Juxtapoz art amp amp culture january 2018 by Lucoment

Kerry James Marshall Cheryl Dunn Luke Pelletier

Art & Culture

WINTER 2018, n204 $9.99 DISPLAY UNTIL MARCH 5, 2018

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CONTENTS

Winter 2018 ISSUE 204

Editor's Letter

Studio Time Sarah Sitkin’s Silicone Vale in Southern California

The Report Urban Nation’s Grand Opening in Berlin

Influences Floating in Space with Mike Lee

Travel Insider The Center Holds in Mexico City

118

126

A Tribute to Greg Escalante

Daniel Rich

In Session All Hands on Deck at Otis College of Art and Design

Product Reviews

Sakura Pens, Liquitex Paint, adidas Velvet Kicks

Profile Laugh Now, But One Day We’ll Be In Charge

134

Cheryl Dunn Is Everybody Street

Philip Guston, James Stanford, Standards Manual’s New York City Transit Authority

MCA Denver, MoMA, Joshua Liner Gallery, Thinkspace, Athen B. Gallery

Picture Book

Design The Gorgeously Grotesque World of Sarah Sitkin

Smithe

Events

Book Reviews

102

Kip Omolade

Sieben on Life

138

The Next Generation of Virtual Reality in Art

Pop Life

110

Hide and Seek with the Eyewear of Kerin Rose Gold

136

The Dotted Line

Beautiful Bits

Fashion

Luke Pelletier

Sacramento, New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco

Gustav Klimt

142

Perspective

The Legacy of Pictures on Walls

Anja Salonen

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Right: Kerry James Marshall, Untitled (Curtain Girl), Acrylic on PVC panel, 24” x 30”, 2016

Kerry James Marshall

STAFF

FOUNDER

PRESIDENT + PUBLISHER

A DV E R T I S I N G + S A L E S D I R E C TO R

Robert Williams

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E D I TO R

CFO

Evan Pricco

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A R T D I R E C TO R

AC C O U N T I N G M A N AG E R

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M A N AG I N G E D I TO R

C I R C U L AT I O N C O N S U LTA N T

Eben Benson

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CO-FOUNDER

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Greg Escalante rip (1955-2017)

Kristin Farr

Eben Benson Sasha Bogojev Ron English Kristin Farr Gregg Gibbs Josh Jones David Molesky Alex Nicholson Evan Pricco Martyn Reed Gwynned Vitello

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E D I TO R I A L A S S I S TA N T

Lauren Young Smith INTERN

William Lankford

Juxtapoz ISSN #1077-8411 Winter 2018 Volume 25, Number 01 Published monthly by High Speed Productions, Inc., 1303 Underwood Ave, San Francisco, CA 94124–3308. © 2016 High Speed Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in USA. Juxtapoz is a registered trademark of High Speed Productions, Inc. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Opinions expressed in articles are those of the author. All rights reserved on entire contents. Advertising inquiries should be directed to: advertising@juxtapoz.com. Subscriptions: US, $29.99 (one year, 12 issues) or $75.00 (12 issues, first class, US only); Canada, $75.00; Foreign, $80.00 per year. Single copy: US, $6.99; Canada, $6.99. Subscription rates given represent standard rate and should not be confused with special subscription offers advertised in the magazine. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Francisco, CA, and at additional mailing offices. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 0960055. Change of address: Allow six weeks advance notice and send old address label along with your new address. Postmaster: Send change of address to: Juxtapoz, PO Box 884570, San Francisco, CA 94188–4570. The publishers would like to thank everyone who has furnished information and materials for this issue. Unless otherwise noted, artists featured in Juxtapoz retain copyright to their work. Every effort has been made to reach copyright owners or their representatives. The publisher will be pleased to correct any mistakes or omissions in our next issue. Juxtapoz welcomes editorial submissions; however, return postage must accompany all unsolicited manuscripts, art, drawings, and photographic materials if they are to be returned. No responsibility can be assumed for unsolicited materials. All letters will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and subject to Juxtapoz’ right to edit and comment editorially. Juxtapoz Is Published by High Speed Productions, Inc. 415–822–3083 email to: editor@juxtapoz.com juxtapoz.com

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Cover art: Kerry James Marshall, Our Town (detail), Acrylic and collage on canvas, 143” x 101”, 1995. Courtesy of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas

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EDITOR’S LETTER

Issue NO 204 “ ... but you know what? That's the way it's supposed to be. It's supposed to get harder, and that's not really a problem. You're supposed to be more sophisticated and much more self-conscious...” —Kerry James Marshall There was a conversation in our office as we refined the Winter 2018 issue that struck me as a good starting point for this letter. Thinking about Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes, we started talking about the idea behind aggregate review sites, on which we base so much of our TV and movie watching habits. What made us laugh, as we went to print, was that Thor: Ragnarok had the same aggregate review “rating” as Moonlight. I didn’t see Thor, and perhaps Chris Hemsworth puts on a performance for the ages, but if you think about historically important fi lms, groundbreaking pieces of art that will define generations, Moonlight is probably going to hold a tad more weight than Thor: Ragnarok. And that’s just part of our point; the appreciation of art means so much to so many different people, and genres and styles all have their separate identities that make up the whole picture. In a world increasingly reliant on virality, sometimes the “aggregationalism” of our times is killing our love of nuance. Cue your “get off my lawn” commentary now.

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In its 24 years, Juxtapoz has never been about reviews in the traditional sense. Yes, we tell you about our favorite art shows, break down the top book releases, and feature who we consider to be artists of the moment. Robert Williams founded the magazine with an outsider’s mentality. Juxtapoz would act as a community of thoughts, ideas and heritage that would create its own art history. Artists could share their painting practices, and writers would open doors to the art world’s previously overlooked. Pop-surrealists, graffiti and tattoo cultures, comic-book artists and the occasional hot rodder building their own language free of the critical lexicon of reviews—Juxtapoz was, and still is, for artists, by artists. In the spirit of those founding years, and as Juxtapoz has expanded with a readership that is not only artists but an international audience of creative thinkers and those who keep up with the latest contemporary trends in art and culture, our return to the quarterly format reinforces the magazine’s mission. The Winter 2018 issue covers a wide-breadth of genres, generations and genius (Kerry James Marshall is the cover story, after all) and examines just how important legacy and engagement are to the art world. Emerging artists like David Molesky and Kip Omolade are in

conversation alongside pioneers like Kerry James Marshall and Ron English. Underground heroes like Beautiful Losers stalwart Cheryl Dunn appears with the likes of Sarah Sitkin, Luke Pelletier and Anja Salonen, who are just beginning their exhibition careers. You have a twentieth-century symbolist master like Gustav Klimt sharing space with contemporary painter Daniel Rich, whose work examines the political and social uprises of the past century that shaped how we live in our cities. It’s not so much a pass of the baton to the next era of artists, but emphasizing the idea that conversations matter so much in art. When I think of aggregate culture, I feel like we miss this dialogue, this lifeblood of art. And I hope, in some ways, Juxtapoz is part of a positive examination of art and culture for the times in which we live. Banksy’s iconic statement fits, “Laugh now, but one day we’ll be in charge.” For the first issue of the new year, here’s to owning our art history and sharing nuanced ideas of inclusion and positivity. Welcome to winter, 2018.

Above: Untitled (studio), Acrylic on PUC Panels, 83” x 119”, 2014. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. Purchase, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation Gift, Acquisitions Fund and The Metropolitan Museum of Art Multicultural Audience Development Initiative Gift, 2015

DEPARTMENT

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ARTWORK BY ONEQ FOR 7TH ANNUAL SUPERSONIC INVITATIONAL

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STUDIO TIME

Sarah Sitkin A Silicone Vale in Southern California Los Angeles has so much influence on my work, both culturally and geographically. The materials I use require a specific climate: warm and dry. The nature of my materials also dictates the layout of my space: separate areas for silicone and latex; a large open area for the roto-casting machine; large mobile tables to move pieces in and out of the bay door. It is important to me that I have all of my materials organized and at arm’s reach before I begin a new project. I use hundreds of tools while working, from scalpels to pneumatic silicone dispensing machines, nail files to electric turkey carving knives. I love tools. I also love making my own tools when the situation calls for it. I have moved my studio several times in my life, and my current space is the largest I’ve occupied.

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The building used to be a meat storage facility, so the walls have thick foam insulation beneath the concrete. My landlord is extremely laid back and gives me plenty of privacy to do my own thing. I share the unit with my boyfriend who is a musician and has a recording studio nestled in the corner. We have a great synergy when we are both focused on our respective projects. I feel a certain duty to uphold a good work ethic, so that neither of us are tempted to find a distraction. Silicone is definitely the heart of my process at the moment, though I use dozens of different raw materials. I have hundreds of bins, each filled with different hairs, pigments, tubes, clays, paints, pins, tape, etc. However, silicone is really the foundation material, and I sometimes mix my own custom

formulations to achieve the look and feel I’m aiming for. A portion of the studio is taken up by finished pieces, curiosities, art and found objects. This is a comfortable area to sit and get perspective on the work in progress, where I can take a break or even research something for hours. I keep a kitchen, shower and other amenities close by. Sometimes I will work on things for days or weeks straight. I find it’s really important to get into a state of mind that allows me to hold my focus, otherwise the project never comes to fruition. —Sarah Sitkin Sarah Sitkin’s solo show at Superchief Gallery in downtown Los Angeles opens on December 17, 2017. Read her interview on page 32.

Above: Photo by the artist

E R I P AS

g n i r a D to be

The School of Art at Kent State University offers one of the largest and most comprehensive university art programs in the state, located in the heart of a vibrant Northeast Ohio arts community. State-of-the-art studio spaces, galleries and classrooms are located under one roof in a newly completed 128,000 square-foot facility. Program highlights include travel study opportunities every semester, a renowned visiting artist and scholar program, graduate assistantships with tuition remission and a stipend, and a fifty-year legacy of Kent Blossom Art summer studio intensive workshops.

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REPORT

Preservation And Perseverance in Berlin Urban Nation Opens Wide Graffiti and street art culture, for all the global popularity and international appeal, has traveled a complicated route in presenting its history. In essence, these art movements do exist outside of institutional curation, literally on the streets that surround museums. They have a peculiar and unnatural position when placed, one that is more nuanced. When a culture exists for almost 50 years on its own terms, with icons and evolutions that have thrived without a major organizational structure like most 20th century art movements, confining this history to a particular space and place is a controversial prospect. Many in the culture are hesitant to accept the institutional conditions when learning that an organization wants to take on the challenge of putting street art and graffiti into the framework of a museum.

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Yasha Young, director of Urban Nation in Berlin, the much-anticipated, and at times, controversial museum of urban art that finally opened its doors to the public in September 2017, not only took on the risk of heading the project, but withstood over five years of international curiosity as curated pop-up shows and major mural programs began to take shape. There was a part of this scene that wanted it perhaps, to fail, and others, like myself, who had high expectations but wondered aloud how authentic Urban Nation could be. Yet, when the Godmother of graffiti and street art, Martha Cooper, was on board, dedicating her own personal book collection for the Martha Cooper Library within the museum, and when other pivotal voices began creating projects in and around UN, some of the skepticism began to wane.

Then, something unexpected happened. Urban Nation opened with a group show that covered much of the ground that had engendered suspicion: there was Cost, Kenny Scharf, Futura, Aiko, Vhils, Ron English, JR, Miss Van, Crash, Swoon and Banksy. It had past, present and future implications, both in art and the possibilities of what the space could be in continued curations. For all the prolonged dispute about what Urban Nation was going to be, its first exhibition was substantial in cultural merit. We sat down with our friend Yasha Young to talk about how difficult it was to do this culture proud, and how building an institution with governmental support formed a strong foundation and propelled the next era of Urban Nation.

All photography: Nika Kramer Above: Aerial view of Urban Nation and Art Mile,Berlin, Germany

REPORT

Evan Pricco: When you launched Urban Nation, we knew it was going to eventually be an actual physical museum in Berlin, but there was a big build-up. When you got the funding to do UN, you set up this structure of pop-up shows beforehand, curated by all sorts of international figures in this culture, and I was happy to be included with Juxtapoz. I think that was a brilliant move because it really got everybody excited and built momentum for this actual opening. Did that heighten the expectation? Yasha Young: I wanted everybody to feel a part of it from the very get-go. I didn't want to come to the point where I was, "Oh, I built this and now I'm filling it." I wanted it to be a journey for everyone in order to get attached to the idea, rather than just the UN being a museum. For me, this is all about an idea. It's about an idea of change in institutions around the world, ones focused on art history or contemporary work. Because, you know me, I'm very fast, I'm very quick. I know how to make decisions, but all of a sudden, you have ten other entities that need to be able to go with your

speed. Perhaps that was a challenge, but it kept the museum as a living, breathing entity even before the house opened. Not only do you have a board at the museum, a group of historians like Carlo McCormick and Martha Cooper, but also gallerists from Thinkspace and Jonathan LeVine. Why was that important to how you constructed programs for the museum? I think you have to remember that I started my journey in the art world about 20, 25 years ago. This idea for Urban Nation is 10 years old to begin with, and all those people I knew before UN. I'm very familiar with Andrew Hosner since he opened Thinkspace. At that point, I already had my gallery, and I was already living with Liz McGrath in downtown LA, way back when I was meeting people in the culture and reading Juxtapoz. So when the museum was founded, I was very familiar with all of these people and was trying to bring them back together with each of their unique qualities and curatorial eyes.

Above (clockwise from left): Invader unveiling, Installations on the Urban Nation Art Mile, Interior view of Urban Nation Museum

It was not just a matter of bringing in friends, but watching who has moved stuff over the years and who has a great reputation and is capable of sustaining a relationship for longer than a minute and a half. I've watched them work. I've see their shows. They have educated me. I spoke with organizers like Martyn Reed at Nuart Festival. There's been a lot of research for the past five years. It came about by me trying to bring in everything Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen over the years into one spot so that it had integrity. Martha Cooper made a great comment when we filmed her for our short documentary on Urban Nation. She said she had no expectations for street art and graffiti to become this global movement, this ever-popular art form that was going to last well into almost decades now. The longevity of this culture and the museum is tied to both explaining the history but also integrating new artists into the lexicon, so thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pressure. The culture has expectations of how it is presented, so I assume UN is going to continue

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REPORT

to program both historical and contemporary parts of the story? Even more so, my idea is to challenge and rethink the idea of the art institution in general. In order to have a living, breathing institution, and the word museum doesn't even really describe what we are, I wanted to be in the now and catch the current movement and ideas in this culture, and I want to be able to look into the future. That's why we will have retrospectives, as well as curated shows by young up-and-coming curators and other great institutions. There seems to be an unwritten law that institutions can't curate and leaders of institutions can't curate. That is ridiculous and I don't agree with it. I want that curatorial element. Also, we are rethinking how the house is occupied. That is why I'm really thinking about the residencies we will have on the top floors of the building. This is the next part of the building we are working on. I want do this quickly because I think once the residencies are installed inside the house, and the project space across the street is still running, we will have the proper museum, the proper research facility, and an in-house residency program that launches and helps make even more connections between artists, curators and the public. Why do you think it works in Berlin? I think that, in the beginning, I was actually thinking it belonged in Berlin, but I wasn't sure whether it was going to work in Berlin. I could've had it a lot easier. I could've made it in other cities with a lot less bureaucratic paperwork files, forms and whatnot, for sure. I think the upside is that once it is done, once we are established within this framework with actual backing from the government itself, it creates a very strong foundation. Everything has been researched, tested, and proven. It’s not spontaneous, it’s part of the framework of the city now. I think to do something like this in a city that is very difficult is a lot better than do it in the city that just says, "Yeah, okay. Here’s the space, do it." In order to change cultural history and challenge certain systems, you need to be able to have that as a backbone. I've accomplished this in the most unlikely of situations. It is founded solidly within the city. If we would have done it with private funding, we know how the urban art community would have responded to the BMWsponsored street art museum, and that would've been a different story. We'd probably have more money, but it would not have been a state-funded, non-profit, state-acknowledged institution, which is what will help us, hopefully, remain relevant for history.

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Now that you are this free museum, how have the bureaucrats responded to everything you have done, and now that it’s open, are they convinced this was the right thing to do? Did it take convincing? I think convincing, smiling and explaining has become my middle name. I have the experience of 20 years in this culture, but I had to put it into a 10-minute presentation in front of the ministers of culture and leaders of the district to explain to them the importance of street art and graffiti. I think everyone was interested in what this could do for Berlin, and perhaps are craving somethings that's new. Because everyone wants to know what’s next with UN, when will the residences kick off? That is when we enter in the next phase of building and that's why I'm so hesitant to start it because I just got out of building this thing for five years! But the residencies will be the top two floors, ten residencies in all. Artists have to apply to the residencies, but hopefully, those will coincide with a major show downstairs, and we can have open studios at the same time. Will the mural projects continue around the city? Yes, of course, because 70% of our work is not in the museum, remember that. That's so important. About 70% of the work will be outside, and my goal is to continue our special projects and collaborations with people all over the world,

other institutions, and also in the city of Berlin. That's part of who we are, although we don't want to be confined in just that space. Through all the controversy, through all the naysaying, this place opened. And as much as our culture has dissenting opinions about how best to present this street art and graffiti history, most importantly, people coming to the museum will have a special experience. That is important, and I think I even have to just dip outside of myself and realize how hard that is to accomplish. I don't like buses filled with tourists. I like the self-determined and dedicated tourist who sees something on Instagram and says, "I really, really wanna go see it." That's the kind of tourism I like. You know that confidence of, “I can do this myself. I can explore on my own.” It's an even nicer compliment for me when I get all these schools to come here now, and all the neighbors who live in this area who have been through this building process with us. I have people come in and say, "I’ve seen you do this for three years, and I didn't like it, and I didn't know what it was, but now I see it, and I'm so happy.” I have actually given, I think, 20 tours so far for schools and kids in this neighborhood. It's just really nice; it's one of my favorite things. Urban Nation is a free museum in the Schöneberg neighborhood in Berlin.

Above: Herakut installation, Urban Nation Art Mile

RON ENGLISH

“King Combrat” oil on canvas, 48”x 48”

TOYBOX: America in the Visuals

ON VIEW: DECEMBER 2 THRU 30 COREY HELFORD GALLERY 571 S. ANDERSON STREET, LOS ANGELES, CA

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REVIEWS

Things We Are After Purple Reign with Effects and Accents Adidas Skateboarding “Purple Na-Kel” Matchcourt High RX If you were going to characterize professional skater Na-kel Smith, luxuriously stylish would be a descriptive early in your summary. So when we opened the box of our new adidas Skateboarding Matchcourt High RX Na-Kel signature shoe, his fourth with adidas Skate, and saw that they were purple with Italian velvet, we wanted to find our own Paisley Park and wear them on a night out. We imagine a double-dip: a skating and zoot suit combination. Back in the day, the 1970s and 80s that is, the Matchcourt High was a basketball staple, so we are envisioning Kareem rocking these purple velvets with the Showtime Lakers. A perfect lineage to Na-Kel’s signature sleekness, for skate or play. Due in stores mid-December, 2017. adidasskateboarding.com

Liquitex Effects Medium Collection

Sakura Gelly Roll White Pens It’s not hyperbole to say that Sakura has perfected the art pen. We think they are the masters of a smooth ink flow when it comes to requisite pen and ink style in a fine art drawing, and their technology in the Gelly Roll Classic is the best in the business. Sakura now offers their iconic Gelly Roll Classic White in three nib sizes: 05 Fine, 08 Medium, and 10 Bold. A couple of ideas come to mind with the Gelly Roll Classic White: use them for illustration projects, comic art detail, hand-lettering accents or just layering on top of other colors in a mixed-media work. The three size applications will take care of everything you need. sakuraofamerica.com

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In the winter months ahead, chances are, the artist in you will be spending some cold nights locked up in studio, den or bedroom working on a painting or two. Our friends at Liquitex are willing to let us try out the goods, and we are obsessing over their Effects Mediums range, which includes fluid mediums, gel mediums, texture gels and additives each “specifically designed to achieve various techniques, applications and special effects.” The pouring medium is a highlight, where while channeling your inner Holton Rower or Ian Davenport, you can create puddles, poured sheets, and flowing applications of color. liquitex.com/EffectsMediums/

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PICTURE BOOK

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PICTURE BOOK

Cheryl Dunn Rolls With The Punches “I live in NYC where the streets tell you stories if you are willing to watch,” Cheryl Dunn reports, as someone who reads the streets deftly, capturing a genuine essence by reacting quickly, much like the boxing champs she once documented in-depth for years. Dunn has embedded herself in many cultures and subcultures, contributing significantly to both street photography and documentary filmmaking. Rare is the artist whose purpose is to shine a light on her contemporaries and community, applying that breadth of knowledge to document her own field. Through her filmic portraits of artists, Dunn tells the stories that will become legacies, including

the seminal film, Everybody Street, about New York street photographers. As with all of her projects, both commercial and independent, she captures the heart of her subjects, grasping that fleeting glimpse of a person’s true soul. With the unique ability to capture that exact moment on film, she has a knack for nailing it, opening the door for emotional connection between subject and viewer. The subtly sensational Cheryl Dunn shared a few of her knockouts, explaining her lifelong focus: “These images reflect consistent themes: “aggression, freedom, protest, humor, resilience, the streets.” —Kristin Farr

Head in Crotch Cheryl Dunn: This is one of my old boxing pics. I documented boxing in New York and New Jersey for about eight years back in the day and used it as a documentary subject to hone my skills, shoot fast, anticipate action, and fight for my territory. CrustyPunkDog This is classic East Village. His eyes are sad, it’s very cold, he sleeps on the street.

