Sanctuary
Solo installation by Pam Douglas

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September 24 – October 19, 2019
Opening reception Sat., Sept. 28 5-8pm

TAG Gallery
5458 Wilshire Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90036
http://www.taggallery.net

Sanctuary an Installation by Pam Douglas Avows the Humanity of Refugees

Entering TAG Gallery, a visitor is immersed in life-size drawings of refugees walking behind a chain link fence and children trapped behind ropes. The 60-foot installation makes the viewer a witness to the refugee journey. This is the debut of Sanctuary, a multi-year project by Los Angeles artist Pam Douglas. The exhibit will be on view from Sept. 24 through October 19 with a reception on Saturday, September 28 from 5 to 8 pm.

Douglas explains her very personal response: “We are in a startling time hearing the cries of children torn from their parents at the American border. Beyond this country, refugees are seeking sanctuary around the world. This work is a visceral response to their humanity.”

Douglas observes that refugees are rejected as if they’re unwanted commodities and says the battered coffee bean bags used throughout the installation serve as a texture and a metaphor for them.

She chose a limited palette – charcoal and chalk on natural linen and tan burlap — to focus on the struggle and the beauty of the faces. The monochromatic “quote” also suggests newspaper imagery at a time when immigration is in the news, though none of these figures are actually from newspapers. Materials include: raw canvas, charcoal, pastel, clay, rope, sticks, acrylic, toys, a chain link fence, and the ubiquitous coffee bean bags.

On the floor, on a pile of the coffee bean bags, discarded shoes are strewn — men’s, women’s, and shiny pink ones from a little girl who we might imagine dressed as nicely as she could to arrive at her new home. The shoes left behind echo the European Holocaust and those who tried to escape on the Underground Railroad and the many walking to what they believed would be their salvation throughout history.

Part One of Sanctuary is travel by land. Part Two now in development will be travel by sea, installed in 2020. Part Three in 2021 will be the camps.

The spirit of Sanctuary echoes work by Ai Weiwei, JR and contemporary artists of Mexican heritage. Simultaneously, Douglas is curating Arrivals, an exhibit of work in a separate space within TAG featuring three artists with roots in other countries: Narsiso Martinez, Fabian Debora and Ching Ching Chen. Their opening reception will be at the same time on Sept. 28.

The Sanctuary exhibit catalog available at the reception raises funds for UNICEF.

About Pam Douglas

Los Angeles artist Pam Douglas has been well reviewed in shows including a large installation in the California African American Museum and at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Her work was featured at the Los Angeles Art Show at the Convention Center, January 2019 by the Los Angeles Art Association.

Karen Hochman Brown
A solo exhibition
Vexilla Florum

hochmanbrown.com

September 14 – October 19
Opening reception September 14, 6-9pm

Los Angeles Art Association | Gallery 825
825 N La Cienega Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90069
Laaa.org

In a nod to the peaceful work of women, Los Angeles artist Karen Hochman Brown’s solo exhibition, Vexilla Florum, at LAAA is a mixed-media and multi-media presentation incorporating diverse processes such as handcrafting and digital photo-manipulation. The opening reception will be held on September 14 from 6-9pm at the Los Angeles Art Association.

A vexillum is a flag and, as something that can be seen from far away, it was an early form of communication, a way to direct troops or identify a faction. Vexilla are a relic of war. Hochman Brown has created vexilla standards using floral motifs that pay homage to the flower children of the sixties, who promoted their power through gentle acts. The pieces are a remembrance of the women who constructed the flags of war while maintaining peace at home.

Hochman Brown’s creative process uses photographic images of nature and transforms them into kaleidoscopic creations of uncanny realism. In Vexilla Florum, the digital artwork is constructed from photographs of flowers from around the world. The main motif is a distorted and reflected multi-layered meditation on each subject flower.

Hochman Brown uses the computer throughout the artistic process, employing a variety of specialized software to create the main imagery, construct animations, and designing the intricate laser-cut headpiece. She has control over the whole process, using a Glowforge laser printer to make the wood cuts, hand-sewing the banners and assembling the pieces.

Vexilla Florum runs September 14 – October 19 at Los Angeles Art Association | Gallery 825, 825 N La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles. The opening reception is September 14, 6-9pm.

About Karen Hochman Brown
Karen Hochman Brown found her passion for art in her early primary school years. In high school she discovered geometry and did not hesitate to fuse mathematics with her artwork, exploring intersecting circles and patterns. To the artist, there was a distinct and immediate marriage of mathematical precision and aesthetic beauty. After she received her B.A. in Art from Pitzer College, she continued to study math, and did post-graduate work at California College of the Arts and Crafts where her Master’s thesis introduced Construction Geometry via Art, a Junior High School curriculum she taught at Pasadena Waldorf School. She continued to study the interconnections of math and art via technology at UCLA, studying graphic design in the late nineties. Her work has been widely exhibited in California and the United States.

