KrossD Awards (2016 Can Fuck Off Already edition)

"Images of Police Brutality #4" by Steven Thomas Higgins

This is gonna be short and sweet. I didn't even want to do it all. Just 10 days into this year, I woke up to the news that David Bowie had died. I was completely unprepared for the degree to which that would hurt me. The shit snowball just gained velocity after that. Merle, Prince, Leonard. Then, in November, because of an arcane electoral system (that was put in place to exploit slaves), my country elected a megalomaniac racist, peeping tom, pussy grabber to the most powerful position on the planet. But even that wasn't enough for 2016. No, it had to take Carrie Fisher and her Mom away too. Fuck you 2016!

I'm forced to write this one because the best art of 2016 was so damn great, and I worry that you didn't notice. I've been kind of selfishly busy with my own career and haven't been writing about others as much as usual. I'm sorry. I owe you this much.

ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Steven Thomas Higgins

The one single shining, glorious bright spot of this horrible year, has been watching Steven Thomas Higgins work. He hasn't been loud about it. His name doesn't turn up in every group show around town. He's just been quietly, diligently, slaving away in his studio, exploring color, tonal duality, textures, and themes.He has dedicated himself to his craft, and doesn't seem to care if you're paying attention. I am. I know a few gallerists who might read this. I'm writing this for you. You need to be watching this guy. You need to be showing this guy. We need his art. Pay attention!

"In Groups" by Steven Thomas Higgins

"Lines in Blue and Red" by Steven Thomas Higgins

BEST SOLO SHOW OF THE YEAR: Public Secrets - Abel Alejandre at Coagula Curatorial

You've heard me fawn about Abel before. He has a way with line that just wrecks me. "Public Secrets" was a show that delved into myth, conspiracy theory, and family that may have been the most honest exhibit of the year.

"Ebola" by Abel Alejandre

BEST GROUP SHOW OF THE YEAR: "Sticks and Stones" curated by Douglas Alvarez at Cactus Gallery.

The theme seemed simple enough, create something that reflects childhood lessons/experiences. Who knew that that this would take every artist in the show out of their comfort zone (and signature styles) to create deeply personal, and touching work? Who knew that Alex Schaefer and Jennifer Korsen had shared memories of prismatic fascination? I spent a good chunk of the opening sitting on a forklift and being fittingly delinquent with good friends before we had to chase zombies (long story). Also, this show had my single, favorite work of art of the year in it, by Snow Mack.

"Jackson Browne Goes Downtown in his Jacks on Brown gown" by Snow Mack

NINTH WONDER OF THE ART WORLD: Leigh Salgado's laugh.

If you've never felt the healing powers of this woman's laugh, I feel sorry for you. It makes everything okay.

MOST TEARS SHED: Tfail (aka Tina St. Claire).

Although we had many mutual friends, and rubbed artwork elbows a few times, I never got to meet Tina. But her art always grabbed me by the throat, and made Los Angeles an insanely beautiful place to live. For all the heroes that fell this year, I cried the most about losing Tina. Please remember her!

Tfail

...and while I'm at it...


WORST ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Milo Moire

Yep. Her again. This year Milo actually invited strangers to grope her through a mirrored box. For fucks sake! You can talk to me until you're blue in the face about how this was a profound statement regarding consent. I'll quietly listen as you tell me that the mirrors reflect our inner perversions. I might even nod as you talk. But after you finish explaining art to me, I'm gonna walk far, far away from you and hope to never see you again.

Fuck off, 2016!

Two MUST SEE shows this weekend!

I know, I know. I haven't been a very diligent, ack, blogger lately. I've been too busy working on my own stuff, and honestly, I'm fine with that. BUT this weekend, two of my favorite artists are having big shows that you MUST SEE! Leigh Salgado and Ellen Schinderman both made my best of 2014 art list. The talent, intellect and wit of these two artists never ceases to engage me. Their work is time-consuming, painstaking, inevitably gorgeous, and quite often sublime. They are a source of endless inspiration. Both shows are opening tomorrow night (2/7/2015), but the galleries are just about a 20 minute drive from each other (if you use Clueless logic).

