by Tracy Cruz

Attention all art goers!
please note the following:

The Cannibal Flower is a bi-monthly portable venue, a traveling circus of creativity – underground art, music, dance, film, projections, magic and fashion.

On Saturday January 30 sometime around 9pm, I grabbed two of my friends, hopped in the car and made my way to downtown LA for the first Cannibal Flower event of the new year. Mind you, this was my first instance attending the show and with little expectation we arrived at our destination which looked more like an abandoned commercial building than an art gallery. I double checked the address and as we entered the glass doors we followed the crowd into an elevator that shot us up to the 14th floor (because superstition doesn’t really leave room for 13). I greeted Valentine at the door, a delightful gal who also happens to be a fixture at the Thinkspace Gallery, as she ushered us in.

We walked through a sea of movers and shakers, live music and an open loft space of art, carnival games, a man in a crocodile suit and a superhero decked out in a trash bag cape. It was complete mayhem – the best kind! I found all types of eye candy – pencil sketches, mixed media, sculptures and paintings. I also managed to bump into Michael Pucak – the live painter for the evening. A delicious extravaganza of color and energy bubbled through the venue and after taking it all in I made a bee line for the space where featured artist, Brian Robertson’s works was being shown.

Robertson’s paintings are a cool take on the urban graffiti scene with an artistic flair all of their own. His use of paper – posted, cut, reposted and weathered create brilliant textures and colors as they are sculpted and incorporated to interact with the rest of his work. The Bird in Throat was one of my favorite pieces. The oil and acrylic collage of what resembled an owl on the whole of the canvas with a large gaping black hole of a mouth that encapsulated a small bird (think the eagle on the back of the dollar bill) with a man’s human head pasted on was a mind boggling sight! The body of the bird was made using turquoise and gold paper – cut, layered and pasted to resemble a “feathered” look. The rest of his works mimicked this style with each piece comprised of illustrations of birds, insects and psychedelic looking designs.

I had a fabulous time spending the evening amongst the lively crowd, budding artists while vibin’ to the beats. So I hope you’ll catch one of the provocatively raw traveling shows of the Cannibal Flower that celebrates the emerging artistic talent in Los Angeles. For more information, log onto www.cannibalflower.com.

Who: Group Show & Featured Artist Brian Robertson
Where: The Cannibal Flower
Address: 724 S. Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90014, 14th Floor
Website: www.cannibalflower.com
Exhibition Dates: Last Saturday of Every Month
January, March, May, June, August & October