Installation Crazy

We are half way through installing the children's book show! We got one wall up and the other wall will be hung tomorrow. Here's what we got so far...













Such a GREAT show! It opens this Friday, May 1st in San Francisco, so stay tuned on the blog for some more sneak peeks tomorrow.

Katie
G1988 SF

Mark Brown Preview

The preview for Mark Brown's new solo show is now online! Take a look...

http://markbrowndebut.blogspot.com/

Marked For Death

Tomorrow night!

Jensen
G1988: LA

Four

Another sneak peek, our fourth piece unveiled, for the upcoming debut solo show for Mark Brown, "The Lost MacGuffin," which is just two days from opening in our LA location. The Boise native actually landed just a few hours ago in the City of Angels, so who's surprised at all that he's painting a lot of devils? Gonna be one of those shows where afterwards, he's on your radar permanently.

Jensen
G1988: LA

Beyond the Page

We've been so busy these past few weeks that our new SF show crept up on me! Today was drop off day, so most of the work arrived yesterday and this morning, so it kinda looks like the gallery exploded. We asked each artist in the show to re-illustrate characters and/or scenes from the text of their favorite children's books and we got some AMAZING pieces. To get you in children's book mode, I've listed some of my favorites. When I made this list it made me so nostalgic and it amazing how strong the memories of these books are in my head. I'll be the first to admit that I have a horrible memory, but these I remember so well. It's pretty amazing how influential they were...

Where the Wild Things Are
Anything by Shell Silverstein
Secret Garden
Little Prince
Goodnight Moon
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Anything by Dr. Seuss
Curious George
Little Engine That Could
Corduroy
The Little House
Babar
Beatrix Potter
Velveteen Rabbit
Bedtime for Frances
Lyle, Lyle Crocodile

They make me teary-eyed!

Now you can check out where the artists took this theme. Each is an original piece inspired by the text of the artist's favorite children's book...



Sean Clarity inspired by the text of The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams



Melissa Haslam inspired by the text of Snow White, Brothers Grimm



Kendra Binney inspired by the text of Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson



Devin Crane inspired by the text of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll



Casey Weldon inspired by the text of Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson



Anne-Julie Aubry inspired by the text of Snow-White and Rose-Red, Brothers Grimm

The show opens Friday, May 1st at Gallery1988 San Francisco. We never charge an entrance fee for our events, but for this show we are asking visitors to bring one new children's book, which will be donated to the San Francisco Unified School District. The gallery will also be making an additional donation on behalf of the show.

Katie
G1988 SF

Pretty Great Phone Call

Mylan Online

UPDATE: THE SHOW IS NOW LIVE AT WWW.88POINT5.COM!!

We have a very exciting www.88point5.com show opening this Saturday with Mylan Nguyen! Not only is Mylan our featured artist this May, her show also coincides with her senior thesis show at Otis! Check out these AMAZING installations Mylan created for her senior show (click the images to enlarge)...





All of the artwork for sale in the www.88point5.com show is included in these installations at Otis. SO, you can see all of the work in person the May 7th & 8th at Otis is LA. You can also purchase a piece from Mylan's online show and then go to the show Otis and brag to everyone that you own a piece! Here are a few sneak peeks from the show (did I mention that these are all listed at $50.00? What a steal!)...







You can see the rest of Mylan's new work at www.88point5.com. And congratulations to Mylan for her amazing senior show!

Katie
G1988 SF

Three

Every step is seeming better and better, as we unveil the third sneak peek into the Mark Brown Debut Solo Show, which opens this coming Tuesday, April 28th. Mark is flying into LA for the exhibit, and will be in attendance, so mark your calendars now.

The story is unfolding.

Jensen
G1988: LA

Center Stage On The Mic

Everybody remembers last January's Under The Influence tribute art show to Beastie Boys and since there was so much demand for prints, we're making today an epic release day for 3 of our favorite pieces from the show - now all available as prints! Each print is from a VERY LIMITED run, so get moving...body moving (bad joke).


