When real estate investor Davin Gumm set out to refurbish the Pacific Building in the heart of the Santa Ana Artist's Village, he hoped that the office spaces would attract tenants who would use the lofts for "creative uses." Gumm's Copper Door beer bar in the basement of the Pacific Building has become a notable music venue that showcases quality local music, so it's only fitting that the Pacific Building lofts would attract artists immersed in the local scene. So far, a fashion...
I arrived rather heartbroken to the Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros concert at the Observatory in Santa Ana this last Wednesday March 14th. I was heartbroken for no reason associated with with show, but admittedly I would have rather stayed home and watched the UK versions of "Top Gear" and “Cash in the Attic” while eating chocolate. Luckily I remembered how fabulous I am, found my will power, got gussied up and went to the Edward Sharpe show. I am so deeply glad I did. I didn’t realize...
This edition of Beyond the Orange Curtain is coming to you from Anchorage, AK. While here to catch the Iditarod and basically just see Alaska, we had the opportunity to participate in Anchorage's first Friday art walk. One stand-out from the walking tour exposing us to a slice of Anchorage's cultural life, was the work of Anchorage based artist Erin Pollock. A favorite pastime of mine is people watching, and Erin Pollack is a pro at the art of people watching. Pollock traverses the many coffee...
I was supposed to write about the OC Music Awards that I attended last Saturday for my next blog, but instead I have chosen to write about a Swedish Satanic metal band called Ghost. I might say that I have chosen to write about the lesser of two evils, but Ghost revels in being pretty comically evil. Never fear, I will write about a few bands worth mentioning from the OC Music Awards, but I need some time to process. While at the awards ceremony, I found myself feeling familiar feelings that I...
Los Angeles, CA At the 100th Annual CAA Conference in downtown Los Angeles, I got a chance to sit and listen to a panel of women that could impress even the most haughty of elite art folks with their hard work, dedication, and professional experience. Among these women, Carrie Yury knocked my socks off with her helpful advice and personal experience in the art world. Carrie Yury, a professor at CSUF, an occasional writer for Artillery Magazine, and a creative photographer, and art world...
The Pacific Building: Part Two When refurbishing the Pacific Building, real estate developer Davin Gumm hoped to attract arts-oriented tenants to the upstairs offices. What I discovered when I climbed the stairs was a colony of intriguing artists creating some interesting work... Coming Soon… in Part Two.
Last year in Europe, I happened upon the second film in Yael Barlana's trilogy, ...and Europe will be stunned. Mur I wiieza (Wall and Tower 2009) shows a new kibbutz being constructed in the what was the heart of the Jewish residential area in Poland before the war, and then a part of Warsaw Ghetto. In this film Barlana tracks the activities of the Jewish Renaissance Movement in Poland (JRMiP), a new political group established by the artist Barlana, that calls for the return of 3,300,000 Jews...
Located in the glass jungle of Century City the Annenberg Space for Photography hosts one outstanding exhibit at a time based on a distinct theme. The current installation, Digital Darkroom consists of 17 photographers from the US, UK and France who create surreal and impossible scenes using digital and/or darkroom manipulation. The Annenberg is modern yet welcoming; the main gallery is circular with the display walls surrounding a central screening room showing an entertaining...
by Joy Shannon On Thursday February 9th, I was invited to attend a "Backstage" concert filming at DPS Productions in Irvine. I found myself in a dark industrial complex near John Wayne Airport and wondered where the concert could be amongst the rows of identical office buildings closed for the night. Yet, just around a corner I discovered a crowded and lively studio that looked like it was airlifted from a Los Angeles film lot. I have previously been to similar filmings in Los Angeles for...
On First Saturday, the exhibit Gothic opened at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Ana, featuring 56 artists from around the world working in a variety of different mediums, all within the genre of “Goth.” During opening night, the warehouse turned art co-op was transformed into a New Wave nightclub with artists and attendees dressed in their most morbid and theatrical attire. It was a dark and dapper atmosphere which began in full force when exhibition curator Amy V. Grimm...
For the last several months the Los Angeles art world’s attention has been captured by the blockbuster Pacific Standard Time exhibitions happening throughout southern California. In the midst of this dominant viewing of the past art of Los Angeles there has been a few brave souls staging exhibitions that sit outside of this particular lens. One of these shows is the quiet survey of current Los Angeles painting that recently opened at the Torrance Art Museum titled To Live and Paint in LA...
Fullerton, CA Sculptor, S.A. Hawkins had his MFA thesis exhibition open this past saturday at Cal State Fullerton and rocked it! Alongside the large and impressive Faculty exhibit, S.A. took both of the other galleries (The East Gallery and the West Gallery) on the CSUF campus and dominated the night. His abstract and hypnotic glass and metal artworks are surprising and comforting, compelling narratives involving abstract life forms made of glass, metal, rust, found objects, and brightly...
