2012 was the first year of the LA Zine Fest and it was insane! When I met with the team organizing it 6 months ago we were all talking about how sick it would be if only 200 people showed up. So, you can imagine our surprise when close to (if not over) 3,000 visitors walked through the upstairs of the Last Bookstore where the event was taking place. Almost every exhibitor sold out of at least one title - like my tablemates Brass Tacks Press (thanks for the pizza bro's!) and my friend and fellow FecalFace contributor Michael C. Hsiung.
Luckily, the crowd was peaceful, kind, and extremely awkward. Otherwise, I don't know, it wouldn't have felt right. However, the main attraction of the day, besides all the wonderfully weird and creative people, was when Henry Rollins did an extremely in-depth Q&A with legendary punk rock zine man V. Vale. The discussion got really nerdly, really fast, but the crowd was still glued to every word exchanged between the two.
The girls who organized the LA Zine Fest did such a fantastic job at making everyone taking part feel like family and everyone walking around feel accepted. They even put together a library, where folks uncomfortable with reading zines in front of their makers could check each one out, pressure-free, and then purchase them without even having time to blush. And it's because of their attention to detail that such a diverse crowd showed up – from families to an old man who claimed to have a grandson named Daniel and then took 20 of my pins. I don't have a grudge against him though, they were free anyways – I just want to know what he actually did with all of them. -Daniel Rolnik
Os Gemeos opened there latest show, Miss You at Prism Gallery in LA this past Saturday. They continue there exploration of the surreal and gravity in this latest body of work.
The installation took 6 weeks to complete and the results are a fully immersive experience that gives the public a taste of the magical world that flows from the twins' spray cans. Upon entering the gallery, a floating yellow head invites you to peer into the glowing blue hole from the bottom, briefly taking you out of the crowd into an infinity mirrored isolation chamber with music being pumped in. Glowing yellow drips float upward out of the ground and floors, walls and ceilings are all covered in paint and murals creating a truly remarkable experience. Giant detailed murals grace the walls of the stairway and there is a collaboration with older brother Arnoldo, as well as some very special knitted pieces by their mother. They also re-imagined their interactive projection room from the 'Fermata' at Museu Vale in Brazil.
The amount of detail in the exhibit is a truly astonishing feat which is impressive even before one sees the collection of new works that were created for the show! All things considered, the twins have created what I believe to be a masterpiece of a show, and I feel fortunate to have witnessed it coming to fruition.
I headed down to New Image Art gallery Saturday, January 28th to catch Rich Jacobs'Look Into It – If You Know How, which also featured a mini move group show including Sandy Yang, Tobin Yelland, Aya Muto, Jeff Canham, Billy Sprague, Orion Shepherd, Kelly Nicholson, Jordin Isip, Simone Shubuck, Erika Borboa, Clint Woodside, and Tim Kerr.
Rich, known for his colorful, loose and sketch-like character faces, had tons of new works, ranging from new abstract pattern pieces to larger works painted on wood. Another highlight of the show as well was when Harry Wirtz Elementary School assignment winner Terrence Barr and his mother stopped by to show Rich and folks his drawings, some of which were inspired by Rich's paintings. Here are some photos from that evening.
Look Into It – If You Know How
New works by Rich Jacobs
January 28th thru February 18 New Image Art
7920 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
Rich Jacobs in front of his large piece. He was down for the new show as well as to work on a mural in Paramount at Harry Wirtz Elementary School, which was put together by teacher Erik Caruso.
LA's Bitchcraft Tuesday, 13 December 2011 /// Written by Daniel Rolnik
Fellow FecalFace contributor and artist Michael C. Hsiung sent me an invite to the Bitchcraft Trading Post event just outside Silverlake in Atwater Village. I showed up at a super industrial parking lot where hipsters, vintage hounds, and zinesters were gathered around tables selling all sorts of unique goods - from wolves' tooth necklaces to elegant terrariums. Hell, there was even a surf shop. It was a freakishly cold day in LA and even though the vendors hands had frozen over they all kept smiles on their faces and vibes high. Oh yeah, there was also a woman dressed up as a fat santa running around and a really good looking model-esque girl with half of her hair dyed black and the other half bleached blonde - radical! -Daniel Rolnik
Had to drive to LA last Saturday and drive back to SF on Sunday. A hectic short trip, but we got to hang out with the wonderful Mel Kadel & Travis Millard. We had ourselves a little look-see at their Echo Park home/ studio before the 6 hour drive back home.