Scott Scheidly
"The Brass Monkey Has A License To Ill"
giclee print on fine art paper
16 x 20 inches
limited edition of 25
$100.00


**This was actually Beastie Boys favorite piece in the show!

Casey Weldon
"B-Boys Unite"
giclee print on fine art paper
20 x 16 inches
limited edition of 30
$85.00


David MacDowell
"Hey Hey Hey Ladies"
giclee print on fine art paper
20 x 16 inches
limited edition of 25
$85.00

We'll be here all day, so call us at (323) 937 - 7088 to order, or shoot us an email at gallery1988@aol.com.

PRINT DAY!!! YEAHHHHHH!!!

Jensen
G1988: LA

Two

WOW.



ummm

Don't miss next Tuesday's opening of Mark Brown's "The Lost MacGuffin" debut solo show. I mean, is that enough to say? I feel like I should make it so streamers come out of your computer screen after showing a new incredible piece like that for the first time. Well, just show up Tuesday. It'll be that good.

Jensen
G1988: LA

Cage x Pardee

One of my favorite artists (Alex Pardee) and favorite musicians (Cage) teamed up to work on a visual component to Cage's new album, "Depart From Me," that's had me excited to see the results since the collaboration was first announced. And tonight, Alex debuted what will be the album's cover and most likely a glimpse into what else we'll see for the rest of the liner notes. Check it out...



Looks incredible. Can't wait to see the rest and hear the album I've been waiting a few years for!

Jensen
G1988: LA

LA2DAY

Thank you to LA2DAY for covering our "Idiot Box" show! You can see the article here...

http://www.la2day.com/art_design/kill_your_tv_idiot_box_debuts_on_melrose

The show is up for another week, so definitely stop by the LA gallery to check it out in person, if you haven't seen it yet.

As our current shows wind down, we are gearing up for our May shows. We have Mark Brown coming up in LA, which is going to be AMAZING, and a children's book themed group show in SF, which I am personally so excited about. At 27 years old, I am still a huge fan of children's books, and I've been waiting for this show for a long time and it finally opens on May 1st. Lucky blog readers, I have some preview pics for you!


Jeannie Lynn Paske inspired by The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry



Anne-Julie Aubry inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll



Seiji Yonehara inspired by Little Red Riding Hood, Charles Perrault



Leontine Greenberg inspired by Scrambled Eggs Super, Dr. Seuss



Tin inspired by The Little Poky Puppy, Gustaf Tenggren

This is just a small sampling of the amazing artwork that's being delivered for this show. We'll post more preview pics in a few days, so stay tuned!

N by NW

As we enter the last week of "Idiot Box," we're starting to gear up for a show I've been excited about since first stumbling upon his website (which didn't even has his email on it) a few years back. Artist Mark Brown from Idaho will display his debut solo show, "The Lost MacGuffin," on Tuesday night, April 28th, with an artist reception from 7-10 PM. The image below is the teaser painting we used for the postcard, but I figured why not show it again...



The piece also doubles as an introduction to the show, which will all revolve around a world the artist is creating to tell a cohesive story. And who better to tell us about the creative process of this piece - and the opening tale of what will be the entire show story than the artist himself -

"The whole exhibit's story starts with this painting and this Devil running. Actually he's just escaped from the Crow King, with the help of the Octangel. See, it's all because the Devil has stolen that book from the King. Actually, the Devil is part of a Secret Order (marked by those stars) sworn to protect the book from people like the Crow King, so he HAD to do it. And now the Crow King, fuming over the stolen property, sent out his crow henchmen, lead by the Top Hatted Magician Crow as their boss, obviously. They just about had our Devil, when the Crow produced the deck of tarot cards and is now playing the Hanged Man card. Also in pursuit of the book, since the King needed insurance when dealing with the Secret Order, are The Bunch Of Paper Men. The King cuts out chains of them from paper, sending them on commando missions like this one. They sometimes stop and pick up rocks. They really hate scissors. It's a cold October day out, so it's not easy to run, and the breath, visible from the devil's mouth is freezing into some strange foreshadowing. The polar bear with the third eye and four arms is juggling 5 painted balls, where each ball represents a character from the main story you experience when seeing the entire art show. So you know in advance, those 5 characters are The Crow King and The Wrestler With The Inflatable Head, The Girl Who Catches Fire, the TV Headed Guy, and our main hero, Our Boy (unseen...for now!) The Bear is also wearing the Surprisingly Handy Key, which can open pretty much any lock - so that's not a problem. Lets see... oh yeah, the book. Well, the book in question is a great and powerful relic and a symbol of how we all feel (or at least I do) whenever we flip through a children's encyclopedia from the 50's or 60's. When I was a kid, these books were like another world for me. The title of the book is, "MacGuffin's Encyclopedia, Volume I". The book is actually the MacGuffin for the entire story, especially making sense to any Hitchock fans out there."

