art shows & news

“Raw, Imma give it to ya/ With no trivia/ Raw like cocaine straight from Bolivia.”
Cherri Wood should really consider bumping the Wu-Tang at her exhibition at Thinkspace in Santa Monica.
I’ll tell you why: because they both get it. They both get the fact that shxt doesn’t need to be polished to  be good. You could start off with a refined concept, carefully attempt to execute it, and finally realize that you don’t have the discipline to finish it clean. So you dirty it up. And if you’re Cherri (or the Ol’ Bastard), it definitely works in your favor.

Drop by the Thinkspace gallery if you feel what I’m getting at.
And for those of yous punks that have no idea what I’m talking about, take a looksee anyway. The gallery is also exhibiting some Brandi Milne freaky-ness in their main gallery. I’m telling you, Milne’s Run Rabbit Run show is straight up Nickelodeon after-hours business.

www.thinkspacegallery.com
cherri wood’s flickr setup
www.brandimilne.com

On April 9th, from 7:00pm to 10:00pm, the Carmichael Gallery is proud to present the first U.S. solo exhibition of UK street artist, Boxi. The show will feature spray paint on canvas and MDF, sculptures, limited edition prints, and site-specific installations.

The “Grey Area” refers to ambiguity and blurred truth in everyday life, so there’s no doubt that the exhibit’s black and white works will be rather somber. There is, however, some semblance of comfort one can glean from an image of two individuals embracing… even if they’re in Hazmat suits.

www.carmichaelgallery.com
www.boxi.eu.com

Floating Seattle / Los Angeles ragamuffin, Joseph McSween, aka 2H, now has his solo show on display at the Ronin Gallery in Los Angeles. 2H has come a long way stylistically and technically since his days of striking but simplistic black and white drawings. While his new works still feature beautiful women as the primary objects of his affection, they are more immediately engaging, with more photo-real drawings of women juxtaposed on contrasting backgrounds. The upgraded pricing of his pieces also speaks loads to how much 2H’s name and art have grown within the past year.

But enough about the large-scale, colorful painted pieces; let’s get to some limited edition 2H screenprints which might strike a little closer to home to us Seattlites who have seen his work grow through the years.

The black on white print is limited to 25 copies, on 90 lb paper. $40.
The silver on black print is limited to 10 copies, on 90 lb paper. $50.

www.myspace.com/2hatred
www.theroningallery.com

If you’ve nothing to do tonight, head on over RIGHT NOW to the Munky King to check out the DIY Pusher Show, which will be going on from 7:00pm to 11:00pm. For non-So-Cal-lites, the show will be online this evening.

The DIY Pusher Show is dedicated to different artists’ takes on Thomas Han’s “Pusher” vinyl toy. Check out a couple examples below.

Dave Pressler’s “The Death Of Whimsy.”

Nathan Spoor’s “Candy Push.”

Drive to Los Angeles now, or hop online tonight to see more Pushers!!

www.munkyking.com
www.thomashan.com
www.davepresslerart.com
www.nathanspoor.com

See Scott paint. Paint Scott, paint.
Paint whole new worlds where ninjas fight smiling sushi, clouds are actually ant farms, and E.T. can be found messing around with a mummy. Or Batman. Or a Transformer.

The comic artist tickles us pink with his child-like humor, incorporating ingenius subtleties into vivid images. Something about his tea-stained backdrops and dot-eyed humans takes me back to better times, when naps and chocolate milk were a damn-near huge part of my life.

S’why I’m going to Nucleus on Saturday for the opening reception of Home Slice, Scott C’s largest collection of work (to date). So if you’ve ever wondered what a Cloud Home looks like when its sliced in half, or if you’re just a regular homeslice to the masses, meet me there. We’ll chat over some chocolate milk.

www.gallerynucleus.com
www.scott-c.blogspot.com

Don’t be alarmed, folks! The bees aren’t really holing up in telephone booths because they’re dwindling in numbers anyway! This is just the product of California’s Bumblebee at work, turning abandoned phone booths into beautiful art installations. Here are the thought-provoking words he had to say about his work:

“Telephone companies have been abandoning their public telephone booths by taking out the phones and leaving the structures beehind. (Probably due to the rise in cell phone users.) I want to reuse these structures as a way of communication with the public once more by replacing that empty space with paper-mache beehives. To me, this symbolizes the irony beehind the question, ‘where have so many of the bees gone’ and the theory that cell phone signals have been misguiding their normal patterns of migration.”

www.flickr.com/photos/theuglyyou

Just a quick heads up! If you’re in Los Angeles this evening, go to Echo Park for the opening of The Ronin Gallery! Their show, Cowboys & Samurai, features lots and lots of Seattle and Los Angeles street art favorites… as well as REDEFINE favorites like Matt Ryan Sharp, Ego, Parskid, Thomas Han, and more!

