This past weekend saw the opening of two great shows, "Ink on Paper" at the newly inaugurated gallery Mallick Williams & Co (directed by Jeremy Kaplan, formerly of Shepard Fairey's Subliminal Projects gallery in L.A.), and "Songs" at Fuse Gallery curated by Erik Foss.
"Ink on Paper" is a small retrospective of work by artists who have collaborated with master printmaker and art advocate Richard Duardo at some point in their careers. Named "The Artist of the Year" in 1988 by the California Arts Commission and elected as chairman of The Graphic Arts Council at LACMA in 2004, Duardo has worked with Keith Haring, David Hockney and Banksy and continues to inspire a new generation through his L.A. workshop "Modern Mulitples" where he teaches young artists the trade. From the more than 700 artists Duardo's worked with over the last 35 years, Mallick Williams & Co showed work from 13 prints by artists including Dennis Hopper, Retna, Saber, Shepard Fairey and Chaz Bojorquez. The show is open through the 25th of this month. While you're there make sure to check out the back room where "INNER CIRCLE" is hanging. Featuring some of the artists closest to the gallery, the show includes Michael M. Koehler's gorgeous large-scale black and white photographs, and artist Keith Van Pelt's large-scale stained-glass windows featuring the likes of Jam Master Jay. It runs until February 15th.
The Erik Foss-curated "Songs" at Fuse Gallery is based around the definition of a song and the musicians and artists included in the show -- Tim Barber, Lizzi Bougatsos, Cheryl Dunn, Daze, Leo Fitzpatrick, Aurel Schmidt, Ivory and Shelter Serra and Spencer Sweeny among them-- took their inspiration from the lyrics of their favorites musical pieces. Foss, an artist himself (with an upcoming solo show at Mallick Williams & Co which opens Sept. 11 and deals exclusively with the themes of that day), didn't contribute to the show, but his influence over the show's dialogue was clear in the way which pieces were hung. Prints were grouped in cloud-like clusters that were hung at various heights and which felt melodic themselves -- one or two pieces were hung in a sparse entrance hall which built into a crescendo of jumbled works in the main gallery. Foss told us it took him four tries to get the placements right. Head over to Fuse before the show closes on the 26 of February and listen to the music.
The Erik Foss-curated "Songs" at Fuse Gallery is based around the definition of a song and the musicians and artists included in the show -- Tim Barber, Lizzi Bougatsos, Cheryl Dunn, Daze, Leo Fitzpatrick, Aurel Schmidt, Ivory and Shelter Serra and Spencer Sweeny among them-- took their inspiration from the lyrics of their favorites musical pieces. Foss, an artist himself (with an upcoming solo show at Mallick Williams & Co which opens Sept. 11 and deals exclusively with the themes of that day), didn't contribute to the show, but his influence over the show's dialogue was clear in the way which pieces were hung. Prints were grouped in cloud-like clusters that were hung at various heights and which felt melodic themselves -- one or two pieces were hung in a sparse entrance hall which built into a crescendo of jumbled works in the main gallery. Foss told us it took him four tries to get the placements right. Head over to Fuse before the show closes on the 26 of February and listen to the music.
