MISAPPROPRIATION, described as a “pop-up group show,” consisted of
work from four different artists. After checking out the screwdrivers
in the back patio—as in the refreshing beverage, not hand tool—and the
orange flavored candies (Studio Orange was keeping with a theme
fitting to its name), I’m ready to check out some art. One of the
first pieces to catch my attention is a large painting of a woman from
the torso up, but completely covering where her face should be is a
black circle with the words “Your Face Here.” The painting is part of
a series that artist Sonja Schenk calls “Defaced Portraits.” It aims
to explore the, “phenomena of people who photograph, then black out
the faces of their subject, sometimes adding a message.” The artist
says she finds this disturbing and questions the function of the
photographs. Seeing the pieces hanging on the wall does make you
wonder, what’s the point of taking someone’s portrait only to render
it indistinguishable? I guess, thanks to the impersonal world of the
internet, where these photos were found, we will never know the answer
to this question since both the photographer and subject remain
anonymous.

The next series of paintings do in fact show faces, and a whole lot
more. One painting in particular shows a topless woman, sitting up in
bed between two gentleman drinking beer and smoking. The painting is
part of a whole series of paintings which are based on photographs
that artist Brendan Lott finds on anonymous “peer-to-peer file sharing
networks.”  Lott then takes the photo files and sends them to Dafen
Art—A Chinese company of professional artists who create lifelike
paintings based on photographs. Lott’s art definitely incorporates
modern day techniques and processes that could only be created with
the help of the wonderful world of the internet.

After checking out Annie Seaton’s mixed media pieces which use cut
out photos of surfer dudes and shades of blue paint which the artist
masterfully makes to look like moving water and waves, I enter a
second room in the studio. Here I find the work of Ray Beldner. I wear
contacts, but looking at Beldner’s work I have to wonder: did I
remember to put my contacts in today? There on the wall, are several,
small, square paintings of different faces that look faintly familiar
but are hard to make out as they are blurry and fuzzy.  As it turns
out, each painting is a different celebrity, politician, musician or
other well known public person. It became a game amongst us art
patrons to figure out the name belonging to each distorted face. Who
knew art could be so much fun?

Leaving Studio Orange after seeing the works in MISAPPROPRIATION left
me thinking one thing—never put your photograph online. Although this
art was beautiful and unique and intriguing, because of the world of
online, anonymous photo sharing, it’s sort of creepy to realize that
the subjects in the paintings have no idea that their image is being
used and displayed for people they don’t even know. Still, for those
of us who caught MISAPPROPRIATION at Studio Orange, these online
photographs provided some amazing art to enjoy.

WHAT: MISAPPROPRIATION, a pop-up group show
WHERE: Studio Orange, 8526 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232
WHEN: Jan 23-30

http://misappropriationart.blogspot.com/

Art is a beautiful thing. Art is even more beautiful when its sales benefit a good cause. For Andres Miguel Espana, Executive Director of Global Art Exhibit, art and good causes go hand and hand. Espana’s non-profit organization teams up with generous, talented artists in order “to help end poverty though increasing access to primary education and educational material in underdeveloped regions of Tibet T.A.R China, Cambodia, Thailand and Southern India.”

I first learned about the efforts of Global Art Exhibit this past Saturday when I visited Qusco Gallery and Bistro on Santa Monica Blvd. I was invited to Qusco by artist Brooke Harker, whose paintings were on display there as part of Global Art Exhibit. Harker donated one-hundred percent of sales from two of the paintings and ten percent of every other painting sold to help benefit children in a Tibetan school and orphanage. This seems to be a cause close to Harker’s heart, as she has a great deal of personal experience working with children. After graduating from the University of Northern Iowa with a degree in Theatre Performance and Creative Drama/Theatre in Education, Harker went on to work with children around the world, and now in LA, teaching yoga and creative drama. Interestingly enough, Brooke’s paintings seem to capture a sense of childlike play that she hopes will not only inspire children but encourage adults to find the children within themselves. In the collection on display at Qusco, entitled “Quilted Cities,” Brooke uses a variety of different colors arranged in quilt like patches. The artist says the paintings are “like [her] own little puzzles to solve” as she tries “to figure out what shades work together.” Brooke Harker is undoubtedly an imaginative and compassionate artist whose talents are not unnoticed. In fact, two of her paintings, “Winter City” and “Orange City Squares” are currently being featured on Season 8 of Hell’s Kitchen on FOX.

