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

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

Engrish

Entering the final week of "Under The Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe," is a tough time to be working in the gallery. The fact that we built Greyskull in here is pretty special, and I'm having trouble letting it go. But yes, it will all be gone this Friday. But before then, we wanted to point out another great press clipping from this weekend. This one from AOL's Asylum...



You can read the article, which includes quotes from artists Johnny Sampson, Ben Strawn and Kiersten Essenepreis, by CLICKING HERE.

Another thing that does ease the pain of destroying Greyskull88 - it makes way from the Grass Hut invasion!



"Glass Hat," an exhibit that will feature artists from the collective "Grass Hut," will open on Thursday, Feb 4th, with an opening reception from 7 - 10 PM. It will feature artwork from Grass Hut artists, Bwana Spoons, Martin Ontiveros, Le Merde, Apak, Justin "Scrappers" Morrison and Arbito, but also feature GH affiliates Shanggs, Shawn Wolfe, Gargamel, David Horvath, Kiyoshi Nakazawa and John Black. Going to awesome! Wanna know more about Grass Hat and the show? I asked the guys to break it down for us...and here's what I got:

Imagine a club house (or hut) made of beards, fluorescent paint,
driftwood, plastic toys, beat up skateboards, swimming suits, colorful
string and bottle caps. That's Grass Hut!

It all started with Bwana Spoons. He made art that inspired us all. He
invited us to show art with him, he's the reason we came together.
Scrappers, Le Merde, Martin Ontiveros, and Apak have come to be know as
Grass Hut.
These artists have helped Grass Hut grow by curating group shows, teaching
each other how to make toys, making websites for each other, painting
murals, working the shop counter, shipping, answering email, making each
other laugh with fart jokes, and by having the kind of fun that informs
the work we do.
Grass Hut is a gallery/shop/studio located in Portland, but all the
artists involved have turned it more into a colorful wildfire of
creativity that has spread throughout the tubes of the internet connecting
artists from around the world.
Beyond the brick and mortar of the Portland location, Grass Hut grows in
the work done by it's extended family: Arbito, Snaggs, Shawn Wolfe,
Gargamel, David Horvath, Kiyoshi Nakazawa, John Black and You make this
whole thing more important then the people involved.
Now it's about the spirit of stoking each other's creative fires and
making art that reminds everyone to have fun.

Glass Hat is a mistranslation of Grass Hut from a translation site our
friends in Japan used. The first time I got an email from Chanmen (of
Gargamel) and it said Glass Hat I shit myself with laughter.

Glass Hat at Gallery 1988 is our chance to take all the fun we've had
making Grass Hut a creative playground and explode.

Expect fresh original paintings, one-of-a-kind custom painted toys,
special print editions, and collaborations of all shapes and sizes.

Told you....sounds awesome, right? This week I'll get you some previews too. In the meanwhile, just imagine goodness.

Jensen
G1988:LA