Vivisect Update

Jeremy Brautman from Toycyte did a nice write-up on Vivisect Playset 5. You can see the article here...

http://www.toycyte.com

We got a feature! Thank you, Jeremy!

We also received an email this morning from Moira Hahn, to correct the price of one of her pieces in the show. It seems that somewhere in the email train the price of "Tamago" increased from $1,200 to $3,200! Yikes! So, the price has been corrected and is now in line with the rest of her work.


Moira Hahn
Tamago II
watercolor on paper
8 1/2 x 11 inches
17 x 12 3/4 inches framed
$1,200.00


Vivisect 5 is coming to an end next week and there are still a few great pieces left from the show, hurry before they are gone forever...

http://round5vp.blogspot.com


Katie
G1988 San Francisco

We would like to introduce you to Charlie

Charlie Immer. Remember this name because Charlie is seriously an art star. It was stated here first on December 4th, 2008.

UPDATE: As of Midnight on Thursday, you guys seem to agree with below. Charlie has gotten more email inquiries than any artist we've ever featured on the blog. Ya'll have good taste.

We get a ton of artist submissions on a daily basis and we've been introduced to a lot of talented aritsts this way. But it's a very rare occasion when a submission stops us dead in our tracks and leaves us speechless. When we saw his work on a computer screen we knew it was incredible, but seeing it in person has literally floored everyone who has seen it during installation. These gems alreay have some of our loyal SF natives, and friends of mine who just stopped by to say hello and bring me a sandwich, chomping at the bit (not just because of the sandwich either).

The Vivisect Playset (Round 5), which opens tomorrow night in SF will be Charlie's first show with us at G1988, with many more to come in the Bay Area and LA. Here are the two awe-inspring oil on panel pieces he's delivered for the show.





Here Charlie describes his technique and inspiration for the two pieces... "I do a detailed under drawing in graphite then I spray it with Fixative followed by a coat of Matte medium. Then I begin to glaze in some oil color. I add more opaque colors after the glazes dry, all while pushing and pulling the dark and light values until the painting is complete. "Elk Puke" is heavily inspired by anatomical see-thru model kits, the reflected colors and highlights that bounce around in them are just so amazing. I liked the idea of showing both what is inside (organs) and also what is inside those insides. There is a hint of Hayao Miyazaki to be found in this piece as well. "Presto Change-O" was inspired by the relationship between a fictional predator and prey."

We wanted to feature Charlie on the blog because his work in Vivisect 5 is one of the most exciting debuts Gallery 1988 has ever seen during its' almost 5 year history! I wish these pics showed you the intense detail in his paintings. Some even have thought it was digital. Such a fresh voice and insane amount of talent.

Katie
G1988 San Francisco

Flavorpill Write Up

Flavorpill did a little write up about our next SF show, The Vivisect Playset (Round 5). A big thank to Laureen Mahler who wrote the article...

http://flavorpill.com/sanfrancisco/events/2008/12/5/the-vivisect-playset-five

The show is just a few days away! We'll have the opening on Friday, December 5th from 7-10PM. The work in the show is the best of all five years, the artists did an incredible job. Luke Chueh, Anthony Ausgang and Peter Gronquist will be at the opening, as well as my 1988 partner, Jensen, who hasn't visited SF for an entire year!

We will also release the highly anticipated Greg Simkins mini print set at the opening this Friday.


Greg Simkins
Mini Print Set (includes Winter's Knight, Night Knight, White Knight)
giclee prints on Somerset Velvet fine art paper
4 x 5 inches (each print)
limited edition of 300
50 sets will also include a hidden chase print
30 sets will also include a hidden original Simkins drawing
$80.00

The print sets will be available in-store at the opening on Dec.5th and over the phone or email starting Dec. 6th.

So, goodbye for now while we go set up the new show. But in the meantime, here are some more Vivisect previews...


Alex Pardee


Amanda Visell


Daniel Elson


Angry Woebots

Katie
G1988: SF

The Vivisect Playset (Round 5)

The Vivisect Playset is returning for it's fifth installment on December 5th at our San Francisco location. Luke Chueh has helped us curate another amazing show and the artist lineup is incredible!

Alex Pardee, Amanda Visell, Amy Sol, Angry Woebots, Anthony Ausgang, Ben Strawn, Brendon Flynn, Charlie Immer, Daniel Elson, Dia, Ghostpatrol, Isaac Pierro, Joe Ledbetter, Johnny Crap, Kamala Dolphin Kingsley, Lauren Moyer, Lindsay Campbell, Luke Chueh, Mari Inukai, Matt Dangler, Mayuko Fujino, Melissa Haslam, Moira Hahn, Paul Barnes, Peek-a-boo, Pete Gronquist, Roland Tamayo, Scott Radke, Thomas Han, and Walt Hall.

We already have some preview pics for you because you read our blog and we like that...


Mari Inukai


Ben Strawn


Paul Barnes


Peter Gronquist


Scott Radke


Lauren Moyer

Seriously, the work is so good and we still haven't seen all of it yet. I think this is the best Vivisect Playset of all five years!

Thinking back to the year we opened, Jensen and I have been through a lot. Five years is a long time and it's crazy to see how much our lives have changed. Here are a few funny pictures from our grand opening in Los Angeles back in 2004...

WINTERS KNIGHT

We have a few of these amazing Greg Simkins prints still available from the opening reception of "The Vivisect Playset."

