Tonight: Miss Wu, Heavenly Bodies, and Crystal Radio Live!

TONIGHT, 8-11PM:
As seen in the L.A. Weekly! Dr. Paul Koudounaris opens his exhibition, Heavenly Bodies, and signs his latest book of the same title (as well as his previous tome, The Empire of Death). The story behind the photographs in this exhibition seems custom made for the Dia de los Muertos. Admission is free, refreshments will be served (while supplies last), and the pieces are available for purchase by contacting the gallery director at (323) 666-7667 or info[at]laluzdejesus[dot]com.



Also opening a new exhibition is Miss Christine Wu, whose Coming Home is already more than half-way sold out. Christine's oil paintings capture people in transition, making a statement about the temporary importance of our fleeting lives. A few months back, Daniel Rolnick caught up with Miss Wu mid-collaboration with master print-maker Ryan McIntosh.



Performing live this evening will be musical guests Crystal Radio, featuring Daniel Martin Diaz and Paula Catherine Valencia of Blind Devine, whose sound is reminiscent of a haunted western about ghosts and dreams, as scored by Ennio Morricone and directed by David Lynch–which should compliment the evening perfectly.





Daniel Martin Diaz will be signing his own latest book, Soul of Science, on Saturday, November 2nd, 4-7 PM.



Signed and personalized copies of Soul of Science as well as Anatomy of Sorrow,  Thirty-One Drawings & Thirty-One Days,  Mysterium Fidei, and La Luz de Jesus 25 (which Billy and Matt will be happy to sign as well) can be pre-ordered by calling the bookstore at (323) 663-0122 or emailing sales[at]soapplant[dot]com.

Harlan in Hollywood: Video Proof!

This great footage of Harlan Ellison at La Luz de Jesus Gallery comes courtesy of James Simenc at LA REVIEW OF BOOKS.

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.

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.

Tiki, Tats and Tarts!

Brad Parker & Miles Thomspon:
Two shows that blended nicely!

The La Luz de Jesus TIKI PARTY on Friday night was Smash Success!

Both Brad Parker and Miles Thompson experienced brisk sales all evening long in their dueling solo shows –each room complementing the next with matched themes of surf & sail.

Brad Parker stops to pose
with a longtime friend & patron

The summer gala was stockpiled with animators, other fine artists and tiki enthusiasts who had traveled as far as Hawaii to see in person the first Miles Thompson show since 2009, as well as witness the Tiki Shark himself, Brad Parker, who was able to include some awesome monster-themed skate decks mere hours before the exhibitions opened!

Miles is all smiles next to the proud
new owner of the showcard piece

Miles revisited the scene of his glory on Saturday to help a few patrons decide on which pieces to purchase and Brad returned on Sunday to host an audience of fans and students for an impromptu art talk that covered technique and tradition.

Our publicist Lee Joseph has posted some great photos from the opening on his Flickr account.

Shawn Barber & Danni Shinya Luo
Book Signing: Tuesday July 10th, 7-9PM

 While the holiday weekend is over and most have gotten back into the swing of the daily grind, I offer you a mid-week oasis of Tattoos and Trollops! I am speaking of course of the world premiere of Shawn Barber's latest art volume, Memoir as part of a two-person signing with Danni Shinya Luo, whose Soft Candy has finally arrived following her incredibly successful exhibition of the same name. Shawn's tattoo portraits and Danni's gorgeous girls seem like a great excuse to get out of the house again after the holiday weekend. Last Gasp Books is co-presenting this event tomorrow night (Tuesday, July 10th) which kicks of at 7 PM and runs until 9PM.

Miss Luo will have some of the sketches published in the book available for sale, too, so come on down and say, "Mahalo!

Soft Candy was a Valentine's Day Hit!

Congratulations to Danni Shinya Luo (pictured, left) for selling over 50 of her Soft Candy illustrations –and there are still 10 days left for the rest of her gorgeous drawings to go! We've also got a mere handful of the signed and numbered bookplates (from an edition of only 100), so call me to reserve a book or a drawing. All of the artwork on display in this exhibition carries the additional provenance of appearing in a published art book.

SOFT CANDY: THE GIRLS OF DANNI SHINYA LUO
You'll never be able to buy Shinya's art for such low prices again.

Likewise regarding the paintings from last May's Chaotic Harmony exhibition (also published in Soft Candy & currently on exhibition in Europe). If interested in buying one of those, please call ASAP, as Italian collectors are sure to gobble them up, but La Luz de Jesus has right of first refusal!

