NY Based artist Amanda Church has been in the art biz a second and her culled love of abstract biomorphic shapes have a playful sureness to them that one can't help enjoy. Go check out some of the new pieces she brought to town for The Jancar Gallery's inaugural exhibition, in their new digs in Chinatown. When I see her work, I am always surprised she has been living in NY for as long as she has, the humor and vibrance in her pieces speak more like a native Californian.

J A N C A R   G A L L E R  Y
961 CHUNG KING ROAD - NEW  LOCATION                        
LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
TEL  213  625-2522 - NEW PHONE  NUMBER
Hours:  Wednesday - Saturday 12 - 5 PM (and by  appointment) - NEW  HOURS
www.jancargallery.com

JANCAR GALLERY is pleased to announce that the  new gallery location, in Chinatown, will be inagurated by a solo exhibition of new work by:

AMANDA CHURCH  "If Six Were  Mine"
September 13, 2008 - October 4,  2008

Opening reception  for the artist: Saturday, September 13th, from 6 - 9   PM

 

Cream Point 2008




Getaway 2008

If your like me, there are some art pieces that you could just kick yourself for not buying when the price was right. Jeff Koons Puppy Vase is just that very item. When I see one in someone's house filled with flowers flexing its insane cuteness, I think, "what the hell was wrong with me, why didn't I snatch that up immediately!" Well, if you got some bucks, this is your second chance for puppy power. Gagosian Gallery has created a second art edition of 3000 of these little tail-waggers, but his time you are gonna have to pay for the bloodline, $7500 will get this furry fellow delivered right to your doorstep, crating and shipping included. Looks like I am gonna have to do dog rescue, oh well mutts need love too.

Jeff Koons Puppy Vase



I

Now that I am in this blog world, it has sparked me to explore what is out there in the land of blog. On my far from exhaustive search, I stumbled upon 3191. It encompasses all that is good, simple and right about the art of creative dialogue, and the subtle yet complex endeavor of lives lived and shared. Two friends Mav and Steph who live 3191 miles apart, each take a photo of something in their daily lives, then post the images side by side on their site. If you are a fan of Uta Barth, you will be swept away. Warning, viewing is somewhat addicting.

Their first visual conversation 3191, A Year of Mornings began on January 1, 2007 and lasted the entire calendar year. Their exchange is being released in book form this Fall by Princeton Architectural Press. The friends have since moved on to A Year of Evenings. Here are a selection of some of my favorite moments so far.

mav:left/steph:right

Creative Growth in Oakland CA is just about one of my most favorite places on earth. It is an art center for adults with developmental, physical, and mental disabilities that provides a stimulating environment for artistic instruction, gallery promotion and personal expression, but really that is just the half of it. I have been lucky enough to work with and collect the artwork from Creative Growth for a couple of years now and honestly the experience has been life changing. The work that is created here will blow your mind. Last week, I had reason to visit and was taken away by the gallery's exhibition "Multiplicity" a show that explores themes of repetition and obsession in the work of Creative Growth Artists. One of the highlights to be sure is James Ferrell who marries his love of paper mache with his passion and knowledge of cars. The combination evokes such feelings of nostalgia, you are happy to get behind the cardboard wheel of 1968 Bonneville and be taken away.

Multiplicity
Featuring the work of Gerone Spruill, Terri Bowden, Jay Daley, William Scott, Dinah Shapiro and more...artwork in wood, ceramic, textiles, painting and drawing, along with limited edition artist inspired merchandise.

Creative Growth Art Center
355 24th Street, Oakland
www.creativegrowth.org

Undefeated is kicking off  summertime with a picnic and some community awareness. Come spread your sneaker love, and for your girlies out there, this is a prime opportunity to meet a young buck, these events are notoriously dominated by well heeled gentleman (kinda). So throw on a summer dress, bring a pair of unworn sneaks to donate and spread the summer love.

Sunday 5-9PM for the Nike x UNDFTD x Gents of Desire "Kick Down". To celebrate launch of the amazing new "Gents of Desire" billboard on the corner of 1st and La Brea in Los Angeles,

The whole event is a shoe drive, so in order to gain entry to the party you MUST bring one pair of UNWORN shoes to donate to the East LA Community Youth Center.

Back in the day when I lived on Greene St. in NY, one of my visual and all to often financial indulgences was going to the Moss store up the block. Murray Moss truly was and is an innovator in design as well as a risk taker. Moss's ability to so seamlessly expose the beauty in both high and low design, paved the way for the Target's and Ikea's of the world to capitalize on the power of brilliant design. So before I get to off message... It came as no surprise to be blown away by these delicate floral beauties by Franz Joseph Ess. These individually hand sculpted and painted porcelain flowers designed in 1765 were originally created by Ess as part of a grand table decoration for the Munich residence of the Bavarian monarch. Nice, even Ikea can't mess with time consuming craftsmanship like that.

