The Scene

This past weekend the OC Art Blog hit the three major Orange County Art walks: Laguna Beach (First Thursday), Fullerton (First Friday) and Santa Ana (First Saturday) for a compare and contrast. From the red carpets of Laguna Beach to open mike night at the Fullerton Museum Center, it was a crash course on the diversity of the Orange County art scene, patrons and neighborhoods. Check out the following posts for our photos and breakdown on the October art walk scene, galleries, and our picks. [caption...

09 October, 2013 /

Concentrated on the pedestrian Second Street Promenade, Santa Ana had the liveliest street scene with DJs, street performers and multiple bands. The Santora Building has beautiful architecture but the galleries inside can be hit or miss. Get there anytime: from 6 to 10ish p.m. The Crowd: 20’s+, eclectic, families, and students The Art: Large scale installations, artists-in-residence, student art, performance art, video and everything in between What you won’t find: Established commercial artists, street parking Gallery Pick: OCCCA Check out: Cumulus at Grand Central After: Dessert at The Playground on Fourth Street [caption...

09 October, 2013 /

We had the most fun at the Fullerton Art Walk. It’s a little spread out with three distinct areas (see map) VioletHour-PÄS-Hibberton, the Fullerton Museum Center four blocks away and in between the  Carpe Diem Experience, a cluster of small galleries, craft tables and food trucks. You can find affordable art here, and we saw a lot of red dots. We enjoyed the industrial/renovated gallery interiors and blues at the Fullerton Museum Center open mike night. We recommend waiting out traffic: the crowd peaked around 8...

08 October, 2013 /

Laguna Beach is the most extensive of the art walks stretching from North Laguna Beach, through “downtown” to South Laguna (see map). Being a weeknight we only covered the north and select downtown galleries, as well as the Laguna Beach Art Museum (free admission the night of art walk). The art carries a higher price tag than the other art walks, but we enjoyed the free admission to the Laguna Beach Art Museum and free wine in the galleries. We recommend getting there early: the walk...

08 October, 2013 /

During the early part of my childhood growing up in Orange County, I can remember countless rides in the backseat of my parents’ Datsun from downtown Orange where we lived to my great-grandmother’s apartment in what is now considered Laguna Hills.  The air would turn pink during certain sunsets, mixing with the leaves of the massive eucalyptus trees that lined long stretches of farm fields in Irvine. Mystery crops would be coming up, clinging to sticks for support and I would stare at the rows...

30 July, 2013 /

When I first came across Brandon Spiegel's art, it reminded me of the stones outside of the ancient burial site of Newgrange, Ireland, densely carved with interlocking spirals. What Spiegel's work captures, that one can feel in that ancient work, is that essential urge and joyfulness in creation. Spiegel's mesmerizing work is especially influenced by the patterns and shapes found within Native American cultural designs. Yet, there is also something decidedly modern about the work, as its psychedelic patterns harken a sense of nostalgia for...

23 July, 2013 /

If the ancient goddess Athena- goddess of wisdom whose sidekick was an owl- was alive today, her favorite artist would be the Australian painter Rodrigo Luff. Luff's work is characterized by his goddess-esque women in mystical landscapes, often filled with whimsically rendered creatures like owls. In attempts to blend the inner spiritual and emotional world with the outer physical world, Luff creates imaginative and beautiful work that is truly unique.   Currently on display at Thinkspace Gallery in Culver City until August 3, Luff's work truly captures...

18 July, 2013 /

When I was little I used to spend hours in my family's garden, studying the intricacies of the landscape. Deeply influenced by my love of Jill Barklem's Brambly Hedge illustrations, I was looking for mice homes amongst the trees and bushes. What I discovered under rocks and in what seemed like quiet little corners of our yard, was a surprising amount of activity amongst the insects and the birds. Those formative, imaginative years were the first time I began to be in awe of nature...

29 May, 2013 /

It's rare that LA can offer me something that makes me feel right at home in Ireland again… Owen Dara's delightful comedy show "Two Pint Wonder," showing every Sunday in April at the Renegade Theatre in Hollywood, does just that. Dara crafted an extremely charming and, simply put, very funny show about the in and outs of growing up Irish and coming to America. For myself, as a child of immigrants from Ireland, Dara's comedy possesses a particular type of self-deprecating Irish wit that feels...

