chumpchampion

For the east coasters who weren’t able to view Giant Robot’s Biennale 2: 15 Years at the Japanese American National Museum, you’ll soon be able to see what made Giant Robot’s anniversary show such a success as Prints and Pieces comes to GRNY this Saturday.

Among the artists featured will be Takashi Murakami, Chiho Aoshima, David Choe, Ai Yamaguchi, David Horvath, Dehara, and Le Merde.

Tweet This Post 

The art from tonight’s Upper Playground and Quentin Tarantino’s Lost Art of Inglorious Basterds art benefit for Haiti’s earthquake victims has been released and can be viewed in it’s entirety at Upper Playground’s website and in person at their downtown LA gallery. Details of the show’s extremely limited print run and show info can be found here.

*All proceeds donated to the American Red Cross to help victims of the Haiti Earthquake.

Here’s a look at 4 of the 13 prints that will be available tonight:

David Choe

Estevan Oriol

Alex Pardee

Grotesk

Tweet This Post 

Quentin Tarantino’s Nazi scalping masterpiece Inglorious Basterds gets the Upper Playground art treatment at their downtown Los Angeles gallery for the Lost Art of Inglorious Basterds benefit for Haiti’s earthquake victims. Limited edition prints inspired by the film will be on display and for sale and consist of original art by David Choe, Sam Flores, Estevan Oriol, Alex Pardee, Grotesk, Jeremy Fish, Patrick Martinez, Dora Drimalas, Munk One, N8 Van Dyke, Rene Alamanza, Morning Breath and Skinner Davis.

*All proceeds donated to the American Red Cross to help victims of the Haiti Earthquake.

From the Upper Playgrounders:

“Each print will be numbered and signed by Quentin Tarantino. Only (6) of each amount will be made. The prints can be viewed at www.upperplayground.com beginning on Tuesday, February 16, 2010.”

Read or click flyers below for more details.

Tweet This Post 

Oops, a little late on the closing party BUT the mega successful group show Giant Robot Biennale 2: 15 Years will be up for one last weekend through this Sunday at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo. Final weekend to view new works by David Choe, James Jean, Jeff Soto and many more.

Tweet This Post 

Two very special movie screenings tonight in Los Angeles both featuring art, violence, outlaws and some wild and dirty guys: the art doc on a mad Chinese man Dirty Hands: The Art and Crimes of David Choe and Sam Peckinpah’s brutal western masterpiece, The Wild Bunch.

• Giant Robot hosts Dirty Hands at the Japanese American National Museum downtown as their 15 year anniversary continues with the film segment of their Giant Robot Biennale 2. Admission to the museum featuring GR’s extensive group art show, including new works by David Choe, is free on Thursday from 5-8pm! Click the flyer below for more info.

• The Wild Bunch also celebrates it’s 40th anniversary at the star studded event for the Jules Verne Festival at the Million Dollar Theater also located in downtown LA. Among the celebrities in attendance will be original cast member Ernest Borgnine and legendary composer Lalo Schifrin. Click here or the poster below for more details.

Tweet This Post 

Wow, quite an overdose of art on both coasts awaits this weekend. Los Angeles and New York have got their hands full with some major (and minor) art openings and events going down featuring amazing things to see, hear, touch, create and even eat.

• The boldly inspirational artwork of pop artist, teacher and nun, Sister Mary Corita goes on display at the Zach Feuer Gallery in New York City. Some of her more prominent pieces from the work she created from 1960-1986 will be given an east coast home to inspire people who have yet to discover her art.

• The children of some of today’s most creative artists have been unleashed to form their own group show consisting of an exhibition of Halloween masks in the appropriately titled Chip Off the Old Block at Synchronicity Space on Melrose. Featuring the offspring of Tim Biskup and Seonna Hong, Cleon Peterson, Megan Whitmarsh, Christian Clayton and more.

• Giant Robot celebrates 15 unbelievable years of self publishing art and culture for the masses with the Giant Robot Biennale 2: 15 Years at the Japanese American National Museum in LA’s Little Tokyo. The fully loaded lineup of some of my favorite artists includes David Choe, Jeff Soto, James Jean, Luke Chueh, PCP, Albert Reyes and Deth P. Sun among the 50+ artist group show. Sure to be a massive opening so arrive early!

Check out curator and Giant Robot publisher Eric Nakamura’s blog to see some of the artists in action installing the show.

• Another highly anticipated anniversary celebration this weekend is the Hello Kitty Three Apples exhibition at the Royal/T Cafe in Culver City. The multi-dimensional day of Sanrio’s iconic Kitty includes a group art show of 80 collaborating artists including Ron English, Frank Kozik, Gary Baseman, Buff Monster, Friends With You, Luke Chueh and Natalia Fabia among others. Also in on all the celebrating are our friends at Flux who have curated the full day of Kitty activities.

• New York artist Marilyn Minter spits out new paintings, photographs, and her film Green Pink Caviar at Regen Projects on Santa Monica.