Now THAT'S a story I wanna hear more about.

Jensen
G1988: LA

Redefine

A huge thank you to Redefine Magazine for covering both our our current shows!! That is so awesome! Check out the site here...

http://www.redefinemag.com/arts/category/upcoming-art-shows

Thank you, Redefine!

Katie
G1988SF

G Thanks

G4TV posted their video of the Idiot Box opening reception which includes interviews with me, Dennis Haskins, Devin Crane and Misha. Thanks to our friends at G4 and Attack of the Show for the coverage, but no love to Blair Butler for missing this exhibit. I will return her love status when she comes by to check out the art in person. Until then, here's the video...

Video Games - Cheat Codes - In the Field

Jensen
G1988: LA

Upcoming show announcement!

(Click the image to enlarge)

Stay tuned for more info, and preview pics!

Katie
G1988 SF

LA is Open On Easter!

Stop on by the LA Gallery1988 on Easter, as we're open tomorrow 12-4. Maybe you can bring a Cadbury Egg to Aileen, who will be manning the fort, but if not, whatever.

Jensen
G1988: LA

In Da

Brandt Peters x House



Ask and you shall receive. The "Peacemaker Banner" from Brandt's 1988 solo show "Cackle Factory" is ready for it's close-up. Now that the character who owned this piece is dead, who's the beneficiary who inherits it?

Jensen
G1988: LA

Go To Mars

We are proud to announce our newest Crazy 4 Cult 2 print from LA artist Jeff Ramirez!



Taking his four separate "Total Recall" inspired pieces, which were major highlights of the 2008 installment, and turning them into one print, we take the good Gov. Arnold and give him the 1988 treatment. Each giclee print is on archival paper and is 10 1/4 x 13 2/3 inches. They are hand signed and numbered by the artist, in an edition of only 25. These print are $60 each.

Since "Total Recall" is one of my favorite Sci-fi movies ever, I consider this a must have. And having all 4 images on one paper will look awesome on your wall, especially if you're looking to take a vacation to Mars in your head.

You can email us at gallery1988@aol.com, or call (323) 937-7088, to order.

Jensen
G1988: LA

About to fall over...

(Daniel Danger)

My life these past few days feels like a blur. We're talking non-stop, no rest for a week straight. It started when I flew down to LA for Idiot Box, which was so much fun! It was a GREAT show, so even though I had to wake up at 4am to fly back to SF the next morning, it was definitely worth going. Got back to SF on Friday and went straight to work on the Danger/McCarthy show, which opened last Saturday. This show is incredible. I have never heard so many people say this was their favorite show we've ever had. The opening went great, was a little hectic when we first opened the doors because a lot of people wanted to grab the new Danger prints that were released. But the real chaos didn't start until Sunday morning when I work up thinking, hooray it's the weekend!, but then reality set in when I looked at our inbox to find hundreds of inquires about the Danger and McCarthy prints from the new show. Ok, so this is a good "problem" to have, that so many people love these two artists, but it was a little overwhelming at first, I must admit. But in the end, hooray for a successful show and congratulations to Dan McCarthy and Daniel Danger because they worked their butts off for this show.

The show was picked up by Flavorpill, Hi-Fructose and Arrested Motion, which is so awesome! You can check out the articles, which also feature pics of the artists and interviews...

Hi-Fructose: http://hifructose.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=333

Arrested Motion: http://arrestedmotion.com/2009/04/openings-daniel-danger-dan-mccarthy-gallery-1988-sf/#more-17056

Flavorpill: http://flavorpill.com/sanfrancisco/events/2009/4/4/the-watcher-in-the-woods

A huge thank you to everyone who supported the show and spread the word!!