This latest show has seen many, very prominent collectors add her work to their walls, so Shinya's drawings will soon be hanging next to paintings by Mark Ryden, Joe Coleman, Robert Williams and Shepard Fairey. This could be the tipping point for Miss Luo, whose private commission waiting list has recently expanded to six months. Commissions are available, however, so contact me to set something up.



We've also got the photostream posted for the opening night celebration of our February, First-Friday extravaganza: Matthew Bone, Soey Milk, Bonni Reid, and Christine Wu. Matthew and Bonni's work is featured in a program shot last week for the National Geographic Channel, and Christine's art is now in the hands of a rather well know Pirate of the Carribean. As the images reveal, there were a lot of movers and shakers in attendance, so check it out and then come down to see the shows (on display through February 26th). Pictured above is a shot of Soey Milk and I babysitting the bowl of heart-shaped Valentine's Day candy while the documentary crew from Comics Are Everywhere conducts an interview with Danni Shinya Luo at her Soft Candy signing.

Contact me (gallery director, Matt Kennedy) for purchases and information:
(323) 666-7667 or info@laluzdejesus.com

Glamour From the Ground Up - Tomorrow Night!

Tomorrow night (Saturday, October 22) join us from 7-10 PM to celebrate with Taschen Books and photographer Ed Fox, the release of Ed's second art volume of fantastic foot fetishism. Fox will be joined by 15 of his subject models, all of whom will be happy to sign your copy of either volume of the book or DVD.

We'll be exhibiting 15 of the artist's best photographic prints (as featured in the new publication) in both large and intimate sizes –all of which are available for sale. This is an adults only exhibition, and one that promises to be WILD!

Among the models on the walls will be: Alexis Love, Aria Giovanni, Belladonna, Dita Von Teese, Faye Reagan, Kagney Linn Karter, Lacie Heart, Roxy DeVille, Tori Black, Valentina Vaughn and more!

Ed Fox is a native Californian. He studied commercial photography at the Art Center College of Design, where he was frequently admonished for his focus on erotic imagery. But passion for the art form drove him to make a difference in the adult industry. "I'm a well respected artist in an industry that is not well respected".

Commercially, his photography has earned him two Key Art Awards and distinguished recognition in the adult industry via Leg Show, Club, Penthouse, Barely Legal, Cheri, and several TASCHEN publications.

"My fascination with the female form and appreciation for light is what inspired me to become a photographer. "I create to satisfy the need to see a better image than the last and there is ample gratification if at least one other person values my work. The fans validate my vision and inspire me to create more."

Ed Fox: Glamour from the Ground Up DVD $17.99 each
Ed Fox: Volume 2 Book & DVD $39.99 each

The event starts at 7pm and closes at 10pm.

Encyclopaedia of Hell Signing is now underway!

THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HELL
by Martin Olson
Book Signing: Saturday, Sept. 3, 6-9PM

What do Lemmy, Coop and Ben Vereen all have in common? They're here!

A tour de force of darkness, Encyclopaedia of Hell is a manual of Earth written by Lord Satan for his invading hordes of demons, complete with hundreds of unpleasant illustrations, diagrams, and a comprehensive and utterly repulsive dictionary of Earth terms.

Since the customs and mores of humanity are alien and inconceivable to demons, Satan wrote this strangely poetic military handbook for the enlightenment and edification of his demon armies. A masterpiece expressing Satan's hatred for humanity and himself, the Encyclopaedia includes "Techniques of Stalking and Eating Humans," "Methods of Canning Human Pus," and "Dicing and Slicing Orphaned Children."

Why the invasion? During the last century in particular, Hell has become seriously overcrowded. Satan needs more land mass for the damned and to use the human livestock to feed his hungry demon invaders. Since this book is the 666th commemorative edition, this Encyclopaedia contains special commemorative material.

Martin Olson's savage wit provides the firepower for a preposterous literary feat unaccomplished since Mark Twain passed—channeling the real voice of Satan. Over the past fifteen years, Olson has written and produced nine comedy specials, inflicted on the populace via CBS, HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, and A&E.

"[An inferno] is probably just where Martin Olson was sitting when tasked with translating The Encyclopedia of Hell. How he learned to speak demonic is anybody’s guess. What’s more puzzling is where Olson got the nerve to actually translate the text in the first place. After all, it is An Invasion Manual for Demons Concerning the Planet Earth and the Human Race Which Infests It. Hardly the kinda thing one wants to bring home to baby. Maybe Olson’s a demon himself. If you wanna learn how the evil see us, this Encyclopedia is all you’ll need."

