Donnie was a good bowler...and a good man.

The sky has opened up a bit here in Los Angeles, and we're seeing rain on a Saturday afternoon as we de-install and paint over the installation from the Glass Hat/Grass Hut show. Sad to say goodbye to our friends from Portland, but we're making way for our next show, "The Greatest Moments In Sports History (A Poster Show)," which opens this coming Thursday night from 7-10 PM. The posters are delivered and they're soooooo good. And a good surprise? Come to the opening Thursday night, and party with the Frysmith Mobile Food Truck. YUP! A french fry food truck! That serves ONLY french fries! Like in my dreams. I CAN NOT WAIT (nom nom nom)!

Although my stomach is growling loudly, the focus of this show will obviously be the incredible sports themed posters from 45 different artists. One of the funniest parts to curating this show (along with our friends at OMG Posters) has been working with the poster artists who aren't necessarily sports fans and seeing what they come up with. Whether it's fictional sports they've made up or movie references, it really rounds out the show nicely. And one of my favorites, from artist Mike Mitchell (recently Internet famous from his "I'm With CoCo" imagery), is below...



"The Dude Invitational" NUFF SAID. THIS THURSDAY NIGHT!

Jensen
G1988:LA

HOLY BEANS!

Our upcoming G1988:LA show "The Greatest Moments In Sports History (A Poster Show)" is coming up, as it opens March 4th with an opening reception from 7-10 PM. With 45 poster artists contributing - it's like every poster delivered one ups the last, and we are getting so much interest in this show. BUT today we got Daniel Danger's contribution - his tribute to Fenway Park.



Let the chaos begin guys. More info to come soon. I smell the (expresso) beans. #insideposterjoke

Jensen
G1988:LA

Return to a classic

Up at the SF gallery, we've been working on a new print that's finally going to be released soon. The Ultrasmooth fine art paper we've been using for years is now on backstock everywhere, so it's taken a while to get this print out. But it's so worth the wait because it's such a great piece!!



Glen Brogan is the amazing artist who created this genius piece. If you're a Super Mario Bros. fan, this is a must-have! Stay tuned for the release.

Katie
G1988 SF

Same As It Ever Was

One of the greatest parts of owning an art gallery is working on commissions. Purely because it's the one time we get to work with the buyer and the artist in a one-on-one format. Some of my favorite moments in our 6 year history have been seeing the faces on the buyer's face when he/she first sees the painting their commissioned (and in most cases, an idea he/she collaborated on with the artist). Today, was one of those days.

Musician Everlast commissioned Greg Simkins to create a painting specifically for his new baby daughter's nursery, which was an honor for both the Gallery and Greg. Commissioning a painting from Greg is truly an experience I believe you can not have with any other artist. He works from conception to sketch to final product directly with the buyer - which in turn creates a story that Greg specifically writes for the painting - as well as a sketch thrown in for the buyer. It's pretty awesome. And today was delivery day for Everlast.



Pictures on a blog won't do it justice, but it is truly amazing.



Again, always one of my favorite parts of owning the Gallery and figured we could share it this time since Everlast is more than excited to show the world what will be hanging in his precious new daughter's room.

Jensen
G1988:LA

He-Clan

During our "Under The Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" exhibit we were lucky enough to debut 4 t-shirts which were collaborations with clothing line Clandestine Industries. We only had a limited number of the shirts, which themselves are limited to less than 125 each), while the rest were to be available at a later date on Clan's website, ClandestineIndustries.com. Well, now they are available!



You can now purchase these shirts by clicking here. Incredible designs by Jeff Boyes, Andrew Wilson and Dave Perillo, and they'll only last for so long.

Jensen
G1988:LA

OrGONE

We want to give a HUGE thank you to all the members, and affiliates, of Grass Hut who are participating in our current exhibition, "Glass Hat." Last week we held the show's opening reception in LA, with artists Le Merde, David Horvath, Kiyoshi Nakazawa, Tim Biskup, Martin Ontiveros, Bwana Spoons and Scrappers in attendance, creating installations, hanging out and sketching for fans. These guys are the real deal and the show looks incredible, with the actual grass hut chilling in the middle of the gallery. You can see the show by going to grasshutglasshat.blogspot.com. It will run through February 26th. 

And we're proud to announce our next exhibit, which will run in March at G1988:LA. 

It's "The Greatest Moments In Sports (A Poster Show)" and will be presented by both Gallery1988 and OMGPosters. This show will have limited edition, signed and numbered posters/prints depicting some of the greatest moments in sports history (or a sports history we've made up). With an absolutely incredible artist line-up, this one is going to be a home run. GET IT??!!?? HOME RUN!!!???!! SPORTSBALL!!!!

