The show opens to the public tomorrow night and there are so many great pieces (including our favorite Mr. Luke Chueh), definitely stop by if you're in the LA area!
With only a dozen of the "Don't Worry" print available in the entire Olly Moss show (get one of the last ones by CLICKING HERE), we don't have a whole lot to do except get excited, and ready, for our upcoming shows. The end of May/beginning of June is going to be a VERY busy time at both locations, and it's time to make the announcements.
First up, we're proud to announce "Baggage & Freedom," a solo exhibit from D. Ross, better known as "Scribe." We've been excited about this one for quite some time, and you can see more of his work at his website by CLICKING HERE. He's well known for his paintings, custom toys and sculptures, and has become one of the most sought after vinyl toy artists in the past few years. Scribe will be in Los Angeles for the reception and doing some pretty cool limited time installations in the gallery, so make sure you come to the opening on Thursday, May 26th from 7-10 PM at G1988: Melrose.
And next, with our friends at Treehouse Brand Stores, we follow the lead of the E3 convention that will be in town, and celebrate American McGee's Alice video game series, a groundbreaking group of video games that puts art in the forefront of your console. With the release of his newest game, American McGee's Alice: Madness Returns, we'll be celebrating at G1988: Melrose with an art show and party you won't want to miss. We're especially stoked to have American on hand for this! You can learn more about the game by CLICKING HERE.
With artwork, inspired by the video game series, from G1988 regulars like NC Winters, Chet Zar, Ruel Pascual and Luke Chueh, G1988 newcomers like Alex CF, Cate Rangel and Adam S. Doyle. In addition to that work, we'll have VERY limited edition screenprints inspired by the game from Rhys Cooper, Kevin Tong, Ken Taylor, James Flames, Phantom City Creative and Angryblue. Also, making his G1988 debut, clothing designer Dr. Romanelli will unveil his creation for the game and American McGee, which I can't wait to see. AND if that wasn't enough, we'll have artwork actual Alice game designers, which will include sketches and notes from the game's creation, girls in Alice costumes serving drinks and celebrity DJs. There's a special E3 private reception on Wednesday, June 8th and a public reception on June 9th, both from 7-10 PM. You'll hang out at this one if you know what's good for you.
When we opened the gallery 7 years ago, in the back of mind I always knew what my dream show would be. But it was so random, so obscure, I never thought it could see the light of day. Here's the light...
Gallery1988: Venice will open "Camp Firewood: Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Wet Hot American Summer," with 60 artists paying tribute to the classic cult comedy. If you've never seen Wet Hot American Summer, you are seriously missing out. Since it's release in 2001, it's paicked up quite an audience, and the stars of the movie have picked up some extremely successful careers (Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, Jimmy Fallon head writer AD Miles, Amy Poehler, Joe Lo Truglio, Judah Friedlander). Created by the brains behind the MTV sketch show "The State," this movie is an absurd spoof of the 1980's sleepover camp (Meatballs-esque) comedy. You can check out the trailer by CLICKING HERE. And we're insanely privileged to have the movie's director and co-writer, David Wain, to host the art show! DREAMS DO COME TRUE. AND, we'll be producing a screening, along with the Q&A podcast with Jeff Goldsmith, but we'll have more details on that later. If you haven't seen the movie, it was currently added to Netflix streaming, so you have no excise now. (p.s. it's NSFW). Then come celebrate the movie's anniversary with us at G1988: Venice on June 10th, from 7-10 PM.
If you're in LA tonight, and into vinyl toys (if you read this blog, I'm pretty sure I'm talking to you), then swing by Kevin Smith's SModcastle (Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood) and screen "The Vinyl Frontier." It's a documentary that explores the world of boutique vinyl toys and features some of your G1988 favs like Luke Chueh, Bwana Spoons and Tristan Eaton. It will run tonight, Friday September 24th at 7 PM and tickets are $10. There will be a special Q&A after the film with artists Luke Chueh, Dave Bondi and many more. You can purchase tickets by CLICKING HERE.