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PICTURE BOOK

Bronx Paddy Cake When my stepson was 10, he got into a fight at school. The hippy teachers thought he might be a flight risk if he was allowed to come on the class trip to the Bronx Zoo. That, of course, was ridiculous, so I offered to chaperone. All these little kids and parents took the train to the Bronx from the sleepy Berkshires in Massachusetts. He, of course, did not run away, and it was an aggressive day at the zoo. The kids got to see a polar bear eat a duck, a snake swallow a rabbit, and a mother beating her little son as she dragged him down 183rd street. Afterwards, I walked around to shoot, and happened upon this scene: kids playing and a little girl running around with a plastic bag over her face. Da Bronx

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Costa Rica Dreaming My good friends built a treehouse on the Osa peninsula. We talked a few people into paying us to do photo shoots here over the years. Free Food This was a few days after Hurricane Sandy. This boat washed up on the highway and someone spray painted â&#x20AC;&#x153; free foodâ&#x20AC;? on it. A woman walking her dog told me a guy with a food truck came out here to give people free food and water because they were cut off from everything for weeks and he just wanted to help.

PICTURE BOOK

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PICTURE BOOK

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PICTURE BOOK

Woman’s March, D.C. I love her sign and her strong, confident eyes. She gives me hope for the future. Dash at the HOLE Now closed, it was a gay bar that was filled with all the derels wilding out. One night, when I was there, Dash ran in and said, “Cheryl, someone just punched me in the face. Take my picture.” So, here it is...

Iggy Pop Iggy Pop, the ultimate reflection of the energy of this town. This shot was taken at ATP at an old borscht belt hotel in upstate NY. The likes of Sinatra and the Rat Pack played here in the ornate and now crumbling ballrooms… the whole place was filled with friends sleeping for the weekend in the soggy rooms next to a geese shit pond. It was epic.

@cheryldunn @everybodystreet

JUXTAPOZ .COM 29

Tieken

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DESIGN

We See A Darkness Hobbies and Horror’s Cabinet of Curiosities It almost feels like a crime to call Sarah Sitkin a “designer.” Her sculptural work combines so many elements of fine art, set and costume design, not to mention just plain old “Oh my God, how did she do that?” art that doesn’t succumb to labels. From solo shows at Superchief Gallery in Los Angeles, where we first caught her work in person, to new sculptural works for the SyFy channel’s excellent series, Channel Zero, Sitkin is redefining that narrow margin between fine art design, traditional special effects and production design. A childhood growing up around her family’s hobby store in the heart of the film industry has led Sarah to create her own cinematic vision, where explorations into silicone, clay, plaster, resin and latex have made her current body of work one of the most fascinating in Los Angeles today.

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Evan Pricco: I guess you would consider yourself a sculpturist, but it goes so much beyond that with elements of set design in your recent works. What, at this point in your career, do you call yourself? Sarah Sitkin: I have always had a hard time describing my work in general terms. It does incorporate set design, also costuming and sculpture. I would just call myself an artist. I try not to limit my creative ideas to one field or title. It seems that, especially in Los Angeles, the role of the costume or set designer leads one to Hollywood, and in that, perhaps a lot of training and schooling to get there. Did you have formal training? I never even got a high school diploma. I was a classic bad kid, in and out of different school programs until I was old enough to permanently ditch class forever.

Everything I wanted to know, I could just search on the internet instantly, from anywhere in the world, for free. I tried taking some community college art courses, but didn’t last more than a few weeks before I was over it. I worked all through my teens and early twenties at my family’s hobby shop. Kit Kraft introduced me to everything. The shop was located in a magic place in time—right in the heart of the Los Angeles special effects industry in the late 1990s and early ’00s. The shop carried all kinds of specialty items to cater to the talented sculptors, painters, and model builders and the studios they worked for. I was making crude castings with dental alginate in my bedroom in my teens, and pouring polyester resin in the garage. My parents let me turn my room into a giant installation piece where I would staple fabrics to the ceiling, glue found objects to the walls, and weave

Above left: Self-portrait with Untitled piece, Silicone, hair and resin, 2016 Above right: Untitled, Silicone and resin, 2015

DESIGN

wires and cords between the bars of my bed frame. My dad would bring me home the damaged merchandise from the shop and I would build costumes and sculptures with half-dried clay, broken model kits and exploded tubes of acrylic paint. I started getting portrait photography work around the time I was 23, and was able to get just enough commission work to support myself in a tiny apartment in downtown LA. From there, I was able to gradually move into a studio space where I would started constructing sets for my portrait photographs. I wanted to incorporate what I learned while working at the hobby shop (making molds, sculpting, model building, painting) into my photography, so I started taking molds of the portrait subjects and building those elements into the pictures. The work naturally evolved into sculpture from the heavy costuming and set building I was doing for my photographs.

Above: Untitled, Silicone, plaster, food and trash, 2014

Did you consider that work to be more set design or fine art? My lack of academic credentials and reluctance to follow the standard art world protocol has me feeling like an art-world outsider. I get so much love and support from the general public, however, that I feel my work has value and importance regardless of being accepted in elite circles.

of the physical objects I was making. But because of this platform, the documentation became more important than the physical pieces, which were discarded or cut up and turned into new objects to be documented. This approach has completely informed the artistic decisions Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve made. Both the potential and limitations of the social media outlets I was using were integral parts in the process.

Do you think the lack of formal, classical art training has allowed you to be a little bit more free in what you do? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like you learned from just being around the film industry. While people were in school learning to make artwork that was tailored to integrate into the gallery system, I was making work to integrate into my own social media channels. Presenting my work was just as important as the work itself. Lighting, set design, and ephemeral elements all became part of the artwork in order to present it as a documentation

I assume the Channel Zero project came up through social media? Was this your first time working for a formal TV production? Nick Acosta, the showrunner for Channel Zero, approached me about being a creative auteur for his TV show. I had never worked on a show, but they promised freedom to create my own concepts, so I jumped for it and I absolutely loved working on it. I learned so much. I would love to work on another film project, and in fact, I would love to direct a film project someday.

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DESIGN

Was there a big change in the way you worked when it came to a TV production? The biggest change was working with assistants and money. It was wonderful! I had people picking up my supplies, filing my receipts, organizing my materials for me and cleaning the shop every night. I still got to make the work myself, but my crew were the extra hands I wished I had all my life. The hardest part was surrendering control over how my work was lit and the angles it was shot from. Outside of working on Channel Zero, it’s pretty much me working alone to make everything— from the molds, to the structural work, to the final hairs punched into a piece. I do it all myself. There is obviously this element of horror and the grotesque in your work, but there is also just the sheer skill of presenting almost hyperreal, alternative realities. How do you balance these two elements? Experience as a human being is horrifying to me, and that is reflected onto the things I make. Honestly, most of the time, I don’t even realize something is creepy until people give me feedback. I usually think I’m creating intense visual metaphors or transcribing my experience. So, I just gave you feedback? In that vein, what is the best thing someone has said about your work when they have walked into one of your gallery shows or commented on your social media feeds? This girl who made a hand-knitted version of one of my masks brought it to my art show last year and gave it to me. She’s a dentist by profession, and I have always wanted to be a dental technician. We stay in touch and send pictures to each other of surgical tools and interesting medical devices. I am just as fascinated with her work as she seems to be with mine. I’m excited by how artwork tends to be a magnet drawing together people with similar interests. I love that my work has attracted all these people into my life and weaved us together with a common thread, even though often we do completely different things. Sarah as a 10-year-old: what was your favorite movie, TV show, and book? Honestly my life didn’t even start until I hit puberty. At 10, I was probably into whatever my parents wanted me to be into. Okay, Sarah Sitkin now: what are the things that are influencing you? The natural world has my attention. I was really into technology, engineering and digital realities for most of my adult life, but in this past year, I have really been interested in what is tangible, and how it came to be that way. I love understanding how changing environments brought different biology and behaviors. I am also fascinated by human psychology, behavioral patterns and coping

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mechanisms. Learning is the biggest catalyst for creativity in my life. I love researching. What are you working on next? I am working on a solo art show, Insecurity Blanket, which is focused on wearable pieces. I’m making skin suits, prosthetics, and non-invasive body modification pieces.The context of the skin suits is

the concept of the art carrying the "burden" of the bodies. For example, some, not all of the wearable pieces, will be made with the intention that they are interactive and show the participant what it feels like to be in that particular body, and the stresses of it. Sarah Sitkin’s solo show at Superchief Gallery in downtown Los Angeles opens on December 17, 2017.

Top: Untitled, Plaster, resin and silicone, 2014 Bottom left: Untitled, Silicone, wool and plaster, 2015 Bottom right: Sevdaliza ISON album cover, Silicone, resin and hair, 2017

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FASHION

Kerin Rose Gold Hide and Seek Rihanna, Snoop Dogg, Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga… the list of celebrities who sport Kerin Rose Gold’s eyewear and accessories line could fill the space of this introduction. Like Beyonce, Debbie Harry, Johnny Weir… you get the picture. Then there are the grandmas and furry pups who smile broadly while wearing her frames. Not for the incognito or inconsequential, these glasses broaden the palette and lift the mood. In short, for anyone seeking to add a dash or dollop of spice to life, Kerin’s brand, A-morir, frames the world nicely. Gwynned Vitello: Despite seemingly sprung from a Disney Light Show Parade, is it true you grew up in the kind of beach town where people dress in white and go to “summer”? Kerin Gold: I grew up in Port Washington, a town on the north shore of Long Island, a 35-minute train ride from Midtown Manhattan, a commuter town on the sound that also feels like vacation. One area of Port Washington is “East Egg” in The Great Gatsby. It’s really beautiful but I didn’t appreciate it as much as I should have growing up (what kid does?) Reflecting back, it was a wonderful upbringing. I had a lot of independence and could walk to the train and go to concerts in the city with friends

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when I was 15. I went to a great public school that had a terrible football team, but four separate choirs, and I was in all of ‘em! The neighborhood was diverse, which was a huge plus.

in my parents’ garage. I was always babysitting or working during the summers, and most of my money went towards concert tickets.

I know that painting and music both played a part in your childhood, but I have the feeling that books did, too. What else am I missing? Movies? What would you have been doing in your free time as a young woman? Books played a huge part in my upbringing. My maternal grandparents were avid book collectors; when they moved homes in the 1990s, we estimated their house had 10,000 books. There is even a Simon and Rosalyn Gold Judaica Library in Queens College comprised of their donated books. I have one of their early editions of The Picture of Dorian Gray, and I definitely got a talking-to from my English teacher in seventh grade for writing a book report on Capote’s In Cold Blood—another early edition book from their house that I still treasure.

Barbies used to be the default birthday gift for girls, so you had to come to terms with them somehow. Did you collect, mutilate, or bake them into cakes? Oh man, I started mutilating my Barbies at an early age—armchair analyze that as you will. I’m very lucky my parents didn’t police what I wore or played with based on my gender, so I played with Transformers and Ninja Turtles as much as Barbies, which got full makeovers that turned them into Wendy O. Williams clones before I knew who she was. In high school, I made Barbie sculptures that were not allowed to be put on display: a bleeding Barbie with a computer chip in her back, strewn among a pile of condoms, bloody tampons and razor blades, or climbing up a ladder to a pill bottle. Rudimentary stuff, but not bad for an angsty teenager.

All of my spare time went to art, books, and hanging out with friends. Besides the school choirs, I was on the drama club board, I co-ran our school’s TV studio, took piano and art lessons, and painted

Something that may define you is being the daughter of an immigrant. We lived many years with my grandparents who were both from Italy. My clothes were embroidered, pots of spaghetti

Above left: Portrait by Sophy Holland Above: Photo by Jared Ryder

FASHION

sauce were on the stove, green beans from the garden for dinner. It seemed to impart a richer culture, not to mention a work ethic. A hard work ethic was instilled from day one, for sure. My maternal great-grandparents immigrated from Europe and my grandparents grew up in depression-era Brooklyn. My dad came here from Israel in the early ’70s with a thousand dollars and a couch to sleep on for a month. Culturally, it was a bilingual household, and there was both Israeli and American music (and a lot of hummus, naturally) but food-wise, we weren’t up to our eyeballs in za'atar! Did that also encourage your ability to craft, to make things? You definitely are in that comfort zone. Did you ever have any formal kind of training? There must be a lot of experimentation, so in turn, a lot of trial and error on the way. My parents were very encouraging of our creativity (my sister is a doctor). I was always in an art class, and they let me turn the garage into a de-facto art studio. But the immigrant mentality also made them very pragmatic about a career. I started music marketing in college, and it never crossed my mind that I would be able to make any sort of living from artwork, ever, because who does that?

Above left: Photo by Jared Ryder Above right: Photos by Kerin Rose Gold

Creatively, I don’t think it would occur to me to think of things as mistakes. I’m always evolving and getting better—all my mistakes have been learning experiences. In starting and running your own business, you have to work up the courage to be fearless as both an artist and a businessperson. What must also have defined you was being ill as a young woman. Did you feel isolated or unlike yourself? Because you seem now to be a ball of energy. Did it change your perspective and, somehow, open any doors? Being diagnosed with severe Ulcerative Colitis at 16 was, naturally, very impactful. Being chronically ill isn’t like having the flu, where you almost die on your couch for two weeks, but then you’re fine— you’re like that forever. You have to learn how to live in a different reality. I couldn’t think about a future because I didn’t know if I’d be healthy enough to get out of bed tomorrow. I didn’t talk about what I was going through with anyone; not my teachers, not my employers, not my friends. It was rough. When I went into remission at 25, I was emotionally prepared to have a post-traumatic stress breakdown. I finally had the emotional bandwidth to process the

life that I was unable to have for the nine years I was sick. It was, in a way, a bottom. I realized I hated my job and had to figure out what was next. Those states are both terrifying, and in the right mindset, incredibly freeing. It opened doors mentally. One door being your major in costume history. It sounds like a very rich experience to be immersed in fabrics and stories. It’s essentially learning about costumes, dressing garments, and clothing, the same way you would study art history. There’s a lot of research, reading and writing, so, to be honest, I dropped out of the master’s program. I take education very seriously but wasn’t able to devote as much to undergrad studies at NYU because I was so sick. I can always go back to school, but not the work I had started doing, and A-morir was snowballing. Now I get to hear about how you made your first design. Tell me how that came about and how it made you feel. I didn’t go about making my first product intentionally. Like all of my crystal works, I made something for myself. In fact, I had bought crystals because I thought I was getting a new phone, and

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FASHION

didn’t, and then I broke my only pair of glasses. I was broke at the time, as well, so got a pair of five-dollar street glasses. I really wanted something special, so I decided to make them special. I never in a million years thought someone would want to purchase them, but then I started getting chased down the street—literally. Numerous times. So I figured, “Shit, this doesn’t exist in the marketplace currently; maybe I have something here.” I hate wearing contact lenses, so I really need glasses. They used to feel like a barrier, but now I enjoy them. What role do accessories have for you, or if you want to expand, how about fashion, in general? It’s funny because, by definition, accessories are supplemental. I love them because they are suggestive. I’m more intrigued by what a woman is saying in a sweatsuit and showgirl earrings versus the obviousness of a bandage dress (though I respect both choices!) An over-the-top pair of glasses is instant glamour. The role that fashion has for me is an essay unto itself. But I will say this: fashion, to me, has always been my medium of expression. I don’t abide by current trends, but I deeply value actual couture as an art form, and I appreciate the importance of fashion as one of many reflections of what is happening in our culture

MMA, I hope Conor McGregor has shown men that they can think differently about glamour. Anyone who gets a bespoke suit made with “Fuck You” pinstripes for a press conference, I have nothing but respect for. Are you particularly drawn to urban life? What attracted you to Madrid when you went to school? Are cosmopolitan areas more inspiring? My parents would take us to the city to museums, to the opera, and that was always in NYC. I have a vivid memory of being four or so and driving across Houston, and that left me rapt. NYC is not for everyone, but it’s very much for me. I love encountering multiple languages and cultures every day. The energy of Manhattan, where I live and work, centers me, and for that reason, I have always been attracted to cities. However, in the last few years, I’ve appreciated going somewhere remote with a creative project.

I got to the point where I wanted a separate space and was tired of tripping over work stuff every time I went to the bathroom. I’m finally in a space that really feels like home. Now all the walls are black, with a ton of books, curated ephemera, framed things on the walls, candy corn pillows, a Benson & Stabler throw on the couch and a paper mache cactus. We have N’SYNC mannequins and Muppet figurines, an apartment for a grown child. I live with my boyfriend Nick, who owns Fool’s Gold Records, so we have turntables and a music production area. We’re always working, so it’s a really creative space.

Which singers or actors kind of embody your philosophy of clothing? My personal clothing philosophy is to wear what makes you feel comfortable, and I relate to people who do that most. Bowie, Rollins, RuPaul, Miss Piggy, they’re all living as their most authentic selves. And any celebrity who takes chances on the red carpet— I am so bored with each one looking like a prom. Celine Dion is really killing it, and I love the chances that Solange and Rihanna take. While I don’t follow

The studio is similar, but stuffed with fake flowers, campaign images, headpieces, crystals and eyewear. And the walls are white. There’s a framed Guerilla Girls poster next to my desk, which I highly recommend for any female identifying as creative. You’ve said you don’t use idea boards, and that you really value collaboration. It’s true, I don’t make mood/idea boards. I don’t like the idea of doing inspiration research because I don’t want that work to unintentionally influence my designs. I personally find that restrictive. I like to let things come as they come. I love collaboration because it forces me to expand my skillset and figure out things I wouldn’t normally have made time for. It’s like getting really fun homework assignments for a class you’ve always wanted to take. I always like to hear about studios. Is yours live/ work, and if it’s not, does your home have a different atmosphere? For the first four or five years, I worked out of my apartment on a small table, then converted my dining area to a small but effective studio.

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Have you exhausted all the potential embellishments there are to work with, or is there something you would love to get your hands on? Just when I think I’ve exhausted all embellishment, I find something new to use or figure out a way to interpret a design technique. There is always something new. I know you love figure skating, so are you going to go see Margot Robbie in the Tonya Harding movie? I paid to go see Stars on Ice in college! I was once woken up in the middle of the night by my sister for a trivia question where the answer was Surya Bonaly—and I am going to the advance screening of the Tonya Harding movie, how about that? See more of Kerin Rose Gold’s designs at kerinrosegold.com.

Above: Photos by Sophy Holland

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INFLUENCES

Mike Lee Is Floating in Space Atmospheric Disturbance Those of us who are not astronauts or skydivers will probably never get to experience the actual feeling of floating in space. Yet weightlessness is an exceptionally appealing physical and mental concept. Rather than bearing the “weight of the world,” it uplifts with a sensation of ultimate freedom and deliverance. Digital media professional Mike Lee developed a process using everyday tools to construct atmospheric oils that depict just that feeling. His figures levitate in a void, with meticulous grayscale gradients, rendering conspicuous light effects. Drama and mystery hover beyond the harmonious surface. Eliminating key pieces, Lee leaves it up to the viewer to complete the picture and create their own puzzle. Sasha Bogojev: Is there a certain time and place where your images are set? Mike Lee: No, it's more about absence. I'm trying to remove any sort of narrative, and everything's

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meant to be, in a way, generic. That way anyone who views the work can bring any past life experiences to the paintings. I don't know if you've seen dolls for children that are blank with no features? I like how they become a mold for whatever is desired. It's that kind of idea—trying to remove facial features, the physical base, so people can fill in the blanks. I want to be inclusive so that any race, gender or ethnicity can see themselves in the work. At the same time, I'm trying to make my paintings appealing, so, hopefully, on the superficial level, people can enjoy a nice image. And if they wanna dive deeper, they could find meaning within it, too. Aside from trying to produce generic images, there are some details such as clothes or hairstyles. How important are they and how much attention do you give to them? I spend a lot of time trying to figure out the right

design for those. I'm trying to get the most engaging shapes and hopefully represent a certain type of person. Sometimes I even try to bring in really subtle political or social elements without being overly obvious. What’s an example of such an element in your work? One was around the time Trayvon Martin was killed. So my reaction was to slowly introduce hoodies into my work. I try not to be overtly political because I just never feel like I know enough about it, but I've always been a real observer, so all I bring to my work are the things I've seen and experienced. That meshes with the idea of forgoing details. Since your work is mostly about feelings and emotions you've personally experienced, how do you translate those into such harmonious images?

