Heather Watts and Danni Shinya Luo have shows upcoming at La Luz de Jesus, opening on April 1 – here are links to an interview with Heather, featuring some pieces that will be in the show, and a time-lapse Vimo video of Danni Shinya Luo creating a beautiful piece with a col-erase red pencil and ball point.
Link: Heather Watts interviewed on the Hi-Fructose website
“Everything but the Kitschen Sync XIV”
March 4 – 27
Opening Reception: Friday, March 4th, 8-11 pm
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90027
323-666-7667
www.laluzdejesus.com
info@laluzdejesus.com
La Luz De Jesus Gallery will be holding their annual juried group exhibition, “Everything but the Kitschen Sync” this coming Friday, March 4. This gigantic, no-theme show features works from some of the freshest and most relevant artists working today. Commercial illustrators, graphic designers, tattooists, scenic painters, students, and animators and other have been invited to submit images. The show includes artists the gallery has previously exhibited, who consistently produce some of the most interesting paintings and sculptures in pop contemporary, as well as a large selection of work from a brand new batch of undiscovered, underground talent. This year’s list of 121 Kitschen Sync artists showing 225 pieces were chosen from over 8000 entries that were sent to the gallery throughout the year.
“Everything but the Kitschen Sync” began in October 1986 as the “Día de los Muertos” show which was entirely focused on the folk art, sculptures and imagery of Mexico’s “Day of the Dead” celebration. By 1995, gallery owner and curator Billy Shire felt the show had run its course and presented other themed group exhibitions such as the 1996 “21st Century Tiki Show” curated with Otto Von Stroheim. In 1998 Shire decided to present a non-themed show dedicated to illustrative and narrative artwork. As many local artists work in commercial graphic art fields such as illustration, cartooning, animation, ect, the show was named “Uncommercial Art by Commercial Artists.” In 2004, Shire changed the show name to the more encompassing and less-cumbersome “Everything but the Kitschen Sync.”
“Everyone looks at this show for new and interesting artists” states Shire – and indeed, not only does La Luz de Jesus pick artists from the Kitchen Synch for future smaller group and solo shows – numerous curators and owners of other galleries also keep their eyes on the yearly show for potential artists to add to their rosters.
“This is the only opportunity for emerging artists to show at the most prestigious gallery in post-pop and it is one of the most 
anticipated shows of the year because patrons get a crack at buying art from future superstars” states gallery director Matt Kennedy.
“Everything But The Kitschen Sync” 2011 Artist List:
Jessicka Addams
Ron Adkins
Marco Almera
Betty Alvarez
Susanne Apgar
Chris Athans
Davidd Batalon
John Brosio
Greg Brotherton
Michael Brown
Blue Broxton
Jeaneen Carlino
Evan Chambers
Andy Clark
Lacey Clemens
JAW Cooper
Edward Robin Coronel
Matthew Couper
Robert Craig
Will Crane
Jessica Dalva
Patrick “Star27” Deignan
Delphia
Robert Doucette
Dimitri Drjuchin
Jesse Fillingham
Mary Fleener
Vanessa Flores
Tim Forbus
Harold Fox
Frijol Boy
Don Fritz
Richard Frost
Rachel Fujii
Damian Fulton
Jeff Gillette
Mark Gleason
Bruce Gossett
Desiree Grisham
Max Grundy
Sunny Gu
Tamara Guion
Conrad Haberland
Caitlin Hackett
August Hall
Walt Hall
Ashley Harrison
Derek Harrison
Gale Hart
Andy Hernandez
Brett Hess
Scott Holloway
Jack Howe
Bree Hranek
Eric Hudgins
Jeremy Hush
Jennifer Jelenski
JoKa
Damara Kaminecki
Da Hae Kim
Miran Kim
Tara Krebs
Eunbyul Kwak
Dennis Larkins
Dave Lebow
Caroline Lee
Alexis Lopez
Carl Lozado
Danni Shinya Luo
Dion Macellari
Jon MacNair
Monika Malewska
Apricot Mantle
Robert Marbury
Aya Masuda
