Too Cute!

I had to post this pic from the Ledbetter/Brandou show that opened in SF last Friday. Joe graciously sketched for a few fans, including these two cuties.



A BIG thank you to Joe Ledbetter and Andrew Brandou for putting together an amazing show! If you haven't seen it yet, you can check it out HERE.

We also had a great turnout at our new show that opened in LA last night. Thank you to everyone who stopped by, I heard it was packed! The show includes work from Allison Sommers, Bloo Empire, Brandon Bird, Dan Santat, Dave Chung, Erik Alos, Isaac Pierro, Israel Sanchez, Ken Garduno, Scott Campbell, Reuben Rude and Rich Tuzon. There are some GREAT pieces still available... ARTWORK.

Which reminds me... the Scott Campbell "PacMans Print Set #2" is now available!

Scott Campbell
PacMans Print Set #2 (includes five prints)
giclee prints on Epson textured fine art paper
2 3/4 x 2 3/4 each print
limited edition of 100
$65.00

And finally I wanted to show you a new print we'll be releasing very soon by the lovely Krista Huot...


Krista Huot
Into The Real
giclee print on Somerset Velvet Fine Art Paper
14 x 11 inches
limited edition of 30
Price - TBD

We're almost finished printing and then they'll be shipped up to Canada to be signed and numbered. Krista will have a few new paintings in our upcoming group show this June in San Francisco. Stay tuned...

Katie
G1988: SF

Opening Tonight And Starting Today

If you live in San Francisco - make sure to stop by G1988: SF anytime tonight between 7-10 PM PST to attend the Ledbetter/Brandou show "Unspeakable," which you can preview at the post below. Great show!!!

And today, I wanted to start a new feature we're gonna have here on the blog called "5 Pieces...." Artists who we'll be spotlighting in upcoming shows, will pick 5 pieces from around the globe, and spanning all of history, that they are digging right now. The only requirement is...it can't be done by them.

I love this idea because I like seeing what paintings other artists are feeling at any given moment. Katie and I have a theory that if a lot of artists are buying one artist, it usually means good things for the that artist's future. We've seen it happen a lot actually. And seeing what an artist is into will sometimes give you a little peak into the origin of their style and the array of their influences. And the first installment does not disappoint.

Art center grad Ken Garduno is all over Los Angeles like those Grand Theft Auto IV billboards. Since graduating he not only illustrated in some of your favorite magazines, he's shown in all your favorite galleries too. And all-around cool dude and amazing artist, Garduno will be one of the artists in our Los Angeles location's upcoming show, "One to Grow On," which opens this coming Tuesday, May 20th, from 7-10 PM. Here's a sneak peek at one of his pieces -



So we asked Ken to pick 5 pieces that he's feeling right now, only a few days before the group show opening reception, as well as give us a few sentences on why, and this is what we got:

"5 Pieces I'm Digging, Not Made By Ken Garduno" by Ken Garduno



Charles Dana Gibson:
The line work in this piece is amazing. Gibson made it look too easy. It’s handled delicately with a lot of detail, but it has a loose quality about it that I love. Gibson’s girls are gorgeous.



Goya:
This is one of the images from art history that has always stuck in my head. It’s so twisted. I love it. I know he painted this in a dark period in his life, and it shows. This guy was nuts.



J.C.Leyendecker:
This guy is easily one of my favorite illustrators of all time. He makes everything look so smooth and sophisticated. I don’t imagine anyone could look this classy in real life. With all that amazing stuff in the foreground, who needs a background?



Al Hirschfeld:
This is the man. Everything he touched turned to gold. If you want to learn anything about linework, he IS the king. I love this piece in particular because of the use of pattern, curves, and grey tones.



Andrew Hem:
I’m lucky enough to know this guy. Everytime I see his work, I ask myself, “how the hell does he do it”? I tried to find a single image that I loved on his website, and I just gave up and picked this one. There are too many to pick from. Is there anything this guy can’t paint??

Thanks, Ken. I find it super weird that he picked Andrew Hem as his contemporary piece he's digging cause if you had asked me what artists that all other artists are digging right...I would've said him. Good to know, right? And keep an eye out for more of this feature cause I like it, and that's really all that matters.

Jensen
G1988: LA

Childbetter

Feels like rush hour at 1988, with tons of stuff going on in the next 2 weeks. Some are still secret, some aren't. Figured I'd hit you off with those that aren't. First off, we have "Unspeakable" - a new 2-man show from Joe Ledbetter and Andrew Brandou opening in SF a week from today! An exciting show for sure, here's your first blog sneak peek at Joe's new work, with some noticeable line work maturity. This one is called "Call to Arms."



And once we get some Brandou preview images, we'll get you one of those too, but for now, just relax and remember that show opens May 16, opening reception 7-10 PM in San Francisco.