BLISSFUL DEFLOWERING is Leigh Salgado's show at:
Launch Gallery 
170 S. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
opening reception Feb. 7th, 6-9pm
Rochelle Bottelo is showing as well

STITCH FETISH 3 is a massive group show of woven, knitted erotica
curated by Ellen Schinderman. It will feature her 6 foot tall needlework of Wonder Woman. There will be over 30 artists!
Hive Gallery
729 S. Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90014
Opening Feb. 7th, 8-11pm

Top photo: Go-Go Girl by Leigh Salgado

Ballerina by Leigh Salgado

Blooming Bloomers by Leigh Salgado

Wonder Woman in progress by Ellen Schinderman

The KrossD Awards: The Best (and Worst) Art of 2014

End of the year. Time for somber reflections, emotional breakdowns, gluttony, sobriety checkpoints and if we're lucky, warm, fuzzy feelings about the year that's passed. I've been lucky this year. I've assaulted my eyeballs with great art, and surrounded myself with amazing artists who inspire me everyday. You can miss so much by just slaving away in your cliche garret.

I usually post a simple, straightforward list of the five best exhibitions I saw in a given year. But 2014 was too complex, too multi-faceted to be pared down like that. So, I've decided to hand out awards this time; hypothetical, invisible, useless awards. Because it's fun! Besides, what's the point of having a blog, if not to spew your unsolicited opinions? These lists are of course completely subjective, eye of the beholder stuff, and mine is heavily Los Angeles-centric (although my artist of the year is in New York). L.A. is my home, and the art here is not to be ignored. I've intentionally avoided listing anything, no matter how worthy, from the hallowed halls of academic self-righteousness. You'll find no LACMA here, no MOCA, no Mike Kelley. There's plenty of other critics telling you where you should go, and what you should think. I want to respectfully nudge you elsewhere.


Artist of the Year: Tina Lugo

I came across Tina Lugo's art on some social media vehicle of some sort through Cotton Candy Machine. Holy fury, do I love this woman! Lugo's take on 16th century Japanese shunga is at once bitingly satirical, fearlessly profane, and beautifully violent. She manages to pay loving homage to an ancient form of erotica, and mock it's sexist predilections in the same brushstroke. Much of her work is painted on glass, which lends a sleek, fragile slant to her epic gender-bending scenarios. Working at a furious pace, Lugo has dazzled me week after week this year. Far and away my favorite artist of 2014!

Tina Lugo (also see top photo)

Best New Artist: Valerie Pobjoy 

I'm not sure exactly how old Valerie is, but I do know she's pretty fresh out of art school, and too damn young to be able to paint like John Singer Sargent! I've been in a couple of shows with her this year, and her work has humbled the hell out of me.

Valerie Pobjoy

Curator of the Year: Wendy Sherman for Hearsay at Begovich Gallery.

Wendy spent at least four years curating this, and it shows. She'd win this on sheer tenacity, but she really did murder this one. Standing O!

Nicola Verlato from Hearsay

Best Ninja with a Pencil: Abel Alejandre

What can you say about Abel? He should have a city block named after him.

Best Ninja with a Pen: Timothy Paul Doyle

Doyle has haters. I ain't one of them.

Best Ninja with a Needle: Ellen Schinderman


Don't play Words with her. She cheats! I kid. Her needlework amazes!

Best Agitprop Performance/Installation of the Year: "Trouble: The Disasters of War" by Alex Schaefer and Steven Thomas Higgins at Blackstone Gallery.

You didn't really think Alex would be silent about the Torture Report, did you?

Against All Odds Award:  Lydia Emily and Arabella Proffer.

These two ladies look mortality in the face, and spit in it's eye. Plagued with horrible afflictions, and numerous hospital stays, I've watched Lydia and Arabella create, and create. Through it all, they create. I've never met either one of them, but they are shining beacons of inspiration to me. I never want to hear an artist whine about not having enough time to do their work. Time is all we have, and it's ticking away right now. Tick Tock!

Lydia Emily

Arabella Proffer

Best Antidote for a glut of Hyperrealism: Martha Rich, always Martha Rich!

I've noticed a certain focus on Hyperrealism among a throng of galleries that used to be much more diverse in their aesthetic. While the hyperrealists are clearly talented magicians, the work is often just cold, masturbatory exercises in navel gazing. These folks tend not to say much in their work at all. It's all very antiseptic. They do achieve one powerful thing though. They deepen my love of Martha Rich immensely! All hail Martha!!!

Martha Rich

Best Antidote for Koons-ian Kitsch: "An Ocean With No Shores" - Ryan McIntosh at The Brewery Artwalk.