Our good friend, art collector and man who owns a plush bear costume, Jon Halperin is putting together a pretty awesome fundraiser for a trip he's about to make. He's auctioning off an awesome Luke Chueh drawing all in the name of charity and art! Here's the project in his own words -
"On July 23rd, I leave for Guatemala to tour schools with "COED". The Cooperative for Education creates sustainable textbook, computer center, reading, scholarship, and library programs in Guatemala.
My goal is to bring out an entire suitcase filled with crayons for COED to distribute to the 194 middle schools they serve. Being a collector, and a fan of the arts, i thought this would be a good idea to assist in facilitating drawing/sketching to these kids...
To reach this goal, i have decided to auction off a Luke Chueh black/red drawing which i purchased from Gallery 1988 in 2005 for $150. It is titled "Sketch #6" and measures 6x8", 8x10" framed.
Rather than money, you will be bidding boxes of crayons from the $.99 Store. They are (you guessed it) $.99 a pop. This being said, United States bidders obviously makes more sense.
I will start the auction now and end it Monday June 28th at 9pm Pacific Time. Email jon@theglasshouse.us to place a bid and I will post bids here for all to see. I reside in Southern California, so local meetups work, or mail me the boxes and I will mail out the piece. The buyer covers shipping.
CURRENT (STARTING) BID: 100"
So email the man if you want in, and you want to support a great cause.
And here's the Luke piece you're bidding crayons for:
And like that, an LA art tradition is over. We opened Vivisect Playset VI last Friday night and had a great turn out and had quite a fun time. Big thanks to Luke Chueh, and all the artists involved, for a beautiful show. You can see all the artwork, and check out what is still available at http://thedeathofvivisect.blogspot.com.
And try to stop by, the show will be up only until December 10th, making room for our next show....
Usually the day before Thanksgiving is slow, and I'll be sitting at the gallery desk wishing I could leave early. But today, is a whole different story. Since we're opening our newest show, "Vivisect Playset VI - The Death of Vivisect" on Black Friday, November 27th, we're all working as slow as we can, unwrapping the incredible work and checking out every detail. This show is an annual exhibit, now in it's 6th (!!!) and final year, curated by LA artist Luke Chueh and the gallery, in an attempt to unite artists who all employ animals in their work to convey the human condition. We consider the first Vivisect Playset show to be the quintessential art show that lead us in the direction and lane the gallery currently drives in - and this year is not only shaping up to be the finale, but also possibly its strongest year. This year, in addition the almost 20 artists creating original artwork for the show, we also have a handful of artists creating customized toys out of the Vivisect vinyl set that came out 2 years ago. It's a nice celebration to put an LA art tradition to bed.
Since we'll all be eating tomorrow, I figured we'd give you one of the best sneak previews we've ever given on the blog today. All pieces from the upcoming show on Friday. And also, announce what I think is the coolest shirt in 1988 history.
Vivisect alum Amy Sol delivered a beautiful piece...
Vivisect freshman Ewelina Ferruso's piece is absolutely stunning, and in person it's even better if you can imagine. The colors and vibrancy are unline any other piece we've seen.
A Vivisect Sophomore Ben Strawn is slowly becoming my absolute favorite artist. His pieces, on layered plexiglass, are dimensional and stunning. All you have to do is ask someone who's seen one in person...
(detail)
Vivisect Freshman Mark Brown just gets better and better and better. The realistic Lion face is an awesome sign of his progression.
Another artist who continues to progress is Vivisect alum Roland Tamayo. The past 2 years has seen Roland get such a distinct, and emotional, voice in his work. I really love the memories his pieces stir up. This one is no exception.
Alum Daniel Elson combines the worlds of his signature mice and Luke Chueh's popular Vivisect Playset vinyl bear mask with this awesome sculpture.