Above left: Four Figures, Oil on canvas, 36” x 36”, 2016 Portrait: Veronica Jones

INFLUENCES

A lot of times, there isn't a specific emotion. It's more about using the light to create a certain type of drama or setting. And. again, the intent is that everyone who views the work can project their own life onto it. I've gotten a lot of reactions like, "Oh these are really depressing images," which is interesting. That wasn't my intent. I was going to say that I’ve always found your images uplifting and positive, perhaps melancholic, but never depressing. I've gotten similar reactions to yours, too. Some people find them really amusing, some people laugh. There's a pretty wide array. Are there any references to gender in your work? There are definitely male and female figures, but sometimes I purposely blur gender lines to avoid absolute definitions. I want to include everyone. Hopefully, those in the LGBTQ community can see themselves in the work as well. I'm trying to be considerate toward everyone and bring many layers of ideas to the work. I've noticed that lately you've been constructing more complex pieces with many different characters. The earlier work was about a single figure, and sometimes I'd pair them up, but now I'm trying to get more graphic with the overall composition. I'll actually start with abstract shapes and compose figures to fit that design. I keep thinking of synchronized swimming when I'm looking at those. Am I far off? I think it ultimately deals with being suspended

in a space. So it can be floating in a void space, or underwater, which is pretty much the same thing. Just removing gravity. Also, I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to art history, so I rely on friends who know way more than me. At one point, they pointed me toward all the beach paintings by classical artists, so I started bringing those ideas into the work. Speaking of art history, do you have a particular artist or art movement that influences or inspires you? I pretty much love every aspect of art as long as I can see authenticity in the work. But rather than having reference sheets, I like to just remember the impression paintings, drawings, and installations had on me. It becomes a hodgepodge of influences where, hopefully, the viewer won't identify another artist in my work. I do my best to be as original as possible, so if I see someone doing something similar, I lose interest and will go in another direction. Where did you grow up? I’m from a small city called Placentia in Southern California. It was like every other suburban neighborhood. I found myself being anxious from boredom so I always tried to find ways to fill my time. But when I think back, the days spent in the pool or at the beach were pretty significant. I moved to New York in 2007 after working in San Francisco, and I was really surprised how much it immediately felt like home. The pacing, people, transit, food, art. It was how I always imagined myself living. For me, NYC always felt like a giant, gray megalopolis. Does that influence your work?

Left: Sitting Figure, Pen and Ink on Paper, 11” x 14”, 2016 Middle: You and Me, Oil on panel, 16” x 20”, 2017 Right: Standing Girl 1, Pen and Ink on Paper, 8” x 10”, 2016

For sure! Not the gray part, but more from the experiences and people that the city attracts. Also the energy I get from everyone around me constantly pushes me to work harder. Are you saying that light and shadow are a very big part of your work, the source of the atmosphere, rather than the characters themselves? The posing definitely adds to it. I suppose it goes hand-in-hand—the specific pose along with the light. For instance, in the body of work I just painted for the Japan show, I wanted to evoke positivity with the work. So I wanted to bring in more active and dynamic poses. Most of your work is very small scale. Why do you chose to work in that size? I think, initially, because I was still learning how to handle the medium, I just wanted to make sure that I could generate as much work as possible. I'm still learning through each painting. At the same time, I like the idea of making smaller works that aren't too expensive and pretty much anyone can afford them. I just wanted people to have the work. You don't have any formal artistic or painting education, do you? No. I've been painting for about two and a half years now, but all my friends are painters, so I'd just learn from them. It was pretty much pencil and pen throughout college. Then I moved on to Copic markers and pens, trying to mimic the feel of graphite. I played around with other mediums, but I couldn't find anything that came close to the richness of oils.

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INFLUENCES

Was it something you just started in your spare time, or more of a personal challenge to become an artist? It wasn't so much about wanting to be an artist, but it wasn't just a hobby either. I just wanted to create something for myself. And there was something more tactile about original work, something I can't really get from a digital image. That can be an issue with digital art. It's not like the digital side is less skilled. I definitely appreciate good design no matter what medium. I guess I just prefer the human touch.

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Your images seem to be easily translatable to 3D. Do you have any interest in sculpture? That’s my dream. I’m pretty sure I’d need help, but I’d love to create large public art sculptures or installations. I haven’t had any opportunities yet, but I’m sure I will one day!

I was going to ask about your color palette. Did you ever consider trying anything else other than greyscale? I've been thinking about it for a few years. If I'm gonna go with color, it's gonna be a complete 180. Full saturation!

What about motion? Especially considering your digital media background, do you ever imagine your work coming to life? I was thinking about possibly creating an animated short film. I was thinking of working on something like that one day. And I can be OCD, so I'd probably go crazy and just end up rendering every frame by by myself.

Just neon and fluoro! Yeah! I love contrasting ideas. So if that day comes, it's gonna be bold. Mike Lee opened a new show this fall at Amala Gallery in Tokyo.

Above: Swimmers, Oil on canvas, 30” x 24”, 2017

TRAVEL INSIDER

México City The Center Holds It’s easy to romanticize México City with its colorful balance of tradition, modernity, affordability, arts and culture. On the flip side, there is the temptation of viewing it through a lens of staggering statistics, pollution, political uncertainty, cartel violence and poverty. Home to over 25 million, and covering 3,700 square miles, Greater México City, or Distrito Federal (DF), has a larger population and economy than over 100 countries in the world. Reality is complicated, and tragically, as we were forced to remember in September, 2017, it is vulnerable to the destructive potential of the region's shifting tectonic plates. I have some recommendations based on my visit to México City, experienced just a few weeks before the earthquake, and my lasting imprint of a city that is magnetic, a laboratory of inspiration for generations of writers, painters, photographers,

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architects, and filmmakers who continue to fall in love with its charms. I tend to approach a new place by trying my best to get lost, and that’s really easy in México City. The colonial center is built atop and mirrors the streets of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire. Elsewhere, repeating circular layouts entwine up against traditional grids that flow into long avenues that, for the unfamiliar, defy logic. Park Life Providing no guidance with city navigation, but lovely nonetheless, are the city’s many parks. Alameda Central, located in the heart of downtown, was the first urban park on the continent and draws large crowds to outdoor sculptures, fountains, markets, and public concerts. At the East end, Palacio de Bellas, one of the city’s most prominent cultural centers, hosts

theater, music, opera and dance performances, and its several floors of murals by México’s most renowned painters make it worth a visit. Twice the size of New York’s Central Park, Chapultepec Forest are the lungs of the city and the most important ecological space. Divided into several sections with running trails, ponds, and memorials, the park is home to the largest and most visited museum in México, the National Museum of Anthropology. Chapultepec Castle looks down upon the city from atop a large hill above the contemporary art museum, Museo Rufino Tamayo. A testament to how quickly the city is changing, Jardín del Arte Sullivan was initially recommended to me by local photographer Mark Powell as “one of the last un-gentrified parks in central México City, full of colorful concrete-poured benches and ledges,

All photography: Alex Nicholson Above: Mexico City skyline

TRAVEL INSIDER

giant bird cages and still lots of glue sniffers around keeping it real.” A few months later, and it has been already been cordoned off for remodeling. Museums México City has more museums than any other city in the world except London. Beyond those you'll find in guidebooks, institutions dedicated to the city's legacy of art and history, are the side streets, in sometimes distant neighborhoods, where you’ll discover buildings and the occasional back room or attic with more unusual collections. There are exhibitions dedicated to antique shoes, communist revolutionaries, and even one housing mummies discovered by Zapatistas searching for buried treasure. Museo del Juguete Antiguo Mexicano in Doctores holds the self-proclaimed world's largest private toy collection. Throughout the four-story building, toys overflow from every inch of floor, wall, and ceiling space. South of the city center, the largest university in the world, UNAM is home to the Teodoro González de León-designed University Museum of Contemporary Art. Nearby, unimaginable varieties of cactus line the snaking paths and hidden coves of one of the oldest botanical gardens in México, the Instituto de Biologia. The 420-acre campus also has its own ecological reserve where the land art masterpiece, Espacio Escultórico, is located. North of campus, Coyoacan, a former rural village that eventually lost its farms, lakes, and forests to the all-consuming city, is a hub of art, culture, and history. It’s where Museo de Frida Kahlo is located,

as well as Museo Anahuacalli, the Diego Riveradesigned pyramid dedicated to Pre-Hispanic art. Diego and Frida lived not too far away and you can visit their beautiful home and studios designed by fellow artist and architect Juan O'Gorman. You could spend months touring world-famous architecture in México City, but a brief taste might include booking an appointment to see Luis Barragán’s home and

studio or a visit to the floating bookshelves of Biblioteca Vasconcelos, designed by Alberto Kalach. Northeast of Mexico City, the famous pyramids of Teotihuacan are well worth the day trip. Roma is home to Galeria OMR, MAIA Contemporary, and Galleria Licenciado, among others. Closer to Polanco and not too far from Museo Soumaya and Museo Jumex are Anonymous Gallery and Galeria Luis Adelantado. In Centro Historico, a block from Alameda Central and next to his clothing company Tony Delfino, is artist Smithe’s newest endeavor, TOBA Gallery. While in Centro Historico, keep your eyes peeled for world-class murals from international stars of street art as well as a constantly shifting canvas of graffiti and murals by local artists. A fun alternative is Stylewalk MX, which has enlisted the expertise of several of the artists themselves to offer in-depth and informed tours of the downtown street art and graffiti scene. Getting Around Even with a fairly robust public transit system, the traffic in México City is often horrendous. The metro, used by around seven million people every day, has 12 lines and 195 stations, and can be a convenient way to explore if sitting in traffic or walking sounds exhausting. This subterranean world is an experience in itself, with hidden gems like Talismán station, which houses the fossilized remains of a mammoth that workers uncovered during construction. Another, Pino Suárez, is built around an Aztec pyramid. Some of the larger stations have shopping, food, art exhibits

Below: Park scene Above (clockwise from top left): Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo, Smithe x Dems One Mural, Ericailcane Mural

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TRAVEL INSIDER

and the occasional spontaneous salsa concert. You can also take the Metro to see places a little out of the way, like the iconic head sculpture and monument to former president Benito Juárez at La Cabeza de Juárez in Iztapalapa. Food, Drink, and Mariachis Around any corner will be some small tables and chairs shaded by big umbrellas or stools pulled up to a more elaborate food stand. Everyone has their own favorite taco stand, and you should ask around and try all of them. At some point, follow the high-pitched whistle which leads to a charcoal oven on wheels. Beneath the Camote Cart’s whistling smoke stack are roasting sweet potatoes and plantains which, served with even sweeter strawberry syrup and condensed milk, are a common evening snack. There is no shortage of clubs in México City but one of the more culturally unique is Patrick Miller, a nightclub which appears to be frozen in time. Crowds separate into circles, cheering on ’80s-style dance-offs which occasionally morph into coordinated line dancing led by an office manager blowing off steam after a long day at the office. Nowhere will you find such a diverse mix of personalities, generations, and styles. Mescal is the drink of choice in much of México but its thousand year-old ancestor, Pulque has recently enjoyed a resurgence and can be found in a new wave of trendy bars such as Pulqueria Los Insurgentes, where patrons swig giant mugs of the thick, white, slimy, fermented cactus sap and dance beneath Daniel Lezama paintings. Disregard descriptions of the drink’s texture; it has a fascinating history and is worth experiencing. A plaque on the wall outside a Pulqueria at Plaza Garibaldi advertises the drink as a favorite of the Aztec emperors. Garibaldi is where you go, literally any hour of the day, if you decide you need a Mariachi. Packs of musicians offer their services to passing traffic as well as visitors and patrons of food and drink establishments inside the square. It is an incredible place for people watching. Markets Find open air markets or neighborhoods dedicated to certain goods, unlike the big box stores and Amazon delivery services. On Sundays, down the street from Plaza Garibaldi, La Lagunilla Market hosts a flea and antique market where an eclectic collection of books, memorabilia, masks and other arts and crafts from the last hundred or so years line the sidewalks. Get there early and plan several hours of digging for treasure. Mercado de la Merced is one of the city’s oldest and largest markets. Emerging from the metro

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station into the middle of the market means winding through a maze of vendors selling everything from pots and pans to three-piece-suits for your toddler. Across the street, Mercado de Sonora, referred to by tourists as, “The Witchcraft Market,” is where to go for a taxidermied horse head or potion for your broken heart. Aisles are lined with voodoo dolls, medicinal herbs and the occasional endangered animal carcass, among other things. I intended on visiting México City for a week, maybe two, but ended up staying a month and feeling like I needed a year, maybe more, to even begin to experience the place. As the artist Saner relates, “It is rich in every sense, with nature, history,

tradition, art, and color, but also with rebellion, bad governments, poverty, and injustice. It is for all of these reasons I continue to stay here, taking inspiration from every part of this place.” Killing nearly 300 and flattening buildings across the city and region, the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck on September 19, 2017 devastated a country already reeling from another earthquake that struck less than two weeks prior. Rebuilding and healing is a lengthy process, but hopefully this famously resilient city will emerge even stronger. —Alex Nicholson Teotihuacan: City of Water, City of Fire is on view at San Francisco’s de Young Museum through February 11, 2018.

Clockwise (from top): La Lagunilla Antique Market, Plaza Garibaldi, Street Food scene, Mexico City Subway

IN SESSION

All Hands on Deck Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art and Design Running late for LAX and frantically looking out the window of your Lyft, it’s so reassuring to see the familiar punch-card-designed Otis College of Art and Design building, its primary color flags waving good news that your destination is only minutes away. Occupying the former IBM Aerospace building, it is not only a Los Angeles landmark and part of the city’s historical narrative, but an active player in southern California’s cultural dialogue. In 1922, it was the largest art school west of Chicago. Through the 1940s, Norman Rockwell was the summer artist-in-residence, and during the 1950s, it stoked and nurtured the California ceramics revolution. Not only did the 2000s spawn graduate programs in writing, fashion, graphic design, teacher training and other disciplines, it also partnered with groups like the Surfrider Foundation, Global Green USA and the Center for Autism and Related Disorders. Former Juxtapoz cover artist Camille Rose Garcia and current cover artist Kerry James Marshall are among its alumni, along with mavericks like Billy Al Bengston and John Baldessari. At Otis, art, indeed, is life, a vibrant process that is celebrated at the Ben Maltz Gallery, self-described as, “equal parts public forum, classroom and laboratory,” since 2001. The newest show at the gallery, which charges no admission, is All Hands on Deck, opening January 21, 2018. Conceived in a world that challenges identity, nationality, and social class, a mix of abstraction and figuration meet in the gallery. Mostly three-dimensional, fingers flutter, torsos hang loose or stand tall, and they all represent. Each demonstrates pride and the strength of coming out from the shadows. We chose a piece by Cammie Staros, whose hand-built objects marry contemporary sculpture, Modernism, antiquity and craft. Looking to the voluptuous amphorae of ancient Greece and Egypt, her sculptures are both historically rooted and bracingly present. Using a physical vocabulary shared by many venerable cultures alongside industrial applications like neon and steel, Staros’s work reveals semiotic systems created and strengthened throughout art history. Cammie’s work in All Hands on Deck examines representation and lucidity through her investigation of architecture, ancient pottery and a physical vocabulary. References to the body, particularly in female form, through the combined lens of early pottery and the innovation of Modernism, result in familiar but challenging pieces. The stacked clay pot column forms a sensuous totem with a captivating narrative. All Hands on Deck is on view at the Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles January 21–April 22, 2018. The public is invited to the opening reception January 21st from 4–6 p.m.

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Above: Column, ceramic, steel, cement, 14 x 13 x 116”, image curtesy of Ghebaly Gallery and the artist

PROFILE

Laugh Now People Power in the Stencil “Please don’t mention that I’m a street artist, I’m a neo-muralist,” so implored an artist with whom I was recently working in spite of my knowing that he’d spent the last ten years nurturing and living off a culture that was almost the antithesis of this current shift to the municipally sanctioned and corporate mural trend. Now, I’m not against muralism as such. It’s a powerful medium with a rich history, particularly in the Americas, with often strong associations to social justice issues and community building, though now communities currently being built tend to integrate a type of generic muralism into their new build projects. Such add-on artists, complicit with the unashamed abandonment of street art’s original rhetoric of transgressive spontaneity, premeditated with developers in a kind of faux subversion. But if they still put art on the streets for people to hashtag and enjoy, what’s the problem, you might ask? The problem is, of course, the same one that street art initially set out to challenge. Such mechanisms and conduits to power within public space, so, by default, public art, desire an ever-more passive audience primed to consume #muralart in the same manner they consume advertising and product. In a culture of globalised brands and neo-liberal ideology, this one-size fits-all style of public mural art is ideal for clone developments and gentrification projects. Middle of the road, middle class and middlebrow, it is fast becoming the Mumford and Sons of street art, creating a culture that seeks nothing more than your uncritical compliance. All of this got me thinking—what can be done to wrestle back “street art” from corporate property speculators and those organisations dedicated to profiting, parasitically, from a culture predicated on transgression and resistance to this onslaught of capital and video projector-assisted art. Can this coming tsunami of big budget bucket paint and cherry picker productions be averted, and if not, what should all of those concerned do?

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Authentic street art’s impending demise, or at least its dilution, recalls the first piece of street art, that first stencil, that hit me with an impact like no mural ever has. Like a song, it contained the power to make you want to leave your small town and small life for better things. It sparked both art and activism in eyes tired from an advertising assault I had experienced on the taxi ride from the airport to central London where I was to DJ. Lugging my record box (yes, vinyl) from the back of the cab, I was confronted with a slightly less than life-size, single-layer stencil of a chimpanzee holding a sandwich board boldly stating, “Laugh now, but one day we’ll be in charge.” Appearing at a time when transgression was not simply a marketing technique, its immediate cultural value far exceeded any possible commercial value. There were no street level stencil art marketing campaigns, so it was undoubtedly art. But what sort of art was this? Who had created it, was it animal rights related, was I the monkey, was it public art, did it relate to graffiti? Stripped of these references, it left me momentarily lost. Like all good art, it pushed me down a rabbit hole to live for a moment in a different world. A world away from the city, my dislocated self and the information overload I’d just experienced. It was 2001, and it was, of course, Banksy’s Laugh Now. This wild counterpoint to the regulated distribution of images and signs in a public space triggered a lifelong obsession with street art, which has, in its authenticity, never lost the power of that first defiant punch, a punch that instantly knocked the art education out of me. It acted as a trigger not only to thought, but to action, and that same year, I established the Nuart Festival. Stencil art is the tool the powerless already possess. It enables speech in the language of the times, leaving traces of the familiar in unfamiliar surroundings. Unlike contemporary art, I realized it was not a mirror, but a compass to show the

way, not produced for a community, but a shoutout to create a community. Some mural artists, often through necessity, have to be coaxed in the way they communicate politics, but I’m tired of nuance. There are people, companies and organizations out there quite prepared to use mural artists as the shock troops of gentrification, bulldozing an area and clearing a path for developers, mine stripping the culture as it goes. We need to be prepared to offer and fight for alternative platforms, patrons, finance and events if the culture is to maintain any authentic link to its radical roots. In the meantime, let’s celebrate the anonymous and unsung heroes of stencil art, those nameless champions of unsanctioned human scale works whose rebellions challenge the corporate world. In a culture where anti-authoritarianism can be “diagnosed” and medicated against as a disorder, one where contemporary art is in thrall to the market, we need quick, simple and very public transgressive acts. The stencil offers a form that echoes Joseph Beuys famous statement, “Everyone is an artist,” in the most literal sense. In the beginning, you’ll feel like a fraud, a faker, and you can damn well bet you’ll be inauthentic. But continue, and somewhere along the line, you just may create an incantation that reverberates and triggers action. Believe in the idea of art, love and community. As critic and author Robert Hughes asked in the 1980s in The Shock of the New: "What does one prefer? An art that struggles to change the social contract but fails? Or one that seeks to please and amuse and succeeds?" I leave it to readers to decide which is which. Laugh now, but one day we’ll be in charge. —Martyn Reed Martyn Reed is the founder of the seminal annual street art festival, Nuart, which takes place in Stavanger, Norway. He also started Nuart Aberdeen in 2016.