Ryan is a cynical, sarcastic bastard. So, naturally he's one of my favorite artists. He's also the Printmaker of the Year!

Ryan McIntosh

Best Antidote for Bunny Art: *sigh* Sorry, there is no cure for bunny art. The bunny people will not be stopped. I tried though.

Best Installation That You Probably Never Saw: "Clothesline Lanes" by Leigh Salgado at LAX

Unless you flew into LAX from an international flight, you didn't see this. I was fortunate enough to visit Leigh while she was working on it. Trust me, it's phenomenal!

My Favorite Group Show of the Year: "Wish List" at Gabba Gallery.

Even if I hadn't been in this show, it would still be my favorite, and for many reasons, but mostly because I saw the work of Amy Smith, Sarah Stieber, and Phil Santos for the first time.

Amy Smith

Sarah Stieber

Phil Santos

Best Collage "Redefiner": Jaime Becker

Jaime Becker is just a bundle of energy, creativity, sweetness and laughter. There will always be a place for her on this list. Always.

Jaime Becker

Most Bonkers (but completely charming) Group Show: "The Season of Spring" at Flower Pepper Gallery

Anthony Ausgang, Liz McGrath, Septerhed, Alex Schaefer, Mike Reynolds, JAW Cooper, and on, and on. This was huge! Yeah, I was in the show too. It's my list. I'll do what I want. Really fun night!

Best Abstract Exhibit: Jon Marc Edwards at Coagula Curatorial.

I spent a long time staring at the piece below. Then, I sat down and watched the throng trample over Edwards' pile of letters installed on the gallery floor. They were asking for it.

Jon Marc Edwards (detail)

Hardest Working Abstractionist: Mandy Lyn Perez

Betty Screams on Instagram.  Tireless, this woman. Watch her work...then get to work!

Mandy Lyn Perez

My Favorite Place to chain smoke my way through opening night jitters: the beautiful, calming and ever changing mural exterior of Gabba Gallery.

The Septerhed overlord

Most Dangerous Couple: Haunted Euth x TFail

"Made Me Look" street art award: Thrashbird

Thrashbird

You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet Award: Jennifer Korsen.

It starts at the heart, but really, you don't even know what she's capable of yet. Keep hating though, she converts it into fuel.

Jennifer Korsen

For instance...

Jewelry Maker of the Year: Jennifer Korsen

Just a few of the rings Jennifer has made.

My Most Embarrassing "I just don't have the words" Moment: Meeting Stacy Lande. How fortunate for me, that Lisa Derrick (knowing what a huge fan I am) was standing nearby with a camera to record the horror!

Weirdest, Most Inscrutable and Wonderful Instagram Account: Hollis Hart
Follow her!

Best New Gallery: Daniel Rolnik Gallery

The Daniel Rolnik Gallery opened on a ritzy stretch of Santa Monica a few months ago. But Daniel, being Daniel, has created a space that is warm, inviting, happy and anything but snobby. He's all about the art and the artists. New art everyday. New shows every week. Really cool things are happening there. Watch this space!

Okay, so Daniel isn't a vampire! You can see his reflection!

"Slackers" of the Year: Phobik

He says he "didn't do shit this year". But he did.

Phobik

Septerhed "didn't do shit this year" either. Ha! He murdered some walls!!

Septerhed

Album on heavy rotation this year: "Benji" by Sun Kil Moon

Now, for the bad stuff...

Saddest Gallery Closing: WWA Gallery

I loved WWA. It was the first place I saw Arabella Proffer's work. I saw my first Nicole Bruckman there (that piece is in my living room now). I miss that gallery hard!


Least Subtle (and unfortunate) use of product placement: "A Subtlety" by Kara Walker

Way over-hyped, and inadvertently becoming a bleak commentary on selfie culture, Walker's mammoth shot at the slave trade, ultimately backfired. Domino wins...again.

Worst Artist of the Year (by far): Milo Moire

Milo Moire is delusional. She will tell you that she's a feminist artist who is fighting for gender equality. What she actually is, is a brain-dead exhibitionist whose "work" is definitely not feminist, nor is it art. She is merely an attention seeking narcissist, making it harder for brilliant female artists to be seen. With every stitch of clothing she removes, and every paint egg she plops, she makes it more difficult for every artist of substance, regardless of gender. I refuse to post a picture or hyperlink her name. Google her if you must, but I won't be a part of that bullshit. This may be the price we have to pay for Karen Finley, but it's still a swindle.


