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If you’re a fan of the sweet science known as boxing or of the amazing Asians known as Filipinos, you most likely witnessed Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao’s dominating title defense victory over Africa’s Joshua Clottey this past weekend. Although Clottey’s defense protected him through 12 rounds and prevented him from ever getting seriously hurt by the non-stop barrage of Pacquiao punches (1231 punches thrown by the champ compared to only 399 from the challenger), the fight ended in a unanimous decision and near shutout on the judges scorecards. Next up for the people’s champ will be the fight that the world wants to see, Pacquiao versus Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Mayweather first has to defeat Shane Mosley in May) in what many consider will be the largest and most lucrative fight in the history of the sport later this year.

But you don’t have to wait months for your next Pacman fix, in fact you can own a piece of Pacquiao today as Gallery 1988 on Melrose has an exclusive limited edition screenprint by Alan Hynes for sale as part of their ongoing Greatest Moments in Sports History show (view artwork here).

Click here or Manny for details and purchasing info.

Also…missed the fight? Shame on you. Watch it here in it’s full length dominance:

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Mike C and the Hit+Run homies whip out the live screenprinting while Soundlessons provide the beats for the 5th annual J Dilla tribute, Still Shining. Proceeds from the event go to the J Dilla Foundation which helps “fund inner-city music programs, and provide scholarships to students attending schools that have progressive music curricula.”

Also…Dilla, aka Jay Dee aka James Yancy, who’s beloved for his exceptionally creative beat making and production skills plays an important and poignant role in the Tribe Called Quest doc I’ve been editing with Mike Rapaport. Much more to come on Dilla soon…

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Attention creative types: the collaborative project Artists Wanted has come up with a self portrait contest for you. Depicting yourself through “Fine Art, Painting, Sculpting, Drawing, Installation, Print Making, Graphic Design, Glass, Book Arts, Performance, Video Art, Street Art/Graffiti, Photography, Tattoo Art” and be judged by an esteemed panel of judges (Steve Buscemi?!) The grand prize winner will receive $7007 or 6 months free living in NYC. Submissions are due by January 14th, 2010.

Read on below or click Dali for more info.

From Artists Wanted:

“You are invited to participate in “The Power of Self” an international competition celebrating the vitality of self portraiture. A panel of judges including actor Steve Buscemi, director Chris Weitz, Guggenheim curator Helen Hsu and Flavorpill founder Sascha Lewis will award one artist a package of incredible prizes including six months of free living at The Edge in New York City or $7007 in cash. The most popular portfolio as voted by the public will also receive $1,000 cash. Your images have power. Now is your moment to reveal them to the world.“

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Although it may be cold and damp in LA, this weekend’s openings and events are sure to heat you up physically, mentally, emotionally and hopefully drunkenly.

• Giant Robot’s Biennale 2: 15 Years keeps on rolling with Friday’s intimate artist talk with fabled painter James Jean and GR’s Eric Nakamura (special edition print release too!) followed by Saturday’s (free admission day!) kid friendly art-making workshop with Stella Lai at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.

• Portland based artist Andy Kehoe opens his bigest west coast show to date when he unveils The World Unseen and Those In Between at Silver Lake’s Thinkspace Gallery. Take a sneak peek of the show here.

• The Multi-Plane group show at Culver City’s Corey Helford Gallery marks their biggest group show of the year in a throwback to early animation where “each artist created an original painting using the multi-plane, which was made famous by pioneer animators Ub Iwerks, Max Fleischer, Bill Garrity, and Walt Disney. Consisting of three individual surfaces housed in a custom-made frame, the multi-plane creates depth and a three-dimensional effect through two glass foreground layers and a background wood panel.” Among the incredible lineup of artists are Todd Schorr, Gary Baseman, COOP, Tim Biskup, Sylvia Ji, Ron English, Luke Chueh, Jeff Soto, Carlos Ramos and Sage Vaughn.

• The Hit+Run homeboys celebrate their four year anniversary of silkcreening Southern California with Repeat Offender at the Echoplex in Echo Park. A celebration sure to turn into the weekend’s funnest dance party. “With close to 100,000 one-of-a-kind HIT+RUN shirts printed since the debut in November 2005, show off your favorite H+R shirt and get into the party for FREE. The first 300 guests receive complimentary gift bags with mix cds, stickers courtesy of STICKY RICK, and your choice of a blank t-shirt or poster to customize.” Featuring live screenprinting of 20 exclusive designs from Kofie One, Shark Toof, Kime Buzzelli and Mike C among others as well as music from the Gaslamp Killer and many more of LA’s finest.