– SunPost Weekly July 28, 2011 | John Hood

“The Encyclopaedia of Hell” – written by Martin Olson, illustrated by Tony Millionaire and Mahendra Singh. 2011. Paperback, 240 pages in English published by Feral House, ISBN-13: 978-1936239047

About The Author
Martin Olson has written and produced nine comedy specials, inflicted on the populace via CBS, HBO, Showtime, Cinemax and A&E. As a composer, he has been honored with a 2010 Emmy Nomination for Songwriting, a 2009 Emmy Nomination for Primetime Songwriting, and a 1997 Annie Award Nomination for Songwriting in an Animated Series. This is his first book.

Hokkaido Story Revisited: Previews Tomorrow Night!

"Mystical practical absurdism, amazing, astounding phenomena on a human scale and what is funny about the way we love and hate industrial things...is what interests me." –Peter Shire

I first met Peter Shire in 1991 when I was a register jockey at his brother Billy Shire’s shop, The Soap Plant, then on Melrose Ave. He struck me as a good-natured, gregarious fellow with a penchant for bad puns and a quiet, steady vocal delivery that almost invariably ended with a smile. I’m happy to say that twenty years later not much has changed. His amiability is as delightfully forthright as ever and his puns are even more groan-worthy. What has changed in the two decades past is the sheer volume of acclaim that his work has received.

Peter’s first public art commission in 1986 has grown to more than thirty worldwide. His teapots are ubiquitous and (along with his other ceramics and furniture designs) have caused something of a pop revolution. Whether fashioning delicate-looking flowers from steel or evoking monumental scale via fragile, hand-forged porcelain, his bright and eclectic color palette remains consistent with his colorful and playful personality.

If you’ve ever visited Shire’s Echo Park studio, located mere blocks from the house he grew up in, you’ll have been treated to a proper espresso, ground and brewed from a machine gifted him by his fellow Memphis Group collaborators. His graciousness as a host is a copacetic antithesis to the stimulation overload that doubles as his think tank, office, and work space. Once you’ve recovered from the organized chaos, keen observation will reveal a single pattern that pervades nearly all his multi-faceted work: succinct minimalism, redolent of Japanese flower arrangement. How a Sephardic Jew raised in a predominantly Latino neighborhood came to embody the essence of Ikebana is anyone’s guess, but Japanese Industrialists came to notice it.

The selection of pieces contained in this volume are the beneficiaries of a three-month 1992 design project in Hokkaido, Japan. Salvaged brewing factory materials were transformed into incredible, contemporary and fundamentally Japanese works of art. These sculptures remained on display in Japan until 2008, when they were rescued from receivership and returned to California. In November 2010, they were loaned to Santa Monica College and exhibited in the Barrett Art Gallery.

Now, in May 2011, on the 25^th anniversary of Peter Shire’s first public art project –and nearly twenty years after these seminal works were first constructed, La Luz de Jesus Gallery is pleased to be the first commercial space to not only display these great works of art, but offer them publicly to private collections: Hokkaido Story Revisited.

It is perfectly fitting that Shire’s work should return to the neighborhood of his childhood, and personally gratifying that on the vigintennial of our first meeting, I get to be the one to present it.

Matthew Kennedy

PETER SHIRE
Hokkaido Story Revisited: Late Spring
May 6th - May 29th
Artist Reception & Preview:
Thursday May, 5th 7-9PM

THE SHOW CATALOG IS AVAILABLE FOR $15.00

Niceness in the 90s - This Saturday!

Niceness In The '90s: An Indie Music Memoir by Jim Miller will be released on March 23, 2011. La Luz De Jesus will host a book release event four days early on March 19th (this Saturday!) from 6-9 PM. Jim Miller will be available to sign books, reminisce and answer questions. Anyone attending who is mentioned in the book by name will receive a complimentary copy. Event is free and open to the public.

At its core, Niceness In The '90s is a behind the scenes, club level look at the rise and fall of grunge from the touring guitarist and songwriter of Black Angel’s Death Song and Trash Can School. This very personal memoir chronicles Miller’s life in and around bands during the late eighties and early nineties as he transitioned from musician to manager and became one of the most influential promoters in rock as the live music booker at legendary downtown L.A. dive, Al’s Bar. Although the book spans 1985 to 1996, most of the action takes place from 1989 to 1992: the years Punk broke.

Fellow musicians and L.A. denizens come to life in chapters dedicated to Jane's Addiction, L7, Hole, Tad and Nirvana. "Anyone interested in the early days of grunge music should find this book a quick read, chock full of grunge action," Miller explains. He adds "2011 marks the twentieth anniversary of the release of Nirvana's Nevermind. It's a good time for older hipsters to look back and for younger hipsters to discover what all the fuss was about."

