Twitter Reviews – March-April 2011

Phyllis Green, Spark (Green Stockings), 1994, ceramic, concrete polymer, fabric, flocking. @OtisCollege #artLA http://twitpic.com/45u9qu
3 Mar via TweetPic for iPhone

Phyllis Green, Claudette in China, 2007, ceramic, mixed media. @OtisCollege #artLA http://twitpic.com/45ubeb
3 Mar via TweetPic for iPhone

Phyllis Green, Purple Ball (background), Lulu, Bonnet, Christine, 2000-3, ceramic, acrylic. @OtisCollege #artLA http://twitpic.com/45uct2
3 Mar via TweetPic for iPhone

Phyllis Green @OtisCollege (****) At her best when she’s the most quirky yet poignant–flocking, fabric, finish, feminine & fun. #artLA
3 Mar via TweetDeck

Phyllis Green @OtisCollege: Turkish Bath, Spinning Heads & Chinese Peruvian works outshine the elementary videos & trolls with tutus. #artLA
3 Mar via TweetDeck

Rebecca Campbell @LALOUVER (***) Lovin’ potent, loose brushwork in mushroom clouds & beautiful women. Rainbows & fireworks-not so much. #artLA
18 Mar via TweetDeck

Terry Allen @LALOUVER (***) Better as radio play. Words inspire imagination. Dramatization of installations/video maudlin & overblown. #artLA
18 Mar via TweetDeck

David Musgrave @ Marc Foxx (**) Oh, Marc, will I ever walk into your gallery and not see something faded & drab? I long for the day. #artLA
18 Mar via TweetDeck

Steven Hull installation @ Rosamund Felsen. #artLA http://twitpic.com/4b94pd
19 Mar via TweetPic for iPhone

Mariangeles Soto-Diaz, The Utopian Tense of Green #2, mixed media, acrylic on panel @RuthBachofner #artLA http://twitpic.com/4ba49f
19 Mar via TweetPic for iPhone

Mariangeles Soto-Diaz, The Utopian Tense of Green Installation, vinyl @RuthBachofner #artLA http://twitpic.com/4ba4v1
19 Mar via TweetPic for iPhone

Jennifer Steinkamp @ ACME (****) Windswept branches with blossoms paradoxically pacifying. Squirming intestines not so compelling. #artLA
20 Mar via TweetDeck

3 Abstract Painters @ Frank Lloyd (****) Why’d they think McLaughlin would bridge the mocha/muddy Haywards & the impeccable Heywoods? #artLA
20 Mar via TweetDeck

3 Abstract Painters @ Frank Lloyd: They would have been great together without it. Perhaps they’re just context for a secondary market sale.
20 Mar via TweetDeck

Yuken Teruya @Shoshana_Wayne (**) Admire fastidiousness of stencils, but only piece that really works is hanging banner/kite thing. #artLA
20 Mar via TweetDeck

Patrick Nickell @ Rosamund Felsen (****) Gordian knot doodles in 3D that blend bodily sensuousness with cartoony wackiness. #artLA
20 Mar via TweetDeck

April Street @ Rosamund Felsen (**) Klimtesque patterns on Frankenthalerish color field stains=dated ‘70s pastiche. Laughable titles. #artLA
20 Mar via TweetDeck

Jimi Gleason @ Samuel Freeman (***) Oooh, Jimi’s gone textural. The simple ones work, while the gloppy, craggy ones just look gaudy. #artLA
20 Mar via TweetDeck

Ned Evans @ William Turner (***) Cropped diagonals over offset, oversized checkerboards. Not as strong as his last show. #artLA
25 Mar via TweetDeck

Bruce Houston @ Lora Schlesinger (****) Stella & Mondrian playtime–fun with modernist geometric abstraction & toy trucks. #artLA
25 Mar via TweetDeck

If These Walls Could Talk @ Charlie James (*****) @powhida is the superstar w/ Ruscha/success grid. @stevelambert’s 50/50 a standout too.
25 Mar via TweetDeck

Analia Saban @ Thomas Solomon (***) Interesting experiments cunningly reveal process but the grimy grays take all the joy out of it. #artLA
25 Mar via TweetDeck

Chris Doyle @ Sam Lee (****) Hand-drawn animation lends itself 2 the haunting melancholy of the nature/money/consumption/waste cycle. #artLA
25 Mar via TweetDeck

Suzan Woodruff @ William Turner (***) I’m torn. I can’t decide if paintings are fascinating process art or safe corporate/couch art? #artLA
25 Mar via TweetDeck

Mariangeles Soto-Diaz @RuthBachofner (****) Sterling tension–frenetic diagonals tempered by cool, calm greens and whites. #artLA
25 Mar via TweetDeck

Steven Hull @ Rosamund Felsen (****) Sculptures superior to the painting combines. Choo-choo track installations delightful. #artLA
25 Mar via TweetDeck

Jennifer Faist, Last Time Ever, resin, oil, alkyd, acrylic on wood @RuthBachofner #artLA http://twitpic.com/4optey
23 Apr via TweetPic for iPhone

