Lumberish

Thanks to everyone for coming out last night to "Lumber Smack" - Travis Lampe's solo show. Especially a big thanks goes to Travis and his family, who came out for the exhibit's opening reception. Still lots of great paintings available, which you can see by clicking HERE.

And we've sold through half of the 50 piece run of "Accidental Mishap," the limited resin toy from Travis. So if you're thinking about it, we got about 20-25 left. Come by and see it, the thing sells itself. Literally. It talks. Says, "Buy me, the economy is fine."

Last night was the first time we handed out our new postcards advertising our October show, "Cover Band." Here's the evite...which is one of my favorite postcard designs yet (this one done by Katie!)



I've been dying for this show for over a year, since over 50 artists will take classic album LP covers and use them as their canvas, as seen with the postcard image from Krista Huot co-opting the Ozzy cover. A great line-up for this one, and I've seen a few album covers and it really comes across as a fresh show idea. We're partnering with our friends at Klipsch Audio, so we're working on some installation ideas for interactivity with music. We will see what we end up with. Anyway, figured I'd announce this show, and look for previews soon.

Oh, go see "Burn After Reading," and don't listen to what idiots tell you about it. Vintage Coens and stellar performances all around, giving this the closest to Lebowski comedy feel the Bros have done since the Dude rolled. Trust.

OH, BIG ANNOUNCEMENT tomorrow. Get ready for a whole new side to G1988.

Jensen
G1988: LA

For Display Purposes

Julie B., of Pretty in Plastic fame, dropped off the display she made to help show off the "Accidental Mishap" resin art toy, and she's gonna need Charlton Heston's cold, dead hands to get this back from me. It's the coolest thing I have ever seen. It basically exactly replicates the painting where the character was first seen.





I mean, that is so cool.

But other than that, we're all lined up and ready go. If you can, swing by tonight, 7-10 PM.



Jensen
G1988: LA

The Sun Comes Out Tomorrow

No time to talk, I'm too nervous about WAMU closing its doors. What country do we live in?

Anyway, our Travis Lampe solo show opens tomorrow night, Tuesday the 16th, from 7-10 PM. You gotta come check it out, incredible stuff - not to mention the release of "Accidental Mishapy" - the limited resin art toy.

Quick previews of the paintings...





Jensen
G1988: LA

Where Its Due

As we take pre-orders on the Travis Lampe Resin Art Toys (email me @ gallery1988@aol.com if that surprised you and you want one), I can't help but absolutely applaud and think the new Rotofugi online video ad is one of the most genius things to come out of our world ever. Man, do I wish I had the idea, resources, large brain, computer, etc., to have done this. You made me jealous, fellas.



Jensen
G1988: LA

TA-DAAA!

The first of the G1988 x Pretty in Plastic (Julie B.) Art Toys...









There it is, dude. I mean, I couldn't be happier. Literally. It's beautiful. Shoot me an email at gallery1988@aol.com to get one of the only 50 made. Oh, each tear drop hand painted by Travis will be different too. Man, I LOVE THESE THINGS.

Jensen
G1988: LA

Our First Toy!!!!

Travis Lampe's "Accidental Mishap"





I know....they are just teases, but more to come in a few days. And you can learn a little more by clicking here and visiting VinylPulse.com.

A little blog exclusive? It's uber limited, made of resin and each is hand painted and a little different! And they come with a print. It's really a piece of art! And they were produced by Julie B. over at Pretty in Plastic, with the Gallery and the artist. OK, that's enough. I really am so excited for everyone to see this. We'll fill in all the blanks this next week, and remember they get released at Travis's solo show, "Lumber Smack," which opens Sept. 15, from 7-10 PM.

Jensen
G1988: LA

5 with Lampe

With all the excitement of Crazy 4 Cult 2, and the heaps of print orders, I usually find myself ready to calm down quickly after the close of the show, but with our upcoming show "Lumber Smack" - a solo exhibit from one of my absolute favorite artists, Travis Lampe, I don't think the amp is gonna fade away.



And yes, at the opening reception we will be debut an art toy (that means hand created and painted, Jerky), produced by G1988, Travis and Julie B.'s Pretty in Plastic, called "Accidental Mishap" that is one of the coolest things I've ever seen (right after that video of Kim Stewart falling off that motorcycle with Paris Hilton. Youtube it.) You'll see those previews soon here on the blog, but they're gonna be a super limited run, so keep an eye to the blog if you want in. The opening will be on Tuesday night, September 16, from 7-10 PM.

