fanatics

Allison Schulnik, Red Head on Green, 14 x 18 inches, gouache on paper, 2009

 
Please join us Saturday, October 24 from 7.30-10p for our TERRIFYING ART AUCTION, an event to raise funds for the printing of MATERIAL Issue 2, forthcoming this December. Our goal is to raise $5000. The event will take place at our MATERIAL Headquarters in Mandarin Plaza in Chinatown. Luckily, Michael Akin, the amazing auctioneer from last year's event, will be returning to kick up some dust.

Stay tuned for the upcoming silent auction taking place Sunday, October 18 to Friday, October 23. We will send out a PDF of the works that you can then bid on by email or phone. Those of you far and wide will be able to pitch in and support MATERIAL's fundraising efforts.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Participating artists include:
Stella Baraklianou
Adam Berg
Ellen Birrell
Olivia Booth
Christine Brandt
Josh Callahan
Frank Chang
Phil Chang
Marcus Civin
Andy Cline
Ginny Cook
Zoe Crosher
Mara De Luca
Robin Dicker
Alyssa Gorelick
Hilary Graves
Jesse Green
Nicholas Grider
Christian Hagemann
Emilie Halpern
Daniel Hockenson
Sunnifa Hope
David Horvitz
Emily Joyce
Farrah Karapetian
Pete Kirby
Marie-France Kittler
George Kontos
Alison Kudlow
Tom Lawson
Wiebke Leister
Max Lesser
Katie Lewis
Jed Lind
Jay Lizo
Sidonie Loiseleux
Shana Lutker
Dash Manley
Max Maslansky
Jacob Melchi
Jessica Minckley
Melanie Nakaue
Jill Newman
Alisa Ochoa
Alex Olson
Arthur Ou
OUMI
Julie Orser
Karri Paul
Hirsch Perlman
Chris Peters
Regine Petersen
Brett Cody Rogers
Kim Schoen
Allison Schulnik
Roland Seto
Julie Shafer
Emma Shercliff
Charlotte Smith
Jesper List Thompsen
Mike Underwood
Max Warsh
Emma Wieslander
Dee Williams
Eric Yahnker
Wendy Yao
Viola Yesiltac
Bari Ziperstein

 

Concrete Drawing: Extending the Line

Bill Anderson, Steve Bankhead, Sky Burchard, Enrique Castrejon, Mark Dutcher, Alison Goldberg, Kristi Lippire, Micheal McMillen, Kaz Oshiro, Tim Quinn, Stuart Rapeport, Jesse Robinson, Denise K. Seider, Nicola Vruwink, Carrie Whitney and Liz Young.

Exhibition Dates: October 10th – November 5th, 2009
Opening Reception: October 10th

Fine Arts Gallery, Fine Arts Building
Gallery hours: Mon.-Thu. & Sat., noon-5 p.m.
Call the CSULA Fine Arts Gallery at (323) 343-4040 for more information.

“Concrete Drawing: Extending The Line” is an exhibition that discusses the idea of line that expands beyond the page.  It explores the structural aspects of making, not only in a formal way but how the elements of line can come off the flat surface and is used to describe issues beyond conventional methods.  The premise of Concrete Drawing evolves from a construction of a flat idea, a realization of content into a more dimensional arena, not only representing a spatial world but also pushing the possibility of the core principles of expression and discussing them using a broad range of materials and techniques.

The works of 15 artists from the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara areas use a variety of materials and methods to create a hybrid of drawing, video, painting, sculpture and installation.  This results in an innovative way to think about line and it’s possibilities. This exhibition was curated by Barry Markowitz.

Drama of the Gifted Child:
The Five Year Plan
June 28 - August 30, 2009
Opening reception, Saturday, June 27, 7-9 p.m.
David Burns, curator

The exhibition consists of new work by ten of Los Angeles’ emerging artists, all Southern California art school MFA graduates of the last five years: Dan Bayles, Spencer Douglass, John Knuth, Julie Lequin, Julie Orser, Marco Rios, Amy Robinson, Christopher Russell, Kelly Sears, and Bari Ziperstein. The exhibition is organized by David Burns, a member of the artist collective Fallen Fruit and the former Assistant Curator at the Armory.

