The OC Art Blog was created in 2004 as a way to build community and promote the marginalized but dynamic Orange County art scene.

One year ago almost to the day, we published an interview with Finishing School that was conducted by Joanna Grasso during the opening week of the 2011 Venice Biennale. FS was there in Italy working on their film, 54. Now, here we are talking with them about the same project but different Venice Biennial. I recently caught up with Finishing School members Brian Boyer, Ed Giardina, Jason Plapp, and their newest collaborator Devon Tsuno. They are currently collaborating on a three-panel mural for the Hammer Museum’s Venice Beach Biennial, a project within...

07 July, 2012 /

"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time." If you have had any contact with the Orange County art scene over the past decade then you know what ISM: a community project is, what they do, why they do it and who they are. Right? Well, partially. In the spirit of the above saying by Abraham Lincoln, ISM is as an organization as elusive and open-ended...

06 July, 2012 /

         NEWS TODAY-- Apparently, long time curator at MOCA (pictured above) was fired last night. According to the Los Angeles Times, “The firing was made by the museum's board of trustees [last night] and is effective immediately.” Schimmel’s sudden departure was first reported by art journalist Mat Gleason. On his personal blog, he wrote: “Paul Schimmel was fired at MOCA - it was the end of the fiscal year and they tightened the belt.” Gleason, who is not favored by Schimmel from an incident years ago by calling...

28 June, 2012 /

[caption id="attachment_4094" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="The Cut-Off Men"][/caption] Santa Ana, CA.  Downtown Santa Ana Artist’s Village gets a kick in the contemporary art butt with newest creative addition, Grand Central Art Center’s (GCAC) new Director and Chief Curator, John Spiak. Spiak is a whirlwind of creative energies, and his expertise in Relational Aesthetics and Social Practice are giving the Artist’s Village a transformative new take on the art scene in Orange County. Spiak is bringing in artists from all over the world, to engage and exchange with the...

28 June, 2012 /

An epically historic moment occurred at the Grove in Anaheim on Friday the 15th of June. The Italian symphonic power metal band Rhapsody of Fire performed for the first time in the Los Angeles area after garnering a dedicated following since forming in 1993. Rhapsody of Fire's rousing brand of power metal has been lovingly called "Hollywood Metal," because of its resemblance to epic film soundtracks. The powerful compositions tend to make one feel inspired and remarkably able to go slay a dragon… or, perhaps...

25 June, 2012 /

Hello All! I wanted to let you know that local curators Martha Lourdes Rocha & Martin Corigan need your road trip photos for their upcoming exhibition titled Common Tread that will open at the Begovitch Gallery at CSU Fullerton on September 8th. Please help them out and get your favorite road trip photos in an art show. They can be contacted via the Common Tread Facebook Page. Thanks!...

19 June, 2012 /

New York Magazine art critic Jerry Saltz once said that the alchemy of good curating amounts to placing one work of art near another, leaving each intact, and in the process creating a third thing. This third thing and the two original things then trigger cascades of thought and reaction. I was reminded of this idea after viewing the wonderful exhibition Gerit Grimm: Beyond the Figurine now running at the Long Beach Museum of Art through July 8th. In this enjoyable exhibit the Long Beach Museum...

15 June, 2012 /

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Ciscandra Nostalghia from the LA-based avant garde electro-acoustic musical duo Nostalghia. They have been called "post-apocalyptic gypsy punk," which is the best description I have heard of their intensely creative music. Nostalghia is the brainchild of recording and performing artists Ciscandra Nostalghia and Roy Gnan. The musician and visual artist pair blend beautiful, mysterious romantic visuals with passionate music and avant garde performances. At times, Ciscandra's unique, raw, and expressive use of her voice is reminiscent of Kate Bush,...

12 June, 2012 /

I first heard a Margot and the Nuclear So and So's song when I saw the Long Beach-based singer and songwriter Will Morrison of the Vacuum Bell perform a beautiful rendition of "Broadripple is Burning." Though the song is absolutely gorgeous, it has desperate lyrics like "I'll be hanging from a rope/I will haunt you like a ghost." Frankly, because Morrison is a friend of mine, I was concerned for his mental health until I discovered he did not write the song. Because the song's...

03 June, 2012 /

  Emulex Corporation is usually a computer parts manufacturer based in Orange County, but this year Emulex has taken an interest in spreading their wealth-- with their never-ending supply of creative materials, otherwise known as e-waste, and their passion for Orange County art, this computer parts company has partnered up with Cal State Fullerton to create The Art of Convergence, a sculpture competition featuring Emulex parts and products and CSUF sculpture students. The Art of Convergence supports recycling, artistic experimentation, community participation, and good old fashioned creativity....

18 May, 2012 /

I first came across the visual art of metal musician John Dyer Baizley last year. I saw a band T-shirt that was so stunningly beautiful it made me stop in my tracks. The shirt, advertising the Norwegian punk/metal band Kvelertak, interlaced women and an owl with black ink outlines and delicate watercolor shading. The artwork recalled the style of 19th-century Art Nouveau lithographic artist Alphonse Mucha, and included women who looked like they stepped out of 17th century Baroque paintings. Intricately detailed animals and plant...

14 May, 2012 /

Deciding to devote your life to making music or another artistic endeavor has probably always been a difficult decision that entailed making some personal sacrifices. These days the decision to pursue music feels particularly hard, because while technology makes it so we can easily write, record and put music out on the internet, there are seemingly less ways to earn money through songwriting. While I am a firm believer that we should always follow our passions because it makes us live our most rich and vital life,...

04 May, 2012 /

The concepts of war and fashion are seemingly disparate but in Andriy Halashyn’s oil paintings at SALT Fine Art in Laguna Beach soldiers and fashion models seamlessly co-exist on one canvas. In the aptly named War and Fashion series Halashyn cleverly fuses the imagery of combat and vogue into a single scene. The two are merged so naturally the deceptively cheery paintings create tension as the viewer tries to reconcile how the two can exist together. And yet, they do. [caption id="attachment_3714" align="aligncenter" width="438" caption="Speed 35"][/caption] Living...

23 April, 2012 /

This past Saturday April 21st, folk singer M. Ward played an intimate sold-out show to an enrapt audience at Long Beach's Fingerprints Record Store during their Record Store Day celebration. Fingerprints, located at 420 East 4th Street in the Long Beach East Village Arts district, continually showcases awesome talent during their free in-store performances. The in-store performances I have attended over the years have all felt special, as the audience is getting the privilege of seeing a performer who is normally on large stages in...

22 April, 2012 /

San Antonio, TX.  At the 2012 SSCA annual conference, this year held in The Alamo City, San Antonio, three Orange County writers were shocked and amazed by this fascinating and artistic city! Who would have thought that The Alamo City had good art! Ok, maybe Los Angeles and Orange County have warped my mind into forgetting about the other states outside of New York and California for art in America, but I stand corrected! Texas definitely has art. With a slew of public sculptures that brighten the...

17 April, 2012 /