Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall Art Park

LAMAG Benefit Auction – Sunday, May 1st · 3-6 PM

Final plans are in motion for the Auction and Party featuring more than 100 artists’ work to benefit the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Don’t miss this evening of creativity and fun with a mix of artists and creators, business, cultural, and civic leaders – all celebrating LAMAG’s legacy and its bright future.

LAMAG is L.A.’s gallery and they need your support! To purchase tickets: Click here. To Preview the art works: Click here.

All proceeds from the benefit and auction will go to support the gallery’s innovative exhibitions, stimulating special programs, provocative lecture and educational events, cutting-edge curatorial initiatives, and insightful catalogues and publications.

Hors d’œuvres and wine are included in the price of admission. Music will be provided by DJ Colin Kim plus be on the look out for the Untitled Collective’s interventions that reveal (or conceal) layers of meaning and mystery.

Hot, established and emerging artists in the auction include:
Kim Abeles | Edith Abeyta | Suzanne Adelman | Lita Albuquerque | Juna Amano | Michael Arata | Edgar Arceneaux | John Baldessari | Judie Bamber | Kireilyn Barber | Christopher Barbour | Lou Beach | Barbara Berk | Richard Bilow | Sandow Birk | Caroline Blackburn | Richard Bilow | Jodi Bonassi | Amy Bouse | Angie Bray | Tony Brown | Nancy Buchanan | Anita Bunn | Rude Calderon | Jo Ann Callis | Max King Cap | Castillo | Ching Ching Cheng | Anthony Clarkson | Joe Davidson | Roberto Delgado | Raoul de la Sota | David DiMichele | Renee Dominique | Dana Duff | Sam Durant | Val Echavarria | Edem Elesh | Shepard Fairey | Nicholas Fedak II | Alice Fellows | Judy Fiskin | Kathi Flood | Martin Gantman | Carol Goldmark | Orestes Gonzalez | Phyllis Green | Todd Gray | Mark Steven Greenfield | Iva Gueorguieva | Mary Addison Hackett | Doug Harvey | Charles Hachadourian | Marybeth Heffernan | Bonita Helmer | Juan Carlos Muñoz Hernandez | Anne Hieronymus | Linda Jacobson | Gegam Kacherian | Mike Kelley & Michael Smith | Siri Kaur | Yoichi Kawamura | Soo Kim | Nicholette Kominos | Maddy LeMel | Christophe Leroux | J.J. L’Heureux | Peter Liashkov | Ronald J. Llanos | Nuttaphol Ma | Daniel Joseph Martinez | Meg Madison | Barry Markowitz | David MacDowell | Charlene Matthews | Mineo Mizuno | John Mooney | Aaron Morse | Manfred Müller | Rosalyn Myles | Kristen Neveu | John David O’Brien | Chris Oatey | Stas Orlovski | Ara Oshagan | Sheila Pinkel | Mei Xian Qiu | Megan Quinn | Stuart Rapeport | Tony de los Reyes | Rebecca Ripple | Frank Romero | Charlene Roth | Joy J. Rotblatt | Scarlett Rouge | Ross Rudel | Alison Saar | Betye Saar | Lezley Saar | Connie Samaras | Gwen Samuels | Richard Serra | Michael Sheehan | Kyungmi Shin | Peter Shire | Karen Sikie | Nathan Singer | Anna E. Siqueiros | May Sun | Kent Twitchell | Yosuke Ueno | Mauricio Vallejo | Margo Victor | Margaret von Biesen | Pat Warner | Marnie Weber | Weegee | Wayne White | Alexandra Wiesenfeld | Norton Wisdom | Karen Frimkess Wolff | Nan Wollman | Augusta Wood | Michiko Yao | Liat Yossifor | Mary Younakof | Liz Young | Carrie Yury

Guest Auctioneer: Alex Slato, Associate Director, LA Artcore

BENEFIT COMMITTEE:
George Billis Gallery LA
Edward Cella, Edward Cella Art + Architecture
Mary Leigh Cherry, Cherry and Martin
Stephen Cohen, Photo LA/Art LA Projects
A. McLean Emenegger, Milo + Mclean/Mclean Fine Art
Kristi Engle, Kristi Engle Gallery
Sidney Felsen & Joni Moisant Weyl, Gemini G.E.L.
Lauri Firstenberg, LAXArt
Emi Fontana, West of Rome Public Art
Peter Frank, Huffington Post/Fabrik Magazine
Kathy Gallegos, Avenue 50 Studio
Eric Garcetti , LA City Council
Edward Goldman, Art Talk KCRW
Andrew Hosner, Thinkspace
Merry Karnowsky, Merry Karnowsky Gallery
Nowell J. Karten
Tom La Bonge, LA City Council
Steven Lavine, CalArts
Hillary Metz
Merry Norris, Merry Norris Contemporary Art
Jack Rutberg, Jack Rutberg Gallery
Billy Shire, La Luz de Jesus Gallery
Franklin Sirmans, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Rose Soshana, Rose Gallery
Louis Stern, Louis Stern Fine Arts

