La Luz de Jesus is turning 25 soon, and to celebrate the galleries is having a massive group show, featuring three generations of artists that have shown with the gallery. Not only have more than 200 artists submitted a work of art, but also a small anecdote about their experience with the gallery. There is no doubt that La Luz de Jesus has been a major force in this art scene, and has helped to push many artists into the spotlight. Along with the exhibition a book will be released, going over the past 25 years of the gallery and the surrounding art movements that helped it along. I know I say this quite a lot, but this is one of those shows that you should not miss. I firmly believe that all art should be seen in person, but how often do you get to see so many amazing artists in one show? Robert Williams, Joe Coleman, Mark Ryden, Glenn Barr, Elizabeth McGrath, Gary Panter, Mark Mothersbaugh, Marion Peck, Owen Smith, Frank Kozik, Gail Potocki, Dave Cooper, Daniel Martin Diaz, Laurie Lipton, Shag, Scott Musgrove, Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Joe Sorren, Chris Mars, Eric White, The Pizz, Jessica Joslin, Gary Baseman, Bob Dob, Clayton Brothers, Shepard Fairey, Jennybird Alcantra, Carrie Anne Baade, Ana Bagayan, Shawn Barber, Scott G Brooks, Matt Groening, Charlie Immer, Michael Hussar, and the list keeps going.
The show will be in two parts, with the first part opening on October 7th, and the second part opening November 4th. The entire show with all of the works from both parts is now online to view, so head on over after to preview and take a look. There is some outstanding work in this show. Below are just a few of my favorites.
Tim Biskup launches new web site
Tim Biskup has recently redesigned his homepage, and has made it easier for fans to check out his work, keep up to date with news and so on. The gallery is now done in a way where you can see all the work on one page dating all the way back to 2000, and see some art you might have never seen before such as this collaboration between Tim Biskup, Gary Baseman, and Mark Ryden entitled “Snowy Black Luck”. Head on over and take a look at the new website.
Preview: Dave MacDowell’s “Lowbrow Love Letter” @ Thinkspace Gallery
Opening this Saturday, April 30th is the latest solo exhibition from acrylic mastermind Dave MacDowell. Entitled “Lowbrow Love Letter”, this show will feature 11 works with a few of them inspired directly from contemporary artists such as Chet Zar (shown last), Mark Ryden, Luke Chueh, and even Michael Hussar..? Dave’s unique spin on pop culture and movies will also make an appearance with paintings featuring “The Dude” (Big Lebowski), Charlie Sheen, Antoine Dodson, zombies, and an absolutely freaky looking Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. While Lowbrow art might have tamed down a bit, or what Robert Williams called “chronically cute and politically correct” (source), Dave is still making art that not only looks amazing but continues the tradition of a scene that was once seen as subversive, one look at “Beating The Meat Market” (second) shows that. Take a look at the preview images, and then over to the site for the full show. Dave will be in attendance at the reception, and we will hopefully have a video interview up on the site a few days afterward.
“Yoshi The Forest Spirit” print by Mark Ryden
Porterhouse Fine Art Editions has just released a new print from Mark Ryden entitled “Yoshi – The Forest Spirit”. This limited edition lithographic poster is 19″ x 23″ on heavyweight paper, embossed with the Porterhouse seal, signed and numbered in an edition of 1000 and comes with a certificate of authenticity. Like all of Ryden’s prints this one will no doubt sell out faster than you can refresh the page. I am happy that all of the proceeds will go to benefit The Nature Conservancy.
Check it out: Porterhouse Fine Art Editions
“The Tree of Life” print by Mark Ryden
Porterhouse Fine Art Editions is releasing a new print by Mark Ryden this Thursday, October 21st at 8am Pacific. “The Tree of Life” painting will be in “The Artist’s Museum, Los Angeles Artists 1980-2010″ group show that is taking place at the Museum of Contemporary Art. In commemoration of this event, a limited edition lithograph of “The Tree of Life” is being released. The print is 38.5″ x 26″ on heavyweight paper, embossed with Porterhouse seal, signed and numbered in an edition of 500, and comes with a certificate of authenticity. The print is being sold for $500 each, and even though thats a pretty hefty price for a lithograph print, I know this print will sell out in record time.
Get it here: Porterhouse Fine Art Editions
“The Snow Yak Show” book by Mark Ryden
For those fans that weren’t able to make it to Japan for Mark Ryden’s “Snow Yak Show”, a hardcover book with all the painting from the show is now available. The book is 64 pages, is 11″ x 14″ in size, so all those images will be nice and large. The book also features photos of the artwork hung in the gallery, and of Mark’s trip.