Mark Melchior
Miso
Junko Mizuno
Nicole Moan
Roberto Morales
Click Mort
Emi Motokawa
Munk One
Corinne Odermatt
Daisuke Okamoto
Jose Ontiveros
Amy Ortiz
Nathan Ota
Cristina Paulos
Celene Petrulak
Linda Quakenbush
Cate Rangel
Brian Raszka
Bonni Reid
Eric Richardson
Gustavo Rimada
Antonio Roybal
Leigh Salgado
Van Saro
Scott Saw
Kim Scott
Simon Sotelo
Andy Steele
Bryce Takara
David Russell Talbott
Hui Tan
Johnny Taylor
Pol Turgeon
Marietta Villalva
Javier Villanueva
Edith Waddell
Jessica Ward
Dave Warshaw
Mel Weiner
Mirmy Winn
Jasmine Worth
Christine Wu
Adam Ybarra
George Yepes
James Zar
Kim Zsebe
Brett Hess “Iconoclast” Acrylic on wood panel 22.25″ x 26″ in 26.25″ x 30″ frame
Evan Chambers “Diving Bell Desk Lamp” Copper, bronze, blown glass 4″ x 8″ x 4″
Eric Hudgins “The Liberator!” Oil on canvas 24″ x 30″
Betty Alvarez “Romantic Underworld” Acrylic on canvas 16″ x 20″ in 22″ x 26″ frame
Bonni Reid “Never a Frown” Egg Tempera and oil on hardboard 13″ x 16″
Nathan Ota “Wind Me Up” Mixed media, acrylic painted resin sculpture 6″ x 8″ x 6″
TOO FAST TO LIVE, TOO YOUNG TO DIE
Selections from California Punk
February 25 – March 26, 2011
Opening Reception:
Friday, Feb 25th 2011 / 7 – 11 p.m.
Musical performance by OFF! and the Nichemakers at 9pm
Tickets available for in Gallery Purchase starting Feb 21st /$5 CASH ONLY
FEATURING WORK BY EDWARD COLVER, SHEPARD FAIREY, GLEN E. FRIEDMAN, JENNY LENS, DAVE MARKEY, RAYMOND PETTIBON, JORDAN SCHWARTZ, WINSTON SMITH
Original flyers, posters, set lists and more from Bryan Ray Turcotte (Fucked Up + Photocopied)
More information at SUBLIMINALPROJECTS.com
Curated by Katherine B. Cone and Jon Cournoyer
TOO FAST TO LIVE, TOO YOUNG TO DIE is a selection of photography, art and ephemera from the California Punk & Hardcore scene with an emphasis on the explosive period of the late 70′s and early 80′s. This exhibition features creative pioneers who were present for the detonation of the Southern California scene and whose imagery helped capture and craft it’s angles, attitudes, music, fashion and sub-culture. Additionally, reflections of other punk scenes throughout California and contemporary collaborations will be presented that were inspired by one of the most potent and relevant periods of individual expression in California history.
Edward Colver has been a Los Angeles-based photographer for over thirty years creating some of the most iconic images of the L.A. punk scene early in his career. Self-taught he had his first photograph published after just three months. A fixture of the early SoCal scene, its been said, “If you went to a show and Edward Colver wasn’t there shooting pictures, you were at the wrong show.” The retrospective exhibition and publication, “Blight at the End of the Funnel” was hosted by Cal State Fullerton in 2006 and the documentary “American Hardcore” featured many of his images.
Glen E. Friedman is based in New York City and is one of the most revered photographers of his generation, continually capturing rebellious individuals from the musical and youth sub-cultures. In 1982, he photographed, art directed and published the influential punk zine “My Rules”, one of the first comprehensive documents and commercially successful chronicles of the American hardcore punk scene. Continuing through the 1980s and 90′s, he captured classic punk and hip-hop images of Black Flag, Minor Threat, Public Enemy, Run DMC and more, many of which are considered the subject’s definitive portrait. Since 1997 his exhibition, “Fuck You All” has been consistently traveling both nationally and internationally, highlighting important works that span throughout his prolific career. His photographs are in the collections of institutions such as Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Smithsonian Institute and the Experience Music Project Museum.
