La Luz De Jesus recently hosted the 14th installment of Everything but the Kitschen Sync – a mammoth group art exhibit with no theme, that showcased over 225 pieces from over 100 artists.
Wedged in between two subdivisions and a huge church in the middle of Koreatown, Phyllis Navidad’s Pop Tart Gallery is perhaps the last thing you’d expect to find in any suburb, really. A collage of transvestite/transsexual/glammed-out portraits that would make Ratt and Poison look like a bunch of Steve McQueens, tonight’s Your Face Here, curated by Lenora Claire, featured work by celebrated photographer of all things glam-n-drag Austin Young: Huge pictures of Margaret Cho, Perez Hilton and other gender-defying celebs adorn the white walls of this tiny gallery with a great big heart — while a chick/dude in a Dangerous-era Michael Jackson outfit spins mutant strains of classic disco mixed with modern R&B. All as you grab free cocktails. Then Kilsonic, a 50-piece ensemble brass band emerges, just in case you weren’t paying attention.
The summer season is almost upon Los Angeles, if one can even call that slight temperature elevation between April and May a “season change”. No matter! Even now, some winter-banished grills are seeing daylight again, and America’s favorite pastime is returning to SoCal lawns. Just in time for barbeque season, DIKLIK art and Meltdown Comics bring you Meat! – an art show dedicated to the edible flesh, and featuring art by Michael Kupperman, Brandon Bird, Charlyne Yi, Carlos Ramos, J.R. Goldberg, Julia Vickerman, Myke Chilian, Layron Dejarnette, John Olsen, Richard Lee, Deanna Rooney, Britt Sanders, Andy Ristaino, and Jhonen Vasquez.
If you’ve ever seen reels from the early days of cinema — It’s a Wonderful Life or any number of Rat Pack films comes to mind — one thing you might remember are the montages of neon signs, flashing advertisements that enticed potential patrons to buy sex, cigarettes and cheap liquor. Truth is, ain’t many of these gems around anymore — many have been dismantled and trashed, but several others are now at the Museum of Neon Art.
The Twilight Singers have morphed into so much more than former Afghan Whig’s lead singer Greg Dulli could have imagined. Originally created as a side project while in between Afghan Whigs albums and in the midst of a record label dispute, Twilight Singers has become the current focus of Dulli’s career. Since their conception in 1997, the band has released five albums and is currently signed to Sub Pop Records.
Fans of The Twilight Singers celebrated the release of the band’s latest musical endeavor at Hollywood’s Amoeba Music on the album’s February 15th release date. As shoppers purchased CD and vinyl copies of “Dynamite Steps,” they were treated to a 30-minute set by the band.
This month, Twin Peaks is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Conceived and created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, the haunting TV series ran its fleeting course in the early nineties, suffering tremendous interferences at the hands of ratings-hungry studio execs. Despite its untimely conclusion, Twin Peaks received critical acclaim and spawned a devoted cult following. The plot unfolded around the shocking murder of a prom queen in a fictional Washington town, and the arrival of Seattle FBI agent, Dale Cooper, sent to solve the mystery. The eccentricities and shady undercurrents of small-town life are the heart of the show, though. Coffee, pie, doughnuts, trees and owls – daily staples of Twin Peaks life – became the show’s iconic motifs, and were prominently featured in the artwork of In the Trees – an art event commemorating the series.
Being dateless on Valentine’s Day wasn’t the plan for 150 hopeful singles that plopped down on the world’s longest couch in the middle of Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade for a chance at finding love. “The event, titled “The World’s Longest Sofa Speed Date” was hosted by Hurry Date, the nation’s leading speed dating company, in conjunction with BoConcept, the mastermind behind the 213-foot red leather Guinness World Record couch that daters sat upon.
If you’ve never heard of Lucha VaVoom, consider this an informal intro to Los Angeles’ seminal burlesque/wrestling show where every conceivable racial stereotype is huddled inside a wrestling ring to square off with one another in mortal combat. Round 1, for instance, is Lil Cholo, the ese from East L.A., vs. Chocolate Caliente, who would have been right at home running from whitey in a D.W. Griffith film.
As if all this wasn’t enough, there were the lovely legs of Legs Malone and Lucy Fur — the latter of whom pulled off some nifty acrobatic stunts with her stunning pair of gams, helping the show live up to its tagline of Sexo Y Violencia.
This past weekend, LA’s historic Chinatown held a two-day celebration in honor of the Chinese New Year. To pay tribute to the most momentous of traditional Chinese holidays, the neighborhood hung fresh red paper lanterns, and pulled out all the stops with a slew of performances, vendors, the Golden Dragon parade that spanned both Broadway and Hill streets, and tons of confetti.
Conjoined – a superdimensional art show curated by supreme monster painter, Chet Zar, is currently up at Copro Nason gallery, and it is not to be missed.
Conjoined is a collection of work from the cream of the pop surrealism and lowbrow crops, alongside rare work by renowned special effects creators, some of whom have never exhibited in a gallery setting before.