The works included examine these artists’ recent work as a process by which they explore the relationship between an often-hyped academic training and the raw demands of a career. The exhibitions consists of videos, sculptures and installations and reflects the various practices of artists trained in the new millennium, after 9/11 and after the crash of what appeared to be an unendingly growing international art market.

Each of the artists selected could be characterized by the combination of their studio practice and growing exhibition record, however considered as a group, each of the projects in the exhibition generates a larger internal and external dialogue. The work is bold and experiments with its materials and messages. Representing some of the more outstanding emerging artists in Los Angeles right now, Drama of the Gifted Child: the Five Year Plan suggests the relationship of artists to career goals and academics that has fostered the opportunity for success as a contemporary artist today. Each of these artists employs a bold directness that is hard to deny.

(P.S.: The Drama of the Gifted Child is a GREAT book. There is writing on artists, such as Buster Keaton, therein.)

To Tweet or Not to Tweet, That Is the Question

Looking back at the past thirty years, I see the pattern of my initial reluctance to embrace the technology of the modern world. First, I had to learn to drive a car, though some of my friends tell me that I still drive like a Russian peasant. Then, there was an especially embarrassing moment when I heard for the first time the word ‘fax' and mistook it for, hmmm...an unprintable profanity, and that's how l learned about the existence of fax machines. When I started to do my Art Talk, I would write and edit the text on an old-fashioned typewriter, until an assistant of mine eventually persuaded me to start working on a computer, so I got a used one, courtesy of her husband.

Now, years later, I am spending most of my working hours staring at a screen, reading and sending an endless stream of emails. Every time my program is broadcast, I receive responses from people who hear it on the air as well as from those who get the email version text plus images and links that goes to over 5,000 people on the Art Talk mailing list. Several weeks ago, a new feature was added to the Art Talk page on the KCRW website, where listeners can now post their comments. Slowly, very slowly, I've come to the understanding that I must have a website of my own, and as luck would have it, one of the participants in my Art Collecting class, Good Samaritan that he is, took it upon himself to build one for me.

Meanwhile, I'm still trying to make sense of all the fuss over yet another mysterious way of communicating these days Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So, I'm asking you to help me decide: Is it worth doing? And if so, which one do you think I should choose, or should I embrace them all? It would be great if you would post your comments online.

With all the wonderful advantages that technology provides, there is still no substitute for face-to-face interaction in real space, in real time. Tomorrow, Wednesday April 29, at 7pm, I will be moderating a panel discussion at the Getty Center about ‘Ethical Dilemmas in the Conservation of Modern and Contemporary Art.' Ironically, many works made from new and untested materials create more problems for conservators than traditional artworks made hundreds of years ago. Many contemporary works of art were not intended to last, however, as they enter museum collections, we are forced to confront this paradox: how to preserve a work of art which is not supposed to last? In my opinion, it was smart to throw out Damien Hirst's deteriorating shark and replace it with a new one, but what would you do if the famous (or if you prefer, infamous) work of Italian artist Piero Manzoni, his 1961 Merda d'artista small cans of his feces started to leak? Do you replace it, and if so, with what?

All that and more will be discussed tomorrow night by a panel of experts, including conservators, collection managers and curators. I invite you to attend this free event, but you will need to call (310) 4407300 or make a reservation online. And if you tell them that you are an Art Talk/KCRW listener, you will be given not only preferential seating, but a souvenir as well. How about that? I also suggested a bottle of Russian vodka for each of you but, alas, was told that it's illegal...

Ethical Dilemmas in the Conservation of Modern and Contemporary Art
Wednesday April 29, 7pm
Harold M. Williams Auditorium, Getty Center

If you’d like to share your thoughts on today’s show, you can post your comments on today’s show page at kcrw.com/arttalk

Edward Goldman is an art critic and the host of Art Talk, a program on art and culture for NPR affiliate KCRW 89.9 FM