Shepard Fairey is based in Los Angeles and is the founder of the Obey Giant street art campaign. Obey Giant was largely modeled after the D.I.Y., by any means necessary, ethos of punk rock. Fairey heard the Alternative Tentacles comp “Let Them Eat Jellybeans” in 1984 and was energized by the music including California bands like Black Flag, The Dead Kennedys, Flipper, and the Circle Jerks.
Jenny Lens, MFA, a native Angeleno, immediately rose to prominence with her first photos of the Ramones first west coast tour, August 1976, ending with the Clash, England, July, 1980. She shot revered and iconic photos of X, Germs, Iggy Pop, Blondie, Patti Smith and many more. Her images are extensively seen in and grace the covers of many major punk books, CDs, DVDs, docs, TV. She is hailed as the most published West Coast photographer documenting the early punk scene of 1976-80. In addition, her popular online postings of historical recollections continue to provide accurate first-hand insights into an often under-documented scene, especially from a West Coast woman’s point of view. Her solo book, “Punk Pioneers, When Punk was Fun,” was published by Rizzoli/Universe.
Dave Markey and Jordan Schwartz are the founders of the zine “We Got Power” which documented the Southern California punk scene in the early 1980′s. The subsequent photographs it produced uniquely captured this important period. Schwartz was also a producer for Lovedoll Films and served as press and booking agent for SST Records during this period. According to the 1985 Rolling Stone article he was one of the last people to sleep on the floor of the now-legendary record company, “If you work for SST Records you have to be prepared to sleep on the floor”. Markey’s work in film/video created some of the most important documents of it’s time and included collaborations with Sonic Youth, Raymond Pettibon, Nirvana, Mudhoney, The Ramones, Black Flag and many more. His films have been in festival screenings both national and internationally, including the United Kingdom screening tour entitled “Desperate Cinema” in 2005. A solo exhibition of his films was hosted by Seventeen Gallery in London in 2009. Most recently a selection were included in the Sonic Youth internationally traveling retrospective “Sensational Fix”.
Raymond Pettibon is based in Venice, California and is a leading figure in the international artworld who sprang from the world of California punk and illustration and whose work is now in the permanent collections of galleries and museums throughout the world. His early artistic roots lie in music, specifically in the Los Angeles punk rock scene designing artwork for SST Records and bands such as Black Flag, The Minutemen, and Sonic Youth. He has had museum exhibitions at MOCA, SFMOMA, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, Centro de Arte Contemporaneo de Malaga, Spain and many more. He has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Bucksbaum Award in relation his installation at the 2004 Whitney Biennial.
Winston Smith is a San Francisco-based artist whose roots lie in punk rock album cover design and collage imagery. His early work involves album art for the Dead Kennedys and has gone on to create over 50 record covers and has had numerous international exhibitions of his artwork over the last thirty years. Last Gasp has published a large selection of his work and he recently had a retrospective exhibition “Deep Dimension” in San Francisco, CA.
Henry & Glenn Gang-Bang: group art show and book signing
Featruing Igloo Tornado – Tom Neely, Gin Stevens, Scot Nobles, Levon Jihanian and more than a dozen guest artists
Feb. 18 – 27, 2011
Reception for the artists and book signing
Friday, February 18th, 2011 8 – 11 p.m.
Black Fag & Glenn performing live. Feast Truck providing food for purchase.
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
www.laluzdejesus.com
info@laluzdejesus.com
‘Henry & Glenn Forever,” a comic book by the Los Angeles art fraternity Igloo Tornado that finally answers the question, “what if Henry Rollins and Glenn Danzig were a little more than ‘friends?’” has become a cult phenomenon in the comics and music scene since its release in April. Now, Igloo Tornado members Tom Neely, Gin Stevens, Scot Nobles and Levon Jihanian have put the question to more than a dozen other artists, who will offer their own answers in a group show opening Feb. 18 at La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Hollywood. Participants include critically acclaimed L.A.-based artist Eric Yahnker, low-brow superstars Coop and Clayton Brothers, and alternative cartoonists Ed Luce, Johnny Ryan and Kaz as part of a diverse group of artists, cartoonists and oddballs.