• A double dosage of the fine folks of Family on Fairfax as they open the aptly titled Group Show One on Saturday featuring artists Ashley Macomber, Kevin Christy, Nicholas Haggard and Sarah Soquel Morhaim, followed by Sunday’s launch of Dear JD Salinger, I Forgive You Signed, Yoko a limited edition book of new poems by Spencer Moody and Anthony Anzalone and published by Cali’s Teenage Teardrops.

• Sweetness is abundant on Saturday as Susan Cianciolo returns to LA with her latest collection of art and uniquely designed clothing with Mountains and Flowers. Also joining Susan will be the musical stylings of the multi-talented ASKA, all going down at Space 15Twenty in Hollywood.

• ‘Tis the season for Santacon. ‘Nuff said. Click here for Saturday Santacons in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. Check here for other worldwide Santacon locations.

• And finally, the fortunate art lovers of New York are treated to a double billing: James Marshall (DALEK) and his high flying space monkeys in his show And There Was War in Heaven; as well as the beautiful wooden women of Audrey Kawasaki in her show Hajimari-A Prelude. Both opening at the city’s Jonathan Levine Gallery.

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A solid first weekend of November with friends in art shows, friends being crafty, and Pac Man going up against Kitty. I got my money on Manny.

• Fifteen years strong, Marsea Goldberg’s venerable New Image Art Gallery keeps banging out the hits with the help of special human being Amber Abramson (who herself is often busy-being) as they present the group show 14 Artists. And these aren’t just any artists, they’re heavy hitters Judith Supine, Cleon Peterson, Skullphone, The Date Farmers, Richard Colman, and Erik Foss among others. Party starts at the gallery and continues on to the after-party at the Cha Cha in Silver Lake.

• Get your craft on at the Contemporary Crafts Market in Santa Monica as my dear old friend Tianna Osborne will be displaying (and selling) her art through her uniquely beautiful purses through the weekend. Flyer below is good for free admission for two!

• Want more Manny? Of course you do! So I suggest you start waiting in line now at Hollywood’s Montálban Theater as Nike Sportswear presents Under the Hood with Manny Pacquiao, a send off celebration and Q&A with the man himself and his team of Freddie Roach, Buboy Fernandez and Alex Ariza. RSVP is mandatory and capacity will surely be reached, but if you can’t make it in person the event will be streaming live on Niksportswear.com, Complex.com, and Facebook.

• The HVW8 Art+Design Gallery on Melrose reunites three old designer friends with the show Michael, Kevin & Geoff. Those three amigos would be: Geoff McFetridge who was of course in Beautiful Losers and whose work you’ve most recently seen in the title design of Where the Wild Things Are; graphic designer Michael Leon whose work with Nike is well documented; and Kevin Lyons who’s well, Kevin Lyons.

• Ever wanted to know how to blow yourself up? If your answer is yes (or if you just want to see some good art) then you’re in luck as WK Interact teaches you how to do so at Echo Park’s Subliminal Projects with his solo show aptly titled How to Blow Yourself Up.

• Speaking of blowing stuff up, the Three Apples Exhibition Celebrating 35 years of Hello Kitty continues at the Royal/T Cafe in Culver City with limited edition print releases, live painting, and meet and greets with some of the participating artists of this never ending event. Along with my Hit+Run homeboys silk-screening gear, Buff Monster and Plasticgod will be among the artists on hand from 4-9pm. Presented by Juxtapoz and Japan LA.

• And finally, another celebratory show as the clothing line Blood is the New Black celebrates their five years of existence with a group show and party at Silver Lake’s JÜNC Gallery. And what would an art party be without my talented friends, the lovely Jesse Spears and the sometimes bearded Dan Monick, among the many participating artists.

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Time for girls to dress like slutty something-somethings, guys to make minor adjustment to last year’s costumes and for me to edit my ass off on another uncelebrated Halloween (that makes 3 out of the last 5). And since I’ll be working on Saturday I’ll be dressed as an editor. BOO!

• Start your Halloween with some brain…cancer research fundraising. The Zombiethon-A Run For Brains is costumed walk/run fundraiser benefiting brain cancer research to be held at the Silver Lake reservoir.

• Find out what lurks In the Garden of the Mystic as Andrew Brandou unveils new paintings and rare silk-screened wood blocks at the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City. *Also free Halloween poster print for first 400 attendees at the opening!
  

