Blog - More Highlights from Downtown Art Walk Los Angeles May 2008

2008-05-13 05:17:36

by Jennifer Colley Ovation TV Online Staff Monday May 12th 2008 Hello Artist Friends & Art Lovers Happy Belated Mother's Day! to all you creative types and works of art. Let's give a shout out to all the new and newer members. Welcome to the New Ovation TV Community! We are very happy to have you with us. We are excited and look forward to having great fun! Personally, I am very proud to be working with this team of talented individuals. Thank you for giving us a chance we hope you will stick around. Thank you Megan for all your hard work and care. Thank you Aaron and Ovation TV for making all this possible. Many of you are getting in on the start something very very cool! Not only the very beginning of this social network but you are part of the future as well. Ovation TV will be showcasing artists from this community... It's your chance, your very own, built in, cable television channel devoted to art. We cover art from the past millennia up to the emerging artists of today and tomorrow. It is very exciting, I still pinch myself. This is an independent cable network dedicated to people who make life creative. Imagine that! I think we have a good thing going on here. Megan, myself and my pal Lea, attended I should say, our first Art Walk, on behalf of Ovation TV. I know it wont be our last. This is awesome! They have over 30 galleries, buildings full of artists lofts, studios, nightspots and... you know. SO on the second Thursday of every month you will find this place buzzing. People were hanging out the windows, music was playing, I saw a huge projection of nifty digital art right on the facade of a tall building! ummm.... can we move the office over there? he he Wow! We could only get to a small portion of the exhibits because there are so many and well I got stuck in traffic and...so...I recommend getting there early...but parking is cheap after 5:PM it's only 6 bucks at the Pershing Square parking garage. Anyway, we saw plenty. Megan had already scoped out some choice exhibits near to 5th and Main so we decided to check them out and stick together. First to the LAMP Community Art Project . Wild! It took me awhile to look up from a floor covered by wall to wall T&A? I hope that's not offensive but they do have art on the walls too... and coloring books for children. I'm confused about that part tho. In this installation by Frank Rozasy , tons of images of, dare I say, trashy pinup photos, sketches, paintings and drawings covered the floor.
You did not have much choice but to walk in and tramp on them. A very interesting thing was happening to me. I noted my emotional reaction to the idea of stepping on the cheesecake pinup photos. You gotta laugh, I felt guilty but the irony is that when walking down the street, I question how many people would think twice about stepping on that trashy print underfoot? Probably not many. So it is odd now that I think about it. Once you put them in a gallery they take on a more complicated identity than if it was just some random piece of porn on the street. No mater how common or uncommon my reaction was I'm sure the images may resonate differently with other individuals. What do you think? Check out the project on Homeless Awareness, "Save Rent Control!" Arrrrrgh...
Next door is the Regent, an old theatre that's become a multi-use space, gallery/ auditorium. I think it was called the Possum that night? Well, once in side there were Raccoons, Zombie Kupkakes, Screen Printing, bicycles and not to mention 5 bands! We didn't stay for that. Sorry. Whoa! We also got invited to an after party but not on a week night you shmoozers!
Zombie Kupkakes Next was a strange little gallery with a small intimate space in the the front. Mr. Emmric James Konrad was right up close and in your face with his whimsical fantasy nightmare paintings. Saturn Eating His Young by Emmric James Konrad
Step past the initial gallery and it opens up to a studio with a tattoo parlor open for business. "Check out the bathroom!" he says. umm OK and what to my eyes should appear but.... a twist of fate and a big green head hiding in the bathroom To check out more images by Emmric go to the Los Angeles Group .

Megan then led us back out and around to Crewest Gallery where Italian Graffiti artists were painting on canvases out in the street. Very cool art in action. Don't miss the next group of Graffiti artists coming from Australia.
Oscar the Grouch has a great exhibit of Urban photography, portraits and visual poetry.
Portrait by Oscar the Grouch The Continental Gallery, if I got the name right, is a larger space with work by Adam Bota . These are some large paintings. All the more impressive because they are hanging, suspended in the air, while people can be seen walking about them and behind in the distance. This made them look even bigger. The work on this one is interesting to me because it gives me the feeling I'm looking through glass. What a beautiful expression.
Portrait by Adam Bota And now for something different, paintings by Miguel Osuna . I'm saying that they are different because they remind me of Photography but they are paintings (now that's not that unusual). What is different is the movement that he has captured. Like the bluring of a still Photograph taken of something whizzing past you only more intense. I found these lines, perspective and notions of speed, very different and refreshing. This canvas #9 continues as a pice of steel. It's pure contemporary elegance, nice detail. If only traffic moved that fast. Sigh.
#9 by Miguel Osuna One of my favorite artists so far this year, Ed Martin, was our final stop before Rocket Pizza . Yummie! Incredible! His work, Ed Martin not the Rocket Pizza, is at the Yarger-Strauss Contemporary . These prints were made WITHOUT a camera! So apart from the initial shock of that fact I was blown away by the compositions and extreme HD quality. His work is so impressive, magical and profound. I found myself in awe of what must be a cabbage but had become more human and disturbing than any vegetable I have ever seen in my life! And that was just one of the prints. You will need to see these in person to do them justice. They must be seen with the human eye to grasp the shear scale and depth produced in this work. Amazing! Herme Downs by Ed Martin
To see more images from this show go to our Los Angeles Group . I just wanted to say that if you are one of the galleries or artists featured in this post please feel free to let us know if you would like us to add or change the descriptive information. We do our best to help ensure that your information is correct. Stay tuned for more Art Walks go to http://www.downtownartwalk.com Coming up UNLEASHED, Animal Paintings by MAX NEUTRA
Opening Reception Thursday June 12th 6:00PM to 10:00PM
At the Bailey Gallery
564 South Main St. Los Angeles CA 90013 10% of the proceeds will be donated to the World Wildlife Fund
http://www.maxneutra.com http://www.pussyandpooch.com Live Bird in Scarf by Max Neutra

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