CLICK FOR BEYOND EDEN 2011 SLIDESHOW

Last weekend’s third annual “Beyond Eden Multi-Gallery Art Event” held at the historic Barnsdall Art Park / Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery in East Hollywood was vibrant and well-attended with an estimated 5000 people passing through the gallery between Saturday night and Sunday day – a fantastic turnout especially in the face of numerous competing art events and fairs during “Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980,”a multi-institutional initiative conceived by the Getty Foundation and Getty Research Institute. The success of Beyond Eden is further proof that the “New Contemporary Art Scene” (an umbrella term which encompasses Pop Surrealism, Street Art, Lowbrow, Outsider, Illustrative, Narrative and beyond )  is a force to be reckoned in the art world now, and for a long time to come.

The event, with its foundation planted firmly in California, the birthplace of the New Contemporary Art Scene, showcased the works of a half dozen Southern California galleries including C.A.V.E. Gallery, Copro Gallery, Gallery Nucleus, La Luz De Jesus Gallery (in celebration of their 25th Anniversary this year), Toy Art Gallery, and Thinkspace. Live painting demonstrations took place at the entrance and bar area of the gallery. This year’s featured events included exhibitions from Cannibal Flower (emerging LA based artists) and San Francisco’s Spoke Art (the LA stop of the traveling ‘Quentin vs. Coens’ exhibit) and a special showcase of Los Angeles street artists presented by Thinkspace and curated by local artist Euth. A screening of the ‘best of’ Sketch Theater, the online site designed to inspire creativity through time-lapsed, start-to-finish sketches from numerous artists ran continually in the gallery’s screening room. The event was topped off with a lively award ceremony, celebrating artist Anthony Ausgang on the 20th anniversary of his first solo show and his continued presence in the art world.  Previous Beyond Eden award ceremonies recognized the contributions and influences of La Luz de Jesus’ Billy Shire (2009) and artist Robert Williams (2010) with lifetime achievement awards.

The event was coordinated by Thinkspace and Sour Harvest‘s Andrew Hosner with Lee of Lee Joseph Publicity for the Visual Arts and Dionysus Records. Plans are in store for the Fourth Annual Beyond Eden, in 2012, stay tuned!

Enjoy the slide show (link above) of Beyond Eden 2011 shot by Sam Graham.

BEYOND EDEN returns this Sat, October 1st!!! This is our 3rd year putting this beast together and we feel this is the best year yet and can’t wait for you all to share in the goodness.

Please join the Beyond Eden ‘group’ on Facebook:

Website now updated with all info

FULL EVENT DETAILS
BEYOND EDEN 2011
Opening Reception:
Sat, October 1st 6-11PM
with 8PM award presentation for Anthony Ausgang

ALSO ON VIEW on Sun, October 2nd from Noon-5PM

Gallery LineUp:
Thinkspace
La Luz De Jesus
Copro Gallery
Toy Art Gallery
Gallery Nucleus
C.A.V.E. Gallery

Special Exhibitions from:
Cannibal Flower (underground LA area artists / 11th Anniversary)
Spoke Art (‘Round III’ – the LA stop of the traveling ‘Quentin vs. Coens’ exhibit)
‘Creator / Spectator’ – a showcase of LA street artists curated by local street artist Euth and presented by Thinkspace

In the media room:
A special showcase video of the ‘best of’ Sketch Theater (popular online site showcasing artists creating works from scratch on camera that is filmed from above)

Live painting from:
John Park, Hans Haveron, Anthony Clarkson, Michael Pukac, Mimi Yoon and Steven P. Williams

Presented by:
Arrested Motion
Blik Wall Graphics
Color Ink Book
Daily Dujour
Hi-Fructose
Juxtapoz
Lee Joseph Publicity for the Visual Arts
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery Associates (LAMAGA)
Sketch Theater
Sour Harvest
Warholian

Special Event Details

La Luz de Jesus Gallery’s 25, Mark Todd, and more!
La Luz de Jesus Gallery will be featuring a new museum work from Wayne Martin Belger as part of the upcoming two-part exhibition and book, “La Luz de Jesus 25“, a celebration of the gallery’s 25th anniversary milestone opening in October and November. Also featured is a much requested encore of Mark Todd’s  “Power Fury Fireworks Shack ” installation -a 3:4 scale shack built from scratch and filledmwith hand-painted firework sculptures constructed in Todd’s distinct style (Note: these are sculptures and are not live fireworks!), along with encore presentations from Mark Gleason, Lyle Motley and Van Saro. La Luz de Jesus will also be featuring a rare screen print poster from their first show, 25 years ago by Daniel “DX” Segura. New works from Kristopher Sapp and Alex Manukyan will offer a special preview of the 2012 calendar, with other surprises  in store that are sure to delight attendees of all ages.