Bonus: Past homes of Bukowski & Ernest Hemingway and where the Hillside Killer dumped bodies.
My buddy Dave, an avid surfer and starting up his own surf shop FinSurfShop, took me along to check out The Surfing Essay, a collection of photographs by Anthony Friedkin, which opened at DRKRM Gallery, September 17th. Documenting Surfing culture of Southern California from the middle of the 1960's to the 1970's, Friedkin, a native Southern Californian and avid surfer himself, shares these collection of these personal photographs, documenting his life as a surfer, his love of the ocean as well as his connection to other surfer's, their girlfriends, and the life and times.
The Surfing Essay
Photographs by Anthony Friedkin
September 17 - October 29, 2011 www.drkrmgallery.com
727 S. Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90014
Much of these photographs were taken during the Dog Town era, but he had began taking photos as a kid and processing his own pictures at 11 years of age.
Phil shows his Natas tattoo next to Friedkin's photograph of Natas.
---
Tim Biskup – Former State
New Paintings & Sculptures
October 14th – November 4th, 2011
Opening Reception: October 14th, 7-10pm
After party at The Little Cave – DJs include: Tim Biskup, MFG, Paul Tao & ERIC WAREHEIM! THIS los angeles, 5906 N. Figueroa st. LA, CA 90042
Some shots of The Haunted, an interdisciplinary exploration of terror, the inaugural installation at Home Room, a new gallery / venue in Los Angeles. An interactive installation set up by some of the same artists who created TETRICIDE last year. Amy Darling who shoots for LA Record sent over these photos.
Checking out Clark Walter's animatronic "Go Fuck Yourself Defense"
"Hours" by Jessica Dalva
In front of the exterior mural by Champoy Hate
"Evelyn, circa 1940 with mysterious figure" by Allison Peck
Los Angeles, CA: Last Saturday June 11, artist Marco Zamora’s New Works opened at the POVevolving Gallery in Chinatown, Los Angeles. The opening reception ran from 6 pm to 10 pm. We arrived around 9 pm, but there were still lots of folks in the gallery checking out Marco’s beautifully detailed pieces. The show runs from June 11 to July 9th.
Los Angeles based artist Derek Albeck’s recent solo show at POVevolving Gallery in LA’s Chinatown entitled, “Mysterious Strangers” is that of nostalgia and personal history. Known for his photorealistic graphite drawings and flannel mask installations, Albeck’s representations are flawless. His use of mirrors, both broken and whole, are there to add an entirely different world of color, and a sense of identity, to his otherwise black and white pieces. The stories behind them add even more.
Several of the characters displayed in “Mysterious Strangers” are just that, relatives in Albeck’s life that he barely knew. “The narrative aspect of the work is romantic, in a sense, because I’m trying to re-appropriate these things that happened in my life. For me, it’s all about forming an identity, recreating these pasts to make sense of the present,” says Albeck.
Megan Whitmarsh is a very unique artist from Highland Park, CA who uses thread to create complex tableaux of characters in epic scenes of both fantasy and social anxiety. Drawing inspiration from 1980’s American pop culture and her intricate imagination, Megan’s canvas’ show a sympathy toward the misunderstood monster and a celebration of the magic of creation. Also an accomplished soft sculptor, Megan has created a mountain of stuffed replicas of trash she finds in her neighborhood. In this feature we get to know Megan and travel along as she paints a massive 55' x 60' installation at the prestigious IVAM Museum in Valencia, Spain.
Hey, LA people, Albert Reyes opens a show down there tonight at Montana Store Los Angeles (1528 1/2 W. Sunset Blvd.) 6-9pm. <-- If we could be there, we would. If anyone goes and gets some flicks, we'd love to post them up. contact(at)fecalface.com
Albert Reyes work from Future Colors of America in '10 @FFDG
David stopped in Fecal Face on Monday, and we realized that we completely spaced on his show running now in Los Angeles. Well, photos live forever, and if you're down in LA, stop by as it's always better to view work in person than over the internets... Well, most of the time.
LOS ANGELES --- mark down Saturday, June 22nd on the calendar as New Image Art will be opening Tonight We Fight featuring works by John Malta, Pacolli, Mildred, Dillon Froelich, Eric McHenry, Teddy Kelly, Luke Pelletier, Sean Morris, Yarrow Slaps, Ben Jensen, Nathan Brown and Miles Jackson.
