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For the two years I have lived in Fullerton I have meant to visit the Muckenthaler Cultural Center; it is local, it is affordable and it supports the arts.  Unfortunately, I never kept it on my radar-that is to say I never made an effort to learn about the new exhibits and attend regularly.  The few exhibitions I did hear about, frankly, did not interest me.  Based on this small sampling of shows I never attended I unfairly, and subconsciously concluded the Muckenthaler was for old people and made less of an...

12 September, 2009 /

Now that summer is winding down and everyone is back in school, the fall exhibition season has begun.Last night I stopped in to Chapman University's Guggenheim Gallery for the group exhibition 'in love with NIGHT,' curated by the dynamic duo Ciara Ennis and Max King Cap.   Excellent exhibition and live performance by LA based collective Department of Nocturnal Affairs (DNA).  Totally worth the trip up to Orange, so get on out there.  There will also be a follow-up performance by DNA on Tuesday, September...

09 September, 2009 /

             What a great summer to be a commercial artist.  Entertainment Arts have been featured at the Laguna Art Museum since June.  Orange County Museum of Art continues celebrating design with their 2009 Cinema Orange film series (This Thursday highlights graphic designer Milton Glaser of I “heart” NY fame).  Finally, eleven international artists-graphic designers, interior designers, illustrators, art directors, animators, and textile designers-have been invited to participate in Redefining the Line: Art Nouveau and the Female Figure at the Main Art Gallery at Cal State...

25 August, 2009 /

                   Thank you ISM and the Hibbleton Gallery for organizing the Polaroid Party in Fullerton last Friday.  To further celebrate this twentieth century icon I offer my brief list of obvious reasons why Polaroid instant film is so cool: the process of watching the picture develop is an experience, it comes with a white frame and a blank label, you can embed your thumbprint in it, it works like magic, every picture looks retro and old, the sound, one size fits all, and of course...

12 August, 2009 /

            Beginning in third grade I attended school in the Inland Empire, east of Orange County.  There, the trucks are big, the weather is hot, and the air is dirty.  In fact, the air gets so dirty some days kids are not allowed to play outside; recess and physical education are relocated to gyms and multi-purpose rooms.  I cannot say I was ever disappointed about missing P.E. in junior high school, but the idea of needing protection from the air outside makes me sad.             After two...

09 August, 2009 /

  I forgot how clever the “got milk?” advertising campaign was until I saw Art & Copy at the Orange County Museum of Art.  “Got milk?” began in 1993 when the designers at Goodby Silverstein & Partners were presented with the challenge of selling more milk.  To paraphrase their initial concerns: milk is as old as time itself, unlike Snapple or Gatorade there are no new flavors, the labels have not changed in over twenty years, and there are no favorite brands of milk (2% is...

04 August, 2009 /

Last time I was up in LA I checked out the Miracle Mile gallery openings and caught the 'Transforming Photography' group show at the Edward Cella Art + Architecture Gallery. It was excellent.Gallery Director Edward Cella was kind enough to give us some insight into artist Joni Sternbach's amazing tin type photographs.  Unfortunately you are too late to catch the show, but if you go to the gallery website www.edwardcella.com you can view all of the artist's work from the exhibition.Better late than never. . .Edward...

03 August, 2009 /

He is not five stories tall, he is not accompanied by a blue ox, and he did not create the grand canyon by dragging an axe.  However, what I have been told is that Robert Crumb doodles masterpieces on placemats in restaurants, and helped a friend with a major expense by drawing them a personal portrait.  In fact, a man once unexpectedly showed up on Robert Crumb’s doorstep in France only to be invited back the following week. The most unexpected treat of R. Crumb’s Underground at Grand Central Art...

30 July, 2009 /

                                 The Hibbleton Gallery in Fullerton, and ISM have extended the deadline for submissions to their Polaroid 600 Series exhibition.  Submissions can now be sent to kevin@ismcommunity.org until Friday, July 24:   ISM: a community project and Hibbleton Gallery pay tribute to instant film and the discontinued Polaroid 600 Series with a gallery exhibition + limited edition book.The opening reception of INSTANT GRATIFICATION: a polaroid party is scheduled for 7:00 PM on Friday August 7th, 2009 at the Hibbleton Gallery in...

17 July, 2009 /

You wouldn't tell we are in a recession by the amount of people that turned up last night at the group show opening of 'Rogue Wave' at the LA LouverHere are a couple of pics:  Right and Left sides of video room installation of Micol Hebron.  Lots of gum chewing. . .  Olga Koumoundouros in the Main Gallery (that is a plastic Big Gulp cup there at the bottom) Tia Pulitzer sculpture, clay and auto paint video and ink jet prints from Erin Cosgrove and...