• The evening gets weirder at The Cinefamily and Dublabs joint Bollyween party, a Bollywood-style Halloween party featuring drinks and dosas (provided by The Dosa Truck), ghoulish giveaways, costume prizes, DJ sets from the dublab “Bloodsucking” Sound System and Dr. Who Witchcraft Coven, more live performances and of course Bollyweird: The Movie — “their very own feature-length video mashup celebrating the most horrifying, fantastic, costume-crazed and outlandish moments of vintage Indian musical madness ever.”

• And of course what Halloween wouldn’t be complete without, uh, Halloween? John Carpenter’s 1978 scarefest gets even scarier as Cinespia screens Halloween at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

• And after all your Halloween night debauchery, how bout some wholesome goodness on Sunday with Hello Kitty’s Birthday Party. Curated by the fine folks of Flux, the continuing Hello Kitty Three Apples celebration takes place at the Royal/T Cafe in Culver City. The day’s events include workshops with artists Gary Baseman and Buff Monster and a live performance by the LA Ladies Choir complete with birthday cake!

From Flux:

You are invited to Hello Kitty’s Birthday Party. Come explore the Three Apples art exhibition and join some of the fun birthday activities planned throughout the day. Hello Kitty’s Birthday Party is hosted by Flux.

10am-12pm - Birthday Breakfast with Hello Kitty and DJ Lady Sinclair

11am-12pm - Figure Drawing Workshop with Three Apples artist Gary Baseman (Limited Capacity, sold out)

12pm-1pm - Toy Workshop with Three Apples artist Buff Monster (Limited Capacity, sold out)

2pm-3pm - Sushi & Bento Workshop with acclaimed chef Sushi Girl (Limited Capacity, sold out)

4pm-5pm - Live singing performance by LA Ladies Choir and Birthday Cake with Hello Kitty

Plus Hello Kitty Birthday Photo Booth

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Royal-T
8910 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232-2326
(310) 559-6300
Three Apples Exhibition: A Celebration of All Things Hello Kitty

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Sister Corita was a highly influential and inspirational art teacher and nun who created controversial pop art in Los Angeles during the 60’s. Earlier this year I edited a short film directed by Aaron Rose with a score by Money Mark to commemorate what would have been Corita’s 90th birthday. Today the art of Sister Corita will be on display and for sale at Landis Gifts & Stationery in Hollywood’s Larchmont Village. A percentage of sales all day will benefit the Corita Art Center.

Here’s an excerpt of the “ABC” song from our short film Become a Microscope-90 Statements on Sister Corita (music by Money Mark and Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond. Title design by Keith Scharwath. Motion graphics by Max Erdenberger, Alex Dervin, and Miguel Bautista. Produced by Jon Barlow and Arlo Rosner):

ABC’s from Central Office on Vimeo.

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Art all weekend long from Fullerton to Culver City to the entire expanse of Washington boulevard and Beyond Eden with a little ghostbusting thrown in for good measure.

• The Barnsdall Art Park in Los Feliz goes Beyond Eden for a two day art fair celebrating the latest movement in contemporary art in Los Angeles. Fifteen LA area galleries will be represented along with live painting, screenprinting, performance art and food trucks galore. Other highlights include the documentary film on southern California artists Scribble.08 and Tatiana Wills and Roman Cho’s photo series Heroes and Villains, intimate portraits of emerging and established figures in the Pop Surrealist, Graffiti and Alt-Comic Book worlds including LA based artists Todd Schorr, Dave Kinsey, Gary Baseman, Seonna Hong, Saelee Oh, Mark Ryden, Robert Williams, Tim Biskup, Mr. Cartoon, COOP, Shepard Fairey, Kozyndan, Souther Salazar, Shag and many more. Check Beyondeden.com for the full schedule of events.

• Homeboy Ito not only strolls into town from New York to catch all three Thom Yorke shows, but he also “presents images from his time traveling the world as Damon Dash’s personal photographer and a collection of personal work captured during the Summer of 2009″ in his photo show titled EVERYBODY SOMEDAY at the PÄS Gallery in Fullerton.

• Concert poster master/vinyl toy creator Frank Kozik unveils a show shrouded in mystery at Billy Shire Fine Arts in Culver City. Who knows what to expect but I have a feeling it involves these two mutants:

• The Scion Space in Culver City goes to Infinity with a “group exhibition of artists whose practices or aesthetics relate to the many facets of the infinite.” Featuring Richard Colman, Andrew Schoultz, Aaron Noble and many more.

