We had something to do with this.....
11.13.2009
10.17.2009
OC Weekly Loves Chainsaws
The OC Weekly voted 'Allegedly: The Hugh Brown Chainsaw Collection' as the BEST ART SHOW in their "Best Of" edition.
The board would like to personally thank GCAC Director Dennis Cubbage for doing a great job.
THANK YOU DENNIS!
SAYS THE WEEKLY:
"In an ink-stained freelancer's cluttered home office far, far away, there was a critic who thought he knew everything there was to know about art. He'd studied Inside the White Cube: The Idealogy of the Gallery Space, subscribed to Artforum, knew the difference between an installation and an exhibition, worshiped at the no-nonsense feet of Coagula Art Journal, took classes, could appreciate performance art, and even watched all four seasons of Art In the 21st Century on PBS. Then along came artist Hugh Brown and his goddamn chain-saw "collection" at Grand Central Art Center Gallery—for which Brown created spot-on homages to the styles of such well-known artists as Andy Warhol and Georgia O'Keefe, only with chain saws somehow incorporated into each "lost work" by the master in question—and all of that knowledge and hard work was for naught. Said critic is currently plotting his unholy revenge."
Board Member Acknowledged
Our very own Grand Central Art Forum board member Dennis Lluy was acknowledged by the OC Weekly as the best "El Promotor" (the promoter)Says the article:
"When asked what best represents Orange County to him, he cites The Downtown area of Santa Ana, home to both the Yost and himself.
“This is, to me, the epicenter of Orange County,” Lluy says. “I think there’s always been a stigma to Santa Ana. When people look beyond the surface, there’s a lot of depth.”
Way to go Dennis!
See whole article HERE
9.29.2009
Janice Lowry's handmade book - featured in the 10th Anniversary Exhibit
Janice will be deeply missed! To see more of her artwork check out her website.
9.12.2009
Images from F+ at GCAC
Images featured:
John LeightonJoe Forkan and Crystal
Jim Jenkins
Kung-Sun
Nobu Nishigawara
9.01.2009
Sandow Birk In The New York Times
The NYT featured a recent article on Sandow Birk and his work titled 'Personal Meditations on the Koran.Says the article: The first exhibitions of Mr. Birk’s “American Qur’an,” a work-on-paper series that is roughly a third complete, is about to open: 30 hand-painted pages at Catharine Clark Gallery in San Francisco starting on Thursday and another 30 at Koplin Del Rio gallery in Culver City starting Friday.
On the Koplin Del Rio site the press release says: "Over the past decade Birk has traveled extensively through the Islamic world, visiting several of the most populous Muslim nations as well as studying important collections of Islamic artworks. It was these travels, along with political events across the world that inspired his initial interest in Islam and the Qur’an.
Began over four years ago, Birk’s most recent series of work, American Qur’an, is an endeavor to transcribe the entire Qur’an according to Islamic traditions and illuminate the text with scenes from contemporary American life."
Grand Central has been a huge Sandow Birk supporter for years.
We wish him much success!
Read the whole New York Times article HERE
8.08.2009
Greg Escalante Quoted In LA Times
In an article in LAT regarding lowbrow art's relationship to the surf industry, Grand Central Art Forum President Greg Escalante was quoted extensively.
Says the article:
"Greg Escalante, co-founder and curator of lowbrow art bible Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine, emphasizes the heavy overlap between the surf and art worlds -- something that other surf-skate brands such as RVCA (closely associated with the Beautiful Losers art crew) and Vans have also tapped into. "A lot of surfers make art, and if they don't make it, they appreciate it," he says.
In the same way that pro skateboarders and surfers traditionally have been sponsored by brands, these days so are the artists connected with the scene, via apparel and sneaker collaborations, in-store commissions and such. The underlying message is evident: In alternative sports, art is way cooler than advertising.
Titans of the punk, lowbrow and street art realms such as Ron English, Winston Smith, Robert Williams, Alex Pardee, Todd Schorr, and rock photographer Lisa Johnson have all recently partnered with Hurley for limited-edition T-shirt collections.