SPONSORS:
Artillery Magazine, Barnsdall Art Park Foundation, Fine Art Solutions, Finishing Concepts, Jeff Kies Custom Picture Framing, and New Alchemy Framing

For donations and information contact:
Meg Madison, Program Committee Chair
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery Associates
meg@megmadison.com / 213.393.9333

April 1 – May 1, 2011
Opening Reception: Friday, April 1, 8-11 pm

La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90027
323-666-7667
www.laluzdejesus.com
info@laluzdejesus.com

Official afterparty, Friday April 1, 11 pm – TAIX Restaurant in Echo Park featuring The Dick and Jane Family Orchestra – Free admission!

Mark Gleason – “Mannerism”

In “Mannerism,” Mark Gleason continues to use Mannerist techniques with oil on canvas to explore existential themes via absurdist situations. Animals are often included to define aspects of the relationship of a central character’s orientation or connection to the world via communion or costume in psychologically fraught, private environments. Gleason’s subjects are shown in moments of preparation and conflict — his figures have roles to assume, and in doing so, a form of inner self is revealed.  His metaphoric images may seem cryptic but represent the underdog and the disenfranchised deriving fearsome capability from the mask of the powerful; figures communing with animals, or donning the guise of animals, holding knives out like some kind of animal self-protection stance or the Sisyphean struggle of attempting to lift books when you’re standing on them.

“Hopefully, my wit comes through in each painting. I would feel successful if I could convey the same kind of absurd humor found in Samuel Beckett’s writing. The imagery is a construct that has multiple meanings and layers and I leave blanks for the viewers to fill in. I’ve come to see that others bring their own stories and feelings to the work. I’ve intentionally fostered that kind of response with recent work, and I’m honored and challenged in creating something that may spark others to open their own responses to the work. I resonate to a statement by Degas to the effect that art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” states Gleason, whose work is also inspired by novelist Cormac McCarthy and silent film star Buster Keaton.

In addition to painting, Mark teaches high school art in Palo Alto, California and writes a daily music blog, “what do we have for entertainment”. This is Gleason’s second featured exhibition at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. www.markgleason.net

Daniel Lim – “Sweet IMperfections”

Fawn Fruits aka Daniel Hyun Lim relishes the spontaneity of the art and moves things as he goes with colored pencils and acrylics. His works are somewhat timeless with a striking juxtaposition of muted versus vibrant hues. The colors are an anchor to reality and are a huge factor to the symbolic message that he is telling. “Somewhere over the colors of the rainbow there lies a significantly beautiful truth, a truth that can only be realized with an intimate encounter. “Sweet IMperfections” is an artistic interpretation of a promise between the creation and his/her creator” states the artist. Rather than forcefully preaching to the viewer with religious imagery and symbolism, Lim brings new life to the genre by producing work that is based on his personal views on religion. “Although we see ourselves as imperfect souls, in the eyes of a loved one, we are perfect” states Lim who feels that there are enough serious paintings in the world that shout and make big statements. He wants his work to be more subtle and speak peacefully to the viewer and to bring a moment of tranquility. His dream is to show the world some love, one Fawn Fruits at a time. Lim is an illustration instructor at Otis college of Art and Design, Santa Monica College and Red Engine Studios. www.fawnfruits.com

Danni Shinya Luo – “Chaotic Harmony”

Danni Shinya Luo’s female forms breathe with a sensuality and intuition that will shatter your preconceptions about her chosen medium, the watercolor painting. Shinya’s fluid and organic figures are full of feminine mystery and romance. Her colorful animals are magnificently fierce, emanating a primal magnetism that is practically pheremonic. In “Chaotic Harmony,” using whimsical and subtly erotic figures, the interactions of human beings with their avatars from the animal kingdom convey modern psychological truths while relating age-old mythologies. The concept of this new collection is birthed from the artist’s own internal world; her past experiences are transformed into physical creatures, textures and color palettes. The subtextural inclusion of archetypal symbolism is never forced nor heavy-handed, but further enriches the central, “surface” view with allegorical depth –a reward for those willing to investigate just a bit further…