Check it out here: Snow Yak Show Book @ Last Gasp
100 Artists See Satan Fundraiser
First seen in 2004, the Grand Central Art Center is reviving the hit exhibition “100 Artists See Satan”, now available in paperback. This years show features 100 of the most talented contemporary artists giving their interpretation of the devil, and as opposed to the first version of the show, this one will be a fundraiser with “All proceeds will benefit future GCAC programs and exhibitions”. The exhibition will run from June 26th to August 15th, so if you are around the Santa Ana area make sure to stop by. Just a few of the artists that will be participating in this show are: Peter Adamyan, Ron English, Robert Williams, Tara McPherson, Jeff McMillan, Ana Bagayan, Scott G Brooks, Luke Chueh, Dalek, Coop, Korin Faught, Mercedes Helnwein, Camille Rose Garcia, Alex Grey, Chris Mars, Scott Musgrove, Mark Ryden, Mike Shine, Christopher Ulrich, Eric White, Laurie Lipton and many more.
A majority of the work is pretty amazing. I’m not the biggest fan of Gary Baseman’s work but I really like the drawing he submitted. Eric White’s painting “Nope”, freaks me right out. There is also a good amount of prints we have seen before, but its nice that these artists submitted work to a good cause. Check out the preview images here, and then head on over and see the full show.
100 Artists See Satan Fundraiser @ Grand Central Art Center
Gary Baseman -- Christine Wu
Eric White -- Jeff McMillan
Laurie Lipton
Bob Dob -- Chris Mars
Scott G Brooks -- Christopher Ulrich
“Art From the New World” @ Bristol City Musuem
Curated by Jan Corey Helford, this past May 15th marked the opening of the “Art From the New World” group exhibition at the Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery. This show will run until August 22nd, but for those of us that aren’t able to see it in person, we now have some images of the art and even behind the scenes photos of the preparation and build up to opening day (see here).
Last year the Bristol City Museum featured the works of Banksy, and during the course of the exhibition over 300,000 visited the museum. Now for the “Art From the New World” show, there have been over 5,000 visitors in the first 6 days of the opening. This is not only a very exciting show, but an important one for the future of the art we love so much. Originally referred to as a scene filled with “illustrators”, this art is now gaining more momentum than ever. Museums are taking notice, and the fan-base is becoming larger than ever. There is some amazing work in this show, from artists such as Kent Williams, David Stoupakis, Joe Sorren, Brandi Milne, Buff Monster, Camille Rose Garcia, Dave Kinsey, Travis Louie, Mercedes Helnwein, Ray Ceasar, Sas Christian, Melissa Forman, Jason Shawn Alexander, Dave Cooper, Liz McGrath, Mike Stilkey, Gary Baseman, Craola, Luke Chueh, Coop, Natalia Fabia, Chris Anthony, AJ Fosik, Joe Ledbetter, Todd Schorr, Van Arno, Martin Wittfooth, Josh Agle, Lola, Sylvia Ji, Marion Peck, Mark Ryden and many more. How is that for a lineup? I really wish this show was going to travel and come to some museums here in the states. Take a look at the preview images here, and then head over for the full preview.
Art From the New World: Here and Here
Mark Ryden’s “The Gay 90′s Old Tyme Art Show” @ Paul Kasmin Gallery
This past Thursday, April 29th at the Paul Kasmin Gallery in New York, the latest solo show from Mark Ryden opened up. The show entitled “The Gay 90′s Old Tyme Art Show”, features 23 new works from Ryden. There is a good mix of paintings(oils and watercolors), nice detailed drawings, and some sketches. You can see that some of Ryden’s famous iconography has come back for this show; meat, Abraham Lincoln, and Jesus are all there. A few of the paintings have a color palette that is a little bit darker in tone than most of his works, such as “Virgin and Child” (shown first). A few have some more earth tone based color schemes, and the candy colored scheme we know so well from Mark Ryden’s work can also be seen.
Check out the full show here: Mark Ryden @ Paul Kasmin Gallery
Virgin and Child
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“Incarnation” – Mark Ryden time lapse video
One of the things I enjoy the most when researching art, is seeing the process an artist goes through to create his/her art. There are few things quite as magical as watching a blank canvas, slowly turn into stunning paintings that gives way into a new world. I have always been interested in the way that mary Ryden especially creates his paintings, and now he has a time lapse video that shows the process. The painting shown in the video is entitled “Incarnation” and will be at his upcoming “The Gay 90′s” exhibition coming soon at The Paul Kasmin Gallery
“YHWH” vinyl figure by Mark Ryden
Porterhouse Fine Art Editions is now taking preorders for the very first vinyl collectible toy by Mark Ryden. YHWH is 16.5″ x 9″ x 1.75″, and limited to an edition of 2,000 for $180. The official release date is July 10th, so if you are looking to grab one of these I would head over there now. It also comes in a pretty snazzy box.
I really would have liked to see a vinyl toy of another of Mark’s characters, but you can’t deny this is one unique looking toy.
“Tree of Mystery” print by Mark Ryden
Porterhouse Fine Art Editions will release a new print by Mark Ryden this Thursday, May 28th. This new print is a “giclee print with letterpressed title and embossed chop on archival cotton rag paper”. “The print is framed in a beautiful hand-carved wood frame with museum quality archival plexiglass. The size is 21-1/4″ x 28-1/4″, signed and numbered in an edition of only 40. The price is a bit steep, but is to be expected from a print of this quality from this artist.