Tucker Nichols emailed over this Whole Foods poster (below right) which looks a lot like one of Corey Arnold's photos (bottom left). Coincidence? Where they inspired by Corey's photo? Did Corey actually shoot the photo? Who knows and Corey is fishing for salmon right now (like this), so we can't ask him to find out.
Yeah, bad tattoos are basically a bummer, right? But they're also pretty much a rite of passage for bored and disenfranchised-feeling teenagers the world over. At least it was for about 95% of the people I know. Going to a reputable tattoo shop and getting a wizard or unicorn drilled into your lower back is totally fine, but nothing really takes the place of sitting around with a bunch of friends and some beers, enthusiastically taking turns poking each others' arms full of bad ideas-which actually is fun at any age.
OAKLAND -- First Fridays is hoping Oakland hasn't seen the last of the one of a kind event... The street art party is free to attend, but organizers say with police and other costs the price tag to throw the monthly party is $20,000... The City of Oakland has been footing the bill for months and after kicking in $500,000, it's pulling the plug... Organizers are now asking for donations and developing a vendor fee schedule to try and keep the party alive. ~continue reading
SAN FRANCISCO -- Guerrero Gallery, here in the Mission, opens their summer group show this Saturday, June 15th, featuring works from a steller lineup: Daniel Albrigo, Ryan Travis Christian, Alejandro Diaz-Ayala, Frohawk Two Feathers, Michelle Guintu, Justin Hager, Cody Hudson, Terry Powers, Rye Purvis, Victory Reyes, Jamie Williams, and Yarrow Slaps.
SAN FRANCISCO --- Southern Exposure hosts thier annual Monster Drawing Rally Friday, June 14, 2013 at THE NWBLK, 1999 Bryant Street (at 18th). Tons of great artists auctioning works at a starting price of only $60.
A live drawing and fundraising event with 120 artists working side by side. The event lets spectators to observe artists in the act of creation, providing the opportunity to watch a drawing come to life, and to purchase a work of art minutes after its completion. Drawings are available for purchase immediately for just $60 each.
~complete details
Wonder if our old emails with Banksy are worth a few thousand dollars. It seems everything the dude touches is worth a million dollars these days! Nutty and much deserved.
A disputed Banksy graffiti artwork removed from a gritty London neighbourhood has sold for approximately $1.1 million US at auction. The provocative Slave Labour (Bunting Boy) sold at a private auction held by concierge firm The Sincura Group at the London Film Museum on Sunday, according to Bloomberg news service. The spray-painted, stenciled work depicts a child labourer using an antique sewing machine to create a Union Jack bunting. -Continue reading
Daniel Cronin was hired to shoot photos for the ongoing feature series: the Road Trips USA: Pacific Coast... An interesting idea where the trip was live blogged/ tweeted/ Instagramed with people making suggestions for what to check out, and well, into FFDG they stopped.
Look ma, we made The Guardian U.K.
Come on, guys. Don't call San Francisco "San Fran".
SAN FRANCISCO --- Local painter Ian Kimmerly opened his newest show Continuous Wave at Dolby Chadwick on Thursday night, and these are some of the best paintings I've seen in a while.
This editor has been posting images from his life for the last 13 years. Cats, sailboats and living one's life in the city of San Francisco. Visual randomness.
Spoke Art opened The Black Robe on Thursday night, with the work of Barron Storey, Mike Dringenberg and Keita Morimoto, and was curated by Eidolon Fine Arts.
These days New York-native multimedia artist, Michael Alan, has been incredibly active artistically in the big city. Between staging hours-long Living Installations at the New Museum and other DIY spaces, exhibiting his drawings and paintings in group exhibitions and hosting an unusual solo show in the home of his mother, Alan proves that there is no rest for the wicked. I caught up with him recently to hear the latest, the backstory, and what's next.
Henrik Haven, who keeps us up to date in all that's Copenhagen, emailed over some photos from the Viborg International Billboard Painting Festival that's running throughout June. In this short installment he introduces us to the work of urban/graffiti artist and illustrator NYCHOS.
Kelly Tunstall, who's showing w/ Ferris Plock at FFDG this August 16th, recently finished some commissions for A16 in Oakland. Here's a little taste, and check out her last year's show at FFDG.