Then we got "One to Grow On," a group show opening here in LA on May 20th, 7-10 PM. We've got tons of work in that one from amazing artists Allison Sommers, Bloo Empire, Brandon Bird, Dan Santat, Dave Chung, Erik Alos, Isaac Pierro, Israel Sanchez, Ken Garduno, Scott Campbell, Reuben Rude and Rich Tuzon. Below is a preview from Israel Sanchez, who has quickly become one of my favoritist (dictionary please) artists around.



This is really going to be an amazing show, with a piece from Isaac Pierro that we've been foaming at the mouth about for over a year! AND a new Scott Campbell print series release, this time the second set of Pac-Man beauties, seen below.



The sets are limited to 100, each print hand signed and numbered by the artist and 2.75 x 2.75 inches each. The sets are $65 each and look amazing all framed together. Again, these will first be available at the opening reception on the 20th, but shoot me over an email at gallery1988@aol.com if you want one, but won't be able to make the show - I'll make sure you blog loyalists get one.

A big shout out (do they still say that?) to Kanye, who picked up the Peter Gronquist show. You can see that, as well as read his readers' nice comments, BY CLICKING HERE. More thanks to HighSnobiety, MetroMix, MensRag, Danny Boy at Daily Dose, Slam X Hype, SwaggerDap, Gizmodo, VinylPulse, DVice and basically every blog ever for picking the show up for coverage. It's most likely is the most blog-covered show we've ever had, a Google search is even a bit dizzying.

Jensen
G1988: LA

HERE IT COMES...

THE VIVISECT PLAYSET IV

ERIK ALOS
ANTHONY AUSGANG
PAUL BARNES
LUKE CHUEH
MATT DANGLER
MARK ELLIOTT
BRENDON FLYNN
PETER GRONQUIST
WALT HALL
PHILL HOLMES
MARI INUKAI
KAMALA DOLPHIN KINGSLEY
JOE LEDBETTER
ANGRY WOEBOTS
PEEK-A-BOO
ALEX PARDEE
ROBERT FAYZE PELLICER
ISAAC PIERRO
DAVE PRESSLER
AMY SOL
ROLAND TAMAYO
AMANDA VISELL
RACHEL WONG

with an exclusive Greg "Craola" Simkins "I'M SCAR3D" print release

DECEMBER 1ST - GALLERY1988 SAN FRANCISCO

Follow The Lead

Today, both the LA and SF galleries were each one of the many artsy stops on the Kid Robot Finders Keepers scavenger hunt to mark the release of the incredible Joe Ledbetter mini-series of toys. Here's a pic of some figures from the set:



Anyway, to kick off the sales of this set, Kid Robot put together cute little races in LA, SF and NY, where the customer who visits selected stores in a certain order (cards at each stop gave you clues) in the fastest time, gets some sort of drool creating prize. Both 1988 galleries were selected as checkpoints, so we were honored to partake.

My plan was to take a lot of pictures of people from the contest, then quickly realized they don't want to stop for pictures. They want to hurry and get to Munky King in Chinatown, which was their next stop. Oh, here are the cards we had to give out if someone said "Finder's Keepers" to me at the front desk:



So, around 11:15 AM I started to get some "Scav-Hunters."





Nope, not in the mood to talk, pose for pictures or hang out. BUT, they did usually smile and run back to a waiting car on Melrose (honks were very prevelant this morning).

All in all, very fun event, and I'm sure some people have been crowned very deserving winners. The only loser?:



My dog Benjamin. He was like, "What is going on? Why are people running in and running out? This is really not part of my routine." For the record, he has OCD rituals and stuff, so this put him way out of his element.

CONGRATS to Joe Ledbetter on another great vinyl project and thanks to KR for involving us.

Oh, to cheer you up. A picture of me and Isaac George Simkins, a.k.a. Lil Monsta, a.k.a. #1 Stunna, a.k.a. Bald Head Fighter, a.k.a. I will beat up other artists' kids, a.k.a. Inspecta Deck.



He is a looker. So is the baby.

Jensen
G1988: LA

Hey, That's Joe Ledbetter!

I love this picture, so I had to post it. Joe was able to make it to the grand opening of Gallery1988 San Francisco last week. He had the best time ever - he can't hide his excitement.



The opening was a huge success and I want to thank everyone who stopped by to support the new location. This was a huge step for us and we are so thrilled about the positive response we've received so far. It's really been amazing!

And speaking of Joe Ledbetter... I took a short walk over to StrangeCo (www.strangeco.com) a few days ago to check on the Vivisect Playset toy series (which includes Luke Chueh, Joe Ledbetter, Thomas Han, Greg Simkins, Anthony Ausgang, Peter Gronquist, and Amanda Visell) and I got a sneak peak...



That's Joe's hand-painted color sample for the series and it's awesome! It's the King of Deadbeets. He sits on Emily's desk and she gets to admire him all day long. The Vivisect Playset series is due to be released late summer '07. Very exciting!!!

Katie
G1988 San Francisco