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.

Post Comic Con Previews Now LIVE!

August is almost upon us, and with it comes one of the most anticipated exhibitions of the year. I've recently received additional images from José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros and a near full set of pics from Jessicka Addams (pictured left, with more pieces to come) so that the entire selection of Kitschen Sync Jury Winners have previews live on the website right now! Gallery II will also feature never before seen work from Walt Hall, Derek Harrison, Miso, Click Mort and Jasmine Worth.

Lou Beach sent some new images for his Gene Pool exhibition with daughter Alpha Lubicz (left) and son Sam Lubicz. Father and daughter have previews online now, Sam's will be forthcoming. This represents over twenty years of La Luz de Jesus exhibition history, as Lou first showed here back in 1988. Expect a who's who of (very) special guest attendees for this one!

Freshly back from Comicon, I'll be attending a few local lectures by the hardest working man in heroic fiction, Grant Morrison, whose many groundbreaking highlights were featured in the Pop-Sequentialism exhibit back in May. While in San Diego I ironed out the plans to travel this exhibit to Europe (Tuscanny in October, Paris soon after), before bringing it back to Los Angeles next year -with an ever changing line-up of key pieces from the Modern Age. The seeds have also been planted for an all-star Bronze Age exhibition some time in 2013. Be sure to pick-up a Show Catalog, which features over 40 essays on pieces within the inaugural presentation. Special congrats to Danni Shinya Luo for landing in a story that appeared on the front page of the San Diego Union Tribune this past Sunday (the final day of Comicon). She's one of three artists (with and JJ Villard and Daniel Clowes) profiled in the currently-shooting documentary, "Comics Are Everywhere," which looks to reveal what motivates artists in their creative process. Shinya will be releasing her new book "The Girls of Danni Shinya Luo" this fall via Last Gasp Books, with a signing here at La Luz de Jesus planned to coincide with that debut. Most of her drawings will be in Rome (at the wonderful Mondo Pop gallery), but we hope she'll hang onto a few to display here while she signs. Kudos also to Karen Hsiao who earned a full-page photo feature in UK's Knave Magazine for her excellent photography tome, Rubber Duck. Karen is one of a very few people to have exhibited here under two different identities, producing wildly different artwork as each. We're thrilled to have her here next month, and we're sure that a few of her photography subjects will come to support her Miso show!

More news soon –including a sneak peek at the lineup of artists featured in La Luz de Jesus 25!

Did I mention that we're HUGE in Africa?

Mwari (pronounced Marh-ree, and translating as "Young Woman" in Swahili) Magazine is the only lifestyle publication created for women of the African Diaspora aged 18-24. Within this 152 page digital and print publication readers are exposed to captivating articles about politics, fashion, world affairs, gastronomic trends, personal finance, travel, college life, health and fitness, arts & entertainment, health, and other areas that will develop them into well-rounded leaders of our global society. In their most recent issue, Amber Stevens (pictured above) of the hit TV show Greek, selected her ten favorite places in Los Angeles, and we scored position #3!
Click the article page below to see it in context, or read the following extract:

"3. Wacko - Every once in a while I like to check out the latest artwork featured in the La Luz de Jesus Gallery at Wacko. They always have really cool, interesting stuff by Southern California artists. They also have a fun selection of books and novelty toys in the store. It's a pretty silly place but lots of fun to browse."

Readers can currently access the magazine via MwariMag.com/subscribe.html. The current circulation is 120,000, and they've recently partnered with Chapman University, University of Maryland, Northwestern University, Cleveland State University and Keuka College providing access to their entire student bodies.

Who knew?


We've also just recently posted the previews for several of the Everything But the Kitschen Sync jury winners who were brought back for expanded exhibitions in August. José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros has already sold half of his show to a lucky group of determined patrons, but there are still some extraordinary paintings available. Click Mort's recombined sculpture collages are now available for purchase as are Miso and Jasmine Worth's anatomical and gothic, oil mini-paintings and Derek Harrison's exceptional contemporary nudes. We'll have previews for Walt Hall and Jessica Addams in time for Comicon, so check back to the website or email me with preview requests and purchases. The previews for the Gene Pool show, featuring new works from Lou Beach and Alpha and Sam Lubicz will be available on August 1st.