Christopher Ulrich Halloween Studio Sale

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

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!

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!

From the King of Lowbrow...

"...I've been coming to this place for 47 years and believe me, 10 years ago you couldn't have this kind of art in this venue. Abstract expressionism (and) Conceptualism ruled here right up until recently. If you come here and you take this for granted you are making a big mistake, because a lot had to change in this country to have a show like this. I just want to thank all of you people and I'm just, overwhelmed, absolutely overwhelmed. "

- Robert Williams upon receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at Beyond Eden

"We're honoring one of the world's most foremost artists of today. Not only is he a great storyteller, but a great painter."

- Billy Shire on Robert Williams at Beyond Eden 2010

In case you missed last weekend's Beyond Eden Art Fair at historic Barnsdall Park, the video above captures the Award Ceremony for Lifetime Achievement recipient Robert Williams. There were over 3,000 attendees and in addition to chairing the awards counsel, La Luz de Jesus Gallery had an exhibition space (and a project room) to showcase 14 artists who've each made an impact on the contemporary post-pop landscape of Los Angeles, where each of them resides.

The event was covered by the LA Times, and reports have since popped up on the Hi-fructose blog, and literally hundreds if not thousands of others.

Here are some pics:

Damian Fulton

Yumiko Kayukawa

Bryan Cunningham & Robert Palacios

Mark Bodnar (left) guards the doorway out to Christopher Ulrich's Illuminator series

A whole wall of Christopher Ulrich's Illuminator.

Ana Bagayan and Laurie Lipton flank the centerpiece of Illuminator: "Humility."

Jennifer Jelenski's free standing triptych.

Three new Mark Todd paintings.

Nathan Ota, John Puglisi and Danni Shinya Luo

Damian Fulton does a little live painting on four decks in the Black Flag vein.

We do throw a party, don't we?

In case you couldn't join us, here are some pictures –both before and during the opening reception for the Art of the Lowbrow Tarot and the Karen Hsiao, Christine Wu and Matt Wood exhibitions this past Friday. Incredibly, we were joined by an overwhelming majority of the participants who traveled from as far as China and England to be here.

















Big congratulations to Lowbrow Tarot artist Brian Viveros who had a sell-out show the very next night at Thinkspace. We hope you'll join us for the Beyond Eden Art Fair this weekend, where legend La Luz alumni Robert Williams will be presented with a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to the arts.
Ciao for now.