In the meanwhile, we wanted to bring back our favorite blog feature and ask Travis Lampe to cite 5 of his current influences and inspirations by sending over 5 paintings, throughout history without any sort of restriction, that he's really feeling right now. These are the 5 he picked, and his reasons.



1. "The Sermon on the Mount" - Duccio

Duccio was basically a badass mofo. Though I love all his work, this painting is probably my favorite as it best represents all aspects of his particular je ne sais quoi - the screwy perspective in the city walls, the total disregard for accurate size relationship, the colors, and most of all the rendering of
the mountains. I love it.



2. "Venus Standing in a Landscape" - Cranach Lucas the Elder

I couldn't find a good image of the Cranach painting that I wanted to show (actually three paintings of women saints that I came across in the British Museum several years ago and stood in front of for an hour), but this one is close enough. Cranach Lucas the Elder achieved what I like to call "epic ridiculousness." The deep colors and details in the background give the painting a fantastic depth. Then , in the foreground he puts a cartoonish, yet utterly beautiful full frontal nude , and, oh yeah, she's wearing a ridiculous hat.



3. "The Reconciliation of Titania and Oberon" - Joseph Noel Paton

I love Victorian fairy paintings. This one is my favorite. The detail is astounding - there's so much going on in there, so much interaction between the minor characters, that you could look at this painting forever and not get all the subtle detail. And again, it's ridiculous and epic and beautiful at the same time - something I am drawn to.



4. "The Forest", an illustration from Dante's Divine Comedy - Gustave Doré

Sad and lost in the forest? Yes, please! I've been fascinated by Doré's engravings since I first glimpsed them in a copy of Paradise Lost at my aunt's house as a kid.



5. "Experiment 769" - Ryan Heshka

Ryan is so good it kind of makes me angry. The next time I see him, I'm going to punch him in the head.

This painting was more or less picked at random, because I like all his stuff. He combines creepiness and humor in a way that is just sick. Sick, I tell you! Ryan inspired me to get my act together and start painting in the first place. He's a great guy and very encouraging.

Jensen
G1988: LA

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

I was out of town for these past few days. I went to NY for the first time as an adult and I had the most amazing trip! We went to the MET and the Natural History Museum. We stayed in SOHO and Brooklyn and ate more food than I thought was physically possible. I love love love New York and I can't wait to go back. It was a very short trip, but it was so much fun. I'm a bit jealous of you people that live out there.

But I did arrive back at the SF gallery to a VERY nice surprise...



Yep, that's right! The Travis Lampe prints are signed and will be released tomorrow!

Travis Lampe
Accidental Mishap (left image)
giclee print on Sommerset Velvet Fine Art paper
12 x 12 inches
limited edition of 25
$100.00

Travis Lampe
Mountaintop Scuffle (right image)
giclee print on Sommerset Velvet Fine Art paper
12 x 12 inches
limited edition of 25
$100.00

Or both prints can be sold together for $175.00!

These will be sold exclusively at G1988 San Francisco, (415) 409-1376.

Katie
G1988 SF

I Dream of Prints

A lot of my time at the SF gallery is spent working on prints, as we do all of our prints in-house. So, I wanted to show you all what we've been working on since the release of the Luke minis, especially since I haven't updated the blog in a while...



Travis Lampe "Accidental Mishap" and "Mountain Scuffle" set! Finally! These are two of my favorite pieces that we've ever shown in the gallery and these prints are long overdue.



And a beautiful new print by Allison Torneros called "skittle joe's goodtime headquarters: the city!"

So, they're not quite ready, but they're coming. Very very soon.

Katie
G1988 San Francisco











Woops. How'd that guy get in here?



.

Oh, That's Cool

Hello, friends.

As everyone returns from Miami and the Art Basel shindig (I didn't actually go, but I did wear white pants and casual loafers around the house while chatting about Jai Alai this weekend, so I was there in spirit), we're in full swing here at 1988 for the Holiday season. For those on our mailing list who are thinking about buying something, but just think everything over $50 is 10% too expensive - look out for our first annual Holiday Gift Guide (and coupon surprise) in your inbox tomorrow morning! Which means, this is your last chance, if you're not on our email list, send me an note at gallery1988@aol.com and I'll make sure to add you before the blast tomorrow.