Nymphenburg, Treasure Box, 7 flowers


Nymphenburg,Treasure Box,  21 flowers

I knew Tara Tucker as an art teacher and a rug maker, before I ever got wind of her work and once I did, I had to pondered if I really knew her at all. I guess now I always kinda half wonder what might be going on in that head of hers. Her ability to formulate the most insane combinations of highbred animals and plant life always seems to teeter on the upsetting, but yet somehow remains such an accurate mirroring of real life you get confused as whether to be seduced or outraged. Tara's rendering skills are mesmerizing, and her gift for capturing irony, a natural. If in San Francisco, check her work out in this upcoming group exhibition.

A COMPLICATED DOMINION: NATURE AND NEW POLITICAL NARRATIVES
June 12 - August 16, 2008

Opening Reception: Thursday, June 12, 6-8pm
BYO Brown Bag Lunch Discussion: Wednesday, July 23, 12-1pm, FREE
 
San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery
401 VAN NESS AVENUE (AT McALLISTER)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102
T: 415.554.6080

Hours: Wednesday through Saturday, 12-5pm
 
Double Trouble, graphite on paper, 2008




























Sloth and Industry, graphite on paper, 2007

To know the folks at Aardvark Letterpress is to be a part of some kind of creative extended family. They have been running their wildly inspiring letterpress for 40 years now, cranking out uniquely culled and beautifully hand pressed wedding invites, business cards and baby announcements, but the creative brothers behind this family run business, Cary and Brooks Ocon (sons of Louis Ocon who purchased the company in the 1978) felt it was time to stir it up. So, the boys teamed up with famed artist/photographer Lisa Jane Persky to celebrate their 40th in style. Drawing on their rich American and Mexican lineage they decided to create an original limited edition of fine art works based on the Mexican game of the Loteria.


Tokyo Pequeño by Mel Lim




























Hollywood Bowl (Quioscos De Regalo) by Greg Colson

































To understand the magnitude of such a project you must take a moment to grasp the skill set needed to run presses of this historical nature. I have personally seen master printers Bill Berkuta, Jorge Estrada and Adan Aragon use paper clips, pieces of gum and snips of cardboard to caress these beautiful behemoths into creative submission. Each color for the press requires a separate plate and considering some artists have upwards of 8-10 colors per piece, at 100 pieces per edition, you do the math. Oh, and by the way, did I mention each color must be hand mixed, after which the entire press must be cleaned and re-prepped for the next plate. In today's talk on the cell phone, while eating lunch and picking up your child at overpriced pre-school, the idea of such time consuming craftsmanship is a downright artistic luxury and I for one was excited to be part of the mix. Here are some pictures of how it went down. Check out all the Loteria cards on the Aardvark's website. The signed and numbered pieces will be sold beginning June 5, 2008.























Dave Lefner's print "El Inverso" rolls off the Vandercook,  photo Lisa Jane Persky



 





















Greg Colson's plates, photo Lisa Jane Persky




























Brook's power lunch?????






















Please pick a color...






















Final color for Espejismo (Mirage)
 


  

The LACE Re:Present Auction, as predicted brought some amazing art bargains. If you were in the market for an under priced Barry McGee, Edgar Arceneaux, James Welling or Jim Isermann, this was your lucky night. Some pieces went for almost half of their retail value. My personal favorite was the edition by Christopher Wool that read "If you don't like it you can get the fuck out of my house." Unfortunately, that was a crowd favorite and fetched a pretty penny. Ann Magnuson kicked off and closed the night with her notoriously original and at times ear piercing, yet refreshingly bizarre performance. All the art handlers sported iconic T's from Mason Martin Margelia, love that. Here are some shots of how it went down.




 

Every year LACE turns out an impressive collection of artworks ripe for the picking. I have scored big here, landing artworks that I have been coveting for far under their value. Shake a leg, because it all goes down tomorrow night.

LACE and the Re: PRESENT HONORARY HOST COMMITTEE

Amy Adler & Kate Nielsen, Edgar & Sascha Arceneaux, Barbara Bestor,Dorit Cypis, Alison Dickey & John C. Reilly, Sean & Arwen Duffy, Harry Gamboa Jr., Martin Kersels & Mary Collins, Josh Kun & Ceci Bastida, Suzanne Lacy, Paul & Karen McCarthy, Steve & Sari Roden, Malgorzata Romanska, Barbara T. Smith, Joe Sola & Erin Wright, and Susan Traylor & Jesse Dylan

 invite you to







Re: PRESENT ~ LACE ANNUAL BENEFIT ART AUCTION
Thursday, May 22, 2008
6522 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles CA  90028

A celebration of the moment
Representing three decades of excellence with a toast to the future!

