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I am excited to be curated into a special exhibition as part of this year's international LA Art Show, from January 23 - 27, 2013, at the Downtown Convention Center - my first time!
"Letters from LA" is curated by local gallerist Jack Rutberg, and features a wealth of internationally famous artists - as well as some of us "little guys."
My sumi ink triptych, at left, entitled "San Miguel Street- Last Judgment of Don Vicente de los Reyes de la Osa," measures 7' by 15'.
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I was honored to be invited to participate in a group exhibition honoring Saint Juan Diego
and the Virgin of Guadalupe,
at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral,
in Downtown Los Angeles,
for the month of December 2012.
The exhibition is situated in one of the side chapels in the cathedral, and is accessible, for free, every day between 7am and 6pm.
We have received some nice Spanish language media interest for this exhibition.
At left is a photo of me with my piece from an article in La Opinion newspaper
(Unfortunately, the photographer is not credited by name on the paper's website).
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I am excited to be included in a great exhibit, opening Saturday, November 17 and running through December 22, 2012 - the wide-ranging survey show "Letters From Los Angeles: Text in Southern California Art," at the esteemed Jack Rutberg Fine Arts Gallery, in Los Angeles.
I have always admired Jack's erudition, taste, and knowledge of the art and artists he exhibits; so it is great to be exhibiting my work alongside some of the most well-known Angeleno artists, including: Alexis Smith, John Baldessari, Ed Ruscha, Lari Pittman, Raymond Pettibon, Barbara Kruger, Lita Albuquerque, George Herms, and Llyn Foulkes.
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On Sunday, November 11, 2012,
the very cool literary project that I'm involved in, Literature for Life, held its first public reading, at Avenue 50 Studio, in Highland Park, Los Angeles, in conjunction with my solo show of artwork inspired by the writing of the authors affiliated with our project.
Among those reading their short stories and poetry were Lit for Life's founding director, novelist and essayist Jervey Tervalon (pictured at right); poet Celeste Gonzalez; and authors Lainnie Capouya, Andrew Ramirez, and Ariana Rodriguez.
Great turnout, great vibe, great afternoon.
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For the month of November 2012 I had a solo show at Avenue 50 Studio, entitled "Words on Paper/Works on Paper," comprised of eleven recent paintings and drawings I've created for the very cool web project, Literature for Life.
Most of the pieces can be viewed on my webpage dedicated to Literature for Life, here.
It's slightly irrational, but many of these pieces, created to be viewed on the web are quite large: the painting at left is over six feet wide....
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This is a drawing I did back in 1989,
in homage to my maternal grandmother, Elsie Salmonat, for Dia de los Muertos
(Day of the Dead).
I designed the wooden frame as an altar,
which was built for me
by my sweetheart friend Stephanie Woods.
I dusted the piece off for inclusion in a very nice
Dia de los Muertos exhibition, curated by fellow artist Margaret Garcia, that was held at
the Echo Park area community center,
El Centro Del Pueblo in Los Angeles.
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This fall I was honored to be invited to be in a massive survey show, "BAILA con Duende," curated by LA artist Lili Bernard.
The title can be translated as "Dance with the Spirit"; but the first word - BAILA -
is an acronym for Black Artists in Los Angeles. which gives a sense of the breadth and intention of the exhibition, some seventy or more artists full.
My drawing "Woman Possessed (by Exu)," from my Bahia experience,was chosen for inclusion.
Show runs from September 19, 2012 - January 6, 2013.
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This summer I was happy to be commissioned to create the cover image as well as the total album package design, including the cd itself, for my musician friend Ciro Hurtado's new recording, entitled "Los Angeles Blues."
I've long loved Ciro's music, his improvisations and meanderings based in traditional Andean musical forms; and this new cd has eleven beautiful songs.
You can listen to the music -
and purchase the recording - here.
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July 2, 2012:
My new image of Rodney King
appears on the Homepage of the
Los Angeles Review of Books,
as the visual accompaniment to
LA author Jervey Tervalon's deep meditation on the meanings of Rodney King, and his passing.
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On Sunday, June 17, 2012,
Father's Day, Rodney King died.
If ever a more complicated,
frail and wounded man was
thrust unbidden into the public spotlight,
I don't know who it might be.
Reading his words in one of the myriad news articles that attended his passing, I was haunted by
the simple wisdom that could emanate
from a man known neither for his
eloquence nor for his "shining example."
Indeed, it is precisely his utter humanity that keeps him forever in our hearts, unresolved into an easy definition....
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On Saturday, June 9, 2012,
I exhibited a suite of six new portraits
of homeless people, and gave a short presentation about my relationship with one of them, Jevona,
at the first-ever TedX Skid Row conference,
in Downtown Los Angeles.
At left is a photo someone took
of part of the installation.
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in the Los Angeles Times today,
June 8, 2012, on the very cool project,
Lit for Life brings together short fiction and non-fiction by area writers, to be shared with middle school and high school students, to encourage them
to see that literature can speak to their experiences.
I am fortunate to be the princial artist
The article mentions my work
towards the end of the story.
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On Saturday 9 June 2012,
a Ted-related conference on homelessness, and what triggers can excite or inspire us to get past seeing social issues in an abstract way, and to collaborate with one another to address them in a humanistic fashion.
In addition to a short talk,
I am displaying six new, large-scale portraits of homeless denizens of
San Julian Street, in LA's Skid Row
(two portraits are at left).
I am also creating the large sculptural
"X" that will anchor the stage.
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The great writer and humanitarian
just as the planet Venus was in transit across the sun - an event almost as rare as the appearance
of such a wonderful being.
I portrayed Bradbury last year,
in my "Lyrical Map of the Concept
of Los Angeles," and thought it would be nice
to post his portrait in tribute,
as his text is so wonderful....
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On May 15, 2012, the Los Angeles Times
ran my remembrance essay on my good friend
and fellow artist Willie Middlebrook,
who passed away unexpectedly
a short time before.
which ran on the Times' Op-Ed page.
Note:
The image at left is a digital one I created
in homage to Willie and our friendship:
it incorporates our figures,
from a photo taken by artist Carole McCoy;
a central background image from one
of Willie's final photo-paintings;
and a border from one of my drawn panels from
my "Seattle Seven Sacraments" public artwork.
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