Welcome Kim. She's a seasonal intern over here at 1988 and she's in charge of shipping your Stella Fight Club prints. So, you know not to make her mad.

Gallery 1988 friend and resident street credibility professor Murs recently dropped his new mixtape, 'Murs and the Misadventures of the Nova Express," and low and behold - look who got the cover. It's 1988 boy genius Matt Dangler and his Loompa Land image from Crazy 4 Cult, which is still available as a print at Crazy4Cult.com. Yes, we got to curate the cover of the CD and yes, it's totally fresh. We have some here in the gallery, if you want to buy dope hip-hop and ignore the crap they play on Power 106 now. They also have them at Amoeba and other places you'd expect to get rap mixtapes rather than an art gallery. Here's his new music video too!



The reason I bring up the man named Murs is also because I ran into him this weekend at the ArcLight after catching the opening weekend of Juno. He was seeing Golden Compass (Take that, rap world!)



Anyway, Juno is a lock for a bunch of Oscar noms this season and it was really a great little movie that is leaps and bounds better than Little Miss Sunshine, which I promise everyone will sadly compare it to, so it doesn't really need the support of our little readership. Incredible cast, great touching screenplay and ridiculously funny.
It's also cool to see David Choe, Kozyndan and Tara McPherson get some art love in the kids' rooms. As well as Jurassic 5 DJ Cut Chemist have a very odd school teacher cameo. Go support this movie, as it really is that good.

And lastly, I planned one waiting a while for stuff like this, but I can't. The art is too good. Here are two sneak peeks at pieces from our "Under The Influence" A Tribute to Stan Lee" show opening Jan. 8! It really just gets better and better.

Amanda Visell x The X-Men



Chris Tezber x Spider-Man



Travis Lampe x Iron Man



WOW.

Jensen
G1988: LA

Lam-peek

Here's even more gems from our upcoming Guys' Guys show opening this TUESDAY! These from our Windy City pal Travis Lampe, an artist who has quickly become a hot commodity here at 1988. His work is GREAT from Guys' Guys and I think these pieces are going to make it even harder to get art from him going further.







Caught a nice little Crazy 4 Cult mention in 944 Magazine while I was getting my car detailed last week, which was sort of a nice surprise. Even weirder that a Hot Karl reference was thrown in there. I just can't avoid the past.

We're down to our last 11 Greg Simkins "Ed's Losing" prints, so please make sure you get them. Once they're gone, they're golden. I'll leak our next Crazy4Cult.com print in the next week or so, and these puppies will be more limited and a hot one to get.

Jensen
G1988: LA

CHRISTMAS IN MAY WITH TRAVIS LAMPE

The artwork for our next SF show is starting to be dropped off! It feels like Christmas (even though it's 100 degrees outside. Trust me - I'm not complaining. I love this weather!) But these are definitely my favorite days in the gallery. I know I don't get to keep them for myself, but it's still exciting to open big packages and find these amazing paintings inside. Yes, I do have the best job ever!

The new show is REALLY strong. There's some great work coming in! Here's one by Travis Lampe...



It's called "Accidental Mishap" and I can't get over the expression on the unicorn's face. I love it! Travis has another piece in the show too, but you'll have to wait until the show opens to see it. It's a surprise.

The show is called "The Onset" and it opens a week for today! YES, ONE WEEK! I'm excited and I know you'll be excited too when you see the lineup...

Derek Albeck, Angry Woebots, Bob Dob, Mark Bodnar, Buff Monster, Scott Campbell, Keeley Carrigan, Matt Dangler, Nome Edonna, Ekundayo, ESM-Artificial, Peter Gronquist, Ahren Hertel, Aaron Jasinski, Brian Kesling, Wednesday Kirwan, Travis Lampe, Joe Ledbetter, Dan May, Jeff McMillan, Brandi Milne, Misha, Isaac Pierro, Reuben Rude, KRK Ryden, Jason Sho Green, Nathan Stapley, Jophen Stein, Roland Tamayo, Cameron Tiede, Michelle Valigura, David van Alphen, Amanda Visell, Andrew Wilson, and Yoskay Yamamoto.

See, I told you. That's a great lineup.

The opening is Tuesday, May 15th 7-10PM at G1988SF. We're trying out our Tuesday night opening tradition up here in SF for the first time. Wish us luck, or even better... see you there!

Katie
Gallery1988SF