PROFILE

Above: Photo by Banksy

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BOOKS

Shimmering Zen: James Stanford Finally, a book made for micro-dosing! I spent about ten minutes with Shimmering Zen and I’m already booking a weekend in Joshua Tree. James Stanford is the artist whose photography, digital illustration and painting has culminated in a series of works he calls Indra’s Jewels, a group of digitally reinvented mosaics of patterns that are influenced by the Mojave Desert and landscape surrounding Las Vegas, or even Stanford’s earliest forays into art, experiencing the great works of 16th-century artist Luis de Morales at the Prado Museum in Madrid at the age of 20 in 1968. These elements have found their way into the hypnotic, LSD-drenched mandalas, repetitive layerings that carry a deeply subconscious style. As Elizabeth Herridge writes in her essay for Shimmering Zen, “...a mandala is defined as a consecrated enclosed space separated from the profane by a series of borders guarded by magical figures.” Over 260 pages, Stanford’s modern take on the mandala creates a stream of dreamlike experiences, abstract but with tiny details that begin to look like familiar sites in everyday life. “It has been 51 years since I took LSD,” Stanford writes. “I have never felt the need to do it again, such was the impact it had on me. It gave me a glimpse into the true nature of enlightenment.” May he pass his vibes onto you. —EP ianthepress.com

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WHAT WE’RE READING

Philip Guston: Nixon Drawings 1971 & 1975 Text by Musa Mayer and Debra Bricker Balken It seems appropriate in a year of such political turmoil to look back at history for reflection and context. Perhaps not since Nixon has America’s relationship with its President been so controversial and tumultuous. Trump’s first year in office has led to thousands of artists creating work in opposition, protesting the current administration’s mishandling of nearly every policy. In 1971, the great American artist Philip Guston had returned to America from Italy after a move abroad prompted by scalding reviews for his show at Marlborough Gallery in NYC in 1970. What is most striking about this collection is the satirical depictions of Nixon, works not so much malicious but biting. As Guston himself noted, “I was pretty disturbed about everything in the country politically, the administration specifically, and I started doing cartoon characters. And one thing led to another, and so, for months, I did hundreds of drawings and they seemed to form a kind of story line, a sequence.” As the book notes, Guston made many of these works after conversations with his friend and famed author, Philip Roth, which makes sense given the narrative of the works. Of course, when Nixon resigned after Watergate in 1975, Guston reexamined his Nixon obsession and continued the series. The book, made in conjunction with the 2017 exhibitions at both Hauser & Wirth in New York and London, and what Philip Guston: Nixon Drawings 1971 & 1975 demonstrates, is the power of language that an artist can wield in times of unrest, a blueprint for artists who challenge the inevitable abuses in power. —EP hauserwirth.com

New York City Transit Authority: Objects Chalk this up as another standout presentation and research project by the Standards Manual team. The independent publishing imprint, founded by designers Jesse Reed and Hamish Smyth, has been reprinting and re-creating some of the hallmarks of graphic design history, most recently the 1975 NASA Graphic Standards Manual and the 1970 New York City Transit Authority Graphic Standards Manual. The original manuals are exemplary of both great design and great design ideas. They literally, no pun intended, set the standard of how companies and organizations can approach smart design and have an impactful presence. The newest release from Standards Manual is New York City Transit Authority: Objects, with over 400 artifacts related to the New York City Subway, collected and documented by photographer (and Juxtapoz contributor) Brian Kelley. We have followed Brian’s collection on Instagram as it has amassed in size, and amazingly, he was able to create a history of NYC that dates back to the 1850s. In some respects, it becomes a compendium of American industrial history, not only in the design of a train ticket, but the construction of uniforms, organization of labor strikes or just how maps evolve as cities grow. What began as a dedicated collection of NYC history became a retelling of urban evolution. The perfect book for history buffs, collector culture, and NYC obsessives. —EP standardsmanual.com

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BEAUTIFUL BITS

The VR Roadshow Artists Get to Play Around in the Future For a Bit The minds behind the open-source virtual reality platforms WebVR and A-FRAME dream of a time when anyone with internet access and creative vision can build virtual worlds for the web. These opensource web standards make the realm of virtual reality as accessible as standard websites. Imagine a web gallery that works like a first-person game, or a web game that works with any VR setup. WebVR and A-Frame give developers tools to build whatever they want for VR gear. So far, they’ve used it to make games, 360-degree images and video, LEGOlike building simulations, shopping apps, and 3D painting apps. It’s an entirely new medium for artists, a way to paint and animate in three dimensions intuitively and naturally. Apps like A-Painter give artists VR wands to paint in three dimensions, creating surreal sculptures in light and shadow.

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Mozilla (makers of Firefox) is showing off the technology around the globe at their Developer Roadshows. Artists and developers can use A-Painter to craft virtual reality artwork. No headsets required, but the pieces really shine with a Visor or a Google Cardboard. Mozilla is documenting artists and their work in an online web series shot in some pretty exotic locations, where the films show artist reactions to the tech and their virtual creations. Computer engineer and artist Diego F. Goberna has worked extensively with Mozilla to develop A-Painter and several other VR games, and his artwork is being featured in the web series. The artist describes painting in VR as, “A whole new experience that feels magical but strangely physical and familiar.” He sees the tech as a means to enhance and amplify artistic vision and

anticipates it becoming a popular medium across the world. Penang, Malaysia-based illustrator and educator Charis Loke got to play with WebVR at one of the roadshows and immediately saw its potential for storytellers. “When you have a set of tools like this, it allows you to tell really powerful stories that elicit responses from the viewers, gets them to do something, to react, to collaborate with other people,” she says. “And that’s only possible if they can see the content in the first place, which is why having it on the web is really important.” You can see WebVR in action at one of Mozilla’s Developer Roadshows and watch artist reactions in the upcoming web series. To get started with WebVR, visit the hub aframe.io. The site features how-tos, demos, code snippets and more.

Above: Photo by Charis Loke in Penang

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Smallworks Press LLC specializes in arts and culture publications. We treat each book with a commitment to impeccable production, design and marketing. With over forty years of collective experiences, we have enjoyed collaborating with a wide-spectrum of artists, authors and talent.

Kerry James Marshall The Key Figure Interview by David Molesky Portrait by Joey Garfield

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Above: Untitled (Male Painter), Acrylic on PVC panel, 61.25” x 72.75”, 2008, Collection of the Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum

n 2016, the Kerry James Marshall retrospective, Mastry, traveled from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago (MCA) to the Met Breuer. Standing behind the clear plexiglass podium, about to address the press, Kerry took a deep breath, looked down, noticed his descended zipper, corrected it, and then delivered his wonderfully disarming chuckle, effectively deepening the awe of the already starstruck audience. The exhibition fulfilled his biggest dreams, he explained, his work now in the Met alongside his own selections of great historical artworks from the museum’s permanent collection. The first room of the retrospective was breathtaking, with nearly a dozen unstretched canvases as large as 10 x 18 feet, painted with thick unblended passages, fixed to the wall by rivets. These masterworks of narrative compositions are astutely conscious of flatness, illusion, and draftsmanship, with dynamic brushwork and colors that freely incorporate comics and pop culture as much as they sample the grand tradition. The retrospective presented his entire oeuvre, including portraits, lightboxes, sculptures, photography, and comics called Dailies. Perhaps even more inspiring is how Kerry’s life path has provided the key ingredients for his ever-expanding creative universe. Born in 1955, Kerry moved with his family a decade later from Birmingham, Alabama to Watts in Los Angeles. During an era of rising racial tension, they moved a few years later to a housing project called Nicholson Gardens, just before the historic Watts riots. Kerry knew early on that he wanted to be an artist and was selected from his Junior High School to attend advanced courses in drawing at what was then known as Otis Art Institute. While drawing a master copy of Otis instructor Charles White’s lithograph of Frederick Douglass, he had a realization about the insularity of white figures representing ideal beauty throughout art history. He’d go to museums to observe masterful technique, but his appreciation was hampered because of the dearth of black subjects who seemed excluded from the whole genre.

At first, Kerry considered a career in children’s book illustration and also dabbled, like many of his peers, in abstract pictures. The Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison’s novel about a black man whose skin color renders him marginalized, inspired Kerry to make his painting Portrait of the Artist as a Shadow of his Former Self. This seminal painting re-energized the use of the figure as his vehicle to bring politics and race into focus. The painting became emblematic of a lifelong artistic goal to fill the gaps of history, where black historical figures and black cultural ideas did not have representation.

In his late twenties, Kerry took a residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem, the only museum in the US funded and operated by African Americans. In what was literally love at first sight, he would eventually marry the first person he met upon his arrival, the actress Cheryl Lynn Bruce, the museum’s PR representative at the time. Working and living in a 6 x 9-foot room at the Harlem YMCA that was once home to Malcolm X, Kerry solidified a determination to continue his work, regardless of what situation or space was available to him. In 1987, Kerry, focused and unwavering, moved to Chicago and got a break when he was hired as

Above: Black Owned, Acrylic and neon on PVC panel, 60.3” x 72.1” x 3.6”, 2012. Private Collection

an artistic director for a feature film. The salary afforded him almost a year of living expenses, spurring a significant body of work, and his momentum continues unflagged to this day. In 1998, he had his first major solo show at the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago. Now, Kerry’s work is featured in an incredible roster of important museum collections, and he has been awarded an even longer list of residencies, grants, fellowships, and honorary degrees. This past autumn, I called Kerry at his studio on the South Side of Chicago, and we talked about getting to work after the retrospective, and the exciting continuous evolution of his comic strip.

KERRY JAMES MARSHALL JUXTAPOZ .COM 69

David Molesky: You must be excited to get back to studio life after the tour of Mastry. Kerry James Marshall: The whole experience was satisfying, but I couldn't wait until it was finished, so I could get back to a normal routine. The problem with big surveys is that it puts you in a position where you have to start to figure out what your next act is going to be. Especially when you've achieved so much, the bar gets raised again. Right. It's a challenge to exceed yourself. Every time I do a picture, I'm trying to do a better or more complex picture from my last. I try to push the limits of my abilities. With retrospectives, you make assessments of what you've done over time. You can see it all in front of you. You know more about what you're trying to get at and how to make it happen. And it's hard to look at things you've done 30 years ago and not think, "Oh, if I knew then what I know now, maybe I would've done this a little differently." As a painter myself, sometimes it seems the more I paint, the harder it gets. I have to account for more perspectives while I’m working. You ever feel that way? Yeah, but you know what? That's the way it's supposed to be. It's supposed to get harder, and that's not really a problem. You're supposed to be more sophisticated and much more self-conscious. As you know more, you have to consider more. It gets harder to make the next thing, because you have to have a good reason to do it. How do you think new digital and virtual mediums will affect the future evolution of figuration? Figuration is coming back. It’s the foundation, but the reality was that it never went anywhere. There were periods where abstraction seemed more advanced. The issue is that it's not whether a thing is painting, photography, sculpture, installation, abstract, or representational. That's not really where the critical value of a thing lies. It actually has more to do with the particular treatment of each one of those different media. The popularity of cheap instant cameras didn't increase the number of excellent images any more than going abstract made people better artists. When there is proliferation, it’s another case where it becomes more difficult, and you have to take responsibility to marshall all the philosophical ideas, critical conceptions, and technical characteristics. You have to figure out a way to maximize their generated effect. This is how proliferation makes it harder to do things that are worthwhile. It seems with greater knowledge comes greater responsibility. If you're not going to surrender to chance, then you're going to target your efforts at achieving a very specific thing. That's how you keep it going. You're trying to get at something specific, you're not just waiting for any old kind of thing to happen,

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Above top: Untitled (Painter), Acrylic on PVC panel, 72.9” x 61.1” x 3.9”, 2009. Collection of the Yale University Art Gallery Above bottom: They Know That I Know, Acrylic and collage on canvas, 72” x 72”, 1992. Private Collection

Above: Untitled (Club Couple), Acrylic on PVC panel, 59.6” x 59.6”, 2014. Private collection

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or hoping that something you did was interesting enough, you're really trying to make it that way. When you were teaching, you’d tell students, "You have to ask why, to ask why always." What were some of the important “whys” you asked yourself, and what do you think are some of the important questions that younger artists should be asking themselves now? People are not driven to make artwork because of some of internal emotional need. I believe it's always because you want to participate in something that you see other people doing. When you look at the history of how what you want to do has evolved, you have to ask: "Can I add anything to it?" Or will I be satisfied just mimicking what has already been done? In the ’70s, there was this notion that painting was completely obsolete. Would it be worth my effort to carry on a practice that people are claiming has already been exhausted? You have to ask yourself that in the face of what is going on around you. No matter what the technology or activity is, nothing has ever been completely exhausted. You can look around for those places that never got fully

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“It’s a complete miscomprehension to believe that you don’t need to do the same things that Rembrandt was doing.” resolved, and then you can make an attempt at trying to resolve those things. I came across an article in Scientific American about Fermat's Last Theorem. He was a 17th century mathematician who proposed a paradox that couldn’t be resolved for over 350 years. About 20 years ago, it was proven by a man who, at 10 years old, became determined to solve it. So there are these novel ideas that pose a challenge, and somebody's got to check if it's worthwhile. You can do that in the art world, too. Contemporary history painting can shed new light on events by prompting a unique space and time for contemplation. How have current and recent events made their way into your work? The idea for Rhythm Mastr began with two recent

catastrophes: the spike in violence in Chicago in the ’90s, and the demolition of high-rise public housing near where I live on the South Side of Chicago. There were moving people out and tearing down public housing. It was controversial and complicated in how it was handled. I want the narrative around these events to take on Homeric epic structure and form. I realized how this could have the same cultural impact as Star Wars, which initially was going to be five episodes, but now seems to be going on in perpetuity. The narrative allowed me to talk about the social consequence of high-rise housing and its demolition, as well as the consequences of gang violence in relationship to public housing projects and the surrounding neighborhood. It also gave me a chance to talk about the conflicts between tradition and modernity. The public high-rises on 35th Street were right across the street from a Mies Van Der

Above: Souvenir 1, Acrylic, collage, and glitter on unstretched canvas, 156” x 108”, 1997. Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Rohe-designed campus for the Illinois Institution of Technology (IIT). The street literally divided two completely different worlds. I have a character from the neighborhood in a program learning robotics at IIT, alongside a young man who lives in the projects. Also in this neighborhood is a brownstone building called the Ancient Egyptian Museum. This museum promotes the idea of Afrocentrism, where black people become healthy and gang violence stops when black people can revive who they were before they were enslaved people. To do that, you center your worldview around Africa and center creative capacities around the achievements of the Egyptians. In the narrative, the robotics student is the girlfriend of the kid who meets the Rhythm Man who teaches him drum patterns to unlock the power of African figure sculptures. They are both trying to solve the gang war problem. They don't realize that they're in conflict with each other: one using robotic technology, the other using African mystic power. What is your vision for the development of the graphic novel? For me, it needs to be something that operates like The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, or the Harry Potter cycles. You need to be able to get that much out of it. It needs to demonstrate that you can generate these narratives that can go on for generations. Its initial inception was for the Carnegie International, but it really started to take shape when I did a show at the MCA (Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago) where it became a daily comic strip called Dailies. I began building a series of comics around the Rhythm Mastr. Each component of the overall narrative allowed me to talk about things through barbershop-style conversations about history, culture, and politics. There was one thread that started out as Ho Stroll. With a lot of prostitution and streetwalkers in the neighborhood, I had to give these working people a chance to contribute their inner philosophical life through conversation. So it really contains three narratives: the Rhythm Mastr, P-Van, and Ho Stroll, which has now become On the Stroll. I was going to build up enough narratives to fill a full-size page of the Chicago Tribune with black-oriented comics. These separate narratives overlap and become the larger Rhythm Mastr story, with everything taking place in the same neighborhood. The Rhythm Mastr kids would pass the P-Van, they’d see the prostitutes on the street, they’d go by the Ancient Egyptian Museum, they’d be at IIT, and they would be at the projects. All of it gets woven together. I'm still working on it. After the Mastry show closed, this was supposed to be the year that I would resolve the graphic novel form. In this process, I'm always making new factions of those stories and I'm actually in the middle of working on new Dailies right now.

What is the overarching plot for the screenplay? The theme is really the conflict between tradition and modernity. In a drive towards the future, can an orientation to the past win? It's possible to use values from our past that will remain important to our species in the future. Yeah. This is something that people miss when talking about painting and all of its accompanying

Above: Woman with Death on her Mind (detail), Acrylic and collage on book cover, 5” x 7”, 1990. Private Collection

skillsets. I don't know of a good film that didn't start out with the production designer making drawings of the sets. That’s the same skillset needed for narrative paintings. It's a complete miscomprehension to believe that you don't need to do the same things that Rembrandt was doing. You have to think about how the lighting works. You have to conceive, construct, and refine the narrative. Look at all those paintings; there's virtually no

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Above: Portrait of the Artist & a Vacuum, Acrylic on paper, 52.4” x 62.5”, 1981. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

Above: De Style, Acrylic and collage on unstretched canvas, 122” x 104”, 1993. Collection of the Los Angeles Museum of Art

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difference between the setup for Gericault's Raft of the Medusa or a movie scene. You get actors posed in costumes with props, then find a location and organize it so that it conveys your ideas. I've never seen a movie that didn't do that. When Rhythm Mastr becomes a movie, do you think it'll be animated or do you think you'll use real figures? Ideally, it has to be animated first. You have a lot more latitude that way. Have you done animation before? I've done some animation and video that uses animation. When I was in high school, I participated in a program at Otis called "Tutor Art," which included hand-drawn animation. I learned how to do animation to a soundtrack. I also have every book on animation you can find. I watch all the Disney and

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the Chuck Jones documentaries. I'm really interested in technique. I did production design for a couple of feature films, so I know a little bit about how films are made and how animation is done, so I'm ready for it. Any idea when folks might start hearing about the graphic novel coming out, or the animation? By this time next year, I hope to have the graphic novel ready for publication. This project first came into existence in 1999. It takes a long time. If you're really going to do it right, you really have to come to terms with the amount of detail that has to be invested in everything. When I started developing characters for the comic strip, I designed clothes with my then assistant who was also a fashion designer. This was just one part of building the archive and style that would ultimately be the graphic novel. In my studio, I use set pieces to development the narrative. You have to invent practically every detail, so I have models of

all kinds of things to draw from, including downtown. It gets more exciting as it comes together. It propels me to keep going, because I can see it being fulfilled. When you're in it, there's nothing but hard work. There's nothing but labor. And it's almost all physical. Any concluding advice for younger artists? There are some things that you can't even imagine unless you already believe you have the capability of making it happen. As you know more and have more skills, you can do more and imagine more things. That seems fundamental. I encourage people to do everything and take nothing for granted. There are no shortcuts. Kerry James Marshall’s work will be featured in Figuring History alongside Robert Colescott and Mickalene Thomas at the Seattle Art Museum from February 15–May 13, 2018.

Above: Could This Be Love, Acrylic and collage on canvas, 114” x 103”, 1992. The Bailey Collection, Canada

Above: Still-Life with Wedding Portrait, Acrylic on PVC panel, 48” x 60”, 2015. Private Collection

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Anja Salonen The Indolent Gaze Interview by Kristin Farr Portrait by David Broach

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Above: Cornflake Crusade, Oil on canvas, 60 x 72â&#x20AC;?, 2016

he figurative painting has long been a compulsion of artists, and only the remarkable make headway in the game. Anja Salonen is deep into the uncanny, concocting color and mood to present an alternate reality, a dimension similar to ours, but not quite right. The aesthetic notion of the uncanny valley describes the uncomfortable reaction humans experience when faced with a clone-like being. The global merger of the real and virtual has forced an increasingly blurred line between the two, and the prevalent, dubious honesty of the contemporary gaze is challenged in Salonen’s work.