Jennifer Faist, Mingle, resin, oil, alkyd, acrylic on wood @RuthBachofner #artLA http://twitpic.com/4opu6w
23 Apr via TweetPic for iPhone

Twitter Reviews – October 2010

L&M Arts (****) Diamond-shaped addition classy counterpart to historic brick building. Immaculate. #artLA
2 Oct via TweetDeck

Paul McCarthy @ L&M (****) Conflicted too. Train mechanics dazzling. Lip movements & EXACT twin figures & pigs creepy. #artLA
2 Oct via TweetDeck

Paul McCarthy, Train, Mechanical @ L&M. Heads spinning in unison. #artLA http://twitpic.com/2u3b8b
2 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Paul McCarthy, Train, Mechanical @ L&M. #artLA http://twitpic.com/2u3bnp
2 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Paul McCarthy, Train, Mechanical @ L&M. Weird when they turn to look at you. #artLA http://twitpic.com/2u3cf1
2 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Paul McCarthy, Train, Mechanical @ L&M. Heads diverge. #artLA http://twitpic.com/2u3d1a
2 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Paul McCarthy, Ship of Fools, Ship Adrift @ L&M. #artLA http://twitpic.com/2u3dmg
2 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Paul McCarthy, Ship of Fools, Ship Adrift, detail @ L&M. #artLA http://twitpic.com/2u3dz2
2 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Paul McCarthy, Apple Tree Boy, Apple Tree Girl @ L&M. #artLA http://twitpic.com/2u3eg0
2 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Liza Ryan @ Griffin (***) Standard lens flare ho hum, but delicately drawn sun flares on collage & EKG along ocean horizon alluring. #artLA
2 Oct via TweetDeck

Lari Pittman @ Regen (*****) Fantastic installation–works on paper salon-style on wall pattern that’s like a faux French ribbon memo board.
4 Oct via TweetDeck

Lari Pittman @ Regen II (****) Delightful paintings bursting w/ odd elements of Victorian illustration, flowers & Indian-style hands & feet.
4 Oct via TweetDeck

John Millei: Woman in a Chair @ Ace BH (*) Worst ever Millei paintings. Worst ever riffs on iconic Picassos. What was he thinking? #artLA
6 Oct via TweetDeck

DeWain Valentine: Early Resin Sculptures @ Ace BH (*****) Exquisite–especially small burnt orange disc & mossy green saucer. #artLA
6 Oct via TweetDeck

DeWain Valentine @ Ace BH (*****) Really too bad they were crammed into a small back room & lined up along a wall in the office. #artLA
6 Oct via TweetDeck

BTW, looks like @justinbowerart will be showing @acegallery BH next. Saw a bunch of paintings stacked in the gallery ready for installation.
6 Oct via TweetDeck

Brad Eberhard @ Cottage Home (****) Feathery oil stick lines help to convey the feeling of torn paper without actual collage. #artLA
8 Oct via TweetDeck

Eberhard @ Cottage Home: The intimate paintings would have been better served in a more intimate setting/installation. #artLA
8 Oct via TweetDeck

Anthony Discenza @ Sabina Lee (***) The “_ meets _” pairings too random to inspire compelling narrative. Nothing struck me as clever. #artLA
8 Oct via TweetDeck

Hum, a Bay-Area Conceputalist @ Sabina Lee. Is Charlie rubbing off on her or is she just trying to keep up with the Jameses? #artLA
8 Oct via TweetDeck

Alex Israel, rented studio props on pedestals. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi2010 http://twitpic.com/30vf6u
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Andy Ralph, Trash Clan, 5 32-gallon cans, 2x4s, spinning castors. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi2010 http://twitpic.com/30vi92
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Luke Butler, Enterprise series, acrylic on canvas. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi2010 http://twitpic.com/30vjw8
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Zlatan Vukosavljevic, DuckBunny Chamber, interior. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi2010 http://twitpic.com/30vonn
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Tucker Nichols, banner, plastic objects & tape rolls on pedestal. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi2010 http://twitpic.com/30vzeo
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Sherin Guirguis, mixed media on paper & CNC routed plywood kinetic sculpture. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi20… http://twitpic.com/30w3j6
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Andy Kolar, Six Deep, oil on canvas. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi2010 http://twitpic.com/30wm80
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Patrick Wilson, acrylic on canvas. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi2010 http://twitpic.com/30wpyj
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Gil Blank, No Title, No Date, C-print. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi2010 http://twitpic.com/30wqvc
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Glenna Jennings, Ellie from Dinner.Party.Pistol series, photograph. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi2010 http://twitpic.com/30wtmt
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Carlee Fernandez, Life After Death. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi2010 http://twitpic.com/30wuz0
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Lisa Williamson. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi2010 http://twitpic.com/30wvs6
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Etching on graphite blocks. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi2010 http://twitpic.com/30x2g4
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Nate Boyce, videos. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi2010 http://twitpic.com/30x2uo
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Will Rogan, Other Worlds series, photographs. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi2010 http://twitpic.com/30x39e
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Rebecca Goldfarb, Traveling Through Darkness, flashlights, wax, boxes, wood. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi201… http://twitpic.com/30x4a6
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Set for participatory film, 54 from @FinishingSchool. @OCMA California Biennial #CalBi2010 http://twitpic.com/30x5ji
25 Oct via TweetPic for iPhone