You can call the book manager to reserve your copy: (323) 663-0122.
And I almost forgot to mention that we got PICK OF THE WEEK in the LA WEEKLY –AGAIN!

Fire Walk With Us

We held the soft opening for Charon's Pantheon last night, and tonight we hold the artists' reception with Myron Conan Dyal and Jennifer Logan on hand to explain the origins of this heavily conceptual exhibition. There will be three performances of the 69 minute audio counterpart to the sculptures. Seating and standing room is limited, therefore RSVPs will be necessary. At least two professors attending the event on Friday evening intimated that this exhibition would become part of their mandatory curriculum this semester.

Since images alone do not capture the essence or mood of this incredible show, I encourage you to view the two videos below.
The images are taken from the exhibition catalog, which comes with an audio CD of the music. The book of Charon's Pantheon is published by Last Gasp Books for La Luz de Jesus Press, and is available for $25.




Charon's Pantheon: DEATH



Charon's Pantheon: GODDESS of TREES

These promotional videos give a basic introduction to what is now on view at La Luz de Jesus Gallery, but missing from them is the relative weight and the atmosphere of mysticism that permeates the live setting. Each of these sculptures has been "danced" by Myron Dyal in a spiritual ritual. The goddesses of the Pantheon are products of Myron's rebirth, as he terms it –a coma from which he emerged at the age of four that triggered a lifetime of visions, the result of his Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

The gallery has been completely transformed, and this will be a one month show, after which the entire exhibit moves to Grand Central Art Center as part of a rotating museum tour. The intimacy that La Luz de Jesus Gallery lends to the proceedings will be lost even if the grandiosity is enhanced.

In addition to tonight's Artist Reception, there will be three more lecture-and-listening parties throughout the month. On each Saturday in February (12, 19, 26) from 6-9PM, Dyal & Logan will host a seated performance of the music followed by an informal discussion of the work, during which they'll be happy to sign books and answer questions. I urge you to RSVP for at least one of these. This is no mere show, it is an experience. The feedback has been quite polarizing, with some attendees empowered and enlightened while others are utterly and completely horrified.

I offer you a chance to decide for yourself.

Our New Art Lecture Series Begins Today!

Today we celebrate the end of an extraordinary pair of exhibitions by hosting two informative lectures. Steven Daily will illuminate the hidden symbols and secret handshakes that populate his dense expose of Masonic Conspiracies: Covenant.

Howard Hallis will relate the creative process and personal sacrifices that culminated in the completion of his thirteen-year and fifteen-feet-tall project The Picture of Everything.
4pm until 7pm on Saturday, January 29th.


This weekend is also the last chance to catch Tammi Otis' A Fertile Madness and Charles Binger's posthumous A Pulp Life. Two absolutely stunning collections that need to be seen.


Next Week we'll be opening an extraordinary collaboration of art and music as we unveil Charon's Pantheon by Myron Conan Dyal and Jennifer Logan. We've published a catalog of this exhibition with an audio CD of the music written specifically for the statues on display. This is an installation unlike any we've ever hosted before. There will be a lecture series on each Saturday in the month of February that will begin with a talk and continue with a live musical demonstration.


On Valentine's Day we'll be hosting a very special signing with Marion Peck and Mark Ryden. This will undoubtedly be very crowded and we anticipate a long line, so mark your calendars. You can call the Soap Plant / Wacko for details: (323) 663-0122.

The following Friday we'll hand the gallery keys over to The Igloo Tornado for an event so wonderfully bizarre that I'm hesitant to post the details. Suffice to say that will be a Henry & Glenn Forever themed evening, and there will be art and music.

February heats up, courtesy of La Luz de Jesus!

Wow, Hsiao!

Congrats to Karen Hsiao who has two cover features on news stands now –just as her new exhibition, Between the Spaces, is about to open. Come on down this Friday (October 1st) to congratulate her! Between 7 and 8 PM, she'll be signing copies of her deluxe photo volume, Rubber Duck, recently published by Baby Tattoo Books. The reception closes at 11, but the show is up all month long. Fellow Art Center alumni Christine Wu and Matt Wood will be making their gallery debuts alongside her in Gallery I, and the Art of the Lowbrow Tarot Exhibition occupies the recently constructed Gallery II. Bear Flag Wine is sponsoring, and there are secret plans unraveling that I can't talk about yet. See you on Friday!

BUT BEFORE THEN: Don't miss Thursday night's Dave Cooper book release party either!
From 6-9 PM, he'll be kicking off his Bent Tour! Way to go, Dave!

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!