Eerie, exceptional, astounding, creepy and mystifying are descriptors akin to uncanny, and could also describe these paintings of a world that oddly reflects the one we know. Salonen’s practice explores what it means to be alive today and the way paint relates to the body. She responds to the slump of our current situation of glaring into screens as the world implodes. Through painting, she emphasizes this era—the evolution of physicality, emotion, and our new defense mechanisms, and she does so with a remarkable vision. Kristin Farr: Who are the people you are painting and what are they most often experiencing? Anja Salonen: Most of the figures that I develop begin with a reference to my own body. I photograph my friends posing for me whenever they are willing, but the work is largely based off of photographs that I take of myself enacting the poses that I envision for the paintings. The figures appear to be experiencing boredom, malaise, disturbance… the gaze often meeting the viewer’s, or idly detached, mouth slightly gaping. I want the figures to hold weight and appear despondent. What makes successful figurative painting in your mind? I can’t really isolate what makes a successful figurative painting because I’m attracted to such a wide range of stylistic and conceptual choices, but I think that paintings that are pushing the boundaries of body constructs and representation, and different ways of talking about the body in space are the most interesting to me right now. Some forever favorite painters of mine are Pontormo, Manet, Helene Schjerfbeck… More contemporary painters that I really connect with are Tala Madani, Jordan Kasey, Tschabalala Self, Robin Francesca Williams, Ambera Wellman, Sascha Braunig, Cheyenne Julien, Anders Oinonen… the list goes on. How would you feel if you ended up at dinner with the people you paint? Probably pretty frightened, but it’s also kind of all I want. I want my figures to be rendered to the point of believability, but for the belief to be in

an alternate space and reality or dimension. To me, it sometimes feels more like I’m exposing a world than creating one. I’m really interested in Masahiro Mori’s concept of the “uncanny valley,” in which he hypothesized what humanity’s reaction would be to robots that look almost like people, but not quite—on the border of empathy and revulsion, closeness and othering. He wrote about a relationship between the resemblance of an object to a human and the emotional response that the object elicits. My paintings are objects, flat planes, that hold the illusion of a somatic reality, and that reality’s location on the spectrum of familiarity and alienation also potentially affects the elicited emotional

Above top: Plasticity, Oil on canvas, 60” x 40”, 2017 Above bottom: Elasticity, Oil on canvas, 60” x 40”, 2017

response in the viewer. I think a lot about dimensions, alternate realities, the subjectivity of objects, illusion, delusion. So, yeah, I would kind of like nothing more than for my own body to enter that reality. What do you like most about exploring the body? The body as subject matter has always been central to my work for a lot of reasons. It is a point of access, a collective experience, a political ground. I’m interested in the physicality and complexity of the body as an expressive tool, and in using the representation of bodies as an entry point for discussing representation and images in general. I’m also interested in the body as a site and source

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of trauma, the complex relationship between the interior and the exterior, and the body’s role in forming self-image, the grotesqueness as well as the beauty and vulnerability, and the identity politics that are tied to each specific body. How do you relate the physicality of paint to the body? Oil paint is a pretty mystical practice to me. Like, absolutely alchemical, using oils and pigments from the earth to create a flat illusion of that same earth… Oil paint, for me, contains this similar uncanny sense of being of the body, but not quite. Its smoothness and viscosity has the power to express some really specific and esoteric behaviors

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of flesh, light, and color, and I often feel like I’m sculpting much more than drawing while I paint. The paint on the canvas is also a direct record of a motion extended from my body, but the paint seems to have its own momentum. I feel like I’m working with paint’s natural behavior rather than controlling it, and manipulating it to look a certain way, but I’m constantly amazed by paint’s own generative ability. I feel like I’m in a dialogue with my materials as I work. I’m sculpting a world, while the paint and the brushes behave in their own ways as objects, and every new brushstroke I make is a decision based off of an internal process that is as equally based in my concept for the piece as it is in learning from the materials.

You’ve used oil paint since you were a kid. How did your training affect what you’re doing now? I totally fell in love with oil paint as a material at a young age, and feel like I have a very deep relationship with it. I learned how to paint primarily from life, and studied my own face a lot as a way to practice. I think a part of this relationship to self-portraiture is a means of trying to understand or connect to my physical body, understanding the boundaries of my specific identity. I’ve fluctuated through different painting styles over the years and departed from my classical training for a more gestural, surreal style for a while. Recently, I’ve been kind of merging the two, rendering these more

Left: It thrives on grass, Oil on canvas, 56” x 100”, 2016 Top right: Big year for redheads and Make a beauty wish (installation view), Oil and gesso on plywood, 2016 Bottom right: Forty-seven ways to look pretty, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 72” x 84”, 2016

fantastical and colorful scenes in a tighter, three-dimensional way to create the illusion of a complete alternate world. Are you trying to capture how we feel inside or how we feel we are perceived by others? I guess both. I’m really interested in depicting how it feels, psychologically and somatically, to be alive right now, and that applies both to the ways we feel about ourselves and about others. Do your paintings take the lead when it comes to composition? Do you start with a sketch? I’ll usually start with an idea, gather source material for it, do a rough compositional sketch, and then work on the canvas. The composition sort of naturally creates itself as I lay out the components of the painting, and the initial idea changes a lot with each step of the process. I often work in larger series of paintings, creating a cohesive body of work that contains its own composition and direction of ideas. I like making specific work for each show I do because I want the paintings to work as one larger piece.

Above top: An Extreme Form of Togetherness, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 96” x 60”, 2016

How is living in LA influencing your work right now? I started working in the color pallette I use now when I moved into my first studio in LA in the

“I learned how to paint primarily from life, and studied my own face a lot as a way to practice.” fashion district, down the street from Santee Alley. The streets are completely overflowing with neons and plastic and furs and fake plants. The LA light must be interesting to every painter here

in some way… The colors, the haze, the natural environment, desert flora, the beach, the strip malls, the weird hidden magic things. LA space is also so deeply strange… so broad and vast, sprawling. Ocean, mountains, big sky… How do you describe your personal aesthetic and does it match your paintings? The way I design my surroundings and personal aesthetic is really tied to creating a color composition. I wear and surround myself with color combinations that I like, treat my outfits in a similar way, and even my meals. What feelings are you most often trying to project into the work and onto your audience? Despondency, illness, humor, beauty, disgust, attraction, familiarity, alienation, weightlessness, heaviness—a lot of contradictions. What do you want to add to the dialogue about the body and corporeality? A new aspect of corporeality that figurative painters are navigating right now is how the

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Above: Party of One, Oil on canvas, 36” x 48”, 2017

three-dimensional body interacts with digital space and flat images. Digital space is a new landscape, with its own illusion of constructs of gravity, layering, light and shadows. This has sort of changed the perspective direction of a lot of post-analog painting, because whereas before, figurative painting functioned as a “window,” a recessive space with the illusion of depth, now there is a push towards illusionistic projection and forward movement. Artists are calling attention to not only the surface of the painting, but the space in front of it, and I think this idea of projection is directly tied to the spatial shift of the virtual. What are you painting now and what’s coming up next for shows? My solo show opened in November at ltd Los Angeles. It’s called New Dimensions in Recreation. The body of work I’ve made for this show consists of three-dimensional wooden panel structures

Above: The Long-Lasting Intimacy of Strangers, Oil on canvas, 96” x 72”, 2016

painted with illusionistic three-dimensional images. The paintings show malaise in its tangible and mediated forms—an essentially threedimensional, palpable body processed as a flat image, reaching a final form of dimension in real space. In the work, reality is mutable, shadows cast by fluorescent lights on the three-dimensional objects melting into painted illusions. There is no truth, the flat and the illusory and the dimensional, projections and contractions, fluidly moving in and out of one another and through space without hierarchy. The limitations of self-image during the apocalypse—at what point of distortion the self becomes something else—and what tells you something is wrong.

Who have been your best non-traditional teachers in life and art and what has been their most memorable advice? My fourth-grade creative writing teacher who taught me about existentialism, a painter I took lessons from when I lived in London in high school who taught me about loving, sensitive portraiture. My first piano teacher, my sculpture professor at RISD who believed in magic, many of my dearest friends. My mom. It’s hard to pinpoint exact statements of advice, but I think the common thread of my most meaningful learning experiences have been in finding an honest connection with someone who sees something about the world that I do.

What are you doing tonight? I’m going out to the desert to see my dear friend’s noise performance and stay in a house in Fontana, and go to Andrea Zittel’s High Desert Test Site in Joshua Tree.

Anja Salonen’s solo show at ltd Los Angeles is on view through December, 2017. anjasalonen.com

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Artists Remember

Greg Escalante

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I hope it is true that a man can die, and yet not only live in others, but give them life, and not only life, but that great consciousness of life. —Jack Kerouac As the cycle of time swirls in an endless continuum, every so often the gods conspire to pluck another hero from our midst, signifying the end of an era. The recent unexpected passing of Juxtapoz cofounder Greg Escalante left a deep void within the extended community of artists whom he so tirelessly fostered. It is impossible to quantify the scope of his influence. There was no bigger cheerleader for art and artists. I first met Greg at the Robert Berman Gallery in 1990, when he purchased the first painting I ever sold at an exhibition. We became good friends over the years, and he remained my principal guiding force for the rest of his life, always at the ready to offer positive advice and unwavering encouragement. He was equally instrumental in the careers of a plethora of other artists whom he consistently championed. I asked a number of them to contribute their thoughts to help create a portrait of a remarkable pioneer who meant so much to so many. Here are the excerpts from recollections of some of the creative souls he touched before shuffling off this mortal coil. —Gregg Gibbs

Robert Williams: Greg Escalante was the equivalent of Guillaume Apollinaire, in his time, as a supporter and a pioneer. He came in on the alternative movement when he was still a baby and was very instrumental with the beginning of Juxtapoz as a cofounder. A lot of people are going to feel the vacuum of his absence. Mike Shine: Greg opened up the world of art for many of us with the creation of Juxtapoz. His passion and endless drive to keep opening that world further was very inspiring. Like many of the art orphans Greg left behind, we all will need to step up and try our damndest to keep his mission of art for all going strong. Craig Stecyk: “Yes, my friend,” was his perpetual refrain. It was an expression of passionate vision. The surrogate self in the Joe Copro disguise never wanted credit for his boundless good deeds and innovations. By standing out, he blended into the social narrative. Moving forward ever, backward never. Genius goes where it wants, and there is no chance in it, and even less choice. The invariable fact of Gregorio Conrad Escalante’s tenure was that he was always ahead of the curve. In the end, life gets away from us all. Once again, Greg has gotten somewhere first. Laurie Hassold: Greg helped author an art scene that provided young talent with a respite from the snobbish bourgeois stronghold of acceptable "high art." As a grad student, I always felt a bit snubbed when visiting galleries and museums,

like there was a class system, and I was on the bottom rung. Greg's galleries and the shows he curated were so very inclusive, and the exact opposite of snobbish. Joe Coleman: I met a tall, lanky cartoon surfer in a suave suit. He talked like a nervous carnival pitchman espousing an art construct that was antiminimalist, anti-conceptualist and anti-Dadaist. I immediately took a liking to this whirling dervish of psychedelic reverence. I heard that he was a former bond trader, but to me he was a bonder of artists, collectors, gallerists, philosophers and all creators that were, for many years, on the margins of what was acceptable to the contemporary art world. Now that he’s gone, there is a negative space…an empty quiet left in the absence of such a resonant force. Mark Ryden: I seriously can’t remember one of my art shows where he was not there, always wearing an appropriately themed, fabulous outfit. Greg got involved with things like this simply because he was excited to make interesting things happen in the art world. He loved making connections between people. And he did this without any ulterior motives. He was not interested in getting anything for himself, like money, or his own glory. He did it for the pure love of art. That is a pretty rare thing. Frank Kozik: Greg was an integral part of the Lowbrow scene and was immediately supportive and enthusiastic. His support and interest helped hundreds (thousands?) of artists and other creative types’ careers blossom. Everyone he ever interacted with benefited, and he never took—he just gave. I would honestly say that he and his circle created an entire genre of art. F. Scott Hess: A couple of days after he died, I was trying to think of anyone else I’d ever known in the art world who was so energetic, engaged, and generous. There is no one. He seemed to be everywhere at once, getting to every opening, event and party. If he found your artwork to be of value, he worked to help you get it shown. The sheer number of artists whose lives he has touched is astronomical. I’ve always thought of him as the “Guru of Lowbrow.” Where would that movement be without him? Shepard Fairey: I feel really indebted to Greg for his support on many fronts, and I’m going to miss him. He was a great guy, and right up until he died, he was dropping gifts off and offering me walls where I could do murals. I won’t be doing as many cool things without him around, and the entire art scene will be missing somebody who facilitated so many good projects that we all benefit from. Nathan Spoor: Greg was actually the one great binding agent that made this Los Angeles art scene interesting. He was a tireless proponent for the arts,

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Art by: Robert Williams

“I want to do art shows in a museum that should never be there. You should never have black velvet in a museum.” –Greg Escalante with non-stop enthusiasm for artists, and fun ideas that fed into the art scene that he loved and helped to nurture. Eric White: He was a kind and generous person with a keen eye and unique perspective, and was highly supportive of artists who would have had a hard time breaking into the orthodox art world. It’s so hard to believe he's gone and that I can’t just reach out to him right now. His presence will be felt for a long time, and his contributions will have a lasting impact. Luke Chueh: His desire to help artists was on a level I don't often encounter. Most people will help as long as they get something out of it, but Greg's

Art by (from left): Mark Ryden, Shepard Fairey

enthusiasm seemed genuine and sincere. From what I could tell, he had his fingers in all sorts of projects around the West Coast. Though Lowbrow is the genre often associated with him, his personal collection was much more diverse. John Swihart: He was so well-connected and I always joked that Greg had a magic lantern he would rub and the magic would always happen. Whenever he would call, I would wonder what fun and wonderful ride he was about to take me on. He would sometimes drop by for a visit full of amazing stories of his newest synergistic adventures. After he would leave, the house would be buzzing with his positive energy for hours.

Niagara: Graham Greene once said that what lengthens a person's life is travel. What lengthened Greg's life was his friends. Long Gone John: There are many reasons why he was loved… number one being he was a kind, generous man and seemingly a happy and contented soul… that will be echoed in every single tribute you read here and will never be up for debate. I had an immense affection for Greg and he will be greatly missed by every fortunate soul who ever crossed his path. Bob Dob: He loved helping artists. If you were standing around at a show he would always come by and say hello and then find someone of importance for you to meet who could possibly further your career. Greg promoted that art can be strong conceptually and be well crafted. Van Arno: Greg realized that art should be visually exciting and not an exercise in academic deconstruction of deconstruction. Talking to him made me appreciate his breadth of knowledge and his accessible spirit and passion. He fought a multi-front battle to make art fun as an engrossing experience. When you go to an art opening and see young people on a date, he was a big part of making that happen. Bad Otis Link: He told me about imaging and creating a future that was better and more

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Art by (clockwise from top): Shag, Chet Zar, Elizabeth McGrath, Natalia Fabia

stimulating than the past. Greg Escalante was my friend. He was real, generous and shared his world with all of us. I respect everything about him. Natalia Fabia: One of the things that comes to mind was his ability to put people together that was so selfless; connecting artists with galleries and collectors and other artists in such positive ways. He was this tall, goofy lighting rod for all of us. Robbie Conal: The world needs enthusiasts. Greg Escalante was a world-class enthusiast. When Greg liked something, he loved it! We can all be grateful that he acted on his love of street art and understood its cultural significance. He was a truly generous soul. Chet Zar: He loved to connect artists as much as he loved collecting art. Greg was not into the art scene to make money. He did it purely for the love. There is really no other person like him in the art community and his absence will leave a huge hole in the center of all of our hearts. Marnie Weber: He really wanted the artists to be happy. Whenever I would see Greg, he was always the same—funny, friendly, and super interested in what I was doing. He later was instrumental in having me appear in Juxtapoz. He actually seemed as thrilled about me being in the magazine as I was. Elizabeth McGrath: He would call me at all hours. He obsessively had to complete the big picture. He fearlessly fostered an environment that forced people to crack out of their shells and that birthed a lot of this movement. Shag: Greg bought more art than anyone I know— which is probably the best way to support an artist. He also was one of the funniest people I know. At one point, he carried around a giant fake finger in his car. If somebody flipped him off while driving, he would slip the giant finger over his middle finger, and make a grand, overly dramatic unveiling of his enormous bird. Dosshaus: There are hundreds, if not thousands, of other artists who will nod in agreement when we say, “We owe it all to Greg Escalante.” And, like us, they’ll mean every word of it. His incredible legacy is in the art he fostered, his generosity of spirit, and in the fact that he gave so freely of his time and influence to help spotlight the art and artists he loved. He took a genuine, almost paternal joy in the art community around him, a community he largely cultivated. Lola Gil: He had an ease about him, and I very genuinely loved to hear about his experiences and fascinating stories. We all can only strive to be like him; he was born with a rare and truly selfless gene that is untouchable. He’s an important figure who birthed, moved, and nurtured this little art world we

Art by: Marnie Weber

have all been lucky to grow within. It’s become bigger than life today. I owe everything to Greg and his constant support. And I can say that is the case for most artists I know. Moira Hahn: Earlier this year, Greg invited me to go paddle boarding. I wasn’t dressed for it, but that made it even more goal-worthy not to fall in. Greg’s instructions were super brief, so I just followed his

example. After I’d managed to stay upright and dry for an hour or so, he paddled over to a pier and took stills and a video of my fully dressed adventure. It was so fun I will probably spend the rest of my life paddle boarding, imagining him up ahead, guiding me, with perfect form. Michael Knowlton: I loved going out with him to art events. He was always so selfless. He would grab

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a person and walk them across the room through the crowd and introduce them to the perfect curator, surf shop owner, or like-minded artist that would be a genius coupling. He would make the introductions with a quick one-sentence description of each person and leave the two to talk. He knew the alchemy of people as well as he knew art and business, so the introductions were always inspired. Doing this all the time made him an art world Johnny Appleseed. Anthony Ausgang: Greg was incredibly enamored of artists, and I really think he preferred to spend more time with them than the people buying the work. Some gallerists are like that; their amazement and respect for artists comes before sales. It’s a rare thing. Gary Baseman: He seemed to be everywhere, at every gathering and gallery opening. He was such a face in the LA art scene for so long. He was at the forefront of legitimizing a particular kind of painting that didn’t go through the traditional art school-gallery-museum circuit.

L. Croskey: I will forever be grateful to Greg Escalante for believing in me, my eye, and my curatorial skills. His support and guidance have been integral in my life and getting me to where I am today.

“Yes, my friend...” –Greg Escalante Marion Peck: I wanted to work with him because I liked the way he was excited about making culture happen. He was very unselfish and genuine. I admired his energy. I liked talking about art with him… he was funny, not full of it, the way so many people are when they talk about art.

Nicola Verlato: I think Greg was one of those people who had a very clear mind that life without the presence of art is just miserable, but also that art without any reference to real life is absolutely worthless. The two terms have to meet in the work itself. Art has to become something important for everybody and life has to be open for art to blossom everywhere possible. Jeff Gillette: I feel deeply indebted to Greg Escalante for pretty much starting my art career. The first time I “met” Greg, he had scheduled a studio visit, but I became unavailable at the last minute. So I asked a friend, who was also named Jeff, to pretend to be me, and lo and behold, Greg offered “me” my first LA solo show. Later, when we really met, he was surprised to find out that I was the real artist, not the person he had talked to before. Todd and Kathy Schorr: Before Juxtapoz and the internet would turn a fledgling art movement into what would become a global phenomenon known as Lowbrow, there was Greg and a handful of other aficionados who would become the movement’s first ardent supporters and patrons. He was always an active participant on the scene in those early days, leading all the way up until the present. He was always at our shows throughout the years, and never lost his enthusiasm for the artists he admired, which was an eclectic group, to say the least. Jorge Gutierrez: I joked with him that he was my art world “papa,” and I can still hear his inimitable laugh. I loved pitching him painting ideas like they were movies. He would always nod; no idea was ever too crazy or subversive enough. I would get the most profound or sweetest or raunchiest texts at the craziest of times. In my mind, he never slept. The thing I will remember the most about him is the way he brought people of all kinds together with art. And it made him giddy. We should all be so lucky to live a life like his. Ron English: Sadly, the true depth of a soul's impact on the world is only realized by the expanse of the void they leave behind. I was well aware of the warmth and wit of his company and the optimistic nature of his existence. What I did not fully realize in his lifetime is that I was not the sole beneficiary of his generosity and beautiful spirit. Of course, I was not unaware of his impact on others and on the scene that was ours, but I truly had little concept of how large his spirit loomed. He was truly the heart and soul of our community. There will never be another. Suzanne Williams: He was the most tireless champion of artists and he actually couldn’t help himself from helping others. He spent all of his time hooking them up with something and took pleasure in that. He was so tireless, he just wore himself out, and now he gets to sleep.

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Art by: Marion Peck

Art by (clockwise from top left): Nicola Verlato, Todd Schorr, Jeff Gillette

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Smithe Learning and Loving Life Interview & portrait by Alex Nicholson

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t one point during my conversation with Smithe, he insisted that he doesn’t like to give advice because he isn’t good at it, only to follow the declaration with some good, practical counsel of his own. “It is always better to do than to speak.” As the day went on, I understood these are words he clearly lives by. Between a design studio, clothing brand, gallery, playing in a band and touring the world painting murals and participating in exhibitions, Smithe is always doing something. His response also illustrates the light hearted, humble attitude with which he reacts to accomplishments and interacts with friends, fans, and collaborators. Smithe lives, works, and paints in the historic center of Mexico City. Still fairly affordable, but quickly changing, Centro Historico is a hectic, bustling commotion of working people and crowds of tourists that, at times, rivals a busy Times Square. The Copete Cohete office, a design studio where he partners with the artist Pogo, serves

as mission control for anything and everything. Clothing for Tony Delfino, the brand he started with Jesus Benitez in 2008, fills a back room where it is packaged and shipped to those not able to visit the nearby storefront. In the main office, overlooking the street below, employees are busy creating animations, illustrations, and branding for commercial clients or planning exhibitions at TOBA Gallery, the space adjacent to Tony Delfino. Smithe used to paint in the same space, but recently decided to rent a separate studio, a few blocks away, where he is hoping, once the businesses become more self-sufficient, to devote more time to his paintings and personal work. Alex Nicholson: What are the earliest things you remember creating? Smithe: The first things that I started drawing were replicas of Dragon Ball Z. When I was 11 or 12 years old, there was a boom of the anime in Mexico and I was drawn to the characters. Then, in school, we had this class called Technical Drawing, which basically taught you how to use rulers, squares,

and pencils to draw geometric figures, blueprints or objects with their different perspectives. I really enjoyed that and still use several things that I learned from it in my drawings. Are there other books, magazines, or movies that had a big impact? Everything in general! I am very graphic and I like to see all the details in images, from Manga to mechanical books. One that had a big influence was an encyclopedia that my dad collected in the ‘80s called Salvat Automobile Encyclopedia. It was my favorite when I was a child. At your recommendation, I visited the magnificent murals at Palacio de Bellas down the street from your studio. Who is your favorite of the Mexican muralists? Jorge González Camarena is my favorite. Both his technique, as well as the color palette and topics are awesome, very advanced for the year in which he was making them. You told me your parents were always supportive, finding you things to draw with, even if they were simple. How important was that encouragement? Yes, my parents were always very supportive, even in my graffiti stage. I got into trouble quite easily and they still helped me so I could do whatever I wanted. When did you decide that you wanted to try and make a living as an artist? I think it was when I obtained my first design job. It was for a Mexican skateboard brand called Aztlan, which is still around. It was my first opportunity to earn some money from my designs, and afterwards, it became clearer to me that it was possible to work in what interested me. I never envisioned doing fine art, I was always more focused on design and illustration. Do you feel like you have to do something creative every day? Not always. I have production or preparation stages before starting work every day. What does happen to me is that I always have to be doing something. With my studio Copete Cohete, the clothing brand Tony Delfino, my gallery TOBA, and my band Stendal, I always have something new to do that keeps me active every day. I hope in the coming years to be able to focus more on my personal work and, little by little, give myself some space from all the other responsibilities. With so many different projects going on simultaneously, how do you stay motivated? I try to get out of my comfort zone and look for different things to inspire me to change the way I do things. I have been stuck in what I’m doing for some time and I need to think a little bit more about my graphics, give them a different twist from what I have done in the past.