Just a few samples of the beautiful show we'll be opening this Friday night from 7 - 10 PM at Gallery1988: LA. Aaaaaand, in addition to the pantings, drawings and toys, we'll be offering a brand new, limited edition t-shirt from Luke Chueh. I always joked with Luke, telling him he's never made an iconic Luke Chueh shirt, leaving that job to the bootleggers. I'm happy to say we'll be releasing what I believe is the iconic Luke shirt I've always wanted.
These will be available once the show opens at 7 PM on Black Friday ONLY. I know you're going to email, and you know I'm going to email you back and tell you we have to wait until Friday. Just putting that out there.
Hope to see you Friday night and we wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
Not many pictures were taken on our end during the Mondo "Badass Cinema" event at G1988:LA Friday night (but we did get one of the line running out the door!) because we never stopped selling posters! The Mondo team was in town for Designer Con, but we ruined that plan since we sold out of 90% of the stock they brought for the Con the night before. Pretty incredible! Thanks to everyone who came out, and special thanks to Justin and Mondo, Mitch at OMG, Kevin Tong, Harry Diaz and Skinner, who all did their thing and helped make this incredible night a success.
Remember, this Friday, BLACK FRIDAY, we will open our final Vivisect Playset, curated by Luke Chueh and Gallery1988, with an opening reception from 7-10 PM. More details, and previews, soon!
Finally coming down from the opening reception of Greg Simkins' "The Pearl Thief," and we really wanted to thank everyone who came out to support the show. Evolving with Greg since the first time he showed with us 5 years ago has been the most rewarding aspect of owning Gallery1988 for both Katie and I. Makes you wonder if good things really do happen to good people after all. The work from this new exhibit are stunning and you can see them all by CLICKING HERE. I really hope any of you that can make here to the gallery by November 22nd to see the pieces in person do so, because some of these have to be seen to be believed. And that includes...
(all pictures stolen from Arrested Motion, which you should visit to see more pics from last night)
Greg's largest piece ever, "The Pearl Thief," clocking in around the 8 foot mark. This is the most detailed, intense painting I have ever seen in person. I noticed people staring at it for easily over 30 minutes. The new proud, and envied, owner of this beauty, filmmaker Nick Cassavetes stopped by the show to see the final product in person, which was an awesome ending to the process of creating, and displaying, this monster. Here are a few more pictures of pieces in the show...
And onto the puzzle. So we created an art show puzzle last night, that had a few teams of people literally working the entire night in hopes of cracking. The person who solved the puzzle, travelled to a nearby destination then returned with the needed bounty to the gallery - got a free 5 x 5 inch painting from Greg. That is painting was this -
Listen, the painting wouldn't be cheap...so we weren't making it easy. The puzzle master would also have his/her name added into what we now call "Simkins Folklore," seeing their name pop up as the rescuer of Matt Riddle's dream in future pieces and writings. Which is awesome.
So anyway, we had a lot of people try - but about 4 teams worked the entire night. And one of the teams, puzzle masters from 42 Entertainment, came away victorious. Johnny "KMNDZ" Rodriguez and Mike Borys solved a puzzle that can't be easily explained, but I'll try. A majority of the pieces in the show had a number written below the price tag. Take that number and count the letters in that piece's title - to get the letter you need pull from that title. So if "6" was written under the tag, and the tag said the piece's title was "This Puzzle Is Hard," you'd pull a "U" out. BUT, it wasn't JUST that easy. We didn't give you 2 letters simply. For example, one tag was missing an "L" - it said "The Pear Thief," so it's a good idea to remember a missed "L." So, as I said we weren't making it easy. Once you have all the letters, it's a scramble. It would eventually spell out "Shamrock Social," the world renown Tattoo parlor on Sunset Blvd. When you went there, they handed you a special Pearl setting, and a note from Greg bringing you back to the gallery to claim the painting. Whew.
