Coagula: Knot Two Be, Not To Bee

In the December issue of Coagula, I have a piece published.
Please pick one up and have a sit-down with it.
Coagula will be going paper-less -- big news in the world of newspapers.

If you love paper, you can still print it out and keep it in your ephemera collection. Coagula is included in Moca Collections, so don't you want to fit in?

Here are some elusive excerpts to entice you to read:

Literature, understood to be the art of writing, is rooted in the Latin word littera which translates as "acquaintance with letters".

Paideia is applied to many teaching theories and is a philosophy-based ethic of learning rooted in Greek advices and phrases to live by, such as "Nothing in Excess" and "Know Thyself".

In current curatorial classrooms, good art must fulfill the rubric. It is an elaborate formula that validates the curator's opinion on what is being expressed in order to come to a conclusion and rate the artists work as good (or plus good). Somehow I doubt that Hitler was applying rubrics to validate his opinion on the art he deemed "Degenerate".


So, "To Know Ones Letter is to Know Thyself", then?

image:
"Random Page Turned to Page 317 of Webster's New World Dictionary (first try)"
digital photograph, unaltered
2008

[Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language
Copyright © 1963 by World Publishing Company, Cleveland, OH & New York, NY]

bikini girls in gorilla masks

ghetto gloss gallery friday the 14th -- 7pm

i drank cosmos for about 4 saturdays in a row.
they wore bikinis and gorilla masks.

it was at la cita - one of the best bars in downtown for a weird time.
that's right - a bar + live drawing.

he tried to get his guy friends on motorcycles to show up.
in addition to the cosmos i drew pictures of the girls in gorilla masks.
he cheered me on.

come on.
see them.

election list

hope
success
recession
react
act
react

success
hope


holograms...i digress.

Moca Contemporaries Party Tonight!

LA = Arts and Culture Mecca/Leader ??

Perhaps some of you know that I recently came on board with the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs as Program Assistant for the CULTURAL MASTER PLAN.

There has not been an enacted plan for the city since 1992.

Having grown up and lived in LA all of my life, I can say that I seriously did not notice anything outside of my own art world that might give tourists, new residents or the general public the idea that LA is a city of amazing art.

I do see this in Pasadena, Orange County, San Diego, Culver City, Chinatown - even Riverside and Claremont and slooowwwwly in Pomona.
But not in LA proper. I see efforts, such as the Silver Lake Trash Can project - but there is still trash all over the ground surrounding the colorful tiled bins....
~sigh~. It bums me out.

However, Downtown is doing an amazing job - and it is not because of the "City" perse, it is because of the individuals that care, have a vested interest and want to make things wonderful. I am also quite impressed with the MTA public art projects and programs - placing art in the Metro Stations and on street banners. Sonia Romero, whom I have sold countless prints for at Gallery Revisited over the years, is the artist chosen for the MacArthur Park station. That is going to make a huge difference in one of the cities most neglected areas. (If you saw the historical photography of that area adjacent to the old Bullock's Wilshire building - in all of its Deco glory with theatre houses, high-end apartments - the architecture...you would just sigh. It was really grand back then. But it's getting better!)

LA Arts are somewhat subversive, it is divided by neighborhoods, it is privatized and it is dependent on the vision of the individuals that make things happen.
That is not a bad thing -- that is what makes LA wonderful. That is why I am still here. You can find your people, find your places - anywhere.

Is this evident when people visit us? Is this evident when people move here?
Not really....fixing up LAX was a huge Plus -- but we need more art there to show
the creativity and beauty here everytime someone arrives. We need clean streets, safe streets and neighborhoods - beautiful things to project a vision of the city as a whole - as a place that cares.

And I think it goes without saying that because LA is not Manhatten, we are not Chicago, we are not Denver, we aren't even Pasadena - we are HUGE, we are Diverse, we are Unique - did I say HUGE? - and the biggest problem is that we lack $$$ in proportion to our needs. Can we fix that? I am not sure. Can we work together, YES. Can we try to place our tiny monies wisely? YES.

So enough of my personal opinion....
If any of the things that I just mentioned spark interest in you - make you think about your role as an artist, an art educator, a collector, a resident, an art lover, supporter, museum donator, museum director, art director, gallerist, designer, community center employee, parks a recs programmer, building and planning person.....then come to the CULTURAL MASTER PLAN MEETINGS.

Also - THERE IS A SURVEY - Please fill it out before November 19th.

Tell a friend.

Drive-by on Spring and 4th

2 reasons to drive-by THE CORNER OF SPRING AND 4TH

5 feet of this

And this