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Left: Pardalls, Acrylic on canvas, 31.5” x 35.5”, 2015

Above: Banano’s Bar, Acrylic on canvas, 15.75” x 20”, 2016

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You have to make lots of quick decisions as a business owner, designer, muralist, and artist. Do you find that easy, and are you a naturally decisive person? Yes, you have to be cold sometimes and think about the future. Running a gallery was a very tough decision that costs me a lot of time, but I’m also gaining a lot of experience. I keep on learning and like what we have done with it. With the gallery, you are trying to create a place for local artists to show their work. You must have a lot of young artists who ask you for advice. What do you tell them? I try to never give advice. I am so bad at it. When people do ask me what to do and how we came to where we are, what I always tell them is to never stop, to continue to produce and do stuff. The worst thing that can happen is that nobody sees it but you have already done it. It is always better to do than to speak. Along the way, did you ever feel discouraged or like you might not succeed? I don’t like to think about whether I have been successful or not. I like to measure it more by the things that I have accomplished during these years and the things that have materialized and are still here. There are a lot of dead projects that never came out as I had planned, but I know there’s time to accomplish them in the future. Are the design studio, clothing brand and gallery things you always wanted to do, or did they just happen along the way? Everything has happened slowly, with very calm steps. The clothing brand was for fun and to have a good time making T-shirts for our friends. We never planned for these things, they just happened. It’s the same with the gallery and illustration studio—in talks and meetings, the ideas come out and then we start acting upon them. I like the fact that I have not planned for a lot of what we have accomplished. Earlier you mentioned the hope that now that these things are close to running on their own, you will have time to focus on your personal work. What pushes you to keep changing things up? Yes, finally, after being torn to pieces for every project, each one is working on its own and I am happy for that. To be honest, I want to focus more on my graphics and art in general. I wish I could explore more things that I have not been able to accomplish as Smithe, and I think I have in mind what the next steps are. Any hints? I really want to explore my stuff on a 3D level. I want to leave flat work surfaces for a while and start putting more depth into my work. You’ve been a part of the band Stendal for a while now. What are the differences creatively between playing music and painting?

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Above: Astronomy Domine, Smithe x Dems One, Mexico City, 2016

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It is very different. You have to communicate with a lot more people, not with words, but to reply with sounds. When we make or try to make music, there’s nothing written, we do live rehearsals, and it stays that way. We listen, and if we don’t like it, the four of us continue to work. It’s a process totally different from painting, another side of me that I like to keep active. What part of the process is similar? Maybe when you have an idea in your mind but never expect the final outcome. What I first imagine is always different from the final product. Do you improvise a lot when you paint? I improvise almost always. Sometimes I will plan

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things if a piece is commissioned, but, for the most part, there are no sketches. Lately, I have been wanting to change that and dedicate more time to planning the construction of my work and see how far it can go. What is the most rewarding part of the creative process? Seeing how an idea is born from scratch. The process is what I enjoy most, more than seeing them finished. For example, sometimes a small change in color will change the attitude of everything that you have done, and I like that, never knowing what the final plan is and being surprised along the way.

You have focused on mental disorders, inner demons and other psychological states in your work. What has inspired that focus on the mind and brain? I think that painting is my therapy and, as a result, I show what I am feeling in my work. I do not do any mental exercises or anything like that. When I am drawing and painting is when I have time to think about me and what I want to do in the future. Unintentionally, I think that is reflected in the work. Does believing you have something to say and something that people should see mean attaining a certain level of confidence? How do you see the relationship between the ego and the artist? The ego is something to be respected. I think that,

Left: Haenim, Acrylic on canvas, 23.5” x 35.5”, 2016 Top right: Undeniable, Acrylic on canvas, 31.5” x 35.5”, 2016 Bottom right: Centurion, Acrylic on canvas, 80” × 80”, 2016

in the end, we are all humans and we are all equal, but we all have different capacities. The ego sometimes can help and support an idea, but it can also sink if you don’t know how to handle it. I don’t like to speak a lot about the ego in my work. Are there specific things you want to communicate in your work, or do you prefer it when people come up with their own interpretations? What I like to know is that it makes them think, for them to wonder as to why or how I did it, because it’s always fun when they tell you about their own interpretations. Sometimes it surprises me how each one of them reads what I do. I think that’s what I look for; that for a moment, they forget what they have on their minds and wonder. Collaboration is a big part of many mural projects, and you are constantly surrounded by others in the office. How important is it for you to have a good community of other creative people around? I don’t know, I love working with a lot of people. That’s my way of working, to always be surrounded by creative people and do things together. I can’t imagine being alone working in my studio. It wouldn’t be me. I think I would be bored by now and end up doing something else, ha ha. Obviously there is the scale, but how else does your creative process differ from working on a painting in the studio and working on a mural? They are totally two different worlds. One is super hermetic and personal, while, with the other one, you have to adapt to the environment, the people, the space, and even the weather to accomplish the mission. I have been in many different situations, and painting outside always varies so much. Each wall is different. Painting in the studio is much more controlled and you set your own limits for how much time you want to spend on a piece. When you are painting at festivals with large walls, time is always very tight to complete the work. I am already tired with that and I think I will be leaving that a bit. Mexico City has a long and influential artistic history. What do you think it is about the city that attracts creative people and inspires artists? I think that a city is always full of information, movement, noise, and people. At this time, Mexico City is having a moment where it is growing in a creative way. Distrito Federal (Greater Mexico City) has a lot of history and it is very cheap to live and have a studio, in comparison to other big cities. The artistic scene is growing and that makes me happy.

city, I get that too. I think what I have a hard time with is how to handle the massive amount of people and cars, the total chaos. You would not want to ride your bike across town. It is a real problem.

What do you love most about the city as an artist, and what do you dislike? I have always loved my city. Since I was a kid, I have been very influenced by wandering the streets and getting lost. By having my studio in the heart of the

It’s been a few months since the devastating earthquake. Is there discouragement and fear about the future, or are you encouraged by everyone coming together to help in the healing and rebuilding?

Right: Unaware 2, Acrylic on canvas, 31.5” x 39.5”, 2016

Like any natural disaster, it took us aback, but for a moment, we realized what we were really capable of. Being able to take care of each other, seeing how people helped others without expecting the government's support. I'm still amazed by this. Mexicans have the notion in our culture to help in the worst scenarios and we demonstrated this on the 19th of September, 2017. smitheone.tumblr.com

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Kip Omolade Heavy Metal Deity Interview by Ron English Portrait by Bryan Derballa

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Above: Diovadiova Chrome Kitty Cash III, Oil on canvas, 48” x 60”, 2015

I haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting Kip Omolade face-to-face, but I have certainly pondered the faces he has made. I have always been mesmerized by reflective surfaces and fully understand the complexities of painting oil on canvas to mimic light on metal. The heft of Kip’s art stems from its elemental expression of mystery in simplicity and of specificity into universal patterns and form. Ron English: How personal is your art? Kip Omolade: My art is deeply personal. The use of color is directly connected to my NYC graffiti days. The sci-fi look is connected to my childhood and teenage interest in comic books and my internship at Marvel Comics. The use of oil paint is connected to my painting from life at SVA and the Art Students League of New York. Your inspiration comes from the African art tradition of mask making. Have you retained any of the original inspiration, like magical thinking or

power imbuing in your modern interpretation? I’m inspired by the African representation of deities. The Nigerian Ife culture specifically created sculptures that combined the natural features of actual leaders and a spiritual ideal. With my latest self-portraits, I’m exploring the role of an artist as a sort of deity. How important are the details in the reflections? Do they constitute a primary or a secondary narrative? It depends. I usually work within two motifs.

Above left: Diovadiova Chrome Kip IX, Oil on canvas, 8” x 18”, 2017 Above right: Diovadiova Chrome Joyce III, Oil on canvas, 48” x 48”, 2016

Sometimes I’m interested in a spiritual, timeless look, so I’ll position my sculptures so that the reflections are reduced to abstract shapes and colors. Other times, I’ll take my sculptures outside so I can get reflections of the world and me. This approach gives me a chance to capture a specific moment in time and make a landscape, a portrait and a still life all in one painting. People always look for themselves in reflections. How do you exploit this human inclination? I don’t know if I consciously try to exploit people’s need to see themselves in reflections. I’m more interested in representing mere human existence. However, some people see my work online and think I just mount sculptures against colorful backgrounds. I suppose that when they see the work in person, they expect to see themselves but are surprised to see that the work is a painting. There is a dichotomy between the work of art as a unique object and a work of art as an illustration of something else. You seem to be trying to balance these two artistic strategies in your work. Am I reading this correctly? Yes. I want viewers to notice the beauty of my work and my craftsmanship, but I also want to

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Above: Diovadiova Chrome Karyn IV, Oil on canvas, 24” x 36”, 2015

Above left: Diovadiova Chrome Karyn VIII, Oil on canvas, 9” x 12”, 2017 Above right: Diovadiova Chrome Karyn IX, Oil on canvas, 9” x 12”, 2017 Below left: Diovadiova Chrome Diana III, Oil on canvas, 36” x 48”, 2014 Below right: Diovadiova Chrome Kip X, Oil on canvas, 18” x 24”, 2017

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illustrate the historical significance and cultural meaning. One of the things I appreciate about your work is that it’s skillfully done and captures the viewer’s attention, but there is also a message about society. Have you ever thought of doing the reverse version to create a model that would be the inverse of the face? Then you could stage a more

internal narrative in the room that would reflect into it, for a counterpoint piece. That’s an interesting idea. I’ve never thought of that. Have you considered selling the masks themselves? What is your idea of prop versus art piece? Yes, I’ve thought of selling the masks themselves. During the process, I’ve always thought about

“For the sculptures of women I add eyelashes to match their personalities.”

displaying them as luxury items. In fact, when I’m finished with the sculptures, I usually ceremoniously mount each piece against a panel with my Diovadiova logo on it. I look at props as part of the art. The whole process itself of reproducing a reproduction of a reproduction of a reproduction of a reproduction of a reproduction is a kind of performance art. Describe your process, including fabrication and photography as you arrive to the final end piece, which is the painting. I start by making a mold and cast of the model’s face. I work the plaster sculpture by sculpting eyes and nostrils and refining the overall face. I use the sculpture to produce a resin version that is chromed. For the sculptures of women, I add eyelashes to match their personalities. I photograph the final sculpture and use references to paint on canvas. What's the largest work you've done so far? My largest painting so far is 96 x 74 inches. What monumental or fantasy project would you want to do if money and time were no object? I would love to travel the world and photograph my self-portrait chrome sculpture in various locales. I would also love to work on portraits of iconic people like Obama, Beyonce, Rihanna and Chuck Close. How has your experience working within the gallery system been? The gallery system is a relatively new experience for me. I’ve been working independently and made more money on my own selling directly to clients. It’s fun to get all of the money directly, but there is something that’s still powerful about working with the infrastructure of an established gallery. They still have the connections and power to sell, so the artist can focus on creating. This is why my upcoming Diovadiova Chrome show at Jonathan LeVine marks an important moment in my career. Who is collecting your work and what are they seeing in the work as opposed to your original intentions? Has your interaction with the public changed your approach in any way? Most of my collectors are entrepreneurs who are interested in the universal look of my work. They pretty much get my original intentions of cultural ties but they also make an emotional connection. Earlier this year, I had a show at Viacom in NYC and was happy with the reactions from so many different people from different nationalities and backgrounds. The experience didn’t change my approach but it was meaningful and confirmed my vision. Kip Omolade’s newest solo show, Diovadiova Chrome, is on view at Jonathan LeVine Gallery through December 16, 2017.

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Left: Diovadiova Chrome Kip IV, Oil on canvas, 72” x 96”, 2016

Above: Diovadiova Chrome Karyn III, Oil on canvas, 36” x 48”, 2014

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Gustav Klimt Hanging with Rodin at the Legion of Honor Interview by Gwynned Vitello

or those whose perception of Gustav Klimt is confined to Woman in Gold, and to Vienna as decadent home of cafes and pastry, please keep reading. Such knowledge might accumulate points in Family Feud, but will assuredly leave you deficient in fully appreciating this artist who confessed to painting “Day in and day out, from morning till evening,” mostly centered in a place called the City of Dreams and City of Music. The Austrian artist comes to the West Coast for the first time, including two of his seven-foot panels reproduced from the stunning Beethoven Frieze. Many of the pieces are making their initial trip to the United States in Klimt & Rodin: An Artistic Encounter. Currently showing at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, the paintings are arranged amidst the museum’s vast collection of Rodin sculptures, the better to experience two audacious artists, as well as a collection of their erotic drawings. I spoke with Viennese born and bred, Max Hollein, CEO and Director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Right: Nuda Veritas, Oil on canvas, 99.25 “x 22.125”, 1899, Österreichisches Theatermuseum. Courtesy Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

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Gwynned Vitello: I think it would be helpful to know a little more about Gustav Klimt’s Vienna. I know there was a building boom and I think it was the fifth largest metropolis. Max Hollein: Vienna, at that time, I think you could argue, was the most important city of Europe, and I would say the capital of Europe, in the sense that it was the seat of the Emperor and the capital of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. What made Vienna so fascinating was that it was full of so many different influences. So you had something very exciting on one hand, but also something

boiling, which later, of course, resulted in a big war and the demise of the Austrian empire. But Vienna in the late 19th century was really the place to be if you had artistic ambitions, including music, literature and theater. This environment, in this case, similar to Paris, also infrastructurally reinvented itself with the big boulevards. Vienna erased the big fortifications around the inner district, creating the broad, circular Ringstrasse Boulevard. And this provided Klimt his first opportunity as an artist? There was an enormous amount of building, which you will still see if you visit, like the famous Vienna Opera House. This required very lavish visual decorations, and so if you talk about Klimt at the beginning of his career, he was very gifted, but still more or less a fancy salon kind of artist. With his brother, he formed a kind of artist’s collective, where the best artists were basically doing the frescoes in the theater, still in a vague, kind of classical 19th century tradition. If you were to look at the buildings, would you have been able to tell his work apart from his brother’s? No. It would be completely indecipherable. His brother died young, and we don’t know how he would have developed if he would have followed with his brother. His father wanted him to have a profession, so he and his brother were trained in that special kind of craft, to really learn to paint. Would he have been considered a fine artist at that time?

Above: The Arts, Paradise Choir, and The, Embrace (detail of Beethoven Frieze),Casein, paint, chalk, graphite, applied plaster, and various, appliqué materials, 84.7” x 189.4”, 1902, Oesterreichische Galerie im Belvedere, Vienna, Austria © Belvedere, Vienna

He was seen to be in line as one of the great classical artists, supposedly the successor to Hans Makart, who influenced him in the lavish allegorical imagery of the time. Then, what happened next is fascinating in that Klimt, already perceived to be at the height of his career, basically pivoted. How did that happen? He got the commission to paint the ceiling of the Great Halls of the University of Vienna in what are known as the “Faculty Paintings,” which was one of the most prestigious commissions you could get. While doing that, he had, not a crisis, but this inkling that he could no longer cater to whatever had been commissioned. Rather than paint “the more favorable aspects of reality” he wanted to show what was really happening in the world. When professors saw the paintings, they literally rejected them, saying “This is not us, this is not where we are going!” Although he was not addressing them personally, he was trying to express the dark side, the angst of life. He literally took back the panels, finished them himself and paid back the commissions. We show a reproduction because the originals were destroyed by fire during the Second World War. This was also when he was developing a philosophy of the “sensibility of the individual,” and embracing a synthesis of the arts. Is this when he formed the Secession? He basically became the spearhead of avant garde in Vienna and headed the group who separated from the Viennese Artists’ Society to form the Secession, a group who no longer wanted to exhibit in the more classical environment. They generated their own propaganda machine, saying more or less, “We are coming, we are the different ones,” as they created their own program and posters, with associates from other countries, one of whom was Rodin. Klimt’s design for the poster to advertise the first Secession exhibit depicts a naked Theseus battling the Minotaur, a battle of the old and new. A large empty space occupies the center, with text compressed in the lower, demonstrating his innovative design. With his “Faculty Paintings” labeled as pornographic, he had a reputation as an enfant terrible. We could call him a sort of rebel? In the sense that he was of the next generation. Frank Gehry would be an interesting comparison. If you look at his career, in the beginning, he was more of a commercial architect, but then developed a cutting edge, a different kind of style, and became the pioneer of deconstructive architecture. Klimt paved the way as he kind of switched sides in what was really a substantial move. What’s fascinating is that, on the other hand, though he no longer took any sort of public commissions, he became the leading portraitist of Viennese society. Did all the governments pay commissions to artists for public works?

Right: Portrait of Ria Munk III (Bildnis Ria Munk III), 1917 (unfinished), Oil on canvas, 180 x 90 cm, The Lewis Collection

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You had the same thing in Paris and Prague, for example, and you can see it traveling through Europe. What changed were the kinds of commissions in the 16th century, when they were originally from the church and nobility. When the cities wanted to show their wealth and power, it was in the unprecedented spree of really important buildings, and that was where the action was. Klimt was at the epicenter but he still had this kind of understanding of Viennese art at the time, which set it apart. With the Jugendstil movement, you don’t look at one singular piece—architecture, music, painting, and sculpture are all one. Why was Vienna such a force and how did that create Klimt? On the one hand, you have the Hapsburgs Empire already in its demise, so what empires do to hold onto a common denominator is something where power that represents stability can be expressed, especially to the aristocratic class. The Hapsburgs excelled in a long tradition of collecting, and given Vienna’s location in Central Europe, it was culturally charged, but also culturally charged at a time when the establishment probably was new. The Jewish community was coming into wealth. You had Sigmund Freud, you had Arthur Schnitzler, the most important theater writer of the time. This kind of energy was absorbed by the art in a very productive

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“Truth is like fire; to tell the truth means to glow and burn.” —Gustav Klimt way, and it creates a whole new series of opportunities, possibilities and challenges. So I would see Klimt, and see the insurrection in his painting. He and Egon Schiele portrayed not just aristocrats; there were new individuals setting the agenda. Would you say he was radical? He was, of course, obsessed by beauty on the one hand, but also was extremely radical in his compositions; the format of the dissolution of the object became extremely symbolist. It was psychologically fraught and could almost put you off balance. People just love the Portrait of Sonja Knips. It is sheer beauty because what he’s done is that the left half of the painting is basically darkness, a composition that before would have been filled, let’s say, with flowers. She’s sitting there, and obviously he likes her face, but the meaning is in the opalescent textures of the dress, punctuated by a red notebook. Tell us about the Naked Truth. Nuda Veritas was absolutely a radical painting at that time. This is not allegorical, this is not Eve,

this is basically a naked woman—holding a mirror before her. In the tall, vertical format, Klimt answers his critics with the words of the poet Friedrich von Schiller, “If you cannot please everyone with your deeds and your art, please the few; it is bad to please the many.” Later, in Goldfish, a woman looks over her shoulder, but the focus is on her bare derriere as Klimt basically tell his critics, “If you don’t like it, kiss my ass.” While he was trained in painting, he didn’t have an extensive education or study with a master, but, early in his career, he met a woman who was kind of muse and mentor his entire life. He had liaisons with many different women, and he primarily painted women, but his relationship with Emilie Floge was especially intense. They spent summers together and their letters go back and forth. So he was, to a certain extent, Bohemian, but also catered to the bourgeois crowd. It’s certainly the life he wanted to live, this dual life while living in the city, then spending a good deal of time in the countryside, which a lot of them did. It was a typical

Above left: Portrait of a Lady, 1917–1918, Oil on canvas, 26.375” x 22”. Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz, Austria / Bridgeman Images Above right: Portrait of Sonja Knips, 1898, Oil on canvas, 57.125” x 57.5”, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna

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lifestyle for this crowd. But I still think of Klimt as kind of a renegade. Although he and his brother came out of a trio of artists, he never painted with a workshop or assistants, so his output is very small, something along the lines of 250 signed works. I guess that’s not surprising, since painting was a solitary practice for him, and he didn’t take on students. He’s seen as the most famous and important visual artist from Austria, but there are very few Klimts around because, yes, his body of work is so small, and very early on were in a lot of institutions, and this contributes to the mythology. What I find interesting is that he had a hard time finishing his work, and at a point in his career, he approached the possibility that unfinished work is actually finished, and he was exhibiting these works. I think he was assessing himself, asking if they need more, and if they incorporate the sheer essence of what he was trying to convey. It’s an interesting approach and there is an avant-gardism in that some of these unfinished paintings are extremely fresh. We’ve talked about his allegorical works and female portraits, so when did he start the landscapes? Did he paint those as a way to unwind?