“Creator / Spectator”
Presented by Thinkspace and curated by Euth

Thinkspace is pleased to present “Creator / Spectator,” an exhibition curated by local artist Euth, featuring some of the most exciting names currently gracing the streets of Los Angeles with their work. The artists chosen to participate represent the outside circle of underground art in Los Angeles. These are individuals exploring concepts deeply rooted in their own personal history and that are not looking to follow in the footsteps of those who came before them. Each artist was selected because their work is not simply about a name and a product, but more so about who he or she is as a individual – this is not a group working towards a common title or theme like “street art” but instead a group of individuals who have found common ground in a medium that promotes the individuality of each component explored.

This exhibit looks to explore beyond the mentality that the medium is the message. This is about a path of life chosen by these artists that constitutes the very nature of who they are. Each artist involved in this show offers something unique to the city of Los Angeles, a personal message to which they are both creator and spectator.

Featuring works from:
Cat Cult, Corrina Corina, CRYPTIK, Duart JDI, Euth, Line Line Dot, NOMADE, Smog City

Sketch Theater Video Screenings
featuring the best episodes of Sketch Theater

Sketch Theatre is a popular online showplace where viewers can watch the process of professional artists creating original sketches via timelapse photography set to inspirational music. Sketch Theatre showcases artists who make their livings in the fields of Fine Art, Video Game Design, Motion Picture Visual Effects & Concept Art, Comic Book & Graphic Novel Illustration, Commercial Illustration & Advertising Art, Tattoos, Animation, and Fashion Design. As such it provides education and inspiration to aspiring artists of a diverse range of interests and skill levels.

The brilliant myriad of artists featured on Sketch Theatre strip down and expose raw sketches on camera, never failing to captivate and inspire.   Sketch Theatre combines visuals with music as all of their artists feel strongly about how music has shaped their lives and inspired their work.

sketchtheatre.com

“Quentin vs. Coen – Round III”
San Francisco’s Spoke Art is proud to present the third and final installment of the touring “Quentin vs. Coen” art show at Beyond Eden. Following their successful stops in New York City and San Francisco, they will be bringing the highly publicized show to the pop culture capital of the world, Los Angeles.

An art show tribute that pits the films of cult favorites Quentin Tarantino and the Coen Brother sagainst each other, “Quentin vs. Coen” is a battle royale (with cheese) of painting, sculpture, prints and collage. Featuring over 100 different artists from around the world, the show serves as a look at some of the most iconic and memorable scenes, characters and films from the highly heralded director’s oeuvres.

The Beyond Eden 2011 installment of “Quentin vs. Coen” will feature:
Max Dalton, Steven Foundling, Christopher Brewer, Robert Bowen, Dave Correia, Derek Gores, Irma Rivera, Peter Adamyan, Andrew Spear, Anville, Boxx, Dave Greco, David Choquette, Evanimal, Greg Gossel, Gustavo Ponce, Jason Vivona, Gwendolyn, Jeff Rassie, Jesse Riggle, Johannah O’Donnell, Kenyon Bajus, Lucas Gluesenkamp,, Killer Napkins, Rich Pellegrino, Morgan Blair, Roland Tamayo, Sam Wolfe, Connelly, Sandi Calistro, Steve Seeley, Tatiana Suarez, Tessa Morrison, Tom Haubrick, Ken Guardano, Zach Landrum

spoke-art.com

Special showcase of local underground talent from Cannibal Flower
Cannibal Flower is a once-a-month, portable venue that showcases art, music, dance, film, projections, magic and fashion shows. Started in the year 2000 by L.Croskey, Jean-Paul Garnier, Michele Waterman as a means for a group of friends to showcase their art and music without having to deal with the politics of the conventional gallery, Cannibal Flower believes that if there’s an artist that’s truly passionate and dedicated to what they do, they deserve a chance to be seen.Cannibal Flower aims to create artist unity and collaboration, hence the beauty and liveliness of their “venue” being portable. By working with other galleries and alternative spaces, they not only bring promotion to other locations but bring the arts to wider audience. Every Cannibal Flowershow is entirely different, bringing in all walks and groups of people young and old.