Artist’s Museum opening @MOCAlosangeles: I guess when you keep trotting out same art repeatedly & just rearrange it, people stop showing up.
30 Oct via TweetDeck

Best Los Angeles Art Shows of 2009

David Bowen, Photographic Drawing Device, solar-powered mini-robots, charcoal, paper

Data + Art: Science and Art in the Age of Information @ Pasadena Museum of California Art An apt show for the Over-Information Age.  Curated by Dan Goods and David Delgado, both from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the show included both aesthetically pleasing data visualizations that broadened awareness and understanding such as Jim Bumgardner’s “A Year of Sunsets,” and geeky gadgetry employed for artistic expression. The best mix of data and art was David Bowen’s “Photographic Drawing Device,” which used light-seeking, solar-powered mini-robots to draw charcoal circles on paper.

Gary Lang at Ace Gallery Beverly Hills

Gary Lang: Circles Lines Grids Paintings @ Ace Gallery Beverly Hills Standing up close to the surface of Lang’s paintings you could see the slight wiggle in each hand-painted line, and the color juxtapositions seemed a little odd, but when you stepped back these paintings hummed and glowed as if they were actually breathing with life.  They were stunning and magical.

Femke Hiemstra, In Thought, graphite on paper, 8 x 10 inches. Courtesy of Copro/Nason

Femke Hiemstra: The Herring’s Hairdo @ Copro/Nason Her paintings and drawings had this authentic old-fashioned feeling that you don’t find in most Magic Realism/Pop Surrealism, and they had just the right mix of childhood fairytale/storybook style and eerie/scary subtext.  I particularly liked the paintings on book covers and graphite drawings on paper.

Penelope Gottlieb, No $ Down, installation view. Courtesy Kim Light/Lightbox

Penelope Gottlieb: No $ Down @ Kim Light/Lightbox Monochrome color-pencil drawings of idyllic suburban homes were matched with coordinating, brightly-painted vintage frames and arranged salon-style on the walls along with a fake fireplace and gray wainscoting to boot.  The cheerful display of real estate dreams juxtaposed with the phony architectural elements seemed particularly poignant as the mortgage industry was ominously imploding and foreclosures escalated.

Rebecca Campbell, Do You Really Want to Hurt Me, detail, avocado tree, velvet, glass, bronze, Windex

Rebecca Campbell: Poltergeist @ LA Louver Campbell expertly took on the subject of memory and nostalgia from a particular, personal perspective without sliding into over-sentimentalization.  The highlight of the show was an amazing velvet covered avocado tree populated with Windex-filled glass birds. Its haunting aura was counterbalanced by more quirky aspects in the show like the clock running backwards on the olive-colored wall oven stuffed full with childhood books.

Julie Blackmon, Family Portrait, 2007, archival pigment print, 22 x 22 inches, Edition of 25. Courtesy of Fahey/Klein Gallery.

Julie Blackmon: Domestic Vacations @ Fahey/Klein Gallery These wonderfully humorous fictional photos of family life paradoxically balanced relaxation with chaos and escape with everyday stresses.  I had fun deciphering what just went on in each image from the visual cues and ended up chuckling at every one.

Kaz Oshiro, False Gestures, installation view. Courtesy of Rosamund Felsen Gallery.

Kaz Oshiro: False Gestures @ Rosamund Felsen Gallery Oshiro’s painting/sculpture facsimiles were illusion to perfection. The suitcases and shelves alluded to the disparity between simulation and reality, while the metallic blue panels with faithfully replicated duct tape made evident the tenuous line between realism and abstraction.

Lorser Feitelson, Untitled, 1971, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60 inches. Courtesy Louis Stern Fine Arts.

Lorser Feitelson: Late paintings @ Louis Stern Fine Arts In these paintings, Feitelson’s took his hard-edge, straight-line geometry to another level.  The sensuous curves, curls and undulating ribbons were so sexy.  It’s hard to believe they were painted in the late-60s, early-70s given their immaculate surfaces and contemporary feel.

William Powhida, How to Destroy LA, 2009, graphite, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper, 18 x 15 inches

William Powhida: No One Here Gets Out Alive @ Charlie James Gallery This dead-on skewering of art world insiderness and the bad-boy-artist mayhem of Powhida’s alter ego was effectively tongue-in-cheek but also achingly honest, openly admitting artists’ gripes and egoism as well as worries and self-doubt.  I absolutely loved the way he used the crossed-out word to convey humor.

Zadok Ben-David, Blackfield, 2009, painted stainless steel and sand. Photo: Elizabeth Gilson and Andrew G. Glennon, courtesy of Shoshana Wayne Gallery.

Zadok Ben-David: Blackfield @ Shoshana Wayne Gallery This installation was totally amazing. As you walked into the gallery you saw a sea of tiny, delicately-cut sheet steel botanical shapes coming up from a perfect rectangle of white sand.  They were black, as if charred or dead.  But then, as you walked around to the far side of the gallery you began to see that the back of each minute plant was painted with vibrant, bold colors.  Once you reached the back of the gallery you were faced with a glorious field of flowers, full of joy and life.  Visitors were audibly gasping as they circled around the installation.