They really started with the whole battle over the “Faculty Paintings” and him feeling kind of attacked. He started going to the countryside, to relax and to find something different. If you compare him to Van Gogh, he was tackling some really big issues, which Van Gogh never did. Klimt went on to the most mundane subjects, like a garden of flowers, so he had this whole breadth of topics, which was fairly unusual for an artist of this era. Out of a traditional kind of painting, like Philosophy and the Beethoven Frieze, then he finds truth and expression in the most beautiful, if commonplace, things. You don’t find that from artists of the time, and Klimt tried to reinvent the canon with this whole breadth of platforms of expression. His approach to landscapes was different, like cutting a hole in a piece of cardboard and looking through his “searcher.” He wrote about that, but I think the important aspect of the landscapes, besides them being beautiful, is that the square format was unusual. They have this flatness which is utterly fascinating. Trees, lawn, the building all flatten so that he negates any kind of perspective or three dimensionality in that context. What he achieves in neglecting any kind of perspective is that the whole

piece is neither naive, nor precious, but becomes ornamental by itself and has these different textures so that it possesses its own magic, as well as a kind of humility. Then there are the erotic drawings, and you have a lot of them on display at this exhibit. A lot of artists made them, and I think, for him, it was really something he did to loosen up, actually, a rather extreme obsession, and he did these drawings continuously. I don’t have the ratio, but I’d say that roughly 80 percent of his drawings are women, a lot of them are enacted in various sexual positions, some masturbating, others are at times, of two women. These are highly intense erotic moments, very intimate. While Klimt’s paintings, coming out of the symbolist tradition, use a certain kind of formula and indicate his love for mosaic, the drawings are sheer reduction in how they’re laid out, some undecipherable but extremely beautiful and completely sensual. Some of his quotes reference Japanese art, so I imagine this was an influence on much of his art. If you look at the Japanese woodcuts or landscapes, they have different objects and scenes that appear almost glued to one another, as if there’s no transition between the foreground, middle and background. That’s certainly an influence, though the execution is completely different. He didn’t seem to travel extensively, but his trip to Ravenna had an impact, didn't it? He wrote in his diary that he was fascinated by the Ravenna mosaics and the possibilities of gold, which became this sort of ornamental use in his works. What was important to him was that the gold was reflective, that it shined, but basically intensified and compounded the view. It almost radiates in a certain way and is something that pulls different areas together. I’m curious, after landscapes and all the female subjects, why he painted The Baby towards the end of his life. Well, it’s an unusual composition because of the intense interest in the fabrics. I think it’s something that comes with the viewpoint. He’s obviously influenced, noting the strange perspective he applies, by photography here. He seemed to like the innocence of the baby as a motif, this pristine, identifiable baby with a complex and unidentifiable wall surrounding it. I have to ask, were caftans a typical fashion for men of the day? No. That design by his partner, Emilie Floge, was very unusual. It has a Greek mythology feel, but it is definitely a fashion statement. Klimt & Rodin: An Artistic Encounter is on view at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor through January 28, 2018

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Left: Baby (Cradle), 1917–1918, Oil oncanvas, 110 x 110 cm, National Gallery of Art,Washington, Gift of Otto and Franciska Kallir with the help of the Carol and Edwin Gaines Fullinwider Fund

Above: Alley in front of Castle Chamber, 1912, Oil on canvas, 43.25” x 43.25”, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Artothek /Bridgeman Images

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THIS IS THEN AND THIS IS NOW Interview by Evan Pricco Portrait by Kyle Dorosz

The city is a living, breathing entity and from above, the perspective that Daniel Rich approaches in his image-making creates fluid interpretations of the landscape. Am I looking at New York City? Is that Tokyo? Does it matter? As Rich puts it, his overall goal in making works based around cities and architecture is to have “a dialogue about changing political power structures, failed utopias, the impacts of ideological struggles, war and natural upheavals.” Every city’s history relates to change, failed ideas and overlapping architectural eras mixed with historic relics and smart design. In his paintings, the NYC-based, German-born artist has created a language that functions as both window and mirror, to view the city as a vital portal of the past and future. 120 WINTER 2018

Evan Pricco: After all the hustle and bustle of NYC, you are going to be in North Carolina for a bit preparing for the next solo show, right? Daniel Rich: I’m in a place called West Jefferson, North Carolina. I think it has 1,500 people living in it, barely even a town. It's in the Appalachian Mountains, basically western North Carolina. It's very beautiful. My wife's family owns property here, so the space was just available. We're just going to live here and see what happens. Although you grew up in Germany, you lived in South Carolina later, and then you went to New York City. Give me a little bit of a background of how you got to where you are now. Yeah, I'm sort of stateless. My parents are from London, but I was born in Germany because my dad is a hematologist with the Red Cross and was based there. I lived in Germany until I was 19, and then my dad took a new job in Columbia, South Carolina. I had the choice of staying in Germany or coming to the states. In Germany, I was skateboarding, painting graffiti, and just not really focused on anything in particular. Because things weren’t looking so bright for me, I decided to move to South Carolina and did a year of high school there. Everyone was applying to college and I decided to apply to art school because I always liked to draw

Above left: Guangzhou Circle, Night, Acrylic on Dibond, 59” x 72”, 2017 Above right: Palestinian Meridien Hotel, Baghdad, Acrylic on Dibond, 33” x 32”, 2016

Above: Western District, Hong Kong, Acrylic on Dibond, 30” x 37”, 2016

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Above: Athens, Acrylic on Dibond, 59” x 72”, 2017

and, like I said, I had a background of painting graff. Because South Carolina was such a big culture shock for me, I went to Atlanta to this place called Atlanta College of Art, which doesn't exist anymore, but there was an art school at the time. I was going to study graphic design but then immediately got into painting and printmaking. I didn’t know I would be into that! And then something odd happened where I got some awards, so then I started thinking about graduate school. I wanted to get out of the South. I wanted to live in a city again, one that had a river, transit system, and stuff like that, and for some reason, I decided on Boston. Then I just kept it going. From there, I moved down to New York and just kept working. Maybe the last five years or so, I've been able to support myself just with my work. What was Daniel Rich the graffiti writer like? I was very tight. Actually, when I moved to Atlanta, REVOK was still there, and so I was psyched to see graff on such a level. That was also more of the scene in Atlanta. It was more about painting productions, and then the illegal spots were more like silver pieces. We did a lot of highway spots and things like that, so that's what I did most in Atlanta. When I moved to New York, I didn't have the energy anymore to stay up late. I didn't really paint. I was just more of an observer of graffiti after that. It makes sense because you have such an observational eye for a city in general. I always noticed that people who did graffiti at a young age tend to look at the city differently as they get older. It works with skateboarders, as well. It seems as if you gain a perspective from graffiti so that you understand structure and mass in a certain way. That and growing up in Germany, being really into history and seeing how history and landscapes aren’t there anymore because of war and political change. So, Germany, skating and graffiti led me to being into architecture or just having an appreciation for the built environment. Seeing how buildings connect with each other, I've definitely carried that through into what I'm doing now. This probably isn’t the first time you have had heard commentary that in your paintings, it's like the world has been abandoned. There's something about that absence of people that has a doomsday feel, like what's left behind when we leave.” It’s not necessarily something that I do on purpose, but, for the most part, I do try to make them appear somewhat timeless by editing out references to people. I do know that they come off as being "the day after" kind of look. It’s interesting that I'm not really that aware of it, but I like what people read into them on their own. Depending on where you are in the world, some structures themselves have an inhuman concept, almost like they've come from a different planet and were not positioned organically. Or the way so many buildings and styles clashed after cities were rebuilt after WWII, especially in Germany.

Above right: Stadium, Acrylic on Dibond, 59” x 81”, 2012

So much in Germany was rebuilt and was new, but was also made to look old. You get this ugly modern look that doesn't fit with the rest of the landscape. I guess what I'm really interested in is how history is recorded through architecture, while paintings capture a moment in time. Maybe there's something uncanny about the scene, something strange. That's something I do, add a weirdness to the image, something that's a little unsettling. I look at it like a Trojan Horse because the subject matter, I would say, is 95% politically motivated. Maybe you'll find out the title of the work, the city, and that might introduce some other thoughts into your head as far as what the painting is even about.

Let’s cite an example; for instance, your painting, Athens, from 2017. Talk about the way you choose an image, what your motivations are when picking a city. I had gotten into the Athens cityscape because Athens is this iconic place, the birthplace of democracy, and has undergone so much change in the course of its existence. Also, the contemporary face of Athens is a direct result of the clash between capitalism and communism, because after the civil war in Greece in the late 1940s, it was either going to lead toward a communist system or capitalist system. Basically the government prevailed and wanted a capitalist system, and what they did was

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encourage this building boom in Athens in order to get the workers, the middle class, whatever you want to call it, on their side to vote for them. They encouraged all this building in Athens, building which led to jobs, growth and people making money. It just so happened that the kind of buildings the state encouraged were really simple constructions, these multi-level concrete apartment dwellings. It's this early Modernist idea of architecture, but what was adopted in Athens is just super dense and looks like these stacked concrete blocks. That was the idea. I didn't actually know all of that. The initial idea was this clash of capitalism over communism. What I do is I basically scour the internet for images that I can use. First, I blow up my source image to the size I want the painting to be and print it out on an oversized black and white printer. Then I trace the photograph on to the panel, which is completely covered with a transparent vinyl mask. The tracing is then tidied up with a black ink pen—that way I can fix perspective issues, edit and add to the

image, and so forth. The line drawing on the vinyl covered panel is then "re-drawn" with an exacto blade—every line is scored with a knife. Once the line is cut, I can remove vinyl shapes to be painted in. Once I have scored the line drawing, I mix as many colors based on the image I'm working from as possible—a color for each shape. The shapes are painted in with a squeegee by masking and remasking over the scored line drawing over and over until every shape has been painted in. The large paintings usually have about 300 colors and take about 2-3 months to finish. It goes without saying that seeing your work in person is such a different experience because you actually get to see those layers you are talking about. Yeah, you can see it's actually painted and really cut with those raised edges where it's masked off. I do like that tactile quality, but they really flatten out when you look at them on the screen. They don't read the same way as they do in person, which is a good thing. An 8-by-8-foot painting takes up to 3 months of work to finish, which is ... a little long [sighs].

I love that sigh. It’s meditative, but they do take a long time to make, which is the downside of my practice. I have had assistance in the past from interns, and it does help move me forward faster, but I'm a real stickler about stuff, so if the lines aren't straight, it's not going to fly. I feel like I’m the only one who can do the cutting part. People say, "Oh you should use a vinyl cutter, you should do this or do that," but I just can't see it really working out the same way as just doing them by hand. It would lose the personality. I'm just going with what I know for now. So we talked about Athens, but you have a range of cities and structures you have addressed in your work. What else goes into the picking process? I'm a news junkie, so I listen to the radio a lot and I read the newspaper, and it's about the things that catch my attention. Then I try to seek out images that somehow reference that event or that thing that interests me. For example, the Hong Kong painting I made came about after the Umbrella protests that happened there that were about pro-democracy. I only started working on the whole cityscape works four or five years ago. Before that, I wasn't really doing these really dense compositions, it was more free-standing buildings. The imagery has gone down this road where it's really busy compositions right now. You're not doing the postcard shots, which I think is very refreshing. I definitely don't want to do the postcard shots. That was the thing with the New York City painting, too, the Upper East Side. When you think of NYC, everyone thinks of that skyline. And I don't want to do that. For that work, I took the picture myself, but I do prefer to work from source images just because it's part of the content. I find an image and it's super complex, but I get psyched about it because I see the possibilities of it being a good painting. And you are working with nuance, often a complicated history or turning points in history. They aren’t as literal as seeing sights you are used to seeing. They're definitely a lot more open ended in that way. My painting, Gamcheon Cultural Village, Busan, South Korea, looks like a Lego hillside painting. That was originally a refugee camp from the Korean War that's now become an artists’ village. It also underwent this transformation of being a place of despair, and now it's a tourist attraction. When I first looked at that work, I confused it with something you might see outside out of São Paulo. Yeah, it has a very different history but then adapted the same kind of architectural style. It's just out of necessity: we gotta build a shack and that's how we're going to build a shack. There's a hillside, they'll just climb up the hillside until they're at the top of the hill. I think it's interesting that we share these commonalities all over the world, that as humans, we automatically go to these same kind of styles of shelter.

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Above left: FoxConn, Shenzhen, Acrylic on Dibond, 19” x 21”, 2012

The stadium painting is what first attracted me to your work. I have a fascination with empty stadiums. That one was hell to paint! It’s really hard to paint the seats. It's based off the stadium called the Big Eye in Japan. I'm interested in the fan culture of soccer and how it also brings groups of people together, these very fanatical meetings, a “power of the masses” kind of a thing. A stadium can really exemplify that, and it being empty gives a moment of stillness that I like. I personally got really fascinated with Olympic stadiums after the games. A lot of them aren't used for anything, and they just kind of sit there, especially in locations that aren’t as developed as Los Angeles or London. It's like Chernobyl, these relics left behind. It’s like perfectly sustained ruins. Yep, instantaneous ruins. It will be ruined at some point, like these cityscapes I’m doing. All this stuff that we're building for specific purposes that's now just languishing. Let’s talk about the show, because you are in North Carolina with a purpose.

Above: Amazon Books, Acrylic on Dibond, 77” x 59”, 2013

Yeah, I’m preparing for a show at Peter Blum Gallery in NYC in early Spring, 2018. I'm hopefully going to have eight to ten paintings. Six of them will be large, and then I want to throw in some smaller ones. For your sanity? For my sanity, plus I like having smaller paintings; not only because they go faster, but I just feel like it feels good to make something more immediate. The show, I guess, is inspired by current events. There's all this talk about globalism and anti-globalism, and just the fact that we have already moved past that point of being anti-globalism, I think. We are all in this world together, we're more connected than ever. To be anti-globalist at this point in this country is just ridiculous. That's what the show is going to revolve around. I’ve been working again on the Amazon fulfillment center works, and there will be a couple of those. What I like about an Amazon fulfillment center is that people always think it's a library. It's not a library, it's a warehouse! That made me think about how Amazon is like a future library and how libraries are sort of national heritage sites. For

Amazon to take over this role of being this supplier of the written word I think is really interesting. Also, there's been these key events in history involving destructions of libraries, like the Nazi book burnings and ISIS destroying libraries. I got it in my head that I would make this painting of an Amazon warehouse that was looted or destroyed and then place that next to an image of a pristine one. I’m working on another, bigger Athens painting, I have a big, empty stadium that's based on one in North Korea. I'm doing a painting of worker housing in China that's also like a big cityscape. I like working with these seemingly unconnected images. But then they do all connect on multiple levels, just not overtly. I have been told that I should make more theme-based shows, but for some reason, I can never quite get into that idea. I don't want to make a show that's all the same kinds of building or towers, or this or that. That kind of bores me. History is too chaotic. Daniel Rich’s next solo show will be on view at Peter Blum Gallery in NYC in April, 2018. His book, Windows and Mirrors, is available at danielrich.net.

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Luke Pelletier The Idea Man Interview by Eben Benson Portrait by Brandon Forest Jenson

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Above: Should’ve Seen it Coming for a While, Acrylic on canvas, 32” x 40”, 2017

ostalgia for youth is a potent force, a pure vision of what life could be if only we could return to that place. It disregards harsh realities, while embracing the joy, romanticizing the pain. It turns sensual memories into towering symbols that stay with us forever, shaping the values, goals, and hobbies that bring us joy in adulthood. Luke Pelletier unearths this world and these memories, tempers them, but ultimately invites us to hang out back there with him. Growing up in rural North Carolina, Luke’s reality was shaped and formed by the confluence of punk and skateboarding with traditional American values. His work playfully incorporates sentimentality and Americana, contrasting them with the inner conflicts of growing as a person and as a man.

plans, starting bands, pitching TV shows, learning new instruments, writing better songs, going on tour, making paintings, taking photos, working with my friends, getting fucked over, learning new techniques, collaborating with other people, curating art shows, learning how not to get fucked over, running an offset press, and throwing everything I’ve got into being creative. I’ve always done a million things at the same time. I’ve tried to narrow my focus in the past, but the boredom and restlessness become unrelenting. I don’t really have religion. At least not my parents’ religion. So if I find meaning in anything at all, it’s in the things I make and the work I do. I guess that’s what keeps me going. How does your somewhat traditional background, coming from rural North Carolina, interact with your identity as a skate rat, artist, or idea

man? Growing up, I always felt the tension there, especially with my parents. Where do you see elements of your rural upbringing in your work? I think I always felt like an outsider in North Carolina because I wasn’t actually born there. I moved there when I was seven years old from Tampa, Florida. My parents didn’t know anyone when we moved to Brevard. The town is really small. Everyone knows everyone and they’ve known each other their whole lives. No one ever did anything specific to make me feel like I wasn’t a part of the community, but I always knew I wasn’t. My parents were always real cool about everything. They encouraged me to draw and they let my shitty hardcore band practice in our basement. I knew they thought the stuff I was making was weird and the music sounded like hell, but they just let me be weird. I never got much grief from them, but I got it from everyone else.

Eben Benson: I feel like, with looming adulthood, there's this urgency to work tirelessly towards goals, regardless of whether they’re wanted or valued. You seem scattered, though in a good way, so no one can doubt your prolific work ethic. When did you realize you were unable to or simply unwilling to just work towards something for the sake of working? Luke Pelletier: I think I’ve always had a similarly scattered and driven personality. I loved art, but for a long time, I didn’t really know where art came from or that people could be artists. There aren’t many art museums in the South and if there are, I wasn’t going to them. I never really saw anyone making art around me. It all just seemed really impossible. So it’s hard for me to pinpoint when I realized I wanted to be an artist. Even though I didn’t know about fine art, I knew I didn’t want to work a normal job. So I’d come up with little schemes to make money. When I was a kid, like second grade probably, my school banned Pokemon cards. All the kids had their lunch money or whatever. I’d get a stack of notecards from the library and I’d draw some pretty alright looking trading cards and sell ’em for a dollar each, or three for two. The kids would trade them and try to pay extra for better cards. Pretty soon, I cleared a hundred dollars off of these bootleg Pokemon cards. That was a fortune to me at the time. Then the other kids’ parents started complaining because their kids were coming home hungry after they blew all their money on my cards. I had to have a meeting with the principal and my mom. He told me I had to give all the money to this charity the school was doing. I agreed, but I never did. The little shit that I was, I kept the money and I felt like I outsmarted an authority figure. I just liked all of it. The creativity. The hustle. Breaking rules. Making money. Once I started to realize that I could make things that were fulfilling to me but also operated as a part of some sort of culture, I became hooked. I got hooked on learning to make new things, throwing parties, blacksmithing, taking photos, expressing myself, opening businesses, printmaking, watching my ideas fall apart, coming up with new ones, watching my business fail, doing design work, coming up with new business

Right: Three Times Through, Acrylic on panel, 11” x 14”, 2017

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I had a real problem with a lot of the things I saw growing up in the South, and I had a hard time keeping it to myself. Most of the people I’d hang out with were down to earth, but you didn’t have to look far to see some dumbass with a rebel flag tattoo who felt like he was put on earth to build a wall and keep the government small. Even though I thought I was so much “holier than thou” because I didn’t have a “the south will rise again” bumper sticker, I’d never heard the word feminism until I went to college at SAIC in Chicago. So I had a lot of catching up to do as well.

summer the tourists return and it comes back to life. I still make a lot of art about all of that stuff. You can hear it more in my music and see it more in my pictures, but I’ve always painted pretty heavily about seasonal economies and tourist culture. A lot of my inspiration comes from the flea markets I visit in the South, the hand painted signage, building materials, alligators, and hard work. The South is a complicated place, but it’s where I’m from. I think it’d be hard for me to make anything that doesn’t have some sort of reference to how and where I grew up.

