Now Showing @ TAG - Map Art

"Thomas Guide, Page 671, Santa Monica Pier" ©2010 digital collage, 14.5 x 19" framed

This piece is now hanging in the Loft area at TAG Gallery. Since many people from out of town visit Bergamot in the summer, I thought I'd exhibit a souvenir type piece. It will be up for a couple of months - unless it sells!

If you can't make it to Santa Monica this summer, you may also purchase this online at Society6.

I was going to do a whole series like this, but have only done a couple. Went on to other things...

Dave and Carolyn Folk the West Side

"Are you ready to folk, Santa Monica?"
It might not have the same resonance as "Are you ready to rock?" but a talented and entertaining folk duo can now be seen every 2nd Tuesday, 8pm the Unurban in Santa Monica.

Be sure to get there by 8pm - they start on time and the set is short!

Unurban

3301 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405-2115

The next gig will be 7/10.

Chain Letter Santa Monica: part 2 - Saturday night

After a relaxing sushi dinner at Sakura, Lani, Severo and I went up to Bergamot to check out the Chain Letter show. We parked in a secret spot and walked over - wasn't as crowded as I was expecting. (It was 8pm when we got there). 

I was thought the parking lot would be a wall of people like at a concert. Not so.

Lani, me

on the line for the D2 space (annex #2)

view of the line from D2... party!

here is my piece in the back of D2
you saw this earlier in part 1

#762!

"dark" would be a good description of D2
we decided the show looked like an artsy rummage sale

cool pencil sculpture

Hey, I know that guy!

Some people came by chartered bus. Smart!

an artist bus

look! artists!

We opted out of waiting on line at the main gallery space.
Charlotte said "it moved as fast as a Galapagos tortoise"
I'll see it when I get back from my l-o-n-g vacation.

the line for Shoshana Wayne - where the early birds exhibited

art patrons enjoying something from one of the food trucks

We ambled over to F1 (annex #3) - the line wasn't too long. But it turned 9:00 before we got to the door so we were turned away. I felt sorry for the poor interns who had the task of doorkeeper.

At least one artist made money from this - these tees were sold in front of Shoshana Wayne. These guys said they were sold out but that he was taking orders! $10.

"I was in the Doug Harvey Chain Letter Show and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt"

See lots of links about the show in part 1. Too lazy to do them all again.

Chain Letter Santa Monica: part 1 - Friday

FB link

A crazy art event transpired this week at Bergamot.
It all started with a call for art on Facebook:

"Chain Letter" is a group show wherein 10 artists have been invited to participate. 
Those 10 then invite 10 artists whom they admire. 
Those 10 invite 10 more and so on. This cycle continues for 30 days. 
The result is an exponentially massive, artist-curated group show based entirely on admiration.

Organized by Christian Cummings & Doug Harvey

Opening Reception: Saturday, July 23, 6 - 8 pm
Installation for artists: Friday, July 22 
shoshanawayne.com

More than a thousand artists converged at Bergamot on Friday. I heard it was gridlock on Cloverfield and they had to call in the police. Those lucky enough to find parking queued up for hours for intake and installation.

photo by Steve Craig

I was lucky - Katherine Kean very kindly braved it all and got my piece in the 2nd annex in D2. She also took a piece that Lani Asher had mailed me from San Francisco. (I had to work).

there is my piece when Katherine installed it (photo by Katherine)

I saw much heated discussion on Facebook on Friday over how insane it all was. Sant Khalsa drove from San Bernardino (75 miles) only to turn around and drive home, unable to cope with the hubbub at Bergamot. Here is her Chain Letter piece that she faxed to Shoshana Wayne:
Sant Khalsa

Participation: From Here to There and Back
Inspired by the L.A. Art & Life Experience

Friday, July 22, 2011

Awoke early this morning with the best of intentions to deliver my mixed media photographic sculpture, Tree and a wonderful clay and rubber piece by my colleague and friend, Alison Petty Raguette to Shoshana Wayne Gallery at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica for the Chain Letter 2011 exhibition, a summer group show curated by Christian Cummings and Doug Harvey.

I felt it was important to participate because I wholeheartedly support the concept of the exhibition. I also wanted to acknowledge through participation, the inspiration I gain from so many of the artists I personally know and share ideas with in the L.A. art community as well as others I have never met.

I arrived at Bergamot Station at 9:30 am (thinking that was early – before 10 am) after an almost two hour, 75 mile drive from my home in San Bernardino. The I-10 freeway Cloverfield Ave exit off ramp was backed up with hundreds of cars carrying artists with their work. By the time I got through the gate of Bergamot, traffic was in a deadlock and a line of artists had formed around the property. Artworks were sprawled everywhere (some very large sized works transported in U-Haul trucks). I existed the parking lot and circled the surrounding neighborhood looking for parking as artists walked long distances carrying their artworks. Meanwhile, the line of cars from the freeway was rapidly getting longer and parking was nowhere to be found. After a phone conversation with Alison, I decided to head home and accept that our artworks would not be included in the massive heap of inspired creative debris that would cover the floor of the gallery.

Driving home, I thought about my experience and my disappointment. I also thought about how many of my conceptual ideas for artworks come while I am driving on the So Cal freeways and that the act of driving to Santa Monica from San Bernardino and back is my piece, my Participation in the Chain Letter.
Sant Khalsa

There was a big outcry when the gallery capped the artworks at 1700. A Salon des Refusés was created by Marino Pascal

Chain Letter Overflow show

That's BS. First there is no rules and then they cap it at 1700 people. WTF?
#1. Real artists are always late.
#2. Real artists don't wait in line.
I'm setting up a chain letter overflow exhibition at 6551 West Bl, Inglewood, CA, 90302.

Setup, opening and strike: 5-9pm Sat Jul 23, 2011

date in santa monica

I'd been craving a return to BP Oysterette for a while and Severo had Sunday off, so we did a little jaunt to Santa Monica to be gluttons and walk the Promenade.
Our first stop was Yummy cupcakes - I needed to pick up a vanilla/vanilla to sketch for my cupcake series. We ended up with four, which we took back to the car.

We then walked down to BP Oysterette.

4pm is a great time to go --
nicely situated between lunch and dinner and no wait.

We sat at the bar so we could watch the action in the kitchen.

Here's what we ordered:

caesar salad

steamed clams, fries seasoned with Old Bay

steamed clams, lobster macaroni + cheese

brown butter apple tart with cinnamon ice cream

After all of that, we were in dire need of a postprandial walk. So we did a little exploring of Santa Monica Place and then up the Promenade.
Altogether, a very fun afternoon.

What about the cupcakes? you ask -- see Cupcake Safari for details!

visiting santa monica like a tourist -- BP Oysterette

Severo and I had a date night in Santa Monica last Tues

I wanted to shoot touristy shots of the SM pier:


He wanted to try the Lobster Roll at BP Oysterette:

lobster roll with sweet pototo chips

BP Oysterette is great. Not cheap and certainly busy (even on a Tues night), but what we ordered was delicious.

lobster tacos with white beans, brown rice, grilled lemon

At $20, the lobster roll was jam-packed with meat. Very sparse on the (homemade) mayo. Yum.
The tacos' lobster filling was tasty, but I didn't like the deep fried shell -- next time I'll request the tortillas soft. The beans were outstanding. Had traces of fennel and I don't know what else -- must return and eat again. The rice was plain brown rice, ho-hum. Sadly, we were too full for dessert. Next time.

We then walked down to the pier, played tourist, shot photos and had a grand time.