Beyond/Within

A two-person show with Samuelle Richardson and Joy Ray

Curated by Andi Campognone

September 7-28, 2019
Opening reception, Sept 7, 6-9pm
Artist Talk moderated by Andi Campognone Sept 28, 4-5pm

LAUNCH LA
170 S. La Brea Ave.,
Los Angeles, CA 90036
https://launchla.org/

(Los Angeles) –Beyond/Within, a two-person exhibition featuring the sculptures of Samuelle Richardson and the textile paintings of Joy Ray, opens Saturday, September 7 at LAUNCH LA. Curated by Andi Campognone, Beyond/Within explores the influence of seen and unseen forces in contemporary society, raising questions of power, control and belief.

Both artists use textiles to create a contemporary narrative that is less feminist than it is radical craft. With paint and needle, the works in this show are familiar but unexpected, subversive in their relationship with textile arts.

Samuelle Richardson’s sculptures portray lesser beings that confront larger adversaries. She emphasizes handmade quality in her structures, pairing rough wood with the crush and pull of fabric, and embraces flaws in the materials. While her works are based in true anatomy, she favors believability over realism.

Joy Ray’s “Post-apocalyptic Petroglyphs” evoke artifacts from a mysterious, vanished civilization. Her textile paintings grapple with the tantalizingly unknowable: secret codes, sinister conspiracies, dark rituals, the occult.

The artists complement each other with their mutual interest in textiles as sculptural materials, with nods to Arte Povera, radical crafting and mid-century minimalism, defying and transcending art-vs-craft paradigms.

Beyond/Within at LAUNCH LA, September 7 through 28, opening reception September 7th.

About Joy Ray
Joy Ray received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College and studied art history in Italy. Ray’s work is defined by a bold, minimalist palette and richly textured materials including twine, wool, sand and plaster. She lives and works on the Big Island of Hawaii and exhibits her work nationally. This is Joy Ray’s first major exhibition in her long-time former home of Los Angeles. http://joyrayart.com/

About Samuelle Richardson
Samuelle Richardson’s exhibitions this year include a solo at MOAH Lancaster, and group shows at MOAH Lancaster and Palo Alto Art Center. In October she will complete a residency at Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences, where she has been awarded the Rogers Fellowship. Samuelle Richardson lives and works at The Brewery Artist Lofts in Los Angeles. http://samuellerichardson.com/

About Andi Campognone
Andi Campognone has over 30 years of arts experience in Southern California and beyond. Through AC Projects Inc., she focuses on promoting arts and culture, developing museum exhibitions, public engagement, mentoring programs and book and film publications. Campognone is also the Museum Manager/Curator for the City of Lancaster and serves on the Board of the Lancaster Museum and Public Art Foundation and the advisory boards of Start Up Art Fair Los Angeles and Los Angeles Arts Association. She is a member of ArtTable.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Kristine Schomaker
Director Shoebox PR
661-317-1069
shoeboxpr@gmail.com
shoeboxpr.com

Linda Sue Price
“Light in Motion”

Solo Exhibition

Reception July 13, 5-8pm
On view Tuesday, July 9 -­ Saturday, August 3

TAG Gallery
5458 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036
https://www.taggallery.net/

http://www.lindasueprice.com/

Through the use of animating neon tubes, Light in Motion explores the tension between an internal desire for peace and tranquility as contrasted with the external reality of change and chaos.

There are two series shown here—Focus and Chaos. In the Focus pieces the neon animates in a slow movements that are almost musical. In contrast the Chaos work animates wildly and energetically.

The spiral shape used in the Focus pieces historically represents expanding awareness. The chosen colors and gentle animation were designed to illustrate the practice of yoga; and the enlightenment found there.

In the Chaos work, it’s all about disruption from politics to nature. All the pieces in this series are designed to animate wildly. In Flood, there is a sense of surging water, in Fire—a crackling fire. The Lies pieces suggest the motions and energy of mockery.

This is the world we live in. We seek peace while being battered by chaos.

About Linda Sue Price:
“I like to mix form, light, reflection and texture. I do this by layering and adding other elements such as clear acrylic rods and reflective backgrounds. While the viewer cannot know the simple and sometimes complex stories behind each piece, they can reconsider their perceptions of neon and the world around them. When I look at a neon tube, I don’t see a sign even if it is. I see a luminous glow. I want to share the beauty and playfulness of neon.” Linda Sue Price

I have been looking at and admiring neon since I was a child living and traveling through the western states. The intense colors and glow of the motel and business signs appealed to me and I thought they were beautiful. A visit to Las Vegas was always special because of extensive use of neon all over the buildings. There was a palm tree in front of one of casinos that I loved. In Southern California, there were special signs that I looked forward to seeing. Long Beach had a drive-in theatre near the traffic circle that had wonderful neon. Motel signs often had animation. I liked to look at them and try to figure out the animation patterns.