A few years after we moved there, a lot of the factories in the town started closing down. It seemed like the whole town was out of work for a while, and that didn’t help ease any of the tension. But then the town started to rebrand itself as a tourist spot. They cleaned up the downtown area, opened up some bars, and built a bike path. After that, the whole town was operating on a seasonal economy. Every winter the shops close and the town dies, but every

I read that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was a piece of your childhood that affected your view of the world a lot, and that nailed a huge feeling for me. I love you saying that your work aims to create the world that you kind of found out didn't exist. How is that going? How do you find that ideal world has changed? Yeah! That game was huge for me. I was wicked young when I first played it, so it was sort of my first introduction to skateboarding and punk. The game

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created this whole world that was designed for skating. All of the music was so energetic and new to me. You’d be skating crazy impossible obstacles and smashing through windows. It was this perfect teenage paradise with no rules. It wasn’t long after that when I actually got into skateboarding and punk. I fully bought into all of it. My friends and I started some crappy bands. And when we weren’t practicing, we’d go skating uptown or hang out at the skate park. The people who owned the park gave my older brother a job and they let us play shows whenever we wanted. So that sort of became our second home for a while. That game and a lot of my other interests, like flea markets, tourist towns, themed restaurants, amusement parks, mini golf, and things like that definitely got me interested in the idea of a constructed paradise—places where every detail seems considered. They provide you with an experience you can’t get anywhere else. I guess that’s what I’ve always been working towards. I’ve

Above: No One’s Really Watching Anymore, Acrylic on panel, 72” x 54”, 2017

made some attempts at building my own world a few times. The last time I did it was at New Image Art for my last solo show. I was happy with how it came out, but it was only up for two weeks. In the future, I’d like to open something that people can enjoy for a longer period of time, and I’d like to find business partners that I feel like I can trust. I’ve watched a few projects crash and burn because I brought on people who couldn’t deliver what they promised. Whatever I’m working towards has never been a fixed thing. If I go on a walk today and see some really awesome shutters, I’ll go home and redesign the shutters on the bar I’ve been working on. I’m a scattered person, so it’s always changing. It seems like you were meant to be in California. What made you move to Los Angeles? I’ve wanted to live in Los Angeles for as long as I can remember. A lot of that came from being into punk and skateboarding because that’s where all my favorite bands and skaters were, but I had no reference for it other than what I saw in movies. So I always had this picture in my head of what the city was like. Most of that came from Beverly Hills Cop, Dogtown And Z-Boys, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Boyz In The Hood, and Crocodile Dundee 3. But it’s been a lot more like a cross between Less Than Zero

and an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies. It’s a trip out here. There are palm trees everywhere so it feels like you’re always on vacation. People smoke weed outside of bars like they’re smoking cigarettes. Everywhere you go, it’s like having déjà vu because you’ve been there before in some movie you can’t recall. I’ve never seen so many people

“But across the board, this city charges way too much for beer.” with so much money in all my life. They own whole streets and they pack them with mansions, but if you go a few blocks in any direction, you’re walking into another world. I’ve eaten food out here that looks like it’s out of a science fiction movie, and been introduced to a culture I’ve never even heard of at the same time. It’s not a very integrated city, but it’s very diverse. Every neighborhood

Above right: I Can’t Remember What I Felt So Guilty About this Morning, Acrylic on canvas, 32” x 40”, 2016 Above left: Static Drone, Acrylic on canvas, 32” x 40”, 2016

is different and the creative communities are so energetic. There are a lot of really great DIY art and music spaces in LA, so there’s always cool art to see and good music to listen to, but, across the board, this city charges way too much for beer. When I tell the boys back home that people are buying eightdollar beers, they lose their minds. Growing up skateboarding, what were some notable graphics you remember? Were there any companies or artists that really stood out to you in the skate world? I don’t even think I was born when it came out, but my favorite graphic, hands down, is American Icons by Marc McKee. As far as companies I thought were cool, I really liked enjoi. That Jason Adams part in the Bag of Suck video was always one of my favorites. And I liked the way they did those funny intros with the bootleg special effects. Ed Templeton and Toy Machine, of course. We must have watched that Baker 3 video a thousand times at the park. And I know they weren’t a skate team or whatever, but the whole Jackass thing really resonated with my friends and me. We were mostly skating in parking lots and stuff like that. So we’d get bored and copy all the dumb shopping cart stunts they warned us against. We’d come up with our own stunts and film them while we were out skating.

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Above: Island Tours, Acrylic on panel, 16” x 20”, 2017

I was more into skating that seemed creative and fun rather than technical. A big part of that might have been because I was never all that good at it. In the past, you've spoken about how the internet gave you access to so many things that influenced you growing up. Obviously, the internet has changed a lot, and so have you. How do you feel about the internet and Instagram these days? Where do you see it helping young artists and where do you see it hindering them? Most of what I learned about skateboarding and punk came from the internet. There just wasn’t a lot of information about that stuff lying around the South. Other than my friends, no one was really into it. Not only were we able to find songs and videos, but if we wanted to build a quarter pipe or find out when bands were coming to our area, it had all that. Once my band started playing shows, we used the internet to set up shows and promote them. That’s when I started learning Photoshop, coding, and all that, so I could make my band’s website look cooler. As far as Instagram goes, I think it’s great! It’s cool to be able to keep in touch with artists from around the world. I feel like I’m a part of a scene that’s a lot bigger than the city I live in. My biggest beef with the internet is that

Above: Work Hard and Buy Lottery Tickets, Acrylic on panel, 36” x 24”, 2017

everyone is looking at the same stuff. I feel like every artist uses Google images at some point or another to find reference images. And that’s fine, but you end up seeing the same breaching shark photo done in the style of twenty different artists. I’m trying to get away from that a bit, but it’s hard to justify going to the library for a picture of a shark or trying to take one of your own when you have 10,000 images of sharks on your phone. Do you still like to build things? How do you treat building something for utility versus making something aesthetically pleasing? I love building things! I try to do that as frequently as I can. How I approach it depends on what I’m building. If I’m building a bar, I have to take into account the lighting, the size, the materials, the fact that people will be spilling drinks on it, the possibility of people dancing on it, how people operate in the space, aesthetics, stability, and heaps of measurements. Making paintings is great, but there’s no better feeling than watching your friends get drunk at a bar you’ve built. When we met, you gave me a matchbook (also a business card) that referred to you as an idea man. What's a common idea that's been recurring for you

recently? Do you find the same thought or theme floating around your head for months at a time, or is it always spontaneous? If feel like I’m always sort of thinking about labor, competition, tourist culture, capitalism, vices, romance, moral dilemmas with romance, objectification, addiction, free will, masculinity, fun, and ultimately, Americana. When I wake up, I usually continue to work on whatever I was working on the night before. Ideas and lyrics come to me throughout the day and I try my best to write them all down. Sometimes I write them directly on the painting I’m working on and sometimes they end up on a list. I put the really good ones on a separate list so they don’t get pushed to the side. At some point, every day, I work on the lists I already have. Sometimes I just put similar ideas near each other so I can make connections and combine them into a single idea later on, or I work on developing an individual idea. Some ideas have been on the list for five or six years and have no chance of ever seeing the light of day. So there’s a spontaneity to how I come up with things, but it’s also fussed over for months. Luke Pelletier’s newest solo show, American Fizzle, opens at New Image Art in Los Angeles in February, 2018.

LUKE PELLETIER JUXTAPOZ .COM 133

EVENTS

WHERE WE’RE HEADED

Cleon Peterson: Shadow of Men @ MCA Denver February 2–May 27, 2018 mcadenver.org “If we don’t confront the evils within ourselves, we’ll never be forced to take action against the evils in our world.” This is what Cleon Peterson told Juxtapoz when we asked him about the themes behind his massive new museum show, Shadow of Men, on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver this fall through spring. Peterson’s work has an aura, its shadowy characters depicting ultra-violence and combat as a metaphor for conflicts we see so often in both the political and social realm. But as many people have used the current political climate around the world to reevaluate their own identity (while others seem to be empowered by divisiveness), Peterson’s cinematic scenes have emerged with more clarity. What once seemed like visions of the future now seem like scenes from our streets. No, not every street corner is full of violence, but the possibility of conflict always seems too close for comfort. That is where the body of work for Shadow of Men is at its best. Like a horrible nightmare or sleep-paralyzed hallucination, these evils loom just under the surface. In his cover story with Juxtapoz back in October 2014, Peterson explained“ I want to present things that are cognitively dissonant, ideas that make the viewer have to think critically about the ethical, moral, and historical roles we all play in the world.”

Laura Owens @ The Whitney, NYC Through February 4, 2018 whitney.org When it comes to the ongoing battle about painting’s relevance in the contemporary art world, Laura Owens is a powerful team captain. She unapologetically takes painting into experimental dimensions using humble craft material innovations and continuous collaboration. Her influence is broad, gliding through postmodern and post-analog waves, leaving new doors open in her wake. The first major New York survey of this L.A. artist opens this fall at The Whitney Museum of American Art, a place where Owens seems at home, having been featured prominently in two biennials and the institution’s collection. The exhibition will cover her cheeky, bold works from the ’90s until now, tracking the mesmerizing and prolific shifts in her practice over the years. Unafraid to incorporate humor and joy, and take significant left turns, changing styles as she pleases, creating new, unrecognizable work without hesitation, Owens is an inspiration. It cannot be ignored that staying true to yourself and your own taste when embedded in the museum world and high-end art market is a significant challenge, and she’s crushed it accordingly. From painting on the back of canvas frames to honoring nostalgia and anonymous artists, Owens is a pioneer, and this exhibition is sure to be a lesson in the benefits of choosing your own adventure.

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WHERE WE’RE HEADED

Ten Year Anniversary Show @ Joshua Liner Gallery, NYC January 4–January 27, 2018 joshualinergallery.com Even as an East Coast gallerist, Joshua Liner always tapped into “California Cool.” When Liner ran Lineage Gallery in Philly, and then moved to NYC to open his namesake gallery ten years ago, he brought a roster of West Coast-centric artists that made his space distinct in the Chelsea art scene. This continues today, with Northern California naturalists like Tiffany Bozic and Serena Mitnik-Miller, sophisticated skate-influenced painters such as Geoff McFetridge, Andrew Schoultz and Evan Hecox, and contemporary talents Hilary Pecis and Libby Black. For their Ten Year Anniversary Show, Joshua Liner Gallery will tap into that Cali vibe, but also expand into some of the gallery’s European reach with Parra, along with the abstract experimentations of Sam Friedman and Johnny Abrahams, and worldfamous collector stalwarts like Wayne White and Kris Kuksi. The anniversary celebration isn’t so much a look back for the gallery, but a collective focus of where the gallery’s curation goes for the next decade. “As we bring these artists together, the exhibition will be a thoughtful and exciting thank you to so many people who have helped us maintain a space that supports emerging talent,” Liner told Juxtapoz. “This component of the art world comes with many challenges, and I hope this show will accomplish a recognition for all the hard work that has gone into creating a successful space for so many artists.”

Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978–1983 @ MoMA Through April 1, 2018 moma.org On Halloween, MoMA opened film curator Ron Magliozzi’s dynamic project Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978–1983. This first major exhibition to survey the club’s legacy includes three film series of recently preserved pre-digital video, as well as an installation of photographs, xeroxed flyers, paintings, drawings, collaged event calendars, costumes, and a wacky black light room by Kenny Scharf. Club 57 served as a laboratory/screening room/performance/ party space, and became the true epicenter of creative activity in the East Village, influencing virtually every club that came along in its wake. Like the original location in the basement of a Polish church at St. Mark’s Place, MoMA’s exhibition is held in its lower level theater lobby galleries, effectively recreating the dimly lit club space in a museum setting. The curation of nearly 100 artists for this exhibition quickly snowballed into a massive archival effort to collect and preserve the remaining Club 57 artifacts that had been squirreled away under beds and in closets. This excavation revealed, in particular, a diverse exploration of gender through various art forms and performances. A visceral trip down memory lane for the artists involved and visitors alike, the opening events also served as a reunion for those who shared in the club’s vitality, and a memorial for those contributors no longer with us. Enter on 53rd street at MoMA’s The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater Galleries for free entrance to this exhibition. Club 57 will remain on view until April 01, 2018.

EVENTS

Muzae Sesay: Domestic Dive @ Athen B. Gallery, Oakland February 10–March 2, 2018 athenbgallery.com “Abstraction is a broad term. I consider most of my current work to be abstract figurative due to its representation of a skewed sense of space, while incorporating spatial elements such as stairs, doorways, etc.,” says Oakland, California-based painter Muzae Sesay. At this point in history, it is increasingly clear that styles cycle through, and what was once old may one day start to feel brand new again. For some reason or another, you may begin to see the decade you occupy start to look like a decade from the past, and the styles that seemingly made that decade unique will return in new, vibrant forms as we enter a new phase of history. Our conversation about abstraction with Sesay began as he was preparing the works for his solo show at Athen B. Gallery, Domestic Dive. Both gallery and artist are the perfect marriage—emerging talents that have an eye on past eras but also explore emerging trends and styles in contemporary art. In conversation with Sesay, we talked about abstract paintings and how they can sometimes speak more clearly than the figuration, and how, perhaps, it is the era we live in that determines which style rules. “The role of the viewer in abstract art has always interested me,” Sesay notes. “In my opinion, abstract work becomes more dynamic in its function.”

JUXTAPOZ .COM 135

SIEBEN ON LIFE

The Fine Lines And the Dotted Line Have you ever seen the movie Role Models? It's a 2008 comedy starring Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott. The week it came out, numerous friends texted, emailed, and called, telling me that they'd seen my art in the film. I was confused yet, curious, so I bought a ticket to the show. And as rumored, one of my art prints was prominently featured in the film during a house-party scene. I was obviously excited to see my work on the big screen, but I couldn't help wondering how it made its way into the movie without my permission. I was pretty sure somebody, somewhere owed me some money.

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I was totally wrong. After racking my brain for a day or two, I vaguely remembered granting a set-dressing company permission to use the print in the background for a show on PBS a year or two prior. I dug through a slew of folders and located the contract I had signed for that specific show usageâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; this time, carefully reading all of the fine print. Boom, there it was: I had granted them the rights to use the artwork in any production for an indefinite amount of time. No one owed me squat.

If you do any work as a commercial artist, you're going to come into contact with contracts, some of which can be quite lengthy, confusing, and tedious. I urge you, at the very least, to read every line of any agreement you sign. If it is a substantial amount of money being negotiated, hire an attorney to go through the document. I think Role Models is a pretty funny film, but I'd probably like it even more if it wasn't a reminder that I, myself, was not doing a very good job of being a grown up. Don't read it and weep. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Michael Sieben

Above: Art by Michael Sieben

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POPLIFE

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Aftershock Festival 1 Brothers in arms. Run the Jewels posed for us backstage with their famed hand logo at the 2017 Aftershock Festival in Discovery Park in Sacramento. 2 And of course, the man himself, Trent Reznor, led Nine Inch Nails’ incredible career-spanning headline set.

Mana Contemporary, Jersey City 3 As part of Juxtapoz’s annual “Surf Craft” benefit and auction for Waves For Water and the Changing Tides Foundation, Benjamin Keating opened his metal foundry to show us his unique interpretation of fine art surfing. 4 Paul Wackers kicked off the project with his stunning doublesided board, arriving at the “Surf Craft” showing… 5 … and bringing Pat Berran, who demonstrated that a little abstraction will look good on the water. 6 Gummies for charity? Brooklyn’s own Christian Rex van Minnen was nicknamed “The Wizard” for mindblowing work with his surfboard. 7 Juxtapoz editor Evan Pricco and April 2017 cover artist Timothy Curtis took a tough stance in front of Curtis’ fresh board.

The Hole, NYC 8 Eric Shaw continues his excellent streak of works at the opening of his newest solo show, Trails. Now that he mentions it, we see trails in that painting behind him… 9 Meanwhile, former Juxtapoz featured artist Adam Parker Smith was all smiles despite naming his show, Kidnapping Incites Years of Murderous Doom.

138 WINTER 2018

Photography: Mike Stalter (1–2), Evan Pricco (3–7) and Jessica Ross (8–9)

POPLIFE

LOS ANGELES & SAN FRANCISCO

Corey Helford Gallery, Los Angeles 1 Everyone gets a (D*Face) balloon! Shepard Fairey and Obey’s Dan Flores at the opening of D*Face’s solo show, Happy Never Ending, in downtown Los Angeles. 2 … Stars of the night, D*Face and Kristen Liu-Wong, celebrate their respective openings and perhaps shared eyewear tips. 3 This is what friends do, they support one another. Chaz from London Police gives Risk a bit of love. 4 This is a crew, and amongst them, there is a Van Arno, Risk, Kristen Liu-Wong, Darcy Yates, Caro, D*Face, Dosshaus, Jan Corey Helford and Sherri Trahan.

RexRomae Gallery, Santa Monica 5 Rom Levy of Street Art News curated and organized a pop-up show with Norway’s Martin Whatson at RexRomae Gallery… 6 … and guess what? Soo Yeon Lee, the South Korean model/international table tennis champion was there, too!

Copro Gallery, Santa Monica 7 The Prince of Darkness, but such a sweet guy, Chet Zar, gave everyone The Fear at his new solo show at Copro Gallery.

Chandran Gallery, San Francisco 8 Guitar. Hero. J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr was in town for the opening of Thomas Campbell’s We Are the Cosmos solo show, and brought along photographer O, artist Greta Svalberg and fellow Dino, Marc Seedorf. 9 Man of the hour and his family: Thomas Campbell. 10 Here’s looking at you—Miss Van, Monica Canilao, Richard Colman and Monique Ramos united for a pic. 11 A San Francisco opening isn't complete without a little sonic backdrop from Tommy Guerrero.

140 WINTER 2018

Photography: Birdman Photos (1–7) and Drew Altizer (8–12)

PERSPECTIVE

Pictures On Walls, RIP The Legendary London Print Shop Stops The Presses A shudder rattled through the street art world on October 12th. London’s legendary print house, Pictures On Walls, announced it was shutting down at the end of 2017. True, they’d gone pretty quiet in recent times—admitting themselves that they should maybe have shuttered things three years ago—but they were the OG print house in London, the only place to get Banksy prints. The place that found artists, launched careers and made art accessible to everyone. Forums were built and headlines written about what they did. Pictures On Walls was set up in 2001 as a kind of indie record label by street artists, for street artists, making art affordable for all. As they would say, “The invention of the internet and the cardboard tube enabled us to circumvent the centuries-old grip of the established art world and we laid waste to their cronyism and vested interests and good taste. We delivered a new generation of art directly into people’s homes. Well, the Royal Mail did most of it.” I worked there on and off, rolling prints and carting hundreds of tubes to the Post Office. It was my

142 WINTER 2018

favourite ever job. There were few rules, many hangovers and a sense of, “Fuck it, let’s see if this works.” Sometimes there are legendary places, like CBGB’s in the ’70s, where you wish you’d been. For street art, POW was it. Ben Eine used to screen print there, Paul Insect (and the rest of the Insect Studio) had a space on the floor above, Mode2 had his own desk in a corner and would come and go. When Pure Evil was kicked out of the USA, POW helped him out and he learnt the trade of selling prints. D*Face would pop in and there was a constant passage of visiting artists checking their prints or preparing for a show. There was, more often than not, a Vhils, Blu, Invader, Hewlett, Faile, Lush or Lister sleeping off the night before on the scuzzy sofa… “I got a phone call from Pictures On Walls back in 2004,” recalls Antony Micallef. “I was asked to come to their studio in Shoreditch. I remember vividly the first day I walked in. It was like an Aladdin's cave of all my favourite art just casually lying around the studio. I met Ben Eine and a few of the other guys and immediately thought this is where I want to be. It didn’t feel like walking into a gallery or meeting

anyone I’d met in the art world before, it felt like meeting a group of friends. I loved the idea that I had complete freedom to paint and talk about whatever I wanted to do, and they’d say, “Yeah, let’s make it.” It felt like I had joined a family. But street art became big business and prints bought from POW began selling for many times their face value, a success that turned disastrous. The queues for Banksy releases were chaotic, even violent, and other print houses started appearing, diluting the quality of work available. POW was at the forefront of the street art explosion and, arguably, one of the prime facilitators. While seeming unwilling or uninclined to capitalise on their position, they have, however, remained indie until the end. And now they’ve had enough. “I don’t feel like POW is ending in any way,” says Pure Evil, “it just feels like its going into a chrysalis stage and will emerge as a different type of butterfly. Thanks guys, you really smashed it.” —Josh Jones

Above: Pictures on Walls logo. Courtesy of Paul Insect.

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