If you're interested in seeing all of the work, please visit the show blog here... http://1988watcher.blogspot.com. The show will be up until April 25th, so definitely check it out in person if you can.


AND THEN.....


(Kiersten Essenpries)

We have exciting news about the Seinfeldology contest. Yes, that's right! We have a winner....

Nistasha Perez from Chicago got every single answer correct from the reference key!! So, Nistasha's big prize for winning is an artist proof of Luke Chueh's "Disintegration" prints.

And coming in a very close second was G1988 friend and long time supporter, Cory Sontag! Cory got 98 of the 99 Seinfeld references correct! Thank you to everyone who participated in the contest. We will be releasing prints of Kiersten's piece in the near future, so stayed tuned!

Kidnapping Kathie

G1988 homies Jenny Mollen and Jason Biggs debuted their 10 minute film, "Kidnapping Caitlynn," on FunnyOrDie today and making a cameo is a painting by none other than Kathie Olivas...

It's even a bit of a plot point, which is awesome. Between this and her husband Brandt Peters having a piece from his last G1988: LA show, "Cackle Factory," on this week's "House" - they are definitely going Hollywood. Anyone got a screen cap of that for us? All I know is that the piece is seen in Kal Penn's room, and the press for this week's episode has been nuts (Kumar leaves show to join Obama's staff seems like a story from The Onion). Anyone wanna screen cap?

Anyway, check out Jenny and Jason's awesome short by CLICKING HERE. And vote Funny. Or we find you. And kidnap you.

Jensen

G1988: LA

Poppers

We got a nice little mention by one of our favorite bloggers, Whitney Matheson, over at USAToday.com today and wanted to share...

You can read the whole post by CLICKING HERE.

THANKS, Whitney, for the endorsement...we send one right back.

Jensen

G1988: LA

Boys

Before last night's extremely successful opening reception for "Watcher In The Woods," the new 2-man exhibit at G1988: SF featuring artwork from Daniel Danger and Dan McCarthy, the homies at Arrested Motion sat down with both Dans and previewed the show, as well as got some questions answered. You can read the article by CLICKING HERE.

And you can see the entire inspiring show, as well as see what's still available (those first two Danger paintings are even tempting me), by visiting http://1988watcher.blogspot.com/.

Jensen
G1988: LA

Recap In A Box

So the smoke has cleared, and we're catching up on paperwork from our "Idiot Box" 5-year Anniversary show, which opened last Thursday night. A total success, the gallery was busy from 7 - 11 PM - and we couldn't be happier with the artwork delivered for this show. And we couldn't thank our host, Dennis "Mr. Belding" Haskins enough. Dennis was more than happy to take photos and sign autographs (on headshots we made for the man, customized by artist Andrew Wilson). Katie's inner-geek was also happy to see Chelsea Handler stop by. Lots of incredible pieces are still available, as well as a group of show specific prints, and you can see these by CLICKING HERE. Here are some pictures from opening night...



The obligatory line/crowd shot.



And now the other angle. What I like to call the "Belding Perspective."



Here's Dennis with gallery assistant, Aileen.



Dennis meeting Andrew Wilson, the sneaky fellow who went to town on Haskins' headshot for the flyer and night's autograph opportunity.



Artist Mark Bodnar, who's LOST inspired piece was "tweeted" about earlier in the day by Kevin Smith, hangs with collector Aris, who left his normal surroundings of NY to hang.



In this bromance, I sort of feel like Andrew is Brody Jenner and I kinda won some crappy TV show to hang with him a few times.



Artist Mylan Nguyen with her TMNT inspired girls. She also got a rather incredible autograph from Mr. Belding that you might not expect a high school principal to partake in. Yeah, that happened!



Artist Brandon Sopinsky stands near his nerd dream mash-up of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" and "Watchmen."



A gallery patron stares into Rachel J. Wong's TV piece, and like an episode of Rock of Love, you can't change the channel.

This show will be open through April 23rd, so stop by!!!! We also want to thank all the places who covered the show including G4, LA Weekly, AintItCool, Flavorpill, JoshSpear.com, TheOriginalWinger.com, OMG Posters and everybody else I can't think of right before I get ready to go into the gallery.

Jensen
G1988: LA