And it was solved in about 2-3 hours. Truth is having 42 Entertainment even attempt our puzzle is like asking Bono to listen to your demo. So it was an honor to even have them participate. Here's Johnny claiming his prize...
We hope to do this more often, because creating puzzles like this are really a passion for me and involving Greg was awesome.
So, please stop by before November 22nd and see this show. Cause after that...we're killing Vivisect. BLACK FRIDAY.
Here we are. The last day of Luke Chueh's Inferno. Tons of people have been walking through, and we want to thank Luke for creating such an extensive and progressive show. We've loved growing with him since 2004 and this show was no exception!
For the last two days, we've had some super secret filming going on in the gallery which included Brandi Milne, Dabs & Myla and eight hours of no break live painting. Sounds like a scene from the movie Saw, but it was a pretty awesome experience. I'll let you know, when I know more about when/where you can see it.
So now we make way for Alex Pardee's insane Halloween visions, which will open this coming Tuesday, with an opening reception from 7-11 PM. Alex will be arriving into LA tomorrow and will be in attendance all night Tuesday (this time no homeless cutting dudes invited! Google away, if you don't know that Pardee story!) We've all been very secret about Alex's new work, so here's your first, and possibly only, preview...
This is one of Alex's new demented characters he created for a painting, which will all tie together with a story and tale he created specifically for this show. I'm a bit scared. This show is going to be epic.
And today marks a pretty important day for Crazy4Cult fans who have been waiting patiently for the second coming of Jeff Boyes' Professional print. We have the second edition, now with new colors, as an edition of 33.
Jeff Boyes "The Professional (Blue)" 4 color screen print on archival paper, signed and numbered edition of 33 26 x 13 inches $60.00
This sold SO FAST during the CFC show, we decided to create another chance for everybody. If you want one, call us at (323) 937 - 7088 or email us at gallery1988@aol.com and we'll take your order before they run out again!
Now I KNOW you shouldn't miss this Wednesday night's "Inferno" solo show from Luke Chueh. He's delivering more than double the paintings you (and I) were expecting.
The Evolution of Southpaw will be available as a set, and also individually, but different sizes and edition numbers for those options. Also, the set is much larger than you'd think. Not mini-prints.
9/9/9
Sept. 9 - Inferno from Luke Chueh G1988: LA 7-10 PM
It's that time of year again. Here at the LA Gallery we're getting ready for a Luke Chueh solo show, basically a bi-annual tradition here at G1988: LA that we're oh so very happy to partake in.
Not much has been revealed about "Inferno," the cryptic exhibit set to open on Sept. 9th (09/09/09), other than Luke's revelation that the show will be his reinterpretation of Dante's Inferno and the 9 rings of Hell. He's also been pretty vocal about this show being the start of what he hopes will be a shift of focus in his work, attempting to create full scenes, evolve and create his most complex, and grueling, pieces yet. And I've been just as much in the dark this year, so it was an obvious jump for joy moment when Luke sent me some teaser-ific images of 3 different pieces, focusing in on mostly details. It ain't giving us much, but what he is giving - is pretty amazing.
Luke's hell actually looks worse than real hell. I know because I've seen it - when I paid $8 to see "G.I. Joe."
I can tell you this: there will be a print set available that people will want to freak out about, and each image from the set will be available individually as well, just with some different specifics. Don't be "left" out.
Thanks to everyone who came out last night to our Book Signing for the Travis Louie book, "Curiosities." Big success! Travis surprised all with some paintings and new sketches and some people went home with some Travis originals! Big thank you to Travis who did the whirlwind that is Comic-Con to promote the book, then drove with me and my girlfriend back to LA (he ate Jack in the Box for the first time) in order to partake in last night's events. When Katie and I wanted to do our first book, there was really no other option. Travis's paintings, and insanely cool character descriptions, were just a no-brainer for us. And we hope you all get to see the book and see how cool everything turned out. We do have some of our G1988 variant cover editions left (few, so act quick). These are super limited (we're selling less than 100), are signed by the artist and come with a free signed and numbered giclee print. $30. Same as the retail cover, which we have too! Call us up quick though if you want the 1988 cover, cause that's moving fast. (323) 937 - 7088.
