A Gallery Full of Sculpture-Matt Hillseth

Matt Hillseth is continually working. But I never see him. Enjoy his art. Photos taken in East Gallery at CGU.

Culver City Field Trip, Part 3, Lana Shuttleworth

Lana Shuttleworth

These pieces are strange, or shall I say, strangely made? Made out of little cut up pieces of what looked to be rubber, the images appear very different from a distance. I took close-up detail pictures because the small piece work and hundreds of little nails is fascinating. Click on: Lana Shuttleworth to see what she uses to make her rubbery images. Her work can be found at: George Billis Gallery.

Visit to CB1 Gallery–Ardeshir Tabrizi

Paintings and Notes. Work by Ardeshir Tabrizi. The art did not stand out for me. The paintings/drawing are well executed. I do enjoy seeing good drawing skills and art with a lot of patterning. I write about it here because I got to take home a dandy 16 page booklet. It has been sitting on my desk for weeks.

Ardeshir Tabrizi, cover of booklet.

The booklet could also be called a catalog. This week, art coach Alyson B. Stanfield shared a blog post encouraging artists to make catalogs of their work periodically. Read about it here.
 

Should artists share their sketch books in a gallery setting? Ardeshir Tabrizi not only framed some of the pages of his sketchbook, he also printed them in the booklet that was given away to interested patrons of the gallery.

I question if the sketchbook is a "sketch" once it is brought into the gallery. It brings up for me public vs. private domain of art production. Is a sketch for the eyes of the artist and/or fabricators only, or are they also relegated to the gallery setting as: Art? I have no answer to this question. Below are some pictures of the booklet.

Ardeshir Tabrizi

Ardeshir Tabrizi

I like the raw feeling of the sketch pages. I was fortunate enough to be invited to the backroom of this gallery to see other works by this artist. The backroom work was better, I thought. I was and am grateful for the peek behind the scene at CB1 Gallery.

Please consider posting your ideas about:

Do sketches belong in galleries?
Have you considered making a catalog of your own work?

Culver City Field Trip, Part 4, Charlotte Smith.

These paintings are beautiful. I have never seen anything like them. Made of layers of acrylic. Mostly dots and drips. Charlotte Smith's work can be found at George Billis Gallery in Culver City, LA.

Charlotte Smith.

Charlotte Smith.

Charlotte Smith.

Charlotte Smith. Detail.

Culver City Field Trip, Part 2, Michael Wilkinson

Michael Wilkinson

The work of Michael Wilkinson at Blum and Poe. His work transformed the gallery space in a most unexpected, bewildering and wonderful way. Even the ceiling started to feel like it was part of the artists conception of the overall atmosphere. I will say no more. Let the photographs I took do the talking for me. Enjoy!

Michael Wilkinson

Michael Wilkinson

Michael Wilkinson

Michael Wilkinson. Lego Cube.

Michael Wilkinson

Michael Wilkinson, sand.

Michael Wilkinson, felt.

Michael Wilkinson, wood pole.

Michael Wilkinson, mirror material.

Michael Wilkinson, I found an abstract image in the work.

Michael Wilkinson.

Michael Wilkinson.

Go See It–LACMA Visit

My family and I went to see the art work "Levitated Mass" on July 7, 2012. Or as well call it, "The Big Rock at LACMA." Nicknamed, "The Rock." Upon first approaching it my younger son said, "So what is the big deal with this rock, the Egyptians moved a lot of rocks, maybe even bigger than this one, without any trucks." He was not in LA during all the news coverage, so he really did wonder, what is the big deal?

He has a point.

As a family we approached the art piece as do many other people by walking down the ramp towards the rock. We stood under the rock for a few seconds. We looked up and noticed that it is bolted to metal strips on either side of the deep ramp. We began walking up the other side of the ramp. While moving away from the boulder we turn around a few times to look again. We took some pictures.

My Husband and Son.

The Bolts under the Rock.

Other Families.