• A double dose of goodness at New York’s Jonathan Levine Gallery as Jim Houser opens his solo show Make Room For The Emptiness and Gary Baseman curates the group exhibition True Self featuring a who’s who of contemporary artists including the Clayton Brothers, Cleon Peterson, Dalek, James Jean, Korin Faught, Luke Chueh, Mark Ryden, Ron English, Ryan Heshka, Shag, Tim Biskup, Travis Lampe and a whole lot more.

• The awesome folk at Family have conjured up a diverse collection of new video art and animation for the group show Main Street at Hollywood’s Space 15 Twenty. The talented bunch of filmmakers include Andrew Jeffrey Wright, Jacob Ciocci, Miranda July, Peter Sutherland, Lucky Dragons, Paper Rad and more. Check Family’s blog for some fantastic looking film stills. Special shout out to my old editing peeps at Sunset Edit for supporting the show!

• And last, but definitely not least, is the premiere of my old pal Rich Newey’s short crime drama Breathe screening as part of the short film lineup for the Hollywood Film Festival screening at the Arclight. Read more on Rich’s cinematic short as well as his filmmaking process in this exclusive interview.

Tweet This Post 

So it seems that the end of Summer not only makes way for Fall, but also the beginning of the art season. If you live in the LA area, love art, like mingling with people who also love art, and enjoy drinking free alcohol while looking at said art then you’re in luck because this weekend is chock full of openings and all those things.

• The British artist collective known simply as The London Police respond to a call at the Carmichael Gallery on La Brea bringing with them Brothers in Arms, an exhibition of all new Hollywood-themed paintings, video and photography.

• Los Angeles photographer extraordinaire Doug Aitken migrates to Regen Projects on Santa Monica with a series of new text-based light boxes along with the west coast debut of the film Migration. *Also, the large-scale cinematic installation will be presented to the public on Santa Monica Boulevard projected onto the courtyard of Regen Projects II; visible only at night from sunset to sunrise. Check out some beautiful production stills from the film here.

• Cartoon master painter Kenny Scharf comes home to the Honor Fraser Gallery on La Cienega with Barberadise, a showcase of new paintings that integrate familiar icons from Scharf’s visual lexicon and implies a utopian world that is at once nostalgically comic and vibrantly cosmic.

• Camille Rose Garcia comes to the Merry Karnowsky Gallery on La Brea and brings with her The Hydra of Babylon, her latest paintings on wood and paper which explore the converging ecological and human catastrophes and the healing power of nature.

• And Then The Wind Changed so says Australian artist Anthony Lister as he brings his solo show to the venerable New Image Art Gallery on Santa Monica.

• Philip Lumbang brings his friendly faced bears and found mediums to a warehouse space in LA and transforms it all into a gallery space as he opens his show, Hug Life. Special musical guests DJ Diabetic (Shepard Fairey) and Intricate Machines will keep the show rocking all night long.

• The super successful Scion Installation 5 Tour comes to a close with Scion Art Tour: Self Portrait at the Scion Space in Culver City. Among the artists whose portraits will be auctioned off for the charity Creative Capitol include Blek Le Rat, David Choe, Ron English, Mark Mothersbaugh, Retna, Souther Salazar, Jeff Soto, Sage Vaughn and many more. Click here to take a look at the art for auction.

• Flock to the Flock Shop in Chinatown as they celebrate their 2 year anniversary with a show of Patrick Hruby’s new serigraph work in CMY Not?

• Cinespia’s second to last screening of the season brings Tim Burton’s 1985 classic comedy Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure to both the dead and undead at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

• And finally for all you music lovers and beat heads out there, spend your Sunday diggin the crates with fellow record collecting connoissieurs at the Beat Swap Meet at the Grand Star Jazz Club in Chinatown.

Tweet This Post 

Oh how I long to be one of the many thousands of lucky nerds in San Diego for Comic-Con (still can’t believe I’ve never been, I fear my dork credibility may be in jeopardy!) Fortunately there are many a happening around Los Angeles to take your mind off all the geeky goodness we’re missing out on.

• With that being said, allow me to start with a few events at Comic-Con for those who made the trek down the 405 freeway:

Artist signings by Mark Ryden, Joe Ledbetter, James Jean, The Pizz, Scott Musgrove, Ron English, and Travis Louie for Last Gasp Publishing.

James Jean (again), David Choe, and David Horvath for Giant Robot.

And a Tim and Eric sighting at their very own con of the awesome variety, appropriately called Awesome Con!

• Wayne White (one of my favorite typographists) and Exene Cervenka fly their way over to the Western Project Gallery in Culver City with their two person show, We Are Not the Jetset.

• Stick around Culver City for a three person show featuring some Heavy Petting with David Burke, Riddles In the Dark with Mia, and Keep It Down with guest artist Sarah Folkman at the Corey Helford Gallery.

• Don’t leave Culver City just yet cause the Scion Installation Space opens up it’s place for the 2009 Vice Magazine Photography Exhibition featuring Jamie Lee Curtis Taete, Maggie Lee, and former Vice photo editor, Tim Barber.

• Cinespia presents The Muppet Movie at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, need I say more?