Brendan Monroe, whose show Melting Into the Floor runs through June 15th at LA's Richard Heller, creates these great wooden sculptures and featured a bunch in the show... He's often asked how he goes about making them and gives us at Fecal Face a little 'how to' on the process.
Mexico City based Curiot, whose sold out solo show Age of Omuktlans ran last March at FFDG, just finished this great mural entitled "El Retorno de Akhankutli" in Mexico. He recently completed one in Berlin too which we'll be posting in the coming week. The guy is very very talented in our eyes.
This made our day. Not only do we love pizza but we also love Henry Gunderson... So a board shapped like a hot slice designed by Henry Gunderson for The Good Company, well... this writer needs to go for a slice right now.
Wendell McShine (lives in Mexico City, from Trinidad) opened his newest show, Raccoon's Law, at Fifty24SF on Saturday night. ARYZ was a tough act to follow, but McShine held his own in the space... With a combination of a mural, a video, and both drawings and mixed-media works on paper, the diversity of this solo show was impressive. The Raccoon drawings were especially attractive as the way he executed them looked like they actually had fur coming off the page, and you can only imagine how soft it would be to touch. I was lucky to see his work in person through this show, and I hope to encounter more in the future.
Ingrid Wells just got her MFA from The San Francisco Art Institute and these oil paintings from her Honey Boo Boo's Amurrican Starquest were on display as part of the recent MFA exhibition... Ingrid Wells works and lives in San Francisco.
Henry Gunderson emailed over some photos from his recent group show with Andrew Luck, Jordan Bogash, and Mario Ayala "Out The Window" which ran at the Los Angeles based Prohibition Gallery.
I got there the day after the tornado came through. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. My mind just could not grasp what my eyes were seeing. It was just too much to take in, too much to process. So, I did what comes naturally and took images. It sort of helped me separate from the chaos and helped me focus.
Check out this, what could be, one of the longest murals ever created. Hyuro from Valencia, Spain was recently in Copenhagen for the solo show "In/Between" at ArtRebels.
Rachel Ralph spotted Barcelona-based ARYZ working on his mural in the TL a couple weeks back, and we forgot to share the pics. His show at Fifty24SF opened back in April.
Jeffrey Cheung emailed over some photos from a recent one night show he had at Terra Gallery/ event space. The May 19th show also featured live music by Oakland garage rockers Twin Steps and Coldtergeist.
Great solo show by LA based Alison Blickle (Born 1976) up now at San Francisco's Eleanor Harwood gallery. History of Magic Part 1... The Hermitage runs through June 15th 2013. -- 1295 Alabama St. Hours: Wed thru Sat (11-6pm)
Well, it looks like John Felix Arnold rocked Tokyo with his opening with Koutaro Ooyama at Spes Lab a few weeks back. Even a language barrier couldn't prevent the success of their collaboration. They invited everyone they met on trains, in cars, cafes, bars, restaurants, and people responded by attending, and bringing their families and friends as well.
Last Thursday evening, I was lucky enough to get invited to Nickelodeon's premiere party for their newest cartoon, Sanja & Craig, created by three awesome dudes - Andreas Trolf, Jim Dirschberger, and Jay Howell. Hosted at Tony's Salon with pizza provided by Pizzanistas, the premiere party was filled with libations and celebrations, even a break-dance battle broke out. Congrats to everyone who worked on the show, and especially Trolf, Jim, and Jay who all have been working tirelessly on it. Sanja & Craig premiered Saturday 10:30 am 11 am on Nickelodeon. You can watch Sanjay and Craig Episode 1: Brett Venom on hulu. and read about how the guys came up with it in this interview with The LA Times. Now, here's some photos from the premiere.
Drawing Stories is a new series from our buddy Travis Millard. Grab a cup of hot coco, get your slippers on and enjoy some time with your uncle Millard.
Los Angeles Christofer Chin (Tofer) emailed over some install shots of his current show Ar running in NYC at Lu Magnus through June 29th. Simple/ clean and continuing his op artstyle Tofer Chin features new paintings, photographs, and sculpture continuing his exploration of geologically and architecturally inspired Minimalist forms.
Material published on FECAL FACE DOT COM online service is copyrighted by Fecal Face or its licensors, including the originating wire services. Such material is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws and treaties. All rights reserved.
Users of the Fecal Face online service may not reproduce, republish or redistribute material found on the web site in any form without the express written consent of the copyright holder.
xhamsterwarez
.jpg)
