chumpchampion

Inspired by Jim Henson’s magical Labyrinth, artist and creators gather and get down for the group show Dance Magic Dance at downtown’s R&R.

From R&R:

“On July 9th, Los Angeles gallery R&R will host Dance Magic Dance, an exhibit inspired by Labyrinth, the 1986 fantasy classic starring with David Bowie, Jenifer Connelly, a horde of goblins and countless creations from the limitless mind of The Muppets puppeteer Jim Henson. Dance, which takes its name from a song Bowie performs in the film, will feature pieces by Austen Stanton, Ayami Kawashima, Brad Isdrab, Bryce Takara, Carrie Cottini, Cody Comrie, Chico Munson, CW, Damon Alcorn, Daniella White, Daphne Yap, Dave Correia, David Ra, Heather McMillen, Jason Moore, Jeben Berg, Jess Sluder, Jonathan Wayshak, Justin Fry, Kube, Lucien Shapiro, Patrick Hruby, Robert Bowen, Tony DeMille, Vic Back & Wendy Teague and more…

Dance is a labor of love for R&R, the downtown LA-based gallery intent on staking its place at the juncture of pop culture and high art. “We have a lot of love for this movie,” says R&R co-curator Mark Yamamoto. “The look and feel is very Inspirational, so full of magic and mystery.” A product of the final years before the Internet shattered collective consciousness into a trillion web addresses, Labyrinth and many other movies of the era expanded the boundaries of imagination for a generation. Dance heralds R&R’s first step into a sustained exploration of pop culture over several shows, one of which will be a tribute to the actor Bill Murray.“

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Films about an inspirational pop art nun (including ours), a Karaoke dance party, Muppets and more Muppets, and of course art openings highlight this weekends highlights.

• Pocket wallet pioneers Poketo take over Royal/T’s this summer with their storefront pop-up shop. Tonight they transform the joint into a Karaoke Dance Party with our fun Fluxer friends Jonathan and Meg Wells on an esteemed panel of judges.

• The Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax has Muppets on the mind once again as they bring back last year’s sold out showings of Jim Henson’s mind-blowing collection of shorts, crazy commercials, and other rarities including the not-be-to-be-missed Oscar winning Time Piece. Bonus: midnight screening of Henson’s feature film The Dark Crystal!

• With the Lotus Festival on hiatus this year the Echo Park Community Fest has come in to save the day, or weekend rather. Fun for all with carnival attractions, International foods, and the music of the lovely LA Ladies Choir with the Chili Pepper’s Flea (responsible for some songs from our Sister Corita film-more on that below)

• Giant Robot offers up prints to take home when the group show of 50 plus artists titled Printed Matter opens at GR2 on Sawtelle Saturday night. Featuring Bigfoot, Buff Monster, La Merde, Saelee Oh, Deth P. Sun, Albert Reyes, Andrew Jeffrey Wright and many more. Preview here.

• Constantly bringing the goods with their carefully curated shows, the Constant Gallery opens Desert Sexy “a survey of artists originating from and inspired by California’s low desert scene. Along with work by Logan/The Date Farmers, Anthony Lepore, and Peter Sutherland, we’ll be having an opening night musical performance by stoner rock progenitors Yawning Man (pre-Kyuss).” Check the preview here.

• Girls go wild as the Honor Fraser Gallery opens Bitch is the New Black, an all women art show featuring “fourteen Los Angeles-based women who are all emerging or established artists from roughly the same generation and are bright lights on the local scene.”

• Another Muppety evet at the Silent Movie Theater Saturday this time screening a matinee of Muppet Music Moments which, as you may have guessed, is a collection of musical performances from The Muppet Show.

• And finally end your weekend inspired as our short film (Become a Microscope: 90 Statements on Sister Corita) about the life and art of Sister Corita Kent will be screening at the Silent Movie Theater Sunday night alongside two other films by Corita’s friends, Mary’s Day (1964) by Baylis Glascock, and Survival With Style (1966) by Cal Bernstein, Alex Singer and Haskell Wexler. Both of these rare films will be screened from their original 16mm prints, and Mary’s Day will feature a live score by special musical guests!

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With the new year now upon us, I thought it totally apro-pro to start Chumpchampion’s 2009 campaign with Jim Henson’s surreal passage through time with Time Piece. Truly ahead of it’s “time” and sans his beloved Muppets, the Oscar nominated experimental short film was directed, produced, and written by the master Muppeteer himself as he tells the story of a man (Jim Henson) and his place in time over several different incarnations. Time Piece is a lesson in the rhythms and beats of film editing, sound design, and musical scoring, and has also been a major inspiration as I begin to edit a film on the provocative pop art nun Corita Kent this month. “Help!” indeed.

More info on Time Piece here at the Muppet Wiki.

And Time Piece also available for only $1.99 through itunes.

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