Richard Wilson, Town to Town, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 60 inches. Courtesy of Carl Berg Gallery.

Richard Wilson: Rises @ Carl Berg Gallery The perfectly balanced, asymmetrically stacked, rectangular and square canvases had the most absolutely pristine surfaces. Wilson took Donald Judd’s dictum “one surface, one color,” and had some fun with it.  The spot-on color combinations in each grouping covered not only the front of each monochrome canvas, but also rectangular areas along the edges, allowing him to toy with the tropes of geometric Hard-edge painting as well.

Irving Penn, Deep Sea Diver (B), New York, 1951, gelatin silver print, copyright 1951 (renewed 1979) by Conde Nast Publications Ltd., Partial Gift of Irving Penn, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA

Irving Penn: Small Trades @ Getty Museum Amazingly, Penn’s subjects were both individual and typical.  The attire, trappings and tools of each tradesperson at first seemed obvious and conventional against the plain studio backdrops.  But before you could pigeonhole the sitter, their stark surroundings allowed you to notice clothing details like the wrinkled suit of a harmonica player or the crisp apron and toque of a London chef.  Facial expressions and postures were also telling.  Some seemed like nothing but affectation like the upturned head of a proud undertaker or the contrapposto of a deep-sea diver in full gear.  Others revealed humility and honesty like the tired face of a New York groom clad in worn shoes or the slouching shoulders of a milkman with a heavy milk bottle carrier in hand.  The simple style and elegance of this series of photographs could easily have seemed antithetical to his chosen topic, but Penn’s talent made this tension work.

William Powhida: No One Here Gets Out Alive @ Charlie James

Opening reception for William Powhida's "No One Here Gets Out Alive" at Charlie James Gallery

William Powhida, How to Destroy LA, 2009, graphite, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper, 18 x 15 inches

William Powhida, LA Makeover Chart, 2009, graphite, watercolor, and colored pencil on paper, 22 x 30 inches

William Powhida, The Blue Period, 2009, graphite, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper, 18 x 15 inches

William Powhida, smiling, enjoys the reception.

Charlie James Gallery
975 Chung King Road
Los Angeles, CA 90012

October 24 – December 5, 2009

Twitter Review:
William Powhida: No One Here Gets Out Alive @ Charlie James (*****) Absolutely love the way he uses the crossed out word to convey humor.
7:58 PM Oct 24th from txt

Twitter Reviews – October 2009

Blum & Poe’s new space is BIG. Upstairs in still a bit raw. Show is a mixed bag. #artLA
7:35 PM Oct 3rd from txt

Blum & Poe: Didn’t care for much of the art except I liked Takashi Murakami & Mark Grotjahn in a small room together. #artLA
7:39 PM Oct 3rd from txt

Blum & Poe: My favorite work in the show was Dave Muller’s long narrow acrylic on paper paintings of record album edges. #artLA
7:42 PM Oct 3rd from txt

Second Nature @hammer_museum (**) Too bad this will be the nucleus of the Hammer’s sculpture collection. #artLA
5:53 PM Oct 9th from TweetDeck

Guess it’s fitting since “an overwhelming number of the artists in Second Nature are students of UCLA sculpture professor Charles Ray”
5:54 PM Oct 9th from TweetDeck

http://twitpic.com/kwjat – Only piece I found interesting was Paul Sietsema’s miniature Rococo Room & only photo I got before the guard intervened.
5:56 PM Oct 9th from TwitPic

Jennifer Vanderpool: A Pocketful of Posies @ One Colorado (**) Disappointed. Too trashy, not enough eye candy. Doesn’t envelope the space.
7:54 PM Oct 9th from txt

Wayne Thiebaud: Sweets & Treets @nortonsimon (***) Love the pink walls. Too bad there’s no paintings–only prints.
8:13 PM Oct 9th from txt

Wayne Thiebaud: 70 Years of Painting @ PMCA (****) Wow, what lush paint! Food, cityscapes, figures. Love women in swimsuits from 1966.
8:50 PM Oct 9th from txt

Charles Burchfield: Heat Waves in a Swamp @hammer_museum (***) Moody, eerie, gloomy, foreboding. Nature w/ invented embellishments that convey sound, movement or emotion.
7:31 PM Oct 16th from TweetDeck

Burchfield: A few really outstanding early pieces like The Insect Chorus from 1917 in this jam-packed show.
7:34 PM Oct 16th from TweetDeck

Burchfield: I actually found the most interesting work was at the beginning of his point of crisis rather than the late “great” work.
7:38 PM Oct 16th from TweetDeck

Burchfield: One small room contains two similar reworked paintings from 1943–Two Ravines and The Coming of Spring.
7:40 PM Oct 16th from TweetDeck

Burchfield: Both have two streams joining; one in dark shade, the other sunny; one frozen, the other flowing.
7:43 PM Oct 16th from TweetDeck

Burchfield: The two routes depicted at a point where signs of both winter and spring coexist seem to reflect his dilemma.
7:56 PM Oct 16th from TweetDeck

