an August feature alongside a handful of their peers. That, in turn, can lead to a solo exhibition and possibly even world fame. If you are an artist looking to showcase in this influential, career-launching show you've got until the end of this year to submit to our guidelines. This is an open call requiring our veterans to pass jury alongside the newbies, raising the bar for all. We encourage artists, collectors and curators to forward this email to their friends and colleagues as this show has habitually proven instrumental in establishing artists in the Los Angeles Art market. This high profile show presents a rare opportunity for artists who exhibit elsewhere to broaden their buyer base while providing a fertile discovery ground for our collectors. Click the image above to link to the complete rules and submission guidelines and feel free to share it! The Jury is Opened for Submissions From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2012. Submissions that don't follow the guidelines won't be considered.

Our Favorite Things in Retrospect

Neon Park & Chick Strand

Tonight, as part of our Closing Night Memorial for the Chick Strand and Neon Park Retrospective exhibitions, we are running a program of Chick's experimental films projected in 16mm from the original film elements, making this very special indeed.

Filmmaker Chick Strand was one of the founders of the San Francisco Cinematheque and of Canyon Cinema, one of the principal distributors of avant garde films in North America. As if that weren't enough, she also created the film program at Occidental College where she taught for 25 years. Chick passed away in 2009, but her astonishing, sexy, exhilaratingly beautiful films remain and so do her paintings.

Her husband, painter Neon Park (aka Marty Muller) is best known for his powerful record album covers, most famously Frank Zappa's Weasels Ripped My Flesh, and many LPs by Little Feat. Marty succumbed to ALS in 1993, but his impact on the music industry's art direction can still be seen today, and his multi-image, painted technique still inspires wonder in the generations of post-Photoshop designers who have inherited his legacy along with a much more versatile set of tools.

The atmosphere of delight, dread, silliness, and ecstasy that Chick and Neon generated not only lingers–it thrives. Since the show opened earlier this month, some of their seminal works have been acquired by private collectors making this the last likely opportunity to view them all in one place. Friends and students of this California power couple will reminisce over refreshments from 7-9PM and the show will come to an end tomorrow.

NEGATIVLAND

NEGATIVLAND had a blast putting together Our Favorite Things, and their live performance is yet another legendary addition the the storied La Luz de Jesus musical legacy that includes The Dwarves' explosive (literally!) gig in the backlot that has since become the stuff of punk rock folklore. The picture at right documents fans of the original culture jammers packing the gallery in record numbers for the opening of their first ever Los Angeles retrospective earlier this month.

Check out this great interview with NEGATIVLAND at Cartwheel.

Billy's Thursday Night Fish Fry

This great marriage of music and multi-media art has helped to shed light on our other monthly musical revue, Billy's Thursday Night Fish Fry & Community Social, hailed by the L.A. Weekly as "One of the Ten Best Night Clubs for People Who Don't Like Night Clubs." Held (mostly) on the last Thursday of each month, lucky patrons have been treated to free shows from Grant Lee Phillips, Gitane Demone of Christian Death, Debora Iyall of Romeo Void, Thelonious Monster, Joe Wood of T.S.O.L., and a series of rock star jams with Johnny Indovina (of Human Drama) and friends. These aren't just rock shows, either. The Fish Fry is a showcase for comedians and novelty acts and often includes live painting, avant garde theater and much more. Just getting the chance to see Billy Shire rock the harmonica is worth the price of admission, which is free, but you know what I mean. On October 25th we'll be welcoming Concrete Blonde's Johnette Napolitano and Greg Behrendt among others. 

Right now, you can preview October's MACABRE SHOW, featuring eight incredible artists (including several museum veterans) with diverse methods for creating darkness that is as illuminating as it is mysterious. Pre-sales are happening and Jasmine Worth only has two pieces unsold, so click over and contact the gallery director ASAP!

In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up Live

NEGATIVLAND @ La Luz de Jesus 9/7/12