Last summer Hurley (the company) underwrote "In the Land of Retinal Delights: The Juxtapoz Factor," a massive group show at the Laguna Art Museum that presented the work of 150 lowbrow artists who have been championed by the magazine, acknowledging and tracing a movement that the mainstream gallery scene has so often shunned. Underwriting the show was "ambitious and costly," says Escalante, and highlighted the company's commitment to lowbrow. "This show wasn't even surf-related," Escalante points out. "They were simply supporting a school of art that embodies their spirit."
Great article, read in it's entirety HERE
Thanks to Slam X Hype and Blends OC Blog for the photos
Says the article:
"Greg Escalante, co-founder and curator of lowbrow art bible Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine, emphasizes the heavy overlap between the surf and art worlds -- something that other surf-skate brands such as RVCA (closely associated with the Beautiful Losers art crew) and Vans have also tapped into. "A lot of surfers make art, and if they don't make it, they appreciate it," he says.
In the same way that pro skateboarders and surfers traditionally have been sponsored by brands, these days so are the artists connected with the scene, via apparel and sneaker collaborations, in-store commissions and such. The underlying message is evident: In alternative sports, art is way cooler than advertising.
Titans of the punk, lowbrow and street art realms such as Ron English, Winston Smith, Robert Williams, Alex Pardee, Todd Schorr, and rock photographer Lisa Johnson have all recently partnered with Hurley for limited-edition T-shirt collections.
Last summer Hurley (the company) underwrote "In the Land of Retinal Delights: The Juxtapoz Factor," a massive group show at the Laguna Art Museum that presented the work of 150 lowbrow artists who have been championed by the magazine, acknowledging and tracing a movement that the mainstream gallery scene has so often shunned. Underwriting the show was "ambitious and costly," says Escalante, and highlighted the company's commitment to lowbrow. "This show wasn't even surf-related," Escalante points out. "They were simply supporting a school of art that embodies their spirit."
Great article, read in it's entirety HERE
Thanks to Slam X Hype and Blends OC Blog for the photos
7.29.2009
The van Gogh of the Gross-Out
The NY Times ran an article on Basil Wolverton recently.
It's about time.
GCAC showed Basil's work back in 2007.
Says the Times: "His specialty was a beyond-grotesque species of fictional portraiture, typified by the dog-toothed, bushy-browed, linguine-haired “Beautiful Girl of the Month” seen on the cover of Mad’s 1954 takeoff on Life magazine. The images in pen and ink — Wolverton worked almost exclusively in this medium — were a virtuoso exercise in bad taste, made all the weirder for being so meticulously executed.
And it is worth adding that most of the late-20th- and early-21st-century artists obviously influenced by Wolverton are men. On that long list I would count Peter Saul, Gary Panter, Kenny Scharf, Jim Nutt, Robert Williams, Jim Shaw, Mike Kelley, Jeffrey Valance, R. Crumb and Cameron Jamie, who organized the Gladstone show from the collection of the Wolverton patron and fan Glenn Bray."
It is worth noting that Grand Central has shown many of these artists as well.
Read the whole article HERE
It's about time.
GCAC showed Basil's work back in 2007.
Says the Times: "His specialty was a beyond-grotesque species of fictional portraiture, typified by the dog-toothed, bushy-browed, linguine-haired “Beautiful Girl of the Month” seen on the cover of Mad’s 1954 takeoff on Life magazine. The images in pen and ink — Wolverton worked almost exclusively in this medium — were a virtuoso exercise in bad taste, made all the weirder for being so meticulously executed.
And it is worth adding that most of the late-20th- and early-21st-century artists obviously influenced by Wolverton are men. On that long list I would count Peter Saul, Gary Panter, Kenny Scharf, Jim Nutt, Robert Williams, Jim Shaw, Mike Kelley, Jeffrey Valance, R. Crumb and Cameron Jamie, who organized the Gladstone show from the collection of the Wolverton patron and fan Glenn Bray."
It is worth noting that Grand Central has shown many of these artists as well.
Read the whole article HERE
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