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Jumping Fences
21 JulI think….
Maybe…
Definitely…
BANKSY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunset Boulevard and Genessee Avenue
Midnight Express-o
18 JulThe Barista asked me “Do you like dogs, cats or monkeys?”
The Spot, Coffee Shop and Art House. Late night showing for Alisha Choi.
The Spot
4455 Overland Ave
Culver City, CA 90230
(310) 559-8868
www.thespotcafelounge.com
Mr. Brainwash is French
14 Jul
Thanks to Walls of L.A., an explanation of Mr. Hitchcock’s appearance has come to light. A French filmmaker, known as Mr. Brainwash, is apparently the reveler behind graffiti posters that have appeared throughout Hollywood and particularly along Melrose Avenue. His new project involves the exploration of graffiti and thus what better way to advertise the upcoming, possibly London, show (currently TBD)?
On June 18, 2008, Mr. Brainwash celebrated a solo L.A. show titled “Life Is Beautiful,” another tragic commentative piece on the state of affairs in our world; comprising of piles of trash, police escorts, use of campbells and iconography, clever societal criticism and the defacement of Larry King (among others) in Marily Monroe makeup.
Since I knew Banksy first and Mr. Brainwash second, it’s a close call between their styles. A quick Google search reveals that either Mr. Brainwash is being mistaken for Banksy, or Banksy is being mistaken for Mr. Brainwash as images attributed to the first are pulled up under the second. See for yourself. Or maybe I’m so far out of the graffiti artist loop, I’m missing the obvious.
Please check out LURKER: AN L.A. GRAFFITI & STREET ART BLOG
The Leading Victim
7 Jul
Joseph Rubinstein is hovering over my body. As my eyes gloss over and my body goes limp – my arms cradling a chainsaw – I’m aware that my Sister is lying next to me and I’m being covered in filmy plastic. But for Rubinstein, I’ll play dead any day.
My Sister brought me to tonight’s reception to see a man by the name of Joseph Rubenstein open his first Los Angeles show at a Gallery called Integrated Circus, a multimedia showroom for (as the owners Loni and Viktor say) “anything we happen to like.” It is only their second gallery reception. Joe is a photographer, whose recent contemplation of our relationship to death brought him to tonight’s offerings: a handful of saturated photographs of murdered and bloody young, beautiful women. Though the deaths are artificial and cosmetic, they could come out of any crime drama.
Photography with either a camera or phone is prohibited at this exhibition, so I’m allowed only a picture of the front of the gallery but here’s the point of tonight’s artwork:
“Death in our culture has morphed from a sacred or at least natural part of life to become the most sensationalized part of our everyday story telling. Crime Dramas like “CSI” focus so much on the prevention of the “Next Victim” that they forget to slow down and understand the initial exchange that is driving the story. The original victim’s body is fragmented and turned into factors in an equation. The human cost is largely ignored, and because of it we, the audience, develop a build up of these deaths that we know so much about, but have never really stopped to look at. I am offering a chance to stand and stare at a fictionalized death. The images I create are beautification, idealization, creative interpretations of death the same way CSI is an idealization of the criminologists. By creating the fantasy of it, I am giving the viewer emotional license to look at the body and try to see themselves in it. In photos of real death we feel too perverse, too indignant to explore them. It becomes very difficult to integrate those photos into the collection of stories in our minds. My goal is to create images that help us understand these stories, and maybe their relationship to ourselves.”
Berd AKA Browne/4eightyone
1 JulBanksy is not alone in his endeavor to turn L.A. into an open gallery. The enigmatic Berd, who like Banksy, wears a bandanna and strikes during the wee hours of the morning, is bent on swaddling telephone wires with his small, handcrafted wooden “Berds” that look like something out of a Mario Brothers video game. The Berds are connected to a padlock and wire, an easy swing skyward and up they go. At first a diversion, (Browne wanted to do something other than spraypaint city property) its quickly become an art phenomenon that started in Venice Beach, California. The whimsical objects continue to grow in numbers from Venice to New York since 2006, easily seen whirring above some of the busiest intersections. Though Browne has admitted to mixed feelings about tagging property, he seems to have no remorse about the flocks he’s loosed on the city; but no one seems to mind. Amid the Graffiti, electrical box posters and billboards flooding the city space, Browne’s birds are an amusing distraction. Though it looks like he’s taking a new approach:
I can’t decide if this is a “B” or Boobs.
And…there might be a new kid in town:
Cute C Maw looks an awful lot like a Banksy: I allege an imitation artist is at work. Or Banksy got sloppy.
The real thing:
Weekend News
30 JunApproach with caution: 8am So very, very sore….
Breakfast: 9am
Beverly Hills Park Art
Afternoon Tea: Royal/T Cafe
The Maid Cafe: A Review
I was really here to visit the Poketo pop-up shop, but was drawn to the artwork instead. While artists worked on cardboard pieces for Poketo’s window display and a little Asian girl held her own cardboard tree up high for a cameraman taking photos, I took some shots of my own.
Royal/T Cafe is noted mostly for its Japanese maid theme, and I wonder if they are allowed to hire anyone outside of Asian, least it ruin the otherworldliness of the restaurant and gallery. Although the service was a bit slow, the food is rich in flavor and texture (the tiramisu heaven), and the aromatic teas attractive. I think the Cafe achieved what it is meant to; a serviceable space for artists and patrons alike.
NO SAINTS IN L.A. 