Stockholm isn’t a typical stop on the European traveler’s circuit; it is an expensive city even by European standards, and fairly out of the way being so far north. If you do make it to Sweden’s laid back and beautiful capital you will be well rewarded with a visit to the Moderna Museet. Getting there itself is charming: the Museum is located in the center of Skeppsholmen one the several small islands that are part of Stockholm. It’s a lovely walk along the bridge connecting the island then...
OCMA recently concluded Alexander Calder and Contemporary Art: Form, Balance, Joy (April 10-September 4, 2011) which gives us great reason to revisit the inventor of the mobile, pioneer of modern sculpture and master of grace and balance. When you first encounter one of Calder’s iconic mobiles, a large floating sculpture of steel rods and sheet metal, vivid oblongs, circles and paddles painted in primary colors, intricately balanced and gently rotating, several fundamental principles are...
We all know the typical Laguna Beach landscape paintings: sun-dappled arc of the main beach, pseudo-impressionist rendering of palm trees, hill top houses etc etc etc. For those of us who want to feel Laguna instead of just look at it, Jan Heaton’s watercolors are for you. Heaton is an Austin based visual artist who specializes in watercolor and a collection of her work can be seen at the Joanne Artman Gallery on PCH. Heaton offers a refreshing take on a landscape that has been painted many...
Now in its seventh year, GLAMFA and the attached Open Studios, has been a yearly event organized by CSULB graduate students to showcase new work by both CSULB students as well as a chosen few from other local graduate MFA programs including California Institute of the Arts, Claremont Graduate University and UCI. If the 2011 GLAMFA exhibition is supposed to act as an indicator of what our local bright young things are up to, the kids are not alright. This year’s event featured nearly 30 artists...
Magu, in his natural state - a smile. Pomona, CA. At the collector’s preview of the new exhibition at the dA Center for the Arts, Cruisin Magulandia, the all-around feeling of the event was that of reverence. The entire night was filled with shared stories, friendly faces, passionate music, home-made snacks, and dozens of people looking to open up and revel in the loving memories of artist, Gilbert Luján. Better known as Magu to most, he was a friend to so many people it was overwhelming to...
Pomona, CA Orange County artists, Preston Daniels and S.A. Hawkins made it out from behind the "orange curtain" last night for the new exhibition at the dA Center for The Arts entitled, A Sense of Place, a Sense of Space: Architecture and Landscape Inspired Art. These Cal State Fullerton artists are some of the most well known up-and-coming artists within our beloved orange bubble. Preston Daniels, a recent graduate from CSUF, has work in the Laguna Art Museum, and the Los...
In the art world's recent obsession with Street Art, Pasadena Museum of California Art takes a closer look at the local level. This Street Art Exhibition is not MOCA's copy cat partner, though the buzz coming into the museum was all about that -- MOCA did it first, MOCA did it bigger, MOCA had the controversy, MOCA had the press. One thing that MOCA didn't have that PMCA did, was local flavor. In a place like Southern California, with perfect weather, beautiful beaches, and tons of art...
Los Angeles, CA Okay, so the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA is not technically in the Orange County, but everybody who's anybody was at this monster of an event! And you have to believe that OC Art Blog Followers were not going to miss out on this "members only" premiere. Art in The Streets is a huge milestone for street art as a whole, and for Los Angeles street art specifically. This event will go down in history. The first giant museum exhibit of street art from beginning to end. The...
The OC Art Blog was created in 2004 as a way to build community and promote the marginalized but dynamic Orange County art scene.
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British artist Natasha Caruana joins the OC Art Blog to talk about her ongoing exploration of intimacy, secrecy, and the rituals of modern relationships. Known for projects like Married Man and Fairytale for Sale, Caruana’s work blurs the line between truth and...
Join me for a walk through one of the world’s most influential contemporary art fairs, Frieze London 2025. From blue-chip booths to experimental installations, Frieze offers a snapshot of what artists, collectors, and institutions are thinking about right now. If...
In a landmark move for the region’s cultural landscape, UC Irvine has officially completed its acquisition of the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA), forging a new unified entity under the name UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art. UC Irvine News A Fusion of...
Installation view of Obsesiones/Obsessions at Golden West College Art Gallery. Photo by Tyler Stallings By Tyler Stallings Walking into Obsesiones/Obsessions at Golden West College Art Gallery feels both timely and uncanny. Timely, because the exhibition is...
By Tyler Stallings Brennan Roach, Garden of Earthly Absurdities, 2017-2025,paper, pencil, pen, acrylic, oil on triptych wood panel, 55 x 102 inches. Photo by Tyler Stallings.] Brennan Roach’s Visual Morphology, his first solo exhibition in twelve years, is less a...
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