OC Art Blog

East Village Redux

In preparation for the Beautiful Losers show about to open at OCMA. The OC Weekly has done a cover story on board art.

With the recent press and the show about to open...it's got me thinking.

Does anybody else see the similarities between the "Board Art" movement and the East Village scene now being revisited at The New Museum??

And if so, the question arises who in this new/old movement will still be shown in 5 or 10 years?? if anybody.

Stuff to think about.....and don't forget....the roller blade artists are right on their heels.....look forward to that.

artLA Report Card

Just got back and man, I'm tired. Lots of people, lots of talking.

Report Card:

Curatorial Interest: High. Lots of curators at the event some freelancers some with institutions. I have follow up to do with the San Diego Art Museum (loved Christine Nguyen). I have follow up to do with the Riverside Art Museum (They are doing a show in the summer that might include EunKang Koh, keep your fingers crossed) and I also have follow up to do with The French Consulate ( they want more info on Kyle Riedel and Christine Catsifas' work). And all this doesn't include the freelancers requests.

Sales: Terrible. Ask me in about a month if that improved. I'm supposed to get a lot of "calls." We shall see.

So for now I'm withholding judgment. If I can get one of the artists a Museum show or an international opportunity its all been worth it.

I'm sure Caryn at art.blogging.la will have a full report so be sure to check it out.

artLA Set-Up

Like I promised I took some pictures of the events of the day.

I have to say I was wrong. I thought there was going to be a lot of small work on paper but there is a lot of large good art to be found at this event.....lots of variety. I had a chance to see Blair and Chris from Acuna-Hansen Gallery and their booth looked great. They also told me that Naida Osline will be reviewed in Friday's LA Times. Caryn from art.blogging.la and sixspace fame was there with Sean getting everything ready. They were also exhausted like myself when I stopped to say goodbye. All and all the hang went well and I'm very excited about the event. Hope to see you all there. Those of you that are planning to come, you won't be disappointed.

Now the pictures (click to get larger):

Kyle Riedel and EunKang Koh getting things ready

Kyle Riedel & Christine Catsifas

Tyler Stallings

Christine Nguyen

Sherie' Franssen

Corina Gamma

EunKang Koh

Done!

artLA

Sorry for the lite posting but I'm trying to get work done at my real job while getting ready for artLA.

I'll be hanging tomorrow, so hopefully I'll take a couple of shots of the booth and post for those of you that won't be able to make it.

For those of you that will make it, please stop by and say hello. It would be nice to meet people that actually read this blog.

I'm cautiously optimistic that it will be successful. I'm a little concerned because I'm sure a lot of spaces will be bringing their 8x10 works on paper at $250 a pop, while most of the work we'll be showing will be in the 1k plus range....but you never now.

I do know the artists will receive very good exposure and so will the space....and that in itself will do.

Photo LA and Bergamont

Ran up to Photo LA today to take a quick peek. Lot's of good stuff but man was it packed. I'm glad that artLA is going to be a little more spread out and I'm hopeful that as many people attend.

Anyway, all the big names were there but my personal favorite was Michael Garlington's wall (pictured) over at Stephen Cohen's booth. I have known of his work for about 3 or 4 years now and I didn't know that Cohen had picked him up. The work looked good. Yossi Milo brought Loretta Lux and Alec Soth and they seemed to be selling a lot of both.

I also ran into OMC Gallery from Berlin who had Huntington Beach on their sign so I had to introduce myself. It seems he's just working out of his house now but we're going to talk again. He'll be coming to artLA. Maybe I can convince him to cluster with me and I can get a Bergamot South thing going. OC could use one.

Speaking of Bergamont, I ran over there on the way out. Outside of Mark Moore gallery it was pretty weak....Oh, and Patricia Corriea had a good show up.

Mark Moore was showing Christoph Schmidberger, a painter from Austria. The show was sold out and it was easy to see why. It's up for a couple more weeks so if you get a chance check it out.

The Good, The Bad....and The Ugly

Centered on the Center opens tonight at The HB Art Center. This is their annual event where they open the doors and let all comers hang their art. The whole art spectrum will be covered and the openings are always packed.

Details Follow:

Friday, January 21, 2005- 6-9pm

538 Main Street, Huntington Beach, CA 92648

A tour of NYC Alt Spaces

Tyler Green at MAN gives a tour of some of the better NYC Alt spaces here.

This post is of particular interest to me because The Office really is an alternative space, not your typical white box. It's good to see alternative spaces get some exposure. 

Pacific Drift Launch Party @ The Mountain Bar

On Sunday January 30th (after you have spent all weekend at artLA) Pacific Drift, the new radio program on 89.3 KPCC that covers art and culture in Southern California, will be hosting a launch party at The Mountain Bar in Chinatown.

I bring this up because on the first segment Adam Bryam and George Russell, who were responsible for the Ulteriora show at The Office back in November, will be taking Pacific Drift along as they explore and document an abandoned hospital in Downey.

Party Details:

Sunday, January 30th, 2005

8-11 pm (show broadcasts at 9pm)

The Mountain Bar - 473 Gin Ling Way, Los Angeles

OC Represent!

Via iconoduel it's Whitney submission time and he thinks the OC should represent. Details Here:

I would love it if artbloggers across the country cut and pasted this information onto their own blogs and we can send the curators a message that we want to see more than simply a reflection of the Chelsea market. E-mail the information to your artist friends! Post it at your local art center! Submission is free, you'll get a cool rejection letter, and who knows - maybe someone will actually slip through the NYC filter of money and connections.

Submissions:

All submissions to be considered for exhibition in the Biennial should include the artist's biography or resume, a brief description of the proposed work, and between six and eight images. Recommended formats for images include slides, computer printouts, digital images on a CD_ROM, audio CDs, or VHS videotapes. We do not accept original artworks in the submission package.

Submissions may be sent to:

Biennial Coordinator
Whitney Museum of American Art
945 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10021

Collecting Naida Osline

My most recent addition to the collection. The spirituality/transcendence of the piece hooked me. Her show is still up at Acuna-Hansen. Don't miss it.

From Mario Cutajar in Artscene Magazine:

The clinical focus on body parts set against flat, empty backgrounds tends to pathologize the mutations portrayed.  To that extent they dwell within the limitations of the freak show and the horror genres, which picture otherness as disease, and the point of view of the artist remains that of the manipulator not the manipulated.  Unlike, say, Cindy Sherman’s grotesques, Osline’s seem like passive accomplices to the voyeur’s gaze.

For the moment Osline seems content to revel in the almost unlimited plasticity and conjuring power of the digital medium.  The plasticity of any medium, however, is only a potential at the service of the far greater plasticity of the imagination.  It is the ability of the imagination to stretch beyond the ego boundary that makes empathy possible.  Elasticity, in that sense, is the basic stuff of compassion.  The alternative is dissociation and the experience of the body as sculptured meat--an experience that yields the absurdities Osline touches on in her photographs.