Tools @ACCD (****) Part art, part artifacts, highlights the thingness of tools & man’s ingenuity reaching beyond the limits of his body.
12:56 PM Oct 24th from TweetDeck

Baker’s Dozen @torranceArt (**) Typical Annual–No theme. No thought either–just 13 of Max’s friends that he finds “interesting”.
2:03 PM Oct 24th from TweetDeck

Baker’s Dozen: Reading curator’s essay: 3 maybes, 3 seems, 4 perhaps, 1 not sure, 1 not certain, 7 ? marks. Keeping it “real” or “easy” Max?
2:04 PM Oct 24th from TweetDeck

Natural Artifice @torranceArt (****) I love Seth Kaufman’s & David French’s sculptures–I’m just not convinced they belong together. #artLA
2:06 PM Oct 24th from TweetDeck

Installations Inside/Out @ Armory (****) Even though not all strictly site specific installation, still a great show celebrating 20 years.
3:39 PM Oct 24th from TweetDeck

Armory: Don’t miss Pae White’s tapestries of swirling smoke & crinkled mylar & Sarah Perry’s dark room w/ glowing clouds & floating feathers.
3:40 PM Oct 24th from TweetDeck

William Powhida: No One Gets Out Alive @ Charlie James (*****) Absolutely love the way he uses the crossed out word to convey humor.
7:58 PM Oct 24th from txt

David Allan Peters @ Ruth Bachofner (***) Maximal layering. Prefer wht/blk/metallic monochromes w/ 1 or 2 carvings better than overall cut pieces.
1:27 PM Oct 25th from TweetDeck

April Street @ Ruth Bachofner (**) There’s some potential in the paintings w/ the b&w checked circles and swags. The others just look unfinished.
1:29 PM Oct 25th from TweetDeck

Alejandro Diaz @ Happy Lion (**) I was drawn in by the Marfa sign, but ultimately felt the show was too smarty pants/trite jokes for me.
1:43 PM Oct 25th from TweetDeck

Twitter Reviews – September 2009

Karl Benjamin @ CGU (****) Paintings from 1969-71 look as fresh as if painted yesterday. Bright colorful triangles within grids of squares.
8:34 PM Sep 1st from txt

Bruce Nauman: Leave the Land Alone @ Arroyo Seco (****) Really exciting when the planes started puffing smoke and letters appeared. #artLA
5:16 PM Sep 12th from txt

Jeni Spota: Fool’s Small Victory @ Kathryn Brennan (***) Liked small stripe painting best. Show a bit sparse and out of balance. Too soon?
5:20 PM Sep 12th from txt

Roger Herman @ Jancar (***) Architectural exteriors and interiors far superior to the figurative work. Straight lines v. curves?
5:37 PM Sep 12th from txt

Uudam Nguyen: Natural Feelings @ Sabina Lee (**) Too much political mumbo jumbo trying to prop up this work. Doesn’t really mean much.
5:50 PM Sep 12th from txt

Rachel Khedoori @ The Box (****) This work actually means something and presents it in a moving way.
6:03 PM Sep 12th from txt

Libby Black: Timeless @ Charlie James (*****) Great variety of work. Perfectly installed. Love the gouaches of vintage Vogue covers. #artLA
6:06 PM Sep 12th from txt

Ruth Pastine: Limitless @ Edward Cella (****) Best viewed at an angle. Favs are “Excruciating Pleasure” & “Ethics & Desire”. #artLA
7:04 PM Sep 12th from txt

Zoe Sheehan Saldana: Ersatz @ Steve Turner. Not sure I get the “why” but I like the “how.” Will rate later.
7:06 PM Sep 12th from txt

Kevin Appel: Drawings @ ACME (***) Pretty disappointing compared to his Citibank Emerging Artist Award paintings. #artLA
7:24 PM Sep 12th from txt

Seasonal Pictures @ ACME (**) Brad Eberhard is the only bright spot in this otherwise blah painting show.
7:31 PM Sep 12th from txt

Eric Johnson @ William Turner (****) Solid show. Translucent resin wall sculptures-one in red-orange, the other in royal blue-rock. #artLA
9:28 PM Sep 12th from txt

Oliver Sutter: Intention @ 24hr Gallery (***) Mix of cryptic symbols on bright color fields w/ hard-edge stripes & black letterbox bars.
1:12 PM Sep 20th from TweetDeck

Irving Penn: Small Trades @GettyMuseum (*****) Amazingly, the subjects are both individual and typical. #artLA
6:14 PM Sep 25th from TweetDeck

Irving Penn: The plain studio backdrop forces you to see the person instead of a scene, focusing on clothing details and facial expressions.
6:15 PM Sep 25th from TweetDeck

Irving Penn: Some are impressive because of their bravado like the London chef donning a toque & apron, arms crossed, knife in hand.
6:16 PM Sep 25th from TweetDeck

Irving Penn: Others are striking for their humble honesty like the New York groom wearing worn shoes and a sweater full of holes.
6:16 PM Sep 25th from TweetDeck

Joel Kyack: Knife Shop @ Kunsthalle (***) Like set 4 performance that doesn’t happen. Hints @ some ideas, but point left unexpressed. #artLA
6:26 PM Sep 26th from TweetDeck

Libby Black: Timeless @ Charlie James

Libby Black, You Never Call, You Never Write, 2008, paper, hot glue, acrylic paint, 60 x 21 x 20 inches

Libby Black: Timeless, Installation view

Libby Black: Timeless, Instalation view

Libby Black: Timeless, Installation View

Left: Libby Black, Vogue 1940, 2009, gouache on paper, 11 x 8.5 inches. Center: Libby Black, Vogue Fashion in Living, 2009, gouache on paper, 8 x 10 inches. Right: Libby Black, Vogue Blue Sapphire, 2009, goache on paper, 7 x 9 inches.