13 April, 2013 /

It's rare that a band can invoke a real feeling of mysticism in me upon hearing their music. Perhaps this is because I play music and my brain can go directly to understanding song structure and chords; that is, unless the song is coming from another place entirely. There are some bands and composers who are tapping into something on a deeper, more spiritual level that can shut my brain off and immediately propel me into a state of meditative bliss. The multi-cultural band Deleyaman,...

07 April, 2013 /

Currently showing at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Ana, the exhibit Embrace is comprised of artwork by Kim Tucker, Michael Giancristiano and Matjames Metson; curated by Katherine Huntoon. This show illustrates the power of a curator's voice to bind seemingly unrelated works together under one banner.  In the case of Embrace we are asked to notice how each of these artists lovingly and meticulously rescue the abandoned or overlooked to create highly emotional works that become much greater than the sum of their...

28 February, 2013 /

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds celebrated the release of their 15th studio album "Push the Sky Away" with a special show at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood on Feb 21. This show marks a different sort of album release than they've ever done before. Instead of the usual more extensive tours that the band has done in the past, they've elected to do exclusive small-venue album release performances in a few cities around the world. We in Los Angeles were lucky to have the...

24 February, 2013 /

The night before Thanksgiving, November 21st, the legendary reggae band Toots and the Maytals played a joyous show at the Coach House. On tour from their home in Jamaica, Toots and the Maytals played some of their most classic songs "Pressure Drop," "54-46 Was My Number," and "Monkey Man" to a grateful and enthusiastic crowd. Called a living legend by many, Toots is one of the founding fathers of the reggae music, deeply influencing the ska and rock steady styles. His 1968 single "Do the...

03 December, 2012 /

A compelling and vibrant art show is currently on display at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Ana. The show, entitled "Siempre es Hoy," runs until November 24, with a special closing reception from 6-11 pm. You must RSVP for the closing festivities (by emailing solartradio@gmail.com), and I highly recommend it based on how fun, lively and interesting the opening reception was. "Siempre es Hoy" vividly documents the Mexican music scene through a diverse group of intimate photographs of musicians and concert audiences....

14 November, 2012 /

The pertinent timing of AR4T Gallery’s current group show, “Futureland 2012 : The American Flag” is no coincidence. While the pieces are not without some criticism of social issues, the overall theme is one of constructive unity, a much needed reminder in these divisive times of the aspects of this country that render us grateful. An abundance of red, white and blue, as well as a tendency by the artists to use wood and other materials to build three-dimensional versions of the flag, recall simple foundational...

11 October, 2012 /

Last week, I had the privilege of seeing singer and songwriter Tristan Prettyman in concert at Fingerprints Records in Long Beach. Prettyman was celebrating the release of her third studio album "Cedar + Gold" and just about to commence a tour in support of the new music. Dedicated to "anyone who has ever surrendered," the new album "Cedar + Gold"  is a work of incandescent beauty. Not since the 90s Lilith Fair days of Sarah MacLachlan, has surrender sounded so achingly sweet. Prettyman initially grabs the...

08 October, 2012 /

Tonight I attended my first First Friday in Long beach. What brought me out there was the show Now curated by Hilary Norcliffe at the Expo Arts Center. First Fridays in Long Beach features music, some art, food and lots people watching. Speaking of people watching, here's some pics.. [gallery link="file"]...

05 October, 2012 /

I recently met up with the progressive metal band Between the Buried and Me during the tail end of their Summer Slaughter Tour. The tour, headlined by Cannibal Corpse, stopped through the Grove in Anaheim on August 25th. Upon arriving at the Grove, I was struck by a unique culture clash occurring that day between the neighboring venues of the Angels Stadium and the Grove. Crowds of young people, generally dressed in black with an assortment of metal shirts, were crossing Katella Ave to reach...

22 September, 2012 /

  After attending the openings for “Hell Hath No Fury” at Rothick Art Haus in Anaheim and “Heaven’s on Fire” at Artists Republic for Tomorrow in Laguna Beach, both this past Saturday night, I was like, “fuck, YEAH!!” Well, it was late and I was pretty exhausted from so much good art intake, so I didn’t yell it out loud or fist pump or anything, but the emotion was totally there. Aside from being inspired by the caliber of work generated and exhibited in this fair County, I...

21 September, 2012 /