The Igloo Tornado will also debut their own new Henry & Glenn-themed works in the show and be on hand at the opening to sign copies of Henry & Glenn Forever. The Misfits cover band GLENN will perform live.
Henry & Glenn Forever has sold more than 30,000 copies since its release by the Microcosm imprint Cantankerous Titles less than a year ago. What started as a joke scrawled on a bar napkin has become a bona fide hit, spawning dozens of print and online write-ups from outlets including Spin, National Public Radio, MTV, LA Weekly, Decibel, Maximum Rock’n’roll and Razorcake. While the comic book has reportedly inspired outrage from singer Glen
n Danzig and indifference from former Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins, the lighthearted send-up of two of punk’s most macho icons has gained thousands of fans.
Artist list: Jose Gabriel Angeles, Bald Eagles, Ben Claasen, Shane Brown, COOP, Clayton Brothers, Jordan Crane, Dave Davenport, Justin Hall, Levon Jihanian, Rusty Jordan, KAZ, Keenan Marshall Keller, Ed Luce, Patrick Morgan, Kiyoshi Nakazawa, Tom Neely, Scot Nobles, Jonah Olsen, Shauna Peterson, Johnny Ryan, Reuben Splatterbeast, Gin Stevens, Billy Reynolds, Jeff Ward, Steven Weissman, Eric Yahnker and more…
Marion Peck & Mark Ryden
A Valentine’s Day Signing Party!
Signing their recently published “Animal Love Summer” & “Snow Yak”
Monday, February 14th, 5-7 PM
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
Soap Plant / Wacko
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90027
323-666-7667
www.laluzdejesus.com
info@laluzdejesus.com
La Luz de Jesus presents a special double-header Valentine’s Day art-book event featuring Mark Ryden and Marion Peck signing their most recent monographs. Come early! Please note: in-store purchase ONLY will be eligible for signing so leave all your other Ryden and Peck goodies at home – there will be plenty of stuff available at La Luz de Jesus / Soap Plant / Wacko for your signing desires!
Mark Ryden’s “Snow Yak”
Traverse Mark Ryden’s vast wintry landscapes into the frigid domain of the majestic Snow Yak. Images from Ryden’s acclaimed Japanese “Snow Yak” Show are reproduced in large 11″ x 14″ format, and include many detail images and drawings. In this set of work, Ryden paints with a pallet of subtle whites and greys to create mysterious scenes of soft snow, clouds, and fur. The inhabitants of this wintry world are bare angelic figures and their companion woolly snow yaks. The works were originally shown at the prestigious Tomio Koyama Gallery in Tokyo in February 2009. This book features all of the works, as well as photographs of the work on display and of Ryden’s trip through Japan. Mark Ryden came to preeminence in the 1990s. With his masterful technique and disquieting content, he became a leader in the revitalization of painting, combining accessibility, craftsmanship and technique with socio-cultural relevance and emotional resonance. His work has been exhibited in museums and finer galleries worldwide. $28.00, Hardcover: 68 pages, published by Last Gasp; Bilingual edition, Language: English, ISBN-13: 978-0867197372, Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 14.8 x 0.6 inches.
Also available – “Snow Yak Postcard Microportfolio”
Marion Peck’s “Animal Love Summer”
Animal Love Summer is the first full monograph for painter Marion Peck. One of the leading ladies of pop surrealism, Peck populates her dreamlike paintings with strange, cute creatures. As her magical and bucolic landscapes unfold, an uneasy melancholy fills the air — the birds are chirping, but the sounds are not quite right. The viewer pauses and questions the reality Peck has created, as well as one’s own. Themes of hope, despair, mystery, nostalgia, love and death recur throughout Peck’s work alongside motifs of dreams, big-eyed animals, natural landscapes,doe-eyed children, royalty and peasantry. With references ranging from Pieter Bruegel to Holly Hobbie, Marion Peck mines the depths of art history, popular culture and the human experience for her meticulous scenes. While peasants dance in a painting of the same name, their son leers at a corralled ass while the evening’s dinner runs around with its head cut off. In her painting “F*ck You,” a nod to François Gérard’s 1804 “Portrait de Mme Tallien,” an elegant royal is anything but, as she tells us how she really feels. Peck looks beyond the subconscious, reminding us that the waking world is never quite as it seems. And with her dark sense of humor and irrepressible optimism, she assures us that while life can be ominous, tragic, even deceptive, it is also beautiful, magical and alive with hope. $29.95, Hardcover, 128 pages, published by Last Gasp, Language: English, ISBN-13:978-0867197419, Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 9.3 x 0.5 inches.