Charlie James Gallery
975 Chung King Road
Los Angeles, CA 90012

September 12 – October 17, 2009

Twitter Review:
Libby Black: Timeless @ Charlie James (*****) Great variety of work. Perfectly installed. Love the gouaches of vintage Vogue covers. #artLA
6:06 PM Sep 12th from txt

Give It a Whirl – September 12, 2009

When it comes to this event-filled, season-opening weekend, everyone’s been mentioning the heavy-hitters like Bruce Nauman and Doug Aiken which are certainly worthy of attention, but I’d like to spotlight some of the unmentioned shows that you really should see. Whether you’re planning on hanging out in Chinatown, Mid-town, or the West Side, hopefully you’ll be able to stop by one of these shows.

Libby Black: Timeless @ Charlie James Gallery

Libby, well-known in the Bay Area for her 2005 installation of a simulated Kate Spade store at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, will be showing paintings, drawings and sculpture in her LA solo debut.  She explores the allure of fashion and shopping and why we buy in works that are just as desirable as the luxury goods they depict.

OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, September 12, 2009, 6-9pm

Charlie James Gallery
975 Chung King Road
Los Angeles, CA 90012

September 12 – October 17, 2009

Ruth Pastine: Limitless @ Edward Cella Art + Architecture

Ruth’s LA solo debut will feature very subtle and luminous color-field paintings.  She sticks to a well-defined system, and obsessively layers wet-on-wet strokes of oil paint, but rather than coming off cool and mechanical, they seem to be all nature and real light.

OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, September 12, 2009, 5-8pm

Edward Cella Art + Architecture
6018 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036

September 12 – October 31, 2009

Jimi Gleason & Jesse Simon @ Samuel Freeman

I hear Jimi is doing something different in his new paintings.  While they still shimmer with metallic pigments, he’s splitting fields of varying colors on multiple surfaces.  Jesse is also on to something fresh, moving away from the representation of earlier large works, and making more intimate abstract sculptures from his recycled surfboards.

OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, September 12, 2009, 5-7pm

Samuel Freeman Gallery
2525 Michigan Avenue, B-7
Santa Monica, CA 90404

September 12 – October 17, 2009

For more shows, check out the calendar in the sidebar.

Twitter Reviews – March 2009

Mineo Mizuno: Coexistence @ Samuel Freeman (***) Like moss covered ovoids in theory, but in reality fall short. Wish they were greener.
4:27 PM Mar 3rd from web

Mizuno @ Freeman: Misting contraptions distract. Matte-glazed works weak, but love the small, shiny river rock shaped ceramics.
4:32 PM Mar 3rd from web

David Hockney: Drawing in a Printing Machine @ LA Louver (**) Is this what phoning it in for an affordable price point looks like?
1:21 PM Mar 5th from web

Elias Sime: Eye of the Needle Eye of the Heart @ SMMoA (***) Wowed by obsessive craftsmanship of the stitching, but too much of the same.
1:37 PM Mar 5th from web

Julie Blackmon: Domestic Vacations @ Fahey/Klein (*****) Wonderfully humorous fictional photos of family life.
1:03 PM Mar 6th from txt

Jeremy Kidd: Fictional Realities @ Fahey/Klein (****) Dizzying (in a good way) urban photoscapes including LACMA under construction.
1:07 PM Mar 6th from txt

Carlos & Jason Sanchez @ dnj (***) Photos of some pretty depressing topics. Kind of a mood killer.
1:15 PM Mar 6th from txt

Angel Delgado: Continuous Limit @ Couturier (***) Liked the “objects in soap” series and sheep in metal cases. Didn’t care for drawings.
1:30 PM Mar 6th from txt

Angel Delgado @ Couturier: Objects are more metaphorical. Drawings are too literal.
1:31 PM Mar 6th from txt

Jutta Koether: Sovereign Women in Painting @ Susanne Vielmetter (*) Ridiculously awful.
2:09 PM Mar 6th from txt

Arsen Roje: Body Parts @ Peres Projects (***) Jenny Savillesque paintings of fingers, thumbs and hands.
2:22 PM Mar 6th from txt

Dave Muller: iamthewalrus @ Blum & Poe (****) “Beatles Within Beatles” is my favorite piece in the show.
2:32 PM Mar 6th from txt

Melissa Manfull: Tesseracts @ Taylor de Cordoba (****) Gridded towers and arches as organic stalactites and stalagmites.
2:51 PM Mar 6th from txt