Thanks for indulging me.

"I'm like a curious child...just give me more, more, more, more..."
                                                                       

May you all have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

5 Questions (and then some) with Mat Gleason

Mat Gleason is a smart guy. Just ask him, he’ll tell you himself. I’ll broach no argument there. Upon witnessing the ubiquitous insurgence of punk rock zines of the eighties and nineties he asked himself an obvious question, why has no one done this for art? His answer became Coagula Art Journal, which debuted in 1992 with corrosive, acerbic, well written essays that exposed the ugly underbelly of the art world. While the moneyed galleries, museums, curators, and collectors tried their best to ignore him, Gleason’s art journal became wildly popular with art patrons, and artists themselves. The success of Coagula Art Journal, 20 years running now, has afforded him the opportunity to open his own gallery, Coagula Curatorial. Since his gallery opened in April 2012, he’s shown the likes of Gronk, Karen Finley, Tim Youd, Llyn Foulkes, Leigh Salgado, Matjames Metson and Germs, just to name a few. And he’s still making people nervous.

Gleason took a short break from preparing a trip to Florida (where Coagula will have the largest booth at Miami Project), to sit down and answer 5 questions from me. It turned into ten…

1)   You recently spent about a week in a hospital bed. How’s your heart? What’s going on?

“(laughs) Hey, under federal hypo requirements, you can’t ask that. No, you know what; I was born with a heart issue. I was raised in a hospital. So, when I was eight, I was already past the existential crisis of living on borrowed time, but a lot of complications show up with these surgeries later in life. I was drinking quadruple espressos, and they were like no, no, no! Now they have counseling for kids. A lot of people who had what I had would do two lines of coke and drop dead. So, you know, the fact that I’m alive…I really just dodged a lot of bullets, like cultural bullets. So now, we have a more aware culture. I was just there yesterday and the doctor was telling me that kids with my condition, or similar conditions, they have a camp, where they basically explain to them you really have to be responsible for your own behavior. You cannot smoke, you cannot drink. If you do it a lot, it will exacerbate your problem. So, it’s something I’ve lived with my whole life. If I drop dead tomorrow, I’ve already won the lottery.”

2)   Who will you have at the Miami Project and what do you have planned for the Coagula booth?

“We’re taking seven artists, including Karen Finley, who’s really well-known internationally, performance artist. She’s going to be doing a performance, in the booth, called “SEXT Me If You Can”, working with the idea of sexting as a new form of exhibitionism. For $500.00, I give you Karen Finley’s phone number, and you get a code, so you can only do this once, and you sext her, whatever you want to show her. In the booth in Miami, she’s going to be making paintings, and your painting was sold to you. So, you bought her phone number, and you bought the painting that you want her to make. She will make it as part of her performance. Totally anonymous.

(We’re taking) Llyn Foulkes, we have access right now to his complete pigment prints, some his greatest paintings, signed numbered editions. So that’s a big coup. Leigh Salgado, great artist. Vito Lorusso, who is in the gallery now, showing with Leigh, and then we are taking Matjames Metson, whose an assemblage artist, a great salvager. He makes just amazing stuff out of salvaged material. Abel Alejandre. Abel’s great, he’s one of our better selling artists actually. We did really well with his show here, very popular, but still very sophisticated stuff. There’s nothing cheap about his work. Tim Youd, he was the show that opened our gallery.”

      

3)   Are you going to be venturing across the causeway to Basel?

“I don’t know how busy I’ll be. You know what, I hope not, because that means things will be rocking in our booth, but if I’m like, ‘oh yeah, I think I’m gonna head over there now, nothing’s happening here’...that’s a very bad sign.”

4)    In 1999 you named Karen Finley Artist of the Decade. You didn’t award  that crown in the aughts, did you?

“Um, I wrote some article. I don’t even remember what it was for, but I named Robert Williams as the artist of the decade, but I write so much that I couldn’t tell you specifically what I wrote that for.

The big thing this decade is, how is the street art going to shake out? Where is that going’? I mean it’s getting pretty cheesy, pretty fast. That to me is the most interesting thing. That’s really going to determine the direction this decade takes. But, at the beginning of the sixties, there was no Pop art. Something could show up. You never know.”

5)   What should an artist do to gain your attention? What do you look for in an artist and/or art work?