After I became resigned to the fact that most of the boutiques on Los Angeles’ infamous Melrose strip sell clothing for pretty much the same three kinds of people, I stumbled upon The Congregation of the Forgotten Saints. This shop, which caters equally to goth-glam men and women and to those stepping in line with My Chemical Romance’s fashion senses, doubles up as an art gallery. From month to month, the shop holds an art show centered around a different and completely atypical theme.

Their current show, curated by fellow artist Jeremy Cross, supported/produced by Wild Card Productions / The Metal Awards & Forgotten Saints Clothing, and on behalf of Art Core Presents, is dedicated to “Forgotten Saints”. Over 40 artists from around North America have their works on display for this show, with almost all of the works being considered at least slightly blasphemous to a religious individual. The show’s tagline? “Saints that never were, but should have been.” This “should have been” extends to robot saints, monster saints, mythological saints, goofy saints, and pretty much any kind of saint you can think of.

Here are a few selected pieces from that show which really stood out as inventive or simply well-crafted.

Vince Locke’s Saint Ebba is a painted Cthulu saint.

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Filipino/German artist Ted Von Heiland’s Saint Solace is a mixed-media sculpture that features the only cyborg-esque saint of the show.

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Thomas Pendleton and Anthony Lawson’s St. Mangina features… well — a rubber vagina — over the face of a saint. I wish I could share the entire artists’ statement on the piece, because it’s hilarious, but suffice it to say that it starts off with a cleverly punned, “GLORY HOLELUIAH.”

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Illustrator Jeff Rebner flexes his comic book muscles with “Aleistor SamHain,” a black-and-white skeleton-faced saint.

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With more than 35 other pieces on display at the shop, be sure to visit it if you happen to be in Los Angeles.

www.forgottensaintsla.com
www.bastardart.com
www.myspace.com/wildcardprods
www.myspace.com/themetalawardshow
www.myspace.com/artcorecfs
www.vincelocke.com
www.vonheiland.blogspot.com
www.ministryofink.com
www.boneseeds.com
www.rebnerwerks.com
www.myspace.com/thedirtylounge

Ilia of Btoy and Jim Darling showcase new pieces at the Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, on February 5th, 2009! Here are their bios, as compiled by the Carmichael Gallery:

Ilia of Btoy
To gaze at a piece by Ilia is to enter into a magical universe populated by acid-house warriors and chic lost souls. Set against stark retro landscapes, the artist’s muted palette and delicate lines enhance the turbulence captured within their striking, moody faces.
Ilia is one half of Barcelona duo Btoy. For years, Btoy have been adding life to the influential Catalan street art scene, and more recently into a grimy tunnel at the first Cans Festival in London.

Jim Darling
Shape, composition and emotion play a large role in the work of American artist Jim Darling. “I attempt to take complex ideas and scenarios and boil them down to a more subtle subject matter,” he comments. “I then juxtapose this simplicity with intricate details. I try not to spell out the entire story, but rather set a tone and deliver elements for a scene. My hope and goal is that the viewer can feel that tone and build the story with the elements that I’ve constructed.” After a childhood in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas, Jim moved to Denver to study design. Four years ago, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked as an Art Director, Illustrator, and Fine Artist. He is currently traveling the country with his wife, making art and looking for the next city to call home.

Other artists on display include painter and sculptor Alex Hornest, Brazilian artist Sesper, and street artists Chris Stain and Andreas Ragnar Kasapsis.

www.thisisbtoy.com
www.jimdarling.com
www.carmichaelgallery.com

K.O., Ink on Paper, Diptych, $1,800

What would animals do if our positions were reversed? Some might adore us, but others might do what Ericailcane has portrayed in these drawings, which fall somewhere between visions of doom and illustrations belonging in children’s fairytale books.

Now until January 28th at the Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, “Man Is The Bastard” is a solo show featuring new works by Italian street artist Ericailcane. If animals had their way with men in Ericailcane’s imaginary world, everything from mice to grizzly bears would attempt to crush and destroy not necessarily us, but our creations — our skyscrapers, trains, cars, and currency are all fair game for destruction. Perhaps it’s a negative way of seeing things, but it is, in many ways, our current relationship with the animal planet, only with the parties reversed.

www.ericailcane.org