It is funny. When we arrived, the rock did not feel or look that big to any of us, but as I view these pictures I realize that yes, the scale is rather large in comparison to the people in the photographs. The images are right out of my camera. No special lens. No Photoshop. As my older son mentioned while we ate lunch after viewing The Rock, "You know that rock was pretty amazing."

I opened the Los Angeles Times news paper today, Sunday, July 9, 2012 and Levitated Mass is on the front cover. I moved to The Guide, Museums section, and again The Rock is mentioned. This time by critic, Christopher Knight. Basically everyone saying, "Go See It." I would be remiss if I did not mention Michael Heizer, the artist who conceived of this project.

Is Michael Heizer a super hero? Didn't Superman move rocks to save the city from a dam bursting or a nuclear power plant from being demolished? Will Levitated Mass save LACMA from infrequent visitors? Is anything sensational any more?

Our family saw The Rock–um Levitated Mass–and we had a wonderful day. We also viewed Chris Burden's Urban Light. We took some requisite pictures.

We ate lunch off of a truck. We went to TINI–a wondrous store. We went to KR3W–a swell store. We also visited the Original Farmers Market to eat some ice cream. The Grove is nearby. What I am trying to tell you is, go ahead and see "Levitated Mass" because there is so much else to do in a 3-6 block radius. You have nothing to loose.

Did I mention the La Bea Tar Pits, The Craft and Folk Art Museum, and Galleries near LACMA called the Miracle Mile Art Walk? Obviously you could also view a temporary exhibit or a permanent installation at LACMA while you are there. The adventure took a whole day and there was something for everyone in our family.

Gallery Visit–OCCCA, Maldita Frontera

I recently took my second visit to the OCCCA Gallery. My first being in June of this year. I was not disappointed. Maldita Frontera opened on July 7, 2012. The show ends on July 28, 2012. The event was held during the Santa Ana 84th Anniversary celebration of the Santora Building.

Ramon Carrillo, detail.

The meaning of maldita frontera is: damn boarder or horrid boarder. There are so many times when I walk into an exhibition and think to myself, yea well so what? This exhibit tries to ask the viewer to care, to look deeper, to think. The execution of the art varied from excellent quality to somewhat rougher executions. One begins to see that this topic should be given more time and consideration.

Does the show do enough? Is there enough content presented to bring attention to the realities and horrors of the boarder between the United States and Mexico? The show walks the tight rope of informing and not blaming. I should mention that all of the gallery tags are in Spanish first, then English. A nice touch allowing Spanish first.

My teen aged children who viewed the work with me felt the show was about prostitution and drug trafficking. They rely on what they see without reading labels in a gallery. This tells me that the images could be read on multiple levels.

Below is a gallery shot of the work of Ramon Carrillo. The execution was of layers and layers of dripped acrylic paint to create the image. The paint kind of binds on itself just as the topic of the US/Mexico boarder is complex and multifaceted. The US and Mexico are bound to each other and we need each other. Similar to how each layer of paint holds up the next layer and creates form.

Ramon Carrillo.

Ramon Carrillo, 2009. Human torso hanged with metal hook.

Pablo Castaneda, 2012. Orson Wells/Thirst for Evil, according to Orson Wells. Detail.

Many people at the opening.

Pablo Castaneda full view. Almost big enough to make me think of Guernica by Pablo Picasso.

Eduardo Kintero, 2012. Ceramic on Panel.

Eduardo Kintero.

Eduardo Kintero. With a translation by Suzanne, the author of this blog post:
I need some help. My boy went to the other side. He went for a few dollars.He did not return.

Eduardo Kintero, 2012.

Across the street I visited another open studio/gallery.

Jose Quant.

Jose Quant.

Jose Quant.

This painting stopped my son and I in our tracks. It was hung in a stairwell, so I was unable to get a straight picture of it. Still, remarkable use of paint and texture.

Marinus Welman, The Execution. 78 x 64 inches, oil on canvas.

Marinus Welman, detail.

Marinus Welman, detail.