It is with great pleasure that we invite you to join us for LACE's Annual Benefit Art Auction on Thursday, May 22, 2008 to celebrate our 30th anniversary. With Ann Magnuson as our MC, Re: PRESENT will feature both silent and live auctions and special entertainment to link LACE's historical foundations with the exciting new cultural production abounding in our city right now. This annual signature event offers patrons the opportunity to purchase 100+ original artworks by some of the most important established and emerging artists working today.

TICKET DETAILS
Presenters Circle ~ $1,000+general
Silver Circle ~ $500 duo/$250 solo
LACE Bundle ~ $500 (10 tickets in advance)
General ~$50 advance/$75 door

To purchase tickets: call 323.957.1777 or order online, www.welcometolace.org
Proxy bidding available

View artworks online www.welcometolace.org <http://www.welcometolace.org/>
Gallery preview: Wed - Sun 12 - 6pm, Fri 12 - 9pm through May 21
Featuring Ann Magnuson, Mistress of Ceremonies, with Kristian Hoffman, Alexander Rannie, Phranc and more special guest performers!

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
Vito Acconci, AK-Ami, Cathy Akers, Andy Alexander & Kathleen Johnson, Eleanor Antin, Kevin Appel, Edgar Arceneaux, Michel Auder, John Baldessari, Uta Barth, Alicia Beach, Justin Beal, Walead Beshty, Joe Biel, Sanford Biggers, David Brady, Matty Byloos, Jedediah Caesar, Jane Callister, Ian Campbell, Steve Canaday, Enrique Castrejon, Terry Chatkupt, Rebecca Clark, Jacqueline Cooper, John Copeland, Kimberlee Cordova, Sister Corita, Mario Correa, Alison Cortson, Emily Counts, Zoe Crosher, Alex Da Corte, Flavia Da Rin, Sue de Beer, Lucy I. Dodd, Tomory Dodge, Harry Dodge & Stanya Kahn, Mari Eastman, Bart Exposito, Fallen Fruit, Ed Fella, Samantha Fields, Chris Finley, Rob Fischer, Kim Fisher, Mark Flores, Robert Fontenot, Alison Frey, Francesca Gabbiani, Jeff Gambill, Aaron Garber-Maikovska, Paul Gellman, Luke Gilford & Tanner Cohen, Mark Hagen, Skylar Haskard, Nathan Hayden, Edgar Heap of Birds, Drew Heitzler, Richard Hoblock, Channa Horwitz, Darren Hostetter, Phung Huynh, Jim Isermann, Adam Janes, David Kitz, Branden Koch, Alice Könitz, Jeff Kopp, Fay Ku, Kulov, Eli Langer, Sherrie Levine, Mark Licari, Miranda Lichtenstein, Matt Lipps, Laura London, Nick Lowe, Brenton Maart, Martin Margiela, Keith Mayerson, Paul McCarthy, Barry McGee, Martin McMurray, Juanita Meneses, John Ryan Moore, Ivan Morley, Tabitha Morris, Aaron Morse, Amitis Motevalli, Dragan Mrdja, Carter Mull, Chris Natrop, Pat Ngoho, Robert Olsen, John McGuire Olsen, Mary O'Malley, Michelle O'Marah, Marjam Oskoui, Tony Payne, Synderela Peng & Vincent Ruiz-Abogado, Renée Petropoulos, Danica Phelps, Kelly Poe, Pruitt-Early, Yuval Pudik, Michael Rashkow, Richard Renaldi, Ry Rocklen, Steve Roden, Amanda Ross-Ho, Christopher Russell, Anna Sew Hoy, Peter Shire, Fran Siegel, Alex Slade, Joe Sola, Matthew Spiegelman, George Stoll, Kirsten Stoltman, Misato Suzuki, Ami Tallman, Mateo Tannat, Henry Taylor, Stephanie Taylor, Ultra-red, Linda Vallejo, Monique Van Genderen , Henry Vincent, Robert Walker, James Welling, Erica Lee Wheelock, Luke Whitlach, Margeaux Williamson, Brian Wills, Goody-B Wiseman, Eve Wood, Christopher Wool, Bruce Yonemoto, Carrie Yury, Bari Ziperstein, Andrea Zittel/Smock Shop, Marina Zurkow, Katie Salen & Nancy Nowacek)