Originally from Shanghai, China, Danni Shinya Luo moved to California in 1995. She fell in love with art in grade school and after a few years of private study (and an apprenticeship with Chinese watercolor master, Ding Ha) was accepted into Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where she majored in illustration and graduated with honor in 2006. Shinya participated in key group shows, select solo exhibitions, and saw her work published in periodicals like Bust and Initiativa, books like “Eye Candy” and “Sugar & Spice,” as well as design projects like Nickelodeon’s Neopets and a line of toy dolls for Hasbro. In the year that has passed since her last featured exhibition, “Spiritual Deficiencies,” Shinya has published a now sold-out collected volume of her gallery exhibited work, “Breaking the Ice.” She also helped develop the re-branding of Marvel Comics’ signature female mutant “X-23” (providing the cover art for the first three issues). Later this year, her second book, “Soft Candy: The Art of Danni Shinya Luo,” will be released through seminal art publisher Last Gasp Books, featuring a collection of 200 full color pages of brand-new drawings and paintings. www.fawnfruits.com

Suffused with pessimistic shadows and redemptive illumination, Canadian pop-surrealist painter Heather Watts’ intricate paintings harness the pageantry of anthropomorphic heroes and martyrs to tell the story of individuals grappling with forces larger than themselves. “Some of the pieces for this show are quite dark thematically, but I’m not interested on focusing on the darkness for its own sake in my work, I’m interested in using it to show light, to paint darkness as something that reveals light, to see the darkness as a canvas for light, an opportunity for light to shine”  states the artist.

Watts, who is well-known for her past tiki-inspired paintings has exhibited works in galleries across the US and overseas, including La Luz de Jesus, Strychnin, The Shooting Gallery, M Modern, and Roq la Rue among others.  She is a self-taught painter with a Bachelors Degree in Asian Area Studies from the University of British Columbia. www.heatherwatts.com

Official After Party with
The Dick and Jane Family Orchestra
Free admission!
Taix Resturant
1911 Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 484-1265
www.taixfrench.com

Incelebration of this show and La Luz de Jesus’ out-of-town guests, Heather Watts (Vancouver, BC) and Mark Gleason (Palo Alto, CA)  there is an official after-party in the bar at TAIX, a beautiful French restaurant established in 1927, just a short drive from the gallery on Sunset Blvd in Echo Park. The Dick and Jane Family Orchestra features vocalist Jane Cantillon, her husband Richard Ross on guitar, percussionist Michael Pfeffer and La Luz de Jesus publicist Lee Joseph on bass. The combo plays a hybrid of urban garage folk. The show starts at 11:00 pm and the band starts at 11:30 pm. No cover charge!

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

Link: Danni Shinya Luo in her second Vimo installment, “Year of the Rabbit” breathtaking! Music from the equally lovely Karen O and The Kids.

These photos were snapped between March 1 and March 3 and document Billy Shire and assistants installing the massive 121 artist, 200+ piece  La Luz de Jesus Gallery juried group show, “Everything But The Kitschen Sync 14” along with the show’s artist preview night.

Roman Cho shot these photographs of the show’s opening party on March 4.

Have a look at the entire show at this link! There are still many great and affordable pieces for sale.

“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

Preview the entire show here!

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″

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.

Here is a video of the Lowbrow Tarot group art show which took place in October of 2010 at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. The show was curated by Aunia Kahn and included the artists Carrie Ann Baade, Christopher Ulrich, Edith Lebeau, Cate Rangel, Kris Kuksi, Chris Mars, Christopher Umana, Chris Conn, Brian M. Viveros, Claudia Drake, Heather Watts, Molly Crabapple, David Stoupakis, Laurie Lipton, Patrick “Star 27” Deignan, Chet Zar, Jessica Joslin, Danni Shinya Luo, Jennybird Alcantara, Angie Mason, Scott G. Brooks, Aunia Kahn and Daniel Martin Diaz.

The video was shot and edited for Vancouver, BC artist Heather Watts ( www.heatherwatts.com ) by Mike Wollen of Foundry Films. Watts will be showing a series of pieces at La Luz de Jesus Gallery this coming April 2011.