Caia Koopman and Mark Gleason
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
Artists Reception Saturday July 5, 8-10pm

4633 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles

For a dose of artifice-debunking figurative painting, if that is even possible, the La Luz de Jesus Gallery presents their July exhibit of Caia Koopman and Mark Gleason this weekend. The gallery exhibits a new show every month, always kicked-off by a reception that Details Magazine allegedly described as being “the biggest and best party in Los Angeles,” according to the gallery’s website.

Koopman has experienced some commercial success already with her works that explore the fundamentality of femininity and nature. Koopman endeavors for her acrylic on wood and canvas creations to didactically assert the importance of nature and the feminine on the environment and humanity. Her works feature women depicted in an amalgamation of mother earth allegory and contemporary pop-art exaggeration. The result is graceful though cartoon-like, but in a good way, with lush textile-esque surfaces and bold colors. Koopman also designs for companies ranging from Roxy to AT&T, and creates original snowboard graphics, stemming from her love of the sport.

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A new and improved Art Walk
offers opportunities for local artists in Hermosa Beach

The Hermosa Beach Art Walk is definitely evolving. This year, the fifth annual Art Walk had a different location, a different schedule, all in service of the same goal: a venue for local artists, and a means of facilitating arts education.

On the bustling corner of Pier Avenue and PCH, the Art Walk was a refreshing and eclectic haven of creativity. While this past weekend was scorchingly hot, artists lovingly assembled their booths with paintings, sculpture, photography, and crafts like original furniture and jewelry. The participation contract for the event requires that all the work shown be original, as the event aspires to be not only a marketplace, but a means of exhibition for local artists trying to make their work their passion.

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“Flaunt”
Flaunt: June 21 - July 31 2008
Benefiting the Art Center College of DesignJunc Gallery’s third annual exhibition, ‘Flaunt,’ opens tonight in Silver Lake. As always, Junc Gallery endeavours to exhibit the best of LA’s emerging artists juxtaposed with tried and tested favourites. This year’s event doubles as a benefit for the Art Center College of Design Illustration Scholarship Fund and showcases the various ways in which the current and next generation is reinventing illustration as an art form.

Owner, Mike Kelley opened Junc Gallery four years ago. Junc has been a pioneer in the Silver Lake art scene from exhibiting some of the best young artists early in their careers. With many galleries establishing themselves on the east side, Kelley formed the Silver Lake Gallery Alliance (galleryalliance.com); a partnership of full-time galleries.

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The Hermosa Beach Art Walk

Saturday, June 21,
10am - 6pm
The Community Center Lawn,
at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Pier Avenue

The annual Hermosa Beach Art Walk promises a combination of arts, crafts, food, live music, and people-watching this Saturday in its new location. And what could be better; there is bound to be gorgeous weather this Saturday, making the consumption of art outside, instead of in the “white cube” of a gallery a perfectly suited change of scenery. Boasting 100 local artists, the fifth installment of the Art Walk is accommodating its growth by moving to the lawn of the Community Center at Pacific Coast Highway and Pier Avenue. The result: more art, crafts, food, and live music than ever before.

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This week’s illustration is inspired by the Irish community out here in LA. I spent some of this weekend with a wonderful stag party of guys originally from Dublin. I used to live in Dublin myself, so it was great. Dublin and my home city are pretty similar- they’re both party cities, stag do’s every night of the week.

Northern English people are quite like the Irish in a lot of ways. We have a reputation for being quite chilled out and are often, haha, heavy drinkers. The guys heard my northern accent and were “You’re a geordie!” Many of them have been to my home city, as it’s so cheap to fly between.

I’ve been missing Dublin this weekend, so being around so many Dublin accents was a godsend and made for a very happy Klara. So in honour of the sheer amount of Dubliners I’ve been around this weekend- here’s a portrait of one of the most famous Dubliners here in LA, Colin Farrell.

This Saturday and Sunday Venice will turn into a haven for artists, sculptures, architects and more. You will have the chance to explore artists’ studios, bid on original art, tour spectacular homes, sample great food, drink, dance, watch, and enjoy. All of proceeds for the weekend will benefit Venice Family Clinic which provides free, quality health care to people in need.

Saturday: We begin with “The Newly Hatched Homes of Venice”

Meet the architects and developers involved in Venice’s freshest new residences. Please note that some of the homes are nearing completion - guests are advised to wear flat shoes.

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Hotbed: Video Cultivation beside the Getty Gardens
Projected onto the exterior walls of the Getty Center, 18 artists’ videos from 1984 to 2007 explore the theme of the body as nature or culture. This free, special two-evening installation complements the exhibition California Video and is curated by Anne Bray, Director of Freewaves, a Los Angeles-based arts organization connecting new media from around the world. The videos are arranged thematically and play in a loop starting and ending at the tram arrival plaza, with a fulcrum at the Museum Courtyard..
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POKETO FIRST-EVER WAREHOUSE SALE - THIS SATURDAY!!!
Come early to pick out all your favorite Poketo goodies. The first 50 people will get a gift bag including 10% off discounts!

Our friend Whitney will be showcasing her famous cupcakes, too!

What: Poketo $5-$10 Warehouse Sale / Cupcake Social
When: May 10, 2008 10am - 5pm
Where: Poketo Studio - 510 S. Hewitt Street #506 Los Angeles, CA 90013

“It is everything I know about classical ballet, in 13 minutes,” said George Balanchine of his “Allegro Brillante,” set to music of Tchaikovsky.

The tour de force for five couples enters the repertory of The Los Angeles Ballet as part of the LAB Summer Repertoire 2008, for five performances from April 25 through May 24, in various venues around greater Los Angeles.

The program also marks the LAB premiere of “The Evangelist” to music by Charles Ives. The dramatic pas de deux, choreographed in 1992 for LAB artistic directors Colleen Neary and Thordal Christensen by visionary American choreographer Lar Lubovitch, was inspired by the three-ring media circus that was Aimee Semple McPherson. Between founding the Foursquare Church and preaching to millions of devoted followers on the radio, McPherson rose to notoriety in 1920’s Los Angeles through sex scandals and power struggles, at one point staging her own bogus ‘kidnapping’ which provoked a month-long, nation-wide hysteria.

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This past weekend I traveled to Watts Towers which is located in Watts. Watts is a community that hugs the outer edges of Los Angeles. Created by an Italian Immigrant named Simon Rodia, the Towers are an amazing work of art. Rodia worked more than 20+ years on the towers and used everything from plates, seashells, broken glass, old coffee mugs, wire and pretty much anything he could get his hands on. Its amazing that one man could do all of this. Did he have help?
After the tour was over, I was taken to the museum next door and shown a video. The video was made in 1954 and shows Simon working on the unfinished towers. he talks about how everyday he would come home from his job as a tile setter and work on the towers. he stated that” I would have hired someone to help me, but I didn’t have any money.” Rodia is among several untrained artists I have run across in my travels. All of these men have created amazing works of art using recycled materials Simon stated that” I wanted to do something big and I did.”
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There was a line down the block to get into the inaugural event at Royal/T in Culver City. The space was filled with art curated to explore the appealing and yet revolting qualities of Kawaii, or “cute” pop culture. The cafe was not yet set up, but there were “maid” waitresses passing around chocolates and other sweets. We expected to see a few more “cosplay”participants, but the ones we did see were dressed to the teeth, usually themed towards the American 20’s.

Check out a collection of photos below:

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