• Spend A Day in LA as over 60 artists Los Angeles artists and non-artists show off their work in unused public outdoor spaces along the entire length of Washington Boulevard’s 27 miles, from Whittier to Venice Beach. “For one day artists will perform works, create installations, facilitate happenings, and make music in unexpected spaces, such as on the sidewalk, between dumpsters, along railroad tracks, as well as inside the audience’s cars as they traverse one of LA’s most iconic boulevards.”

• In conjunction with the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, end your weekend donating canned food for LA’s hungry while busting some ghosts at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for the 25th anniversary screening of Ivan Reitman’s 1984 classic Ghostbusters.

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Close out the summer this Labor Day weekend with art openings, saving our state parks by dancing your ass off and watching classic movies in unusual places around Los Angeles.

• Brooklyn based artist Jon Vermilyea brings an Attack From Space with art and a new silkscreen book to The Secret Headquarters in Silver Lake.

• Fresh friends at Fresh Pressed host Michael C. Hsiung and his cast of mythical creatures for an opening and live screenprinting of select works in Los Feliz.

• Picnicing, beer tasting and “beautiful baby” watching at the Barnsdall Art Park for an outdoor movie night featuring Jon Favreau’s Los Feliz inspired Swingers.

• Go to the Fuck Yeah Fest and help save our state parks while enjoying the musical stylings of the Black Lips, No Age, Tim and Eric and many more F-Yeahers at the Los Angeles State Historic Park.

• Buff Monster brings a Heavy Metal Ice Cream Smile to the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City just in time to cool off and close out the summer.

• Be there for Being There at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery as Cinespia presents the 1979 dramedy (and original Forrest Gump) directed by Hal Ashby (Harold and Maude) starring Peter Sellers.

• Enjoy your day off while watching the recently departed John Hughes’ 1986 classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Also at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

• Also on Saturday night, The Cinefamily on Fairfax and Paul F. Tompkins (Mr. Show) has an adventure for you should you choose to accept it: Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure directed by Tim Burton. Screening as part of the Upright Citizens Brigade’s Comedy Death Ray series.

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One of the funnest parts about putting together these weekend event lists is coming up with an appropriate title using the words from said events. As seen above, this weekend’s happenings has churned out the perfect storm of words. From partying with porn stars to making art with nuns, Los Angeles has a lot going for it under our overcast skies, including our beloved Lakers winning it all in Orlando this Sunday!

• Get your porn on all weekend long as Erotica LA 2009 sexys up the LA Convention Center with pornstars galore and the 40,000 estimated attendees who masturbate to them.

• Be both Cute & Dangerous at the group show of the same name at the seven-degrees gallery down in Laguna Beach.

• The Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax continues June’s Comedy Death Ray (Upright Citizens Brigade) series with Bob Odenkirk (half of Mr. Show) presenting Albert Brooks’ 1979 directorial debut Real Life.

• The celebration of Sister Corita’s art and inspiring spirit just keeps on going as a modern day happening happens at the Corita Art Center in Hollywood. Complete with silk-screening, banner and flag making, music, food, a procession with pipes, the day’s festivities also include the release of the 2nd edition of Jan Steward’s Learning By Heart. Corita is definitely alive and well.

• Skaters (Tony Alva), artists (Shepard Fairey), and skateboarder artists (Mark Gonzalez) pay tribute to one of Dogtown’s legendary photographers, Wynn Miller, with the group show The Detournements of Wynn Miller at the Exhibit A Gallery on Fairfax.

• Attaboy presents A Touch of Evil with his latest drawings, paintings, sculptures, and Gooberries at the POVevolving Gallery in Chinatown.

• Childlike pop-art illustrations meet vector based computer art when J. Otto Seibold comes to Giant Robot’s GR2 on Sawtelle with his Jottobots.

• And finally, end the weekend laughing with a tribute to unorthodox cult comedian Mitch Hedberg at The Silent Movie Theater as the Cinefamily “commemorates the comic’s legacy with a screening of his TV appearances, live performances, and the pilot to his unreleased MTV reality show, The Mitch Hedberg Project. Also showing is his autobiographical 1999 feature, Los Enchiladas; directed by Hedberg, the film focuses on the humorist’s early days as a Mexican restaurant employee in the suburbs of St. Paul.”

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