That is our first book and our first partnership with Baby Tattoo. If you stopped by the Baby Tattoo booth during Comic-Con you realized what our second book is going to be. For those who weren't able to see it...
"Igneus Gero (The Book)" collecting the works of Luke Chueh, spanning 2003 - 2009. His first book!
And while we're on announcements, if you swung by the Mattel booth - you saw our other announcement, letting you know who 2010's "Under The Influence" honoree will be. This means that come January, over 100 artists will pay tribute to someone/something in their own styles. Past tributes to Walt Disney, Stan Lee and Beastie Boys have been huge successes. And sure to be falling right in line...
Gallery1988 & Mattel presents
"Under The Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" January 2010
We're giving artists the opportunity to bring He-Man and the cast of characters up to 2010 and into their own styles! Hard to breathe while typing that. Big props to Alex Pardee who created Skeletor to celebrate the announcement, and supplied us with what is the first piece for the show. You just wait until you see what this show is going to be like...and what the gallery will look like. By the power of...
It's become a bit of a tradition now to create a poster to promote the Crazy 4 Cult show. And these posters (in the past created by Chris Lee, Andrew Wilson & Scott Campbell) pack so many movie references in one punch (and are so beautiful), it's mind-blowing! This year we asked artist Tim Doyle to create the official Crazy 4 Cult 3-D poster, and we are glad we did. Tim was our secret weapon...literally.
Here he references just about 40 weapons from cult movies, one more obscure then the next. I've wasted easily 20 full hours just trying to figure it out. Which might explain why none of the Cult artwork is hung yet. OK, so just like the last two years, we're doing a contest. Can you name the weapons seen in this Tim Doyle poster? If so, you're kind of a cult movie genius. The key is below:
And here's the thing. Send us an email, matching which movie each weapon is from with the corresponding letter or number we have assigned it. Send it to gallery1988@aol.com, with the email headline "Cult Contest 09." The winner will not only get a handful of prints from this year's Crazy 4 Cult 3-D, but also an Artist Proof of Luke Chueh's "I Asked For Scrambled" print. That thing easily is worth a few hundred bucks. You have until the show closes on August 8th to email it in. GOOD LUCK and aim high.
Check out this month's LA Confidential magazine where musician Pete Wentz breaks down his favorite up-and-coming artists, which is a pretty awesome roster of Greg Simkins, Ken Garduno, Roland Tamayo, Luke Chueh, Mark Brown and Matt Dangler. Pick up the magazine to read more!
"Idiot Box" is so insanely soon here at G1988: LA and we're getting 5-10 pieces a day here in the gallery now. And each one is more impressive than the next. Kiersten Essenpreis, who has quickly become one of my favorite artists around, took Seinfeld worship to a WHOLE new level with her piece, "Seinfeldology (a.k.a. 99 Seinfeld References)." And yes, it titled literally.
So insanely perfect and detailed. And you know what that means? It's contest time. Using the key below, write down as many of the 99 Seinfeld references you can, matching them with the numbers.
To enter, if you live in Los Angeles, give me your attempts by hand at the opening reception on April 2nd. If you live outside of Los Angeles, but in the United States, mail us your entry at:
Gallery1988: LA 7020 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90038
Please make sure to include your mailing address on the entry, in case you're a winner. The entry MUST BE RECEIVED at the gallery by April 2nd and WE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTING EMAIL ENTRIES AT ALL. Unfortunately, this is a US only contest. If we have a tie, the winner will be chosen by random picking, by my dog, Benjamin Peeny.
The winner will get...an artist proof print of Luke Chueh's "Disintegration" giclee. Yup. That's the grand prize. Pretty sponge worthy.