I started working with neon as an art media in 2004. I took a neon class through the Museum of Neon Art taught by Michael Flechtner. I wanted to explore a free form style and he encouraged me to try bending. I began studying the craft of bending with Flechtner in 2005.

Installation shots courtesy of TAG Gallery

Before Language is an installation and performative narrative telling the story of adapting to a new environment and thought faced with the limitations of language and appropriation.

On view in person or via live stream 12-6pm Tuesday through Sunday.
Closing reception Sunday July 7th 3PM – 6PM

Shoebox Projects
660 South Avenue 21 #3
LA Ca 90031
Current Residency

Amanda Maciel Antunes will be in residency at Shoebox Projects (shoeboxprojects.com) to perform and install this durational work during a time frame of three weeks June 17th – July 7th. The work will be broadcast live on social media platforms throughout my residency.

Link to follow live stream:
https://www.pscp.tv/damadesign/follow

All are welcome to visit the gallery during this residency, open to public hours are 12-6pm Tuesday thru Sunday while performance and installation unfolds. You may or may not be asked to participate. Tasks will be offered to those online watching and those who come see it in person.

About Before Language:
This work takes into consideration the system of language and behavior, combined with interpretation and intervention, and reconstitutes the room the artist occupies. It’s a continuation of a previous project titled Autopsychography where the artist translated the poem Autopsicografia by Fernando Pessoa in five different languages, and it was re-translated back to its original, Portuguese. This new iteration of the work adds twenty-four new language translations of a poem, along with a period of substantial study of the continuity of anthropological investigation of the man before language and communication. The artist uses her perception of the definition of language as myth, and the facts of the mind that manifest itself into matter.

The installation includes but not limited to: video, sound, movement, assemblage, drawing and sculpture.

About Shoebox Projects:
Shoebox Projects is an alternative art space located at the Brewery Artist Community near DTLA.

You can find more about the work and upcoming projects in the current Art & Cake Profile by Genie Davis: https://artandcakela.com/2019/05/16/artist-profile-amanda-maciel-antunes/

2nd Annual Blue Roof Studios Arts Festival
Saturday June 22, 2019
12 noon to 5 pm

Blue Roof Studios
7329 S Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90003

Blue Roof Studios Announces the Second Annual Blue Roof Studios Arts Festival

(Los Angeles) Blue Roof Studios is pleased to announce the second annual Blue Roof Studios Arts Festival, Saturday, June 22, 2019 from 12 noon-5pm. The Festival celebrates the summer solstice while highlighting the richness and diversity of the arts in South Los Angeles and beyond. It reflects Blue Roof Studio’s commitment to fostering and amplifying creativity, connection, and inclusion within the community.

Free and open to the public, the day will offer contemporary street performance, mural painting, traditional African master drummers, outdoor and indoor art installations, resident artists’ open studios, a video screening, art-making workshops and culinary arts.

Blue Roof Studios and festival founder Galia Linn describes the vision of the festival, “Engaging in exploration of the seemingly impossible, as art does, amplifies the creative forces of a community.”

Last June, the Festival featured over 100 artists: visual artists, musicians, dancers and performers. It drew 450 attendees from the surrounding community and beyond, who came to view the exhibitions, participate in workshops, sample the array of food offered, shop in the art bazaar and experience the performances.

Art installations will include EPHEMERA, a group show curated by Mario Ezquita under the direction of Jill Moniz in the Blue Roof Studios sanctuary and selected outdoor public spaces. Let me eat cake, a multi-media group show of Los Angeles based artists curated by Kristine Schomaker will be presented in the project room. In addition, Blue Roof Studios resident artists Galia Linn, Diana Magui, Adele Kandarian, Terri Klass, Jacqueline Palafox, Cole James, and Sarah Gail Armstrong will open their studios for the event.

This year Blue Roof Studios invites LAND (Los Angeles Nomadic Division) to present two Frame Rate programs as part of the Festival.

On June 20 LAND and Blue Roof Studios will exhibit Carolina Caycedo’s film Apparitions (a video produced for her recent show at the Huntington Library,) and on June 22 Cole James’ audio Southern Sound will be played during the festival. In addition, Blue Roof Studios resident artists Beverly Morrison, Galia Linn, Adele Kandarian, Terri Klass, Jacqueline Palafox, Cole James, and Sarah Gail Armstrong will open their studios for the event.