Luckily, with artists like Harker, and innovative organizers like Espana, Global Art Exhibit is changing lives across the world. Since 2003, Global Art Exhibit has worked with community-based organizations to “provide food, clothing, and school supplies to children in need.” What’s more, the organization is staffed solely by volunteers. With Espana at the helm, Global Art Exhibit has done amazing works of charity including partnering with a schoolhouse in rural, southern India to provide education, food, and emergency assistance to hundreds of children; constructing a nursery and community center for children in Thailand who are political refugees from Burma; and working with an orphanage in Cambodia to secure “food, school supplies, toys, clothing, bedding and a new classroom complete with a black board and library.”

I’m glad I was able to share in a night of not only creative artwork, but amazing stories and inspirations of hope. Art for the purpose of not only enjoyment, but humanitarianism? Now that is something truly beautiful.

WHAT: Brooke Harker’s “Quilted Cities,” a benefit for Global Art Exhibit
WHERE: Qusco Gallery and Bistro, 11633 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025
WHEN: November 20, 2010
WEBSITES: http://www.brookeharker.com and http://www.globalartexhibit.org

Los Angeles is a curious city—massive in population and geography, but broken down into different areas and neighborhoods like downtown, Hollywood, The Valley, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and the list goes on and on. From the 20th floor penthouse of Sunset Vine Tower, the tallest building in Hollywood, I was able to see the very vastness of this metropolis. From high up, looking out onto the great expanse, LA looks like one, big, glistening glare of brake lights and neon signs extended for miles and miles.

It’s Saturday night around 5:30 and the sun has just set after emerging from rain clouds only an hour earlier. I’ve come to the penthouse-turned exhibit space for a more intimate glimpse into LA through the photographic lens of artist Doug Hac. The show on display is a compilation of photos that Hac has taken over the past five years. To me, the pictures seem quintessentially “LA.” That is to say, as an East-Coaster, I grew up envisioning Los Angeles as a starlit land of bright lights, and colorful people. Many of Hac’s photos confirm this impression as they depict LA’s club-culture and party scene—from hipster raves, to pool parties with bikini clad model-looking types, to pillow fights in mansions in the Hollywood Hills, to punk rock concerts, to Beverly Hills socialite extravaganzas with young, fashion-forward people. I wonder if there is a particular reason why the setting of so many of these pieces is in or around the club scene, and if the artist is trying to convey a certain sentiment. As it turns out, Hac says his philosophy is simply to capture real moments in his life. For the most part, there are no staged photo shoots or pre-thought-out concepts. Instead, the photos yielded are truly candid—snapshots of moments in time in the life of this great photographer. It was in the club, in fact, where Hac’s photography career really began. Five years ago, at a club in Hollywood, Hac was trying out a new camera he bought when people started to offer him money and drinks to take pictures. For Hac, it started as a way to meet new people, and has since become a career which he “eats, sleeps, and breathes.” Although he has put in a lot of hard work and hours, the artist says his success seems like it has come “overnight,” having built momentum through Facebook and word of mouth, he is now presenting his first show ever.

And this is just the beginning for Doug Hac—his work has caught the attention of major corporations wishing to use his pieces for advertising. Such clients include Asahi Beer, Coca-Cola and Lamborghini. Hac has also come to the forefront as a prominent Los Angeles based photographer, having photographed such celebrities as Adrien Brody, Liv Tyler, Bruno Mars, Paris Hilton, Jamie Foxx, Usher and Spike Lee. Many of these celebrity pictures will be featured in Hac’s upcoming book “HOLLYWOOD | 2005-2010.”

Doug Hac is a testament to all aspiring photographers that in today’s technological world, a creative, talented eye, and a little social networking can often lead to unbounded success. There seems to be no telling where Hac’s amazing photos may take him next. From the 20th floor of Sunset Vine Tower, overlooking one of the greatest cities in the world, I’m guessing he’s already on his way to the top.

WHAT: Doug Hac Private Sunset & Vine Gallery Showing
WHERE: Sunset and Vine Tower, 1480 Vine Street, Los Angeles, CA 90028
WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, November 20th and 21st
WEBSITES: http://doughac.com/ and http://www.facebook.com/DOUGHACCOM

In my opinion there are two kinds of art. The first is the kind of art you hang on the wall to maybe add some color to a room and then never really think about again. The second is the kind of art which forces you to contemplate it, to stare at it for hours, drawn like a moth to a flame, and in the end, to walk away, pondering what you just saw, talking about it with your friends, deeply affected.

