OC Art Blog

Traveling Yogi - NYC & Rome

Hey there, just stopped in to New York for a few days on my way to Rome.  

Landed in time to hit the streets for a much needed jog around central park and trek down to the financial district for Canadian dancer/photographer Paul-Andre' Fortier's live performance infront of 1 New York Plaza.  Every day for 30 days Fortier will perform for 30 minutes at high noon inside a taped off square (30' x 30' of course) right in the middle of the outdoor area of the plaza.  Yup, some things are still free in New York.

Believe it or not, this performance, composed of gestures like flailing arms, push ups, quasi yoga asanas, skipping, jumping, spins, intense eye contact, occasional sound effects (coming from the artist) and even some elegant modern dance sequences managed to silence the din we have all come to know and love on the streets of NYC. It's true, silence prevailed.  There was an occasional cell phone screamer and awkward group of young men only too eager to avoid the scene that they caused a scene while fleeing. . . but all in all it was an outstanding performance (audience included). Bravo Mr. Fortier!

So if you are in NYC zip over to catch the show, great way to spend the afternoon!  Performance runs through August 14th, 2010.

Here are all the details and review from the New York Times.

Next stop Rome!

Joanna Grasso, Traveling Contributing Editor

Greer's OC Visits 100 Artists See Satan

There's still time to get down to Grand Central Art Center, catch the show, and make a bid on some great art. I already bought this and this. Here's a taste courtesy Greer's OC:

TEDx Fullerton Now Live - Creativity in Orange County

It looks like OC is going to get its own independently produced TED event taking place on Sept 10th at Fullerton college. I'm hopeful and excited about the creative/arts direction they're taking. Hopefully I will get an invite. More info:

TEDxFullerton is being produced by ArtspaceOC, “a playful collision of spaces + a serious think tank”. ArtspaceOC is the brainchild of Susan L. Petrella and Pamela Hughes Tice, lifelong artists, arts patrons and advocates whose vision is to “inspire Orange County to be a “creative” community. TEDxFullerton begins the conversation about what is means to be a “creative” community. What are the “ideas worth spreading in Orange County” which will achieve this goal?

TEDxFullerton is hosted by Fullerton College’s Fine Arts Division. It will be held Friday, September 10, 2010 at the Campus Theater, Fullerton College. We have a truly fantastic program for Orange County: LIVE Speakers from the corporate, academic, government, arts/culture spaces, TED Talks and music/art/film/video/game art performances.

Camilo Cruz/Slobodan Dimitrov/Nicholas Grider @ Angels Gate

I have to say that I picked the right weekend to spend all three days going to openings. Starting Friday with Christine Nguyen at the HB Art Center and finishing today at Angels Gate it has been a solid weekend of stand-out art, and I did not have to go to L.A. to see any of it.

The grand finale of the weekend was the work of Camilo Cruz. Cruz's day job is working for the court system in downtown L.A., He has a unique position serving as witness to the many people who are at the mercy, or make a living off, the system. The show, consisting of six large scale prints, is the most exciting photography work I have seen in quite a while. We are all familiar with the edgy documentary photography that pushes for a reaction, well Cruz's work actually has a vein of anxiety running through it, made more apparent by the artist's restraint. Cruz does a fantastic job of piecing together his subjects sympathetic portraits, the ominous background of the sterile legal corridors, and the absent but always implied hand of power that sits heavily on all his subjects. I was surprised to find out he has no gallery representation at this time. Someone needs to snap him up quick.

The strong Angels Gate show was rounded out by the artist portraits of Slobodan Dimitrov and the military portraits of Nicholas Grider. If you be a photography fan, you won't be disappointed in making the excursion to Angels Gate to see three photographers hit their mark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

The Hoff Foundation Announces Grant Program Recipient for the 3rd Quarter

July 1, 2008:  Huntington Beach, CA – The Hoff Foundation announced today that it will award a quarterly grants totaling $1,000 to the following Arts Organization based in Orange County.

National Choreographers Initiative: $1000 toward support of NCI Discovery 2010 to take place at the Irvine Barclay Theatre on July 31^st.

About NCI:

The National Choreographers Initiative was developed to promote the creation and production of professional dance. It is also an opportunity to engage outstanding choreographers from around the United States in the creative process. NCI provides an opportunity for the southern California community to be a part of the process of creating new contemporary ballets and seeing these works performed for the very first time.

About the Hoff Foundation:

        The Hoff Foundation is a private arts foundation formed in 2008 with a commitment to and passion for the arts. The Hoff Foundation’s mission is to play a significant and unique role in the development of the arts in the Orange County/Long Beach area.