Penelope Gottlieb @ Kim Light (*****) Suburban real estate dreams with shopping carts & fake fireplace thrown in to break the reverie.
3:03 PM Mar 6th from txt

Brad Eberhard: As Different as Twins @ Cottage Home (****) Washes, paint layering, colors, all great. “Snake Stack” my fav.
3:53 PM Mar 13th from txt

Katherine Gray @ Acuna-Hansen (***) Forest glass installations remind me of the coin toss at carnivals. Clear bubbles in back room best of show.
4:02 PM Mar 13th from txt

Vorcan: Painting Live Music @ L2kontemporary. (*) High school Day-Glo paintings made worse by 3-D gimmick.
4:11 PM Mar 13th from txt

Rebekah Bogard: Flesh & Bone @ Sam Lee (****) Pink and fecund. Cute but sexy, naughty.
4:21 PM Mar 13th from txt

David Kramer: Guilty Pleasure @ Jancar (***) Drawings with text. I laughed at “Burn This.”
4:46 PM Mar 13th from txt

“Burn This” says: Nice being an artist. Even if you are lucky enough to get famous your neighbor still doesn’t know who the f*ck you are.
4:51 PM Mar 13th from txt

Catya Plate @ Jancar/McCorkle (***) Does amusing things with clothes pins. Liked the colored pencil tarot card drawings best.
4:54 PM Mar 13th from txt

Illegiblusion @ Sabina Lee (***) Most delicate use of line. Grids for Mary Ijichi, and loops & dots for Kimiko Miyoshi.
5:04 PM Mar 13th from txt

Walter Robinson: Transport @ Charlie James (*****) Auto name plates, fun color, metallic sparkle meets Rothko and resin.
5:21 PM Mar 13th from txt

Kit Hinrichs: The Storyteller’s Art @ ACCD (***) Impressive body of graphic design. A bit stuck in the ’80s. Some stuff hung too high.
6:20 PM Mar 13th from txt

Jalopy @ Side Street Projects (***) Baron Margo’s race car and motorcycle look like something from the Rocketeer by way of the Great Race.
6:52 PM Mar 13th from txt

Eye in the Sky: JPL’s Mars Orbiter @ PMCA (***) Second time wearing 3-D glasses today. “Opportunity Rover at Victoria Crater” is amazing.
7:38 PM Mar 13th from txt

Data + Art @ PMCA (****) Best mix of data and art is David Bowen’s “Photographic Drawing Device,” solar-powered mini-robots drawing circles.
7:49 PM Mar 13th from txt

Roger Kuntz @ LAM (***) Though best know for his Freeway and Sign series, I prefer the Crystal Cove series, especially “Sea Porch,” 1960.
7:03 PM Mar 14th from txt

Kuntz created multiple paintings of same subject, starting with realistic rendering & achieving greater abstraction in each subsequent version.
7:10 PM Mar 14th from txt

The Bathroom series was Kuntz’s undoing. Especially when he added red to his favored blue and grey palette.
7:17 PM Mar 14th from txt

Kuntz gets brighter and funner in his subsequent Ocean Interior and Blimp series, bringing in luminous teals and greens.
7:28 PM Mar 14th from txt

I think Kuntz didn’t become as well known, not because the Bathroom series was out of step, but because it wasn’t as compelling.
7:47 PM Mar 14th from txt

Christine Nguyen: Dark Matter of Fact @ Angels Gate (**) Too much sketchbook experimenting. Only photo mural finds some resolutions.
3:10 PM Mar 20th from txt

Kurt Franz: Desublimated Landscapes @ Angels Gate (***) Diebenkorn but in 3-D. Nice to see construction materials used for more than scattertrash.
3:21 PM Mar 20th from txt

Amy Thornberry: Sheaths, Veils, Sediment @ Torrance Art Museum (**) Oh no–scattertrash!
4:26 PM Mar 20th from txt

Marie Thibeault: Broken Symmetries @ Torrance Art Museum (***) Paintings are dynamic, fragmented, chaotic and yes, scattered, but definitely not trashy.
4:30 PM Mar 20th from txt

Kim Abeles: Location Studies @ TAM (****) Who knew homeless sleep where the trees aren’t? Always liked her smog work.
4:34 PM Mar 20th from txt

Iva Gueorguieva @ Angles (***) So-so. Liked large B&W with collage best (The Pageantry of Power: The General).
12:50 PM Mar 27th from txt

Dimitri Kozyrev: Lost Edge @ Mark Moore (****) Love the way he uses masked areas of different paint texture & real/abstract as collage elements.
1:21 PM Mar 27th from txt

Steven Hull @ Rosamund Felsen (***) Felt like I was in a Psychedelic/Surrealist/Modernist haunted house in Disneyland with a bad hangover.
1:32 PM Mar 27th from txt

Nobuhito Nashigawara: Identities @ Mark Moore (***) Yoshimoto Nara meets Nathan Mabry.
1:36 PM Mar 27th from txt

John Miller: The Natural Order @ Patrick Painter (**) Gold-leaf pirate booty assemblages juxtaposed with ’80s decor. Kind of a snore.
1:51 PM Mar 27th from txt

