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

Grab your fixed gear, your beach cruiser, your old ten speed, or your tricycle just grab something because Thursday night is the Little Pharma Drug Run. Starting at MOCA, participants will first meet for a costume-making workshop and other activities. Dressed as their favorite pharmaceuticals, they will then embark on a group tour of the late-night drugstores of downtown Los Angeles. The event will culminate at Fringe Exhibitions in Chinatown, which will be hosting an incarnation of Finishing School’s Little Pharma, an interdisciplinary project investigating alternative medicines and lifestyles as viable antidotes...

05 November, 2008 /

The OC Art Blog's very own Chris Hoff led a meditation workshop for Finishing School's exhibition Little Pharma Physic Garden this past Saturday at Fringe in Chinatown. Chris gave a short lecture then led everyone into a 20-minute meditation. I have to say that Chris was a great teacher. Incredibly knowledgable from all of his years as a practitioner. Even though I was raised a Buddhist, I've gotten away from practicing meditation for so long. Life tends to pull you in different directions. But I...

03 November, 2008 /

soundDowntown 2008 is a one-day music festival on Saturday, November 15, featuring a lineup of over 50 locally and nationally recognized bands, DJ’s and performing artists at various venues throughout the Artist’s Village of downtown Santa Ana. This festival marks the recent re-launch of the historic Yost Theater, the re-establishment of Koo’s music programming at the Yost, the renovation of Festival Hall, the developing entertainment district along the Fiesta Marketplace, and the expanding visual arts components of the East Village as well as the 4th Street...

30 October, 2008 /

 Election day is near and the OC Art Blog will start endorsing certain candidates and certain prop's that we have a special interest in.Let's start with our first endorsement. NO on Proposition 8.I was going to do a little rant about separation of Church and State or how this great country of ours was founded by certain individuals that were escaping religious persecution, etc. etc. then I thought it would be better to let our great constitution do the talking.the Fourteenth Amendment to the United...

28 October, 2008 /

Move over Hockey Mom, It's time Art Mom had a voice. Image via Suz ...

24 October, 2008 /

Julio Cesar Morales, Interrupted Passage, 2008; Film still, from a performance by Julio Cesar Morales with Max La Riviere-Hedrick, Norma Listman and Daniel Gorrell; Courtesy of the artist and Julio Duffo, 2008Just a reminder that the California Biennial opens this Sunday at OCMA. Looking from all the off-site projects, I don't know if you can actually even attempt to see everything.The 2008 California Biennial continues the Orange County Museum of Art’s four-decade long history of presenting new developments in contemporary art. This year’s biennial is guest-curated by Lauri Firstenberg, founder and...

22 October, 2008 /

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21 October, 2008 /

This past Saturday, after a nice short break from our gardening workshop during mid-day as part of the Little Pharma exhibition at Fringe, I headed out to Little Tokyo for some music. Performing at Cocaine was no other than Finishing School's very own Jason Plapp. He is part of a ukulele Depeche Mode cover band called Depressed Mood. This was the first time they performed live. They played three solid hits, including the one above.This is such an interesting idea, I hope they will get...

20 October, 2008 /

Saturday night I met my friend Suz from the famous blog Alive in Wonderland down at the Santiago Art District Art Walk. She has made a little video of the festivities with a little help from her four year old. Enjoy: The Santiago Art District's Art Walk...

20 October, 2008 /

Heads-up! I will be doing a meditation workshop as part of Finishing School's current exhibition Little Pharma now running at Fringe Exhibitions in Chinatown.  I will be covering the many benefits of a regular meditation practice and some basic meditation techniques to get you started. The workshop will take place on Nov. 1st from 12-2pm. Hope you can make it! - Chris ...

20 October, 2008 /

I completely missed the opening for this show. I had a previous engagement in L.A. last night. But thank you (once again) to my friend Susie Eaton. Because of her I have pictures of the opening reception to share with all of you. She sent me so many good once, I couldn't decide which ones to edit out. So I said, heck, I'll do my usual Flickr slideshow.So right now I'm just living vicariously through Susie's pictures. The ball game looked like it was a...

18 October, 2008 /

OCCCA is once again doing Buy The Running Foot. The premise is simple. You pay by the linear foot, drop off the work, and they hang them. No jurying or censorship. Head over to their website for more details.--James ...

17 October, 2008 /

Penumbra opens at The Box on Saturday night. ...

17 October, 2008 /