• Recoup on Sunday and take an Urban Hike through Little Tokyo with the Architecture and Design Museum Los Angeles.

• Spread your wings and fly to the MOCA’s Pacific Design Center on Melrose for an art talk with Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues whose installation Feathered Edge: A New Installation by Ball-Nogues Studio is currently on view and features “over 21 miles of colored strings configured in catenary curves span the gallery space to form a dynamic environment.”

• And finally, end your weekend on a “high” note (yeah, that’s right I said it) with Cheech and Chong’s classic Up in Smoke at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Tweet This Post 

Group shows, group shows, and more group shows with Sarah Silverman, Z-Trip, Shepard Fairey, Diego Rivera, some graffiti, a dragon, and a Winnebago man mixed in to make your weekend well done.

• East coast meets West coast as artists Sage Vaughn, Dereck Albeck, Hiro Kurata, Mars Mario Martinez (MARS-1), G Bradley Rhodes, Britton Tolliver, and Oliver Vernon join forces for a group show at the Richard Heller Gallery in Santa Monica.

• At their not-so-secret Silver Lake comic book shop, The Secret Headquarters presents the Guilty Pleasures of artist Aiyana Udensen. Come for a drink or two and an “an informative slide presentation on rodent care”.

• Get down with superstar DJs and Darwin’s Revolution at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles for the last First Fridays of the season as Z-Trip, The Gaslamp Killer, and The Phatal DJ rock the hallowed halls of history.

-

• You don’t have to be quiet as you laugh your ass off at the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax as The Cinefamily presents Sarah Silverman presenting Carl Reiner’s 1970 black comedy, Where’s Poppa? as part of June’s Comedy Death Ray (Upright Citizens Brigade) series.

• For those looking to take a weekend trip to Northern California, the Scion art tour makes a move to San Jose with Installation Five: Self Portrait featuring artists Blek le Rat, Jeff Soto, David Choe, Kelsey Brookes, Mark Mothersbaugh, Ron English, Sage Vaughn, and many, many more at the Anno Domini Gallery.

• LA’s downtown Crewest crew presents a group tribute show to the mecca of the LA graffiti scene with The Legendary Belmont Tunnel. Featuring writers Cab, Man One, and the legendary Saber, among others.

• Sometimes there’s nothing funnier than found footage and the Cinefamily has a bunch of it as the Silent Movie Theater presents TV Carnage Night, the equivalent of “a mystical night of channel-flipping, in which every single click of the remote lands you on that bizarre something that stops you in your audiovisual tracks”. Check out a clip here:
TV Carnage Night (feat. One Man Force)
Silent Movie Theater
Saturday June 6, 2009 at 10:45pm 611 N. Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036 Cost: $10

• Giant Robot New York spotlights “indie-comics creators from across the country, ranging from stapled-and-folded stars of DIY to art-gallery superstars” with the group show Panelists V.

• The ever visceral Amanda Visell unleashes her latest vinyl toy, The Dragon Scout, for a release party at Pasadena’s Switcheroo workshop.

• For the Internationally inclined, the irrepressible street art icon Shepard Fairey opens a retrospective of his screenprint work at the Berlin arm of LA’s Merry Karnowski Gallery.

• See the Life-size Murals of Diego Rivera as educator Gregorio Luke leads an innovative multi-media lecture of the Mexican muralist’s life and work with the aid of 20,000 lumens at the Ford Theater. “Murals are projected life size using the most advanced projection technology and gives viewers the sensation of being in front of the original murals”.

• And finally, end your weekend on a f-ing high note with a sneak preview of Winnebago Man, a film in which filmmaker Ben Steinbauer takes on the seemingly impossible task of tracking down Jack Rebney (aka “the angriest RV salesman in the world”) and his hilariously foul-mouthed and ill-tempered outtakes from a Winnebago promo he made in the 80s. Check the original clip here:

Tweet This Post 

Today marks the opening of three shows at the Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art, including the much hyped group show Get Rich Quick! This isn’t just any group show mind you, this is a group show featuring a selection from the collections of collector’s collections. So basically it’s like an all-star team comprised of all-star teams. From the gallery:

“Carmichael Gallery is proud to present a selection of artwork from some of the strongest voices in the contemporary art world, including Adam Neate, Antony Micallef, Banksy, Barry McGee, Bast, D*Face, Dalek, David Choe, David Choong Lee, Faile, Herbert Baglione, Ian Francis, KAWS, Nick Walker, Paul Insect, Shepard Fairey, Sixeart, Skullphone, Space Invader, Swoon, and Will Barras. Both original works and a selection of rare, sold-out prints will be available for purchase. Please note that these artists are not represented by the gallery.”

Also opening tonight at the Carmichael is one of Paris’ best know graffiti artists, Alëxone. Featuring new works on acrylic, ink and mixed media works on paper, the show will be the centerpiece of the evenings openings.

And last but not least, Brazilian artist Thais Beltrame’s debuts his first U.S. solo show with When All the Stars are Gone. A new series of ink and watercolor works on paper will be on display, as well as a site-specific installation.

Tweet This Post