IlliteJ Studio Visit

To coincide with the opening of LA Platform, Steve Turner put out an Artists Map, which had the look and feel of one of those kitschy Map to the Stars’ Home you see people hawking all over Hollywood. This provided art enthusiasts an opportunity to visit the 24 featured artists in their work environment, and if lucky, witness the paint hit the canvas….

Anyways, JL was on the Steve Turner’s Artist map, and despite being situated on skid row, received a number of visitors, like this guy who came to do an interview.

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Touring the Broad Art Foundation

The other day, I joined the MOCA Contemporaries to check out the Broad Art Foundation, which highlighted many great works by notable artists like Anselm Kiefer, Christopher Wool, Albert Oehlen, Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman, Jenny Saville, Elliot Hundley, Gregory Crewdson and many more….

The whole experience took about 2 hours. It was pretty fun. Here are some of the highlights…….

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Damien Hirst – Legend and Myth

want.

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Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects: Patrick Wilson

Making my rounds in Culver City, I discovered Patrick Wilson. His paintings are amazing. I particularly liked this 17″x17″ canvases called “Solid Gold.”

Excerpt from the Press Release

Wilson continues to translate color and light into luminous and flawlessly calibrated abstractions. Wilson’s technique is straightforward – using drywall blades, rollers and masking tape he moves color around in controlled areas. The resulting compositions are elaborately layered squares, rectangles and lines of stunning color and radiance. Alternating between surfaces where the paint has been rolled on and where translucent layers are being pulled repeatedly over the surface, Wilson crates a spectacle of great beauty, in which the painting alternately offers resistance to the eye or pulls the viewer into glowing fields of brilliant depth. 

Link:
Susanne Vielmetter

The Illite J Lab

checked out madame’s new studio in downtown LA.

…. working on some canvases for her next show.

Blum and Poe – Opening for Zhang Huan’s 49 Days

This past weekend, my new Russian artist friend and I checked out the opening for Chinese artist, Zhang Huan in Culver City.

The show featured numerous sculptures made of old bricks. The featured piece, Pagoda, standing at 22-ft, had many guessing how on earth did they install this massive sculpture in that room. In the center was a stuffed pig.

According to the gallery notes (copy+paste):

Pagoda serves partly as a tribute to Zhu Gangqiang, or the “Cast-Iron Pig”, now famous for having survived 49 days in rubble, following China’s historic 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Upon hearing its story of survival, Zhang negotiated the pig’s purchase and has subsequently adopted him into his studio, employing a full-time caretaker and making his likeness a central part of his artistic practice. The number “49″ (from which the show takes its title) is dually significant, both for its relationship to Zhu Gangqiang’s story and for its connection to Buddhist thought, as the Buddhists believe 49 days is the amount of time ones soul remains on earth between death and reincarnation

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Ace Gallery Beverly Hills – Robert Irwin’s Column

For the majority of the attendees, the genius of Robert Irwin was a bit too much to grasp.

Notice that no one is looking at the prismatic sculpture, not even the Ace employee standing to guard it. Curatorial fail.

Perhaps it’s because Super Bowl buzz is in the air, but while looking at the sculpture, I fantasized that a burly, football player would enter the space and run directly towards the column, knocking over the Ace gallery attendant and also sending the art object crashing over…. that would have been AWESOME!

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Ace Gallery Beverly Hills – Opening for Helen Pashgian’s Columns and Wall Sculptures Show

Last night, I attended the opening for Helen Pashgian’s Columns and Wall Sculptures show at Ace Gallery. There has been much written on this artist and a lot to appreciate.  I’ll leave Google and Wikipedia to inform you about her.

When lighted from above, Pashgian’s columns emanated a soft glow that not only brought them to life, but also revealed the simple genius of the construction. Considering that they look like large frosty glass vases that you could get from DWR or even Ikea, I found the floor and ceiling layout to be effective in setting the mood that many night clubs and after-hours lounges aspire to. Indeed, the crowd found the ambience perfect for imbibing in free booze and engaging in conversation.

Upon reflection, standing in that room was both calming and inspirational. Even if it was just for a moment, I did find myself focused on the colors and forgetting about reality. Perhaps, that is the reason for these sculptures’ existance, to stir the imagination and transport one to a mental place of peace, or maybe I just suffer from inattentive ADHD. 

Anyways, the opening was okay. My main complaint is that the line to get alcohol was a bit too long. … Continue Reading

PYO Gallery LA Presents Estrada Fine Art’s 8 Artists

Stopped by at the tail end of PYO’s opening reception for Estrada Fine Arts…

Here are some of the pieces that caught my eye:

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