While it seems some humans are dumping trash into Earth’s precious waters, others are recycling their unwanted goods and using them to create art. Others yet are painting pictures or taking photographs that capture the beauties of nature that have fortunately been able to remain untouched by mankind’s pestering paws. If you have respect for the glories and wonders of the planet we live on, then you share the sentiments of Tony Clark, founder and curator of Affinity Galleries in West Hollywood.

by Carolyn Blais
If you happen to be walking or driving down Lincoln Blvd in Venice and you see a cow on the sidewalk you may be craving dairy and experiencing a mirage, or more likely, you have passed The Happening Gallery. I forgot to ask the significance of the cow statue that stands directly outside the doors to the little gallery located near the corner of Lincoln and Washington but for whatever reason it’s there, and you can’t miss it as it often dons balloons from around its neck. Saturday, April 18, I went back to The Happening …

Whoever said Los Angeles is lacking in arts and culture has certainly NOT visited Barnsdall Art Park, and has especially not visited the park on the second Sunday of the month. That’s right, the arts are alive and well here. This I am sure of after Sunday April 11th when I headed over to the art park, being a first timer myself, for a night of vibrant, living art.

Editor’s Note:

One year in publication… Unbelievable! I’m continually amazed how life progresses, how time seems to “fly,” how people and ideas converge, develop, and flourish together into collective lives of their own. This being the anniversary edition of FORTH—still the only publication in Los Angeles to unite art, literature, and journalism—we thought it appropriate to present the edition as our official “State of the Union” address—an exploration of converging art forms, industries, and of course people.

With his recent paintings, Michael Shankman reveals interiors and exteriors of collapsing homesteads from suburban areas of Colorado, the area where he grew up. Shards of color and structural elements are depicted in large, explosive compositions that stand in comparison to his careful and delicate renderings of small clusters of suburbia.