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
First show of 2011!
Charles Binger “A Pulp Life”
Steven Daily “Covenant”
Howard Hallis “The Picture of Everything”
Tammi Otis “A Fertile Madness”
January 7 – 30
Opening Reception: Friday, January 7th, 8-11 pm
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90027
323-666-7667
www.laluzdejesus.com
info@laluzdejesus.com
Cover to “The Day of the Locust” by Nathaniel West (1953) Oil on board – 26″ x 24″ (plus frame)
Charles Binger “A Pulp Life”
Charles Ashford Binger was a British-born painter who found great success in Hollywood and on Madison Avenue. His commercial art included film posters, pulp novels and celebrity portraiture in a career that spanned the 1920s -1970’s. Binger’s hallmark style utilized impeccable composition, rendered in a painterly style over roughened textures. His science-fiction paperback covers include masterpieces “The Illustrated Man” by Ray Bradbury & “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley. As Marilyn Monroe’s favorite illustrator, he created three of her most memorable film posters, including “Niagara” and “River of No Return.” His gift at capturing beautiful and vulnerable women in oils made him a highly sought portraitist among the crowned heads of Europe, and a valuable commodity in the emerging post-war pulp market.
This is the first exhibition of Binger’s work in 45 years, and the very first time that these works have been offered for sale. Condition is consistent with commercial work of this era
Click here for an extended Charles Binger biography
Click here for Charles Binger show preview
Steven Daily “Covenant”The world of Shriner Parades and Freemason Lodges has been an ongoing interest for Steven Daily ever since his family moved from Southern California to the Midwest – Southern block of the United States during his formative years. For the past decade, Daily has been researching these societies of secrets, conspiracies on the global elite, One-World Government, ritual-based orders, and theories around these ancient fraternities whose clandestine orders formed the foundation for our country and even today hold the most powerful positions in our government. Daily found the imagery, iconic symbology and secret rituals irresistibly striking and became fascinated that a country that was supposed to be founded on the Hebrew God was founded by men who performed ancient rituals behind closed doors. “Covenant” is Daily’s interpretation of the mystique, rumors, facts, research and theories based on the cloaked oaths and pacts that man makes with the mystic and odd. Daily lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
Steven Daily “Covenant” VIDEO PREVIEW from Sketch Theatre on Vimeo.
Howard Hallis “The Picture of Everything”
Howard Hallis earned a BFA in Fine Art at UCLA studying under Chris Burden, Charlie Ray, Richard Jackson, Paul McCarthy and Nancy Rubens. He was at the creative center of Yidcore band Gefilte Fuck, and collaborated on three books with Timothy Leary. Howard is the world’s authority on Dr. Strange and has been an important force in the Los Angeles counter-culture scene for decades. Reminiscent of Mike Kelly, Hallis’ art betrays a level of obsession far beyond reasonable calculation. He began work on “The Picture of Everything” in 1997, and by the time he finished his masterwork in September 2010, it was almost 15 feet tall and 12 feet wide. This is the first public showing of the complete, finished work, which is so large that it must hang at an angle to fit in the gallery. Divided into eight framed sections, this incredibly unique, detailed and whimsical work will be offered for sale for the first and only time at this showing. A series of five oversized lenticulars of The Picture of Everything and an edition of 420 signed and numbered giclees (sized 27″ x 39″ and printed on 10-point card stock) will be available for purchase at the exhibition, which will include several additional, unique, large-format lenticular collages.
