Right Some Good, Visit Arabella Proffer's Art Sale!

Arabella makes some killer art and needs a little help. From an email she sent me-


"As some of you may or may not know, I was diagnosed with cancer (an aggressive version of lipo sarcoma) a few weeks ago.
So to celebrate the fun cancerous tumor poking out of me, and help pay for those odd things insurance won't cover, I'm having a one-day super sale on over 20 original unframed drawings for only $30! These will be various sizes, colors, materials and subject matter. This gives me a great way of unloading lots of sketches and drawings that don’t get exhibited or are sitting in a box doing nothing.

I’m not one to ask for charity of any sort, but reality has set in, and because of my unpredictable treatment schedules I am working on commissions at a much slower pace as well as unable to teach or do personal instruction until late fall. So I thought a sale of drawings gives you good people something original and affordable, while at the same time, doesn’t make me look like a total mooch! Win-win for all!

The sale will open on Wednesday, July 28th beginning at Noon EST. I will be listing everything with a title, description and PayPal button at http://arabellaproffer.com/sale.html The price includes shipping. At Midnight the sale will end and everything taken down. So there you have it!"

Check it out, buy some cool art and do a good thing!

Modern Eden Gallery Grand Opening Exhibit

The new Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco's North Beach is somewhere to visit and support. Checked out their grand opening exhibit and was impressed by all the pieces. Some of the artists were shown in a number of past Eclectix exhibits, some were new to me - but all were high caliber choices with eclectic themes. Moody landscapes, mythical portraits, pop-surrealist pieces, gothic images and so much more! So happy to see artist Bradley Platz open this space, a much deserved venue and studio for his art, as well as for the other great artists. Michael Ryan has a number of his fantastically gloomy, classical works here and Leilani Bustamante and Marco Mejia's works are  newbrow must-sees as well. Alphonzo Solorzano and Miquel Felipe's works have a religious, folk-art-Latin feel to them with a warm, gritty street edge.

The clean, new space is purrfect - large, different bends and alcoves to it, with a number of ideal spots for sculpture display as well. It has a nice grace and flow to the overall ambiance. You might catch Bradley at work on his easel in the back area. There is handmade local artisan jewelry and fine crafts in a side store section. This exhibit is one of the best to be seen in SF right now, so get on down and see it before it closes July 14th!

Modern Eden Link

Best of New York Art, June 2010 - Judith Schaechter's "Beauty and the Beef"

This show tied with Greg Simkin's show, ranking top-of-the-mark on recent NYC art offerings. Seeing Judith's work in person, after viewing it on a computer all these years, was a revelation. Most art is always better in person but glass works benefit especially from the glistening light and the bare eye. Judith's art is vividly saturated with the glorious colors only stained glass can emit. Juxtapose that with it's subject matter and you get killer art. No typical church art here, just pure beastly beauty. Painterly and dripping, scratched and rubbed - the glass becomes layered worlds upon worlds under her labors. Darkly human, innovative, emotive and lustrous.
Way too many beautiful images to post them all here, so just a select few, some cropped and some showing just the devil in the wondrous details.

The exhibit was at the Claire Oliver Gallery which is a nice space, however the peeps there were full of attitude. Refused to let my tired kid lie down for a second on their un-upholstered bench. I mean, come on... it's not like we were setting up a homeless encampment or even taking a nap. The snotty ambiance in some galleries really goes a bit too far, showing a little humanity sometimes can be a good thing. Judith's art made the rudeness all worthwhile.

"Another major reason I stick with stained glass is because I think the raw material is pretty. The uncut sheets of colored glass are really seductive, awesome, and unarguably lovely things. Naturally, the temptation to cut and damage all that pristine beauty is too much for me to resist."- Judith Schaechter, excerpt from a great statement, well worth a read, to be found here.

Schaechter's "Late Breaking Noose" here.

Isabel Samaras and Her Beautiful Beaver Boobs

Isabel just completed this great pair for a great cause. This piece is now on it's way to the Tiki Oasis 10th Anniversary Extravaganza in San Diego, the original "Tiki Weekender",  a three day, non-stop, jam-packed celebration including the Keep-A-Breast art show organized by Baby Doe von Stroheim and featuring over 24 artists, creating painted and multi-media breast casts. The proceeds go to The Keep-A-Breast Foundation. www.keep-a-breast.org. This looks like a fun little vacation if you're in need of a little paradise and some good karma.  Go pick up a nice rack for yourself and support a good cause!

Best Of New York Art, June 2010 - "Inside The Outside" with Greg Simkins

After bopping all over New York for a week and seeing various art shows, I have to conclude that Greg "Craola" Simkins show, "Inside The Outside" was the best of the bunch. It was a nicely large solo exhibit at the Joshua Liner gallery. Beautiful paintings and graphite drawings with animals and pop culture items all mixed together. His drawings may have been "roughs" for various paintings but they are fantastic all on their own. Every piece was eloquent with respect for the fauna world they inhabited. Graceful compositions that floated on the surface with complete artistic mastery. Greg has a way of merging remote items together that make them seem  more related than they are. A goldfish transforms into a hammer head shark, a jellyfish floats upward out of a vintage tea cup and a deer sits on an overstuffed armchair crowded with a menagerie of others. A perfect amount of works, hours of enjoyment. Take a look for yourself and enjoy!

Greg also has some work in the upcoming show "Lead Poisoning" at Last Rites Gallery in New York, if you missed the show at Joshua Liner. The Last Rites show looks to be a killer group exhibition, so check it, if you can.

Joshua Liner Gallery 
ImScared.com.
Last Rites Gallery
Hi-Fructose Mag article

Alexander McQueen's New Ad Campaign, Killer Art Skulls and Sunglasses

Just found these great new ads by the late, great Alexander McQueen's company.
Thought they were beautiful, especially for an advertisement. Couldn't find the name of the artist, unfortunately...

Banksy Art Attack

Found another great Banksy piece on the web... the caption alone might just make it one of my favorites.

New York's "Sidewalk Catwalk", Mannequin Street Art on Broadway

Stumbling around the hot and humid garment district in New York City, I ran into some great mannequin art. Delightful to find this street art plopped down amidst the hordes of tourists and NY walkers.
The "Sidewalk Catwalk" project asked  25-30 designers to create a mannequin in their style, but using materials that will hold up to the elements. The materials also had to be found and produced locally. The mannequins will remain lined up on the pedestrian mall from Herald Square to Times Square through Sept. 3, like a really long runway show frozen in place. They will be sold through an auction at sidewalk-catwalk.com to benefit Materials for the Arts. Part of the idea was to showcase the design work that still happens within the garment district, which has been hurt, since its historic core of manufacturing jobs largely disappeared. Most companies now produce their clothes elsewhere, like China, taking much needed funds and jobs from the local area. 
I really loved the dress made out of a real parachute by Victor Alfaro, as well as the pink Betsy Johnson with the fresh flower belt.

For more pics and videos:
http://www.sidewalk-catwalk.com/index.htm
http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/fashion/2010/06/21/2010-06-21_diane_von_furstenberg_betsey_johnson_and_tommy_hilfiger_descend_on_broadways_sid.html