17 July, 2009 /

Yesterday while at OCMA revisiting their video exhibition, I managed to convince curator Sarah Bancroft to give us the scoop on one of her favorite pieces from the show.  This is a big show including historical works by artists such as Nam June Paik, Pipilotti Rist, Chris Burden, William Kentridge, Bill Viola. . . .  See the museum website for full details.PSOne of my favorites was the single channel video titled '414-3-Rave-95' by kookie duo Cory Arcangel and Frankie Martin, we laughed our butts off.Exhibition Titled "The Moving Image: Scan to Screen, Pixel to Projection"Artist...

17 July, 2009 /

    Every day I am amazed at the ingenuity of Iran’s cyber generation.  Isolated from outside media, they transformed seemingly narcissistic and shallow, global networking sites (check out pics of my trip to San Francisco) into an unrestricted forum divulging political corruption.  This generation is completely utilizing resources like Youtube, where millions of people are witnessing the violence erupt in the streets, and Twitter, where first-hand experiences are chronicled in a continuous feed.  Every viral message conveys unabashed, fear, frustration, and freedoms previous generations did not...

15 July, 2009 /

Hi Everybody,  I am back from Colombia and ready to blog.  I spent almost a month in South America and loved every minute of it.  Sundays in Bogota. They shut-down the streets and everyone gets out.Can you imagine one day a week, no cars and quasi-obligatory exercise. . .?? Besides eating my way through the city, I also saw an excellent Warhol exhibition at the Museo de Arte del Banco de la Republica, went to several gallery openings- one in particular for Colombian painter Luis Caballero that knocked my socks off, along with salt mines made into churches, horse drawn carts selling avocados the size of cantaloupes,  street...

13 July, 2009 /

On Saturday July 18, 2009, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art will be hosting the exhibition "LA to OC - emphasis:EXTREME". This exhibit brings ten of the downtown Los Angeles art galleries down to the OC to exhibit works of art from select artists. The galleries exhibiting are:Bert Green Fine ArtCrewest GalleryDeborah Martin GalleryHive GalleryIntegrated Circuits GalleryLos Angeles Center for Digital ArtMONAPharmakaPhyllis Stein ArtTodd/Browning GalleryThis exhibition, curated by Jeff T. Alu, brings together emerging, mid career and tenured artists with a common emphasis: each...

06 July, 2009 /

To commemorate the date of the burning of Rome, The Box contemporary art gallery is proud to present new works by artists Craig “Skibs” Barker, Jeff Felker, and Michael Pukac.  This collection of mixed media figurative paintings will open at the Costa Mesa gallery on Saturday, July 18, 2009, from 7:00 PM until 10:00 PM. The exhibition will run through October 3, 2009.  July 18 marks the anniversary of the most known burning of Rome, where in 64 A.D., popular legend reports Nero played his lyre after setting fire to the...

06 July, 2009 /

On Saturday, July 11, Grand Central Art Center honors a lifetime of talent, wit, and carnal fantasies with the opening of R. Crumb’s Underground.  Extending beyond Crumb’s comics, this exhibit includes the debut of his spool drawings and highlights collaborations with other comic artists including his wife, Aline Kominsky-Crumb.  GCAC is the only Southern California venue to showcase this exhibit, organized by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, and is the final stop after two years of touring this show.   R. Crumb's Underground,...

04 July, 2009 /

Arthur Taussig: Postcards from the Edges of America is a sampling from more than 15,000 photographs taken by the artist as part of a documentary exploring mid and low culture museums.  What could be considered detours and road side attractions are presented as destinations valued for their preservation of culture and history.  Some of the treasures highlighted in the exhibition include: The Yo-Yo Museum, Chico, California; The Mary Kay Museum, Houston, Texas;  The Spam Museum, Austin, Minnessota; The Cockroach Hall of Fame, Plano, Texas; The Pez Museum, Burlington, California; and The Babyland General Hospital...

01 July, 2009 /

Congrats to OC based collective Finishing School for making the cover of the most recent issue of Coagula Art Journal. You can get a copy at all the finer galleries in LA.Issue #98 features a cover story interview with FINISHING SCHOOL, and artist’s collective that takes activism and aesthetics to new territory… this time it is the food you eat that is being scrutinized and deconstructed. ALSO… commentary by publisher MAT GLEASON, Art Carer Advice by ALAN BAMBERGER, Prose by columnist GORDY GRUNDY, Poetry by GERALD LOCKLIN and cartoons...

17 June, 2009 /