It’s easy to get lost in the miasmic nostalgia that this giant, hand-drawn masterpiece epitomizes, as the artist has captured literally everything that you could possibly recall from the world of pop-culture. It took the better part of 13 years to create, and it could take you even longer to identify all of the characters that it references, making this is a must see installation -enjoyable for all ages. Howard Hollis Blogspot
Tammi Otis “A Fertile Madness” Oil on gold-leafed panel 10″ x 10.75″
Tammi Otis “A Fertile Madness”
Tammi Otis paints in oil glazes because they convey a luminosity that she can’t get with other mediums. “I need that special light effect because it’s an integral part of what I want my work to convey…an inner world – maybe not seen clearly, but definitely felt” states the artist. Otis conveys through her artwork, the emotional being manifesting itself as a tornado, a halo, or a bird such as a crow. She paints the joy, sorrow and spiritual secrets of our intimate minds.
“Madness is a fullness in my mind—-Each idea, each thought, chasing one another round and round without end until I MUST paint them, if only to still the voices for a minute. Birds flit about between realities, bringing truths and secrets back and forth across great chasms of forgotten things. Souls are bound by an interior web of emotions that manifest in odd projections about their heads or even physical ties to……And always, the orbs, because my madness is circular…….it comes back on itself. My process for each work takes months, with every figure telling me what SHE needs in the next glaze. Many paintings will have 30 or more layers by the time they’re finished, much like the layers of a personality. They change. They speak to me in whispers……madness.” Tammi Otis lives and works in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. www.tammiotis.com
Joe Sorren signs his book “Painting – Sculpture 2004 – 2010”
Saturday, November 27th: 6-8 PM
La Luz de Jesus
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90027
323-666-7667
www.laluzdejesus.com
info@laluzdejesus.com
Joe Sorren‘s oil paintings redefine traditional naturalist scenery such as caves, reefs, and seashores, inserting a surreal mood through soft but eerie imagery, thick Impressionist- inspired brushstrokes, and childlike, yet animalistic, figures caught in mid-motion. The new gothic sentiment is subtly imbued in pale hued paintings that feature organic and distorted forms with exaggerated heads springing out of gelatinous blobs. Although the subjects are often childlike, the postures and weariness betray adult maturity, drawing a fine line between the vulnerable and precocious. Bulls and minotaurs parade guiltily with parasols and umbrellas through both Sorren’s original paintings and the sculptures created in collaboration with Jud Bergeron. This monograph of work from 2004-2010 is published in conjunction with the exhibition “Joe Sorren: Interruption” for the Grand Central Art Center at California State University, Fullerton. Sorren’s artwork has appeared in numerous publications, including The New Yorker, Time, and Rolling Stone, and has been featured by Warner Bros. and Atlantic Records.
“Painting – Sculpture 2004 – 2010” by Joe Sorren $29.95, Hardcover, Color, 144 pages, 11.5 x 10 inches, ISBN-10: 158423430X, ISBN-13: 9781584234302, Publisher: Gingko Press
Black Friday Art Sale
Friday, November 26, 2010, all day!
La Luz de Jesus
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90027
323-666-7667
www.laluzdejesus.com
info@laluzdejesus.com
Art from the collections of their collectors, including paintings and more by Robert Williams, The Clayton Brothers, Tim Biskup, Liz McGrath, Camille Rose Garcia, Shepard Fairey, Marion Peck and many others!
As the birthplace of the lowbrow and pop-surrealism art movements, La Luz de Jesus has hosted exhibitions for the most collectible artists in post-pop. We hosted three shows for Robert Williams, four for Gary Baseman, and granted the very first solos to Pizz, XNO, Tim Biskup, Chris Mars, Liz McGrath and The Clayton Brothers. We granted early wall space to artists Camille Rose Garcia and Kukula and showcased an important retrospective for Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. In recent months, a number of our patrons have offered some of the most desirable pieces from these and many other artists. Follow this link for a catalog of some truly remarkable work that has re-entered the marketplace via this single day event. For those who have long sought pieces from these artists, but have lost out to clients on their waiting lists, here’s your once in a lifetime chance to acquire blue chip art at significantly lowered prices.
Check out our Ebay store