More on this one soon.

Jensen

G1988:LA

New Ken Keirns Print!

Tomorrow we are releasing a beautiful new print by artist Ken Keirns. This is Gallery1988's first print with Ken and they honestly look so amazing. The print is titled "Band-Aid" and the original was featured in our "Into the Mystic" show last November in San Francisco.



Ken Keirns
Band-Aid
giclee print on Epson Ultrasmooth Fine Art paper
12 x 16 inches
limited edition of 50, signed and numbered
$65.00

These prints will be released tomorrow, February 9th. To order, please contact the San Francisco location:
(415) 409-1376 / gallery1988sf@gmail.com

Preview NOW LIVE!

The artwork preview for our SF show is now online...

PREVIEW LINK: http://1988whispers.blogspot.com

Install is finished!

Yesterday we had three of the four artists in our new San Francisco show hung, and today we finished hanging the remaining work. Here's a shot of May Ann Licudine's work up on the gallery wall...



The show opens tomorrow night from 7-10PM, so stop by if you're in the neighborhood!

Katie
G1988 SF

Grass Hut = Glass Hat

You can check out the show, and learn how to purchase pieces from this show, by visiting GrassHutGlassHat.blogspot.com.

Putting the final touches on tonight's opening reception for "Glass Hat," which features artwork (in the form of paintings, custom toys, sculptures and prints) from the Portland, Oregon art collective, Grass Hut. Not only have they delivered almost 150 pieces of art from collective members and affiliates, they've transformed the gallery into their own little habitat, grass hut and all (you won't even come close to remembering that He-Man lived here just last week). Here are some pictures of the installation (in progress yesterday) and artists Scrappers and Le Merde doing their thang.











Can't wait for you to see the rest of the gallery! Stop by tonight, 7-10 PM and have a beer with our friends from Portland.

Jensen
G1988:LA

The Hut Locker

Feels like Portland, Oregon has pulled right onto Melrose and La Brea as your favorite Grass Hut Art Collective members have started work on their artwork installation (and more!) for their show, "Glass Hat." And not only do we have the Grass Hut core members, we have their friends and affiliates helping make their take over of Los Angeles even more memorable.

The show will open tomorrow night (Thursday), with a reception from 7-10 PM and I'm telling you: don't miss this one. Every painting they pull out of every box, and every customized toy they unveil before they place it onto a shelf, makes me say "AWESOME" in an incredibly loud tone. So, get your "AWESOMES" ready, because it's time for sneak peeks.





APAK is Aaron Piland and Ayumi Kajikawa Piland and over the past few years have quickly become one of my favorite art duos. We are so happy to finally have their work in the LA gallery and the previewed piece above, "Earth Reflectors," is beautiful.





I had never heard of Arbito before Bwana and the guys brought up his name for this show, and I realized quickly I have been obviously SLEEPING on something very cool. Especially since the gallery has gotten so many emails inquiring about his work for this show. Check out the above painting and custom toy (HOLY MOLY). I am so stoked to have been introduced to Arbito's work and look forward to working with him in the future.





One of my Comic Con highlights every year is visiting the Grass Hut booth, which also seems to be your favorite highlight too, considering how fast they sell their custom toys released that weekend. And a few years back, that's where I learned of Le Merde. Easily, my favorite toy customizer, I learned quickly that I also love his paintings. You can see both above, but you won't see them long considering how high the demand has been for the work in "Glass Hat" already.





One of the original 20 artists we contacted when we opened in 2004, Bwana Spoons is just wholeheartedly awesome. Check out the custom and the painting above and it's easy to see why he's one of the most talked about artists in our genre, and has been for quite some time. An all-around good dude, and all-around good artist and I always look forward to see what he's gonna do next. And his work for "Glass Hat" is no different.

So there's a quick peak. Tomorrow, I'll give you some sneaks of the amazing gallery installation their creating, which involves and actual Grass Hut!

Jensen
G1988:LA

Installation

Our installation is almost finished. We have a few more pieces to hang, but I have some new previews and detail shots for you lucky blog readers...


Kendra Binney "Parade"


various pieces by Roland Tamayo


Roland "Propelled" detail/close up


Roland "Day Fish" detail/close up


Tin "Propensity"


Tin "Wilt"

We still need to hang May Ann's work and then we're done! More previews to come, stay tuned...