Art making workshops will include; a clay workshop by artist Beverly Morrison, a recycled materials art workshop organized by Barnsdall Arts, Books that Breathe by Cole James, chalk drawing by Amanda Maciel Antunes and participatory mural painting on the outside of the building with Arts Bridging the Gap. Blue Roof Studios is also pleased to announce the following institutional partnerships bringing a variety of workshops to the festival this year, including the California African American Museum, Vincent Price Art Museum, El Segundo Museum of Art UCLA Visual and Performance Arts Program, and Self Help Graphics and Art. The local Ascot Library will be on site for children’s storytelling. The City of Los Angeles, office of the City Clerk – Election Division will conduct tabling for voter education and registration.

Live music and performances will be provided throughout the day by returning musicians Joaquin Romero /DJ Wordamouph and Aboubacar Kouyate leading a participatory drum circle, as well as a dance performance by Nehara Kalev. Allison M Keating of Wild Art Group will present a tiny toy theater performance Finally, a Play about Joy.

The Blue Roof Studios Arts Festival is funded in part by the Department of Cultural Affairs Art Activation Fund, CANNDU/Empower LA, LACI CleanTech incubator, Zefr, The Philip and Muriel Berman Foundation, and the generous support of friends of Blue Roof Studios. Additional support is provided by Bardo LA, Shoebox PR, California African American Museum, and On Broadway Tattoos.

Founded in 2016 by artist Galia Linn, Blue Roof Studios is a multidisciplinary art hub
located in South Los Angeles. It offers a place for artists to work in an environment that
fosters creativity, community and hosts events that promote dialogue with artists and the public.

For more information, please visit http://www.blueroofstudios.org
email: Allison M. Keating blueroofstudios6@gmail.com.
Follow us on: Facebook and
Instagram: @blueroofstudios

My Ugly/Beautiful Friends
Dani Dodge solo show

Shoebox Projects
660 S. Ave. 21 #3
Los Angeles, CA 90031

Opening reception: 3-6 p.m. Sunday, March 31, 2019
Open by appointment and during Brewery Artwalk April 6 and 7
Closes: April 14, 2019

In “My ugly/beautiful friends,” Los Angeles artist Dani Dodge uses sculpture, video and mixed media works to create an installation exploring adaptation and survival.

Her muse is the Joshua Tree.

The early American explorer, John C Fremont, who first mapped the Oregon Trail, described Joshua trees as “the most repulsive tree in the Vegetable Kingdom.” But Dodge fell in love with these otherworldly plants as she began a residency in 2018 in the Mojave National Preserve. She was inspired by their strangeness, their symbiotic relationships, and their sensitivity.

“I spent every day of two weeks visiting the Joshua trees and getting to know them on an individual and personal level,” Dodge said. “I was fascinated by the bold, frightening shapes they created against the desert sunrise, and captivated by the warm, beautiful stories they told beneath their spikey exterior.”

And, I was deeply inspired their ability to survive within a very small area of Earth, while feeling devastated by the knowledge that the species could be decimated within my lifetime.”

Climate models have shown that this iconic plant, which exists only in the Mojave Desert region of the US between 1,300 and 5,900 feet elevation, will lose 90 percent of its range in eastern California by 2100.

Basically, the Joshua trees, which grow to more than 40 feet tall, reproduce and disperse too slowly to keep up with climate change. They have survived this long because they developed a shallow network of roots, that spreads about 18 feet around each plant to suck up the infrequent rainwater.

Without nectar to attract pollinators, Joshua Trees rely solely on the tiny yucca moth for pollination, a creature that at first appears unassuming but on closer inspection sports unique bizarre, tentacle-like fronds from its mouth. And the yucca moth depends on the Joshua Tree for its survival.

Over Dodge’s time in the Mojave National Preserve, and also during a 2019 residency in the Prime Desert Woodland Preserve in Lancaster, Calif., Dodge continues to get to know these plants, who she now considers her friends.

“Like many of my human friends, they have a tough exterior, but a sweetness within,” Dodge explained. “They need us now and with this exhibit I hope to bring more awareness of their plight.”

In the exhibit, she deconstructs the Joshua Tree spikes into separate stories of survival, love, and loneliness. She deconstructs photos of the plants into a scribbled S.O.S. on their behalf. And she constructs a powerful installation that shows ugliness and beauty are as symbiotic as the Joshua Tree and the yucca moth.
___

About Dani Dodge
Dodge creates immersive, surrealist environments and installations. This is her second solo show at Shoebox Projects. Dodge shows her work in Los Angeles and internationally, including in Mexico City, Budapest, and Stockholm so far in 2019. She is a member of the Durden and Ray collective in Los Angeles. For more information about Dodge, please visit http://www.danidodge.com/

About Shoebox Projects
Shoebox Projects is an experimental art space in DTLA, where emerging and midcareer artists are given an opportunity to freely experiment with new ideas and directions for their practice. Founded by Kristine Schomaker, multimedia artist and director of Shoebox PR, Shoebox Projects intends to give artists a chance to recharge and renew their relationship with their work. http://www.shoeboxprojects.com