        More information about The Hoff Foundation and how the grants are awarded can be obtained at their website at: www.thehofffoundation.org

July 1, 2008:  Huntington Beach, CA – The Hoff Foundation announced today that it will award a quarterly grants totaling $1,000 to the following Arts Organization based in Orange County.

National Choreographers Initiative: $1000 toward support of NCI Discovery 2010 to take place at the Irvine Barclay Theatre on July 31^st.

About NCI:

The National Choreographers Initiative was developed to promote the creation and production of professional dance. It is also an opportunity to engage outstanding choreographers from around the United States in the creative process. NCI provides an opportunity for the southern California community to be a part of the process of creating new contemporary ballets and seeing these works performed for the very first time.

About the Hoff Foundation:

        The Hoff Foundation is a private arts foundation formed in 2008 with a commitment to and passion for the arts. The Hoff Foundation’s mission is to play a significant and unique role in the development of the arts in the Orange County/Long Beach area.

        More information about The Hoff Foundation and how the grants are awarded can be obtained at their website at: www.thehofffoundation.org

New, Used, Borrowed @ Chapman University Gallery - Opening Photos

I ran over to Chapman University's Guggenheim Gallery for the opening of New, Used, Borrowed. I promise I'll start bringing a camera other than the iPhone from here on out. I really enjoyed the curatorial concept around this show. I think the next thing they should do is invite OC collectors in to throw some of their faves on the walls. It would be interesting, in my opinion, to see what other OC folks are collecting and get some dialogue going around the subject. I'm sure our local galleries would appreciate a little promotion of the joys of collecting contemporary art. But that's just me..

Julie Easton

Julie Lee

David Michael Lee

David Michael Lee Painting

Tom Dowling Painting

P. Williams

Camera Shy Don Cribb

Christine Nguyen @ The Huntington Beach Art Center - Opening Photos

Tonight I had a chance to make it to the Christine Nguyen show at the HB Art Center and it is a beauty. The show will be running for the next couple of months and I urge to get out there and take a look. It'll be one of the better shows you'll see in Orange County this year. Here are a few iPhone pics, so sorry about the quality. Enjoy:

Me & Christine

Ed Giardina

McLean Fahnestock

Marshall Astor

Bunny Gunner's 3rd Anniversary - Sat. Night

On Saturday night Pomona Arts District stalwart Bunny Gunner, will be celebrating their 3rd anniversary with All Ice Cream themed art, an Ice Cream Truck, Paletas, Music and Beer. The opening will run from 6 to 11pm and I'm sure lots of the art world will be there. Congrats Bunny Gunner!

New, Used, Borrowed @ Chapman University Gallery - This Saturday

The idea behind the exhibition New, Used, Borrowed, opening Saturday night at the Chapman University Guggenheim Gallery, is to show the role of the artist as more than “art maker” but also art collector and art admirer. Each artist has created a New work of art for this exhibition; each has included a work of art (or a grouping of artworks) they have purchased and Used in the context of their private life; and finally, each has Borrowed a work of art from an artist whose work they admire. Each grouping of New, Used, Borrowed is a small window into the artists’ studios and home surroundings; a little glimpse of what turns them on. The collecting, transaction, and even the exhibition of art by and between artists is a gesture of support towards one another, and an instinct that ensures the continuation of a world where the creative and visually talented may dwell for ever and ever. The reception will be from 5-8pm.

Three Exhibitions @ Angels Gate This Sunday 2-5pm

In three new exhibitions opening Sunday July 11 from 2-5pm, Angels Gate Cultural Center will be featuring photographic portraiture.  The three artists of these exhibitions range widely in subject, yet are brought together through their exploration of individuals that often go unseen - artists as workers, the human elements of the Los Angeles Superior Court system and members of the American military.

Slobodan Dimitrov: Artist Portraits
In 2006 the Angels Gate Cultural Center commissioned renown labor photographer and long-time AGCC Studio Artist to engage in an ongoing project to document artists working and exhibiting in the Harbor Area. This series is executed in large format, Polaroid Type 55 Black and White Film and captures artists as the working people that they are. This exhibition will be the first time that the series has been exhibited to the public, 150 images from this ongoing body of work will be on display.

Additional images from the Artist Portraits series can be seen online here

Camilo Cruz: Theater of Souls
An employee in the Los Angeles court system, Camilo Cruz is a witness to people at the mercy of system driven attorneys; toddlers crawling unattended on marble floors; sheriff deputies flirting with teenage girls. These and other scenes are simultaneously beautiful and circus-like, emotional and compelling.

Nicholas Grider: Soldiers, Marines and a Sailor
The work that comprises Soldiers, Marines and a Sailor consists of two bodies of portraits of US military service members. The first series, titled Soldiers and Marines, consists of a diptych portrait of U.S. Army Soldiers and an accompanying grid of portraits of U.S. Marines.

More info can be had here