Rock Paper Scissor @ Robert Berman (**) Why do rock musicians think they can get away with anything? Scissors should win. (Save 1 Pettibon)
2:07 PM Mar 27th from txt

Michael Beck: The Object as Still Life @ Lora Schlesinger (****) Each a single antique object against a wall. Multiple light sources make for cool shadows.
2:29 PM Mar 27th from txt

Alexandra Hedison: Ithaka @ Frank Pictures (***) Not about trees? Too bad–would have been better without the pseudo-theory text on the walls.
5:58 PM Mar 27th from txt

Donald Sultan: Recent Works on Paper @ Greenfield Sacks (**) Much better in reproduction than in person.
6:03 PM Mar 27th from txt

Amy Ross & Carole Silverstein: The aim of waking is to dream @ Overtones (***) Sugar pills and hallucinogens.
6:09 PM Mar 27th from txt

Twitter Reviews – January 2009

Jessica Curtaz @ Bert Green (****) Finely-detailed graphite drawings of crumpled bags, clothes, etc. on gessoed panels. Love the patterns.
7:28 PM Jan 8th from txt

What’s the Matter with Mommy? @ Phantom Galleries LA (****) Stand-outs are Marion Lane, James Gilbert & Richard Kessler.
7:58 PM Jan 8th from txt

Change is the Only Constant @ Phantom Galleries LA (**) So-so body art and lots of real grass.
8:09 PM Jan 8th from txt

Pharmaka presents: The MAN Show (**) The only things I liked were the donkey paintings by John Scane. Cool raw space though.
8:32 PM Jan 8th from txt

Timothy Nolan: Edge @ Phantom Galleries LA (***) Crystal shapes in blue, black & silver tape. Simple, clean, cool.
8:50 PM Jan 8th from txt

New Mythologies @ Pharmaka (?) Way too crowded all night. What I can see over peoples’ heads doesn’t look like it’s worth fighting the mob.
8:58 PM Jan 8th from txt

Richard Wilson: Rises @ Carl Berg (*****) Absolutely pristine surfaces and edges with spot-on color combos on stacked canvases. Fav: Town to Town.
7:03 PM Jan 10th from txt

Julia Meltzler + David Thorne: In Possession of a Picture @ Steve Turner (****) This is the way to do social commentary.
7:09 PM Jan 10th from txt

Monique Prieto: A Boatfull of Spaniards Sing @ ACME (*) I so loved her blob paintings but so hate her word paintings. These are even worse than the last batch.
7:25 PM Jan 10th from txt

Maaike Schoorel: Nudes and garden @ Marc Foxx (*) Typical awkward conceptual painting that Marc shows.
7:30 PM Jan 10th from txt

Lisa Adams: The Future of Paradise Past @ Lawrence Asher (****) Her paintings are getting so lush. Fav: A Cause For Wandering.
7:55 PM Jan 10th from txt

Loren Sandvik: Abominable Fancy @ Acuna Hansen (***) Glass, metal, mirrors. Colored glass floor sculptures are the best.
8:39 PM Jan 10th from txt

Rolling & Ruling @ Sabina Lee (*****) Sweet. Zammitt’s sculptures were luminous and my favorites in the show.
9:03 PM Jan 10th from txt

David E. Stone: Unanticipated Despair (Despite Naive Optimism) @ Charlie James (***) Relies too much on the one-liner, but I liked the broken glass Twister.
9:08 PM Jan 10th from txt

Russell Crotty: Surfworks @ Shoshana Wayne (****) I didn’t think I was going to like these, but I did. Needs one more drawing in big room.
4:38 PM Jan 17th from txt

Kaz Oshiro: False Gestures @ Rosamund Felsen (*****) Illusion to perfection. I like the metallic blue panels with “tape.”
4:51 PM Jan 17th from txt

Winter Water Color Land & If I Do What You Tell Me Will You Love Me? @ Samuel Freeman (**) The gallery needs some better lights.
5:04 PM Jan 17th from txt

Alex Couwenberg: A Little Bit Left of All Right @ William Turner (****) Delicious. “Buzz Bomb” & “Evergleam” are the highlights.
6:15 PM Jan 17th from txt

Amy Bennett: At the Lake @ Richard Heller (***) Landscapes painted from scale model of lakefront homes with the inhabitants seemingly on holiday.
4:29 PM Jan 22nd from web

David Hilliard: Being Like @ Mark Moore (***) Poignant, melancholic narrative photographic triptychs. Especially liked “Rock Bottom”
4:29 PM Jan 22nd from web

Asgar/Gabriel: Bucolica Obscura @ Mark Moore (**) Wasted teenagers mashed with hot pink spray paint graffiti. Just rehashing the latest art world obsessions.
4:31 PM Jan 22nd from web

Seduction of a Blossom @ LBCC (***) Like a rose w/ thorns, blends the beauty of flowers w/ coded sentiments tinged w/ a lurking hint of mischief.
9:46 PM Jan 25th from web

Supersonic 2009 @ LA Art Show (**) Mind-boggling, the shear volume of underdeveloped artists flooding the Art World every single year.
6:47 PM Jan 26th from web