On a lazy Saturday morning in Montrose Shopping Park, before I’ve even had my coffee, I’m not so sure I can handle the latter form of art. Thankfully that’s not what was on display at the Art Walk that was taking place there. Montrose is tucked into the shadowy Glendale hills and its historic downtown consists mainly of Honolulu Ave, which is adorned with cute shops and cafés and for this past Saturday only, several different tents with art work aplenty. If I had to sum up the theme of the art walk in three words it would be: flowers, fruits, and forests. That is to say, there were many, many pretty pictures of these three things. There is nothing unworthy about these kinds of pieces, but after I walked away (and went shopping at Marshall’s) I sort of forgot about them. There were a few exceptions I should note—one being the work of artist Fred Chuang, who uses “acrylic spray enamel on the obverse side of clear co-polyester panels” to create his art (fredchuang.com). This gives his pieces a kind of cool, tile-like, shiny appearance. Another artist whose work was outside the norm was Valerie Weller, whose decoupage plates look like something Pottery Barn would sell for exorbitant amounts of money. While the majority of the art on display at the art walk may not incorporate any great guise or mystery or change your life forever after beholding it, it can still be enjoyed for its simplicity and straightforward charm.

By nightfall on Saturday, I was more awake, the city was more alive, and I answered yes please to the sign outside The Happening Gallery that asked: Art? Having been to the gallery a couple of times before, I can say that The Happening once again lived up to its name. Founder and Artist in Residence Natalie Gray–herself known as a Pollock incarnate according to two artists who knew Jackson Pollock personally–hosted perhaps the most successful event at the gallery to date, as much art work was sold, 80s hits resounded, and the wine and Korean BBQ appetizers were yummo-in-the-tummo (a phrase I might have just made up). But most important of course, was the art, and that surely was in no shortage. I talk about two different kinds of art at the beginning of this piece because the caliber of work on display at The Happening was the second kind, the kind that really stuck with me, really made me think. From Linda Newman Boughton’s giant, life-like portraits that leave no detail untouched, down to those pesky, tiny red veins in the eyeball; to Catherine Bottiau’s “old world glazing” paintings of very European-looking city and landscapes; to Maya Green’s colorful dancers—I didn’t know where to look first. Of course not to be forgotten were the very talented Michelle Brusuelas, Peter Shoukry, William Reynolds Green and Ronny Rose, whose works gave me goose-bumps (good ones) and had me in awe long after I left the gallery.

If that wasn’t enough, there were more artists on display with whom I was able to chat albeit briefly. One such artist was Dani Vinokurov whose miniature pieces, you may have to squint to see, but trust me, it is worth the effort. The artist uses “paper, fabric and thread” to create her pieces, a threesome she says belong together. For Vinokurov, making the art is intimate, as the products are close to her both physically and mentally. Originally from Iowa, Brooke Harker is another artist on display whose paintings of brightly colored umbrellas offset their dark blue, dreary sky. Inspired by travels, especially when working for the military and stationed in Germany (where it rains a lot apparently), Harker often paints over previous pieces, until arriving at the final image, giving the work texture and making certain colors pop. Another artist using vibrant colors is Bobbie Rich. Rich derives inspiration mostly from photographs that she takes. The artist then looks entirely at the photo when sketching, which yeilds an image that is in a twisted, Picasso-esq style, which she refers to as “lose, whimsical and quirky.” Nirali Thakkar introduces herself to me and I soon learn that her art explores what it is like to be an Indian woman, and mother living in the U.S. Her work is sometimes serious, sometimes more lighthearted like a painting which depicts a pair of little purple shoes belonging to her three year old daughter. Last but certainly not least is DJ Neff, artist behind Can Love, a program which takes old, discarded spray paint cans and turns them into art—hearts and flowers in this particular exhibit (hence can, love). With Can Love artists already in NYC and LA, Neff plans to spread this unique recycled art work program to other cities.

With so much art to choose from throughout LA this past Saturday, it would be impossible not to find something you love, no matter what your taste. All and all, care free strolling at the Art Walk followed by thorough observations of the deeply moving and thought provoking pieces at The Happening Gallery made for a darn good last Saturday to summer.

WHAT: Montrose Art Walk
WHERE: Honolulu Ave, Glendale
WHEN: Saturday, September 18th

WHAT: The Happening Gallery Fine Art Show
WHERE: 4047 Lincoln Blvd, Marina del Rey
WHEN: Saturday, September 18th
WEBSITE: www.thehappeninggallery.com