Cannibal Flower’s Beyond Eden installation will feature Sean Joyce, Lauren Haggis , Kelly Berg , William Zdan, Andrea Iakovidis, Mimi Yoon, Nate Seubert, Cody Lusby, Stephen Williams, Michael Christy, N.S. David, Norman Maxwell, Ariel Deandrea, Michael Pukac, Crystal Sylver, Nicole Bruckman, Rafael Delgado Jr., David Natale, Michael Ramstead, Carlos Ulloa, L. Croskey, Tony Venegas and Erik Siador

cannibalflower.com  

Live painting throughout the event!
John Park, Hans Haveron, Anthony Clarkson, Michael Pukac, Mimi Yoon and Steven P. Williams

An award ceremony for Anthony Ausgang
2011 marks 20 years since Anthony Ausgang’s first solo show. In 1993 Ausgang was included in the Laguna Beach Art Museum’s seminal exhibit “Kustom Kulture” which investigated art influenced by gearhead car culture and in 1996 was featured in Juxtapoz Magazine. In 2003 Ausgang’s paintings could be seen in Morning Wood, a primer of Post Graf art; in 2004 his work graced the pages of contemporary art survey Pop Surrealism and in 2005 Weirdo Deluxe. Ausgang’s paintings have graced the covers of records released by Sympathy for the Record Industry, Bomp!, Sony UK, Columbia, Warner Japan and most recently Augang’s art appeard on MGMT’s 2010 release “Congtratulation” which went Gold in the US and Canada, and Platinum in Australia, Ireland and the UK. Ausgang will be presented with an appreciation of his work and longgevyt at Beyond Eden on Saturday Night at 8pm.

Beyond Eden Bar to benefit Latino Arts LA
Featured in the bar at this year’s will be beer from Davis microbrewers; Sudwerk’s Brewery. Their hand-crafted awarding winning Pilsner and seasonal Fest Marzen will be served in compostable glassware with proceeds donated to Latino Arts LA. Manning the Beyond Eden Bar will be famed local bar personality Ian Malcolm.  Known about town as Sir Ian Dangerous, Mr. Malcolm will be showcasing his amazing mixology skills with refreshing cocktails developed for the event  Join us  for this year’s no host bar as we celebrate the 3rd annual Beyond Eden

The new issue of Pop Surrealism Magazine is out and features an interview with La Luz de Jesus Gallery Director Matt Kennedy , artist Sarah Joncas, Gary Baseman and others – click the image to read the issue on the web or download to your iPod or iPhone! Join Pop Surrealism’s Facebook page here

An interview with Lydia Emily

Note: Lydia Emily has just been booked to appear on Radio Alchymy, KPFK, Pacifica Radio, next Wednesday night/ Thursday am May 19th.KPFK will be raffling off five of Lydia Emily’s Winston Churchill pieces.

www.kpfk.org/programs/136-radioalchymy.html

Q: You were at one time a folk artist who painted scenes of a personal nature about yourself, family and friends – what was it that inspired you to veer into politicts using photorealism and mixed media?

Lydia Emily: I started doing political street art as I began to understand that people like me do not really have a voice. I am not rich, a celebrity, or a politician. And Galleries generally don’t show political art. So I needed to find a way to put myself out there as a public witness to what goes on and often goes unnoticed. On the street I am an equal, so that’s where you’ll find me.

Q: Who are you speaking to, why the urge to share your works with the public and what would you like your viewers to take with them after viewing one of your pieces?

LE: I want people to really witness what goes on in the world. Witness means to acknowledge what happens, not just to see it go by on your twitter or facebook. As a witness you are participating in the culture, not just standing on the curb. I am a witness. And I hope that my being a witness will make other people think seriously about what is going on around them, and what they can do to influence it.

Q: What mediums do you use on the original pieces – what size are they? Do you work on one at a time or do you have numerous pieces going simultaneously?

LE: I use the Sunday New York Times only for background. I cut it up and glue it to the canvas, then oil paint on canvas. I only use acrylic for highlighting the street copies. The sized range anywhere from 15 inches to 40 inches square. I work on one piece at a time.

Q: Who currently inspires you the most?

LE: Winston Churchill and the Dalai Llama. I have their birth dates tattooed on my back.

www.lydiaemily.com