Greg Simkins
Winters Knight
giclee print on Sommerset Velvet Fine Art paper
16 x 20 inches
limited edition of 75
signed and numbered
$150.00

I think this would make a great gift for the holidays (hint hint...)!

Katie
G1988 San Francisco

...And back...

Sorry for the delay in signifigant posts on my behalf, but after our website crash I haven't been in the mood for any sort of keyboard. Everything is coming together now with the website, which is nice, with all the final links and details being restored this week. Enough of that crap though...

I flew out to SF this weekend for the Vivisect Playset show at our SF spot, and it was GREAT. Greg Simkins and Luke Chueh were on hand to tag team doodle, which turned into a 3 hour fest of customers getting full on paper pieces ("First one on Ebay is a...total asshole!") Incredible work in this show, with some steals still available for the holiday season. Shouts to Peek-A-Boo, Isaac Pierro, MARS-1, Scott Campbell and Dave Pressler for also making it to the show, and an even bigger shout out to the late night Thai spot we found after the opening. I left my heart in San Franisco's Pad Thai dominance.

Anybody watching Nip/Tuck? This season is really dope (please don't judge last year's horrid attempt), with an exceptional cameo by the creepy brother from Wedding Crashers, who is now the "Ass Bandit," a guy who sneaks into hospitals to take stool samples. Oh, also, he's not a Dr. at all.

Back to art though. Tomorrow night we have an awesome opening here in LA, marking the first solo show for Reno artist Ahren Hertel. Ahren has been a mainstay, selling all his pieces in group shows at 1988 for the past two years, so let's look at this like the art version of a Bar Mitzvah. The opening will run 7-10 PM and I am forcing you to come. The work is BEAUTIFUL, and Ahren did some great stuff with the gallery as well! And with all these galleries now showing the same names over and over, it's time to add a new name to your list. Here's pics from the installation...



Sneak peek into the installaion. Those bubbles are real.



Here's a print that will be for sale at the show. Cool part about these lithos, is that Ahren actually hand paints each of them with oil. So basically, it's an original on a print. Love it!



This painting is incredible. The pics don't really show the hair detail (I now have a trademark pending on the term "hair detail.")



Ahren, who did make the trek from Reno, NV (word to Officer Dangle) is painting a cool little dealio on our front wall, meaning everyone who drives on Melrose and La Brea will get some Ahren love.

Again, please make sure to swing by. This is a show you will definately want to see. Rock Band will still be there when you get back at 10 PM.

Jensen
G1988: LA

VIVISECT ARTWORK

The Vivisect Playset artwork is now online!

CLICK HERE

Vivisect Sneak Peak

Hello!

So, our website is FINALLY up and running again, sort of. We're still in the process of getting everything back up there. Some pages work, some don't, but it's slowly coming together.

In the meantime, I have a couple images to show you all from the Vivisect show opening THIS SATURDAY in SF!


Amanda Visell "Underwater Carnivorous Giraffe"



Paul Barnes "Be Your Own Pet"



Kamala Dolphin Kingsley "An Elaborate and Unavoidable Propinquity"

That's all for now, but I'll post some more pics soon. It's gonna be a great show and we have many exciting visitors coming to the opening, so if you live in SF definitely stop by!

Katie
G1988

Out of Site

When I had heard they call today "Cyber Monday," I didn't think it was going to because our normal gallery website would be out of commission for the day. We're in the midst of a transition at the site, and the bottom fell out. Let's hope for the best, as it should be back up and running later tonight.

I've seen some of the work for the upcoming Vivisect Playset show in SF and it looks GREAT! I'm predicting a real fight over some of these pieces.

I want to send a shout out to our friends over at AintItCool.com who included, not one, not two, but three of our Crazy 4 Cult prints, on their annual Holiday Gift Guide (Chris Lee poster, Nathan Ota and Stella Im Hultberg). I used to check out that gift guide for the past handful of years and actually use it to compile a list of crap I want from my family, so it was pretty cool to see the gallery make it up there.

And lastly, in a day when things can't get much worse online, I figured I'd give something beautiful to make it all better...I'll just post it right now....more talk on this EXPLOSION of a show later. Jan of 2008 will bring...

A Little History...

Jensen and I opened the LA gallery almost four years ago. At that time, Jensen was 24 and I was 22. That sounds like a joke. We were kids with absolutely no business experience. It's a miracle that we're still in business and that miracle is a man named Luke Chueh.

Jensen and I both agree that Luke Chueh saved our business. There was a time in 2004 that we almost went under, and then there was Luke. Luke has an amazing eye for recognizing talented artists that will become extremely successful. In other words, he's an amazing curator.

We asked him to curate a show and he came up with the Vivisect Playset. The first installment of the show included Luke, Joe Ledbetter, Thomas Han, Peter Gronquist and Dave Pressler. The show was a huge success and from there became a yearly event at 1988 with new artists added to the lineup. There's also a new toy series coming out based on the show! The series was produced by StrangeCo and will be available very very soon!

The Vivisect Playset opens every December and this year it's in San Francisco! Sorry LA!

So the excitement doesn't stop there. Luke is coming to SF for the show... and so is Greg "Craola" Simkins! They'll be doing a signing/doodle session during the opening. We're calling it "Chu-Kins."



And even more exciting news (I know, you're heads are going to explode)... we're releasing a new Greg Simkins "I'M SCARED" print that very night.



Greg Simkins
Winter's Knight
giclee print on Sommerset Velvet Fine Art paper
16 x 20 inches
limited edition of 75
$150.00

The Vivisect Playset IV
December 1st



Katie
G1988 San Francisco

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

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