“Honesty, Integrity in the work, as a person of course.  I’m much more interested in art that is…real. Not realistic, REAL. Like, ‘this is real art. This announces itself as art.’ There are so many trends of people making things that try to ‘oh, I want to find the line between art and design, or I want to find the line between art and crime or something’…whatever. I don’t. I want to find ART. The people out on the periphery, well, it’s a false periphery. You know, conceptually we describe it this way. The more ART something is, that’s where the actual edge is, and it is a true art experience. I don’t like words like pure, but I like words like TRUE. Purity is a gauge of the physical, but I like art that goes beyond just having a material presence.”

 

6)   Your Art World Habits video series is brilliant. What do you consider the single biggest mistake artists make?

“Oh, the single biggest mistake artists make is to think that they can just skate by with a limited signature style, and only a few artworks. That’s the biggest fallacy. People get very comfortable. Comfort, you know what? THAT’S the biggest mistake an artist can make, comfort. Once I drank with Charles Bukowski, and he said that he preferred alcohol over pot, because pot makes you feel satisfied, and satisfaction is the enemy of art.”

7)   Despite a somewhat notorious reputation among the art hierarchy, you have the respect of actual artists and, I imagine, you pretty much get the ones you want.  Are there any artists you really long to show at Coagula, but haven’t been able to get?

“You know, actually, the artists that I want to show, a lot of them are top-dollar artists, for example. I don’t want to say any names, but you know…once an artist has any power, they cut people off as quickly as a gallery. You know, you have to, you have to. These artists that start doing favors for everybody get fucked. So, I’ve approached people, but I’m smart enough to say ‘how big will I have to get for you to show with me?’  I know the game, you know, and they respect that, and they respect that they’re being asked. But I know how the game is played, and I’m not against that. I’m against people not knowing it, or hoarding that information on how the game is played. People want to pretend that it’s always the best art. No, it’s the wealthiest people and the most connected people. You definitely have to cut in line. It didn’t just happen, you know. You bought a publicist, and you worked it, you know?”

 
8)    Would you ever open a gallery in NY?

“I don’t like New York. I used to not be allowed in a lot of galleries in New York. Nah, I’m pretty much the opposite of New York. I mean, look, yeah, if you hit the jackpot. That’s always a doable proposition in the art world, and that’s fine. If an opportunity came up that made sense…actually, I’d do it if it helped the artists out, and I was able to make some money or something. That’d be cool. That’d be fun.”

 

9)   Last time I saw you, we talked a bit about our mutual love of Bob Dylan? Do you have one particular Dylan song that you return to time and time again, or a favorite line of his?

“Whenever I travel, like bus, train, plane…oh my god, I’ve been doing this since 1985, 1986? As the vehicle I’m in starts to leave, I listen to ‘Visions Of Johanna*", and I don’t know why. What I will tell you about Bob Dylan…well, I was not a good student. Not to be arrogant, but I was a kid who always felt I was smarter than most of my teachers, and I was proven correct many times. I was proven incorrect sometimes too, in embarrassing and humiliating experiences, which I accepted because if you dish it out, you gotta take it. So, the way education is structured in America, it didn’t work for me. The only time it ever worked for me was when I was in grade school with nuns, and then it was like God was telling you that you had to do something, and in the absoluteness of the nun, I was able to learn. I didn’t learn anything in a school after the nuns. I was just a kid that couldn’t pay attention, didn’t pay attention, and was smarter than everybody. I got kicked out of high school. I got kicked out of a couple colleges, so, whatever. I might have flushed away an opportunity to have done something different with my life. If I wanted to go to Harvard, my dad would’ve paid for Harvard, you know. My dad paid for Cal State LA and I fucked around at Cal State, but I did learn how to do a newspaper, which started Coagula, so I actually did learn, before getting kicked out. I started out as an art major, and ended up doing Coagula. But the thing about Bob Dylan, and I learned this intuitively, I didn’t articulate it until years later, was we have the western way of teaching. You sit there with forty people, and the teacher lectures, okay? But there’s other ways to learn. When I first heard Dylan, I was into punk, and then when I heard Dylan, I said ‘oh this is the guy!’ Then I listened to everything he did, inside, outside, upside down, for years and years and years. What I was able to articulate early on…I used to say ‘well, Bob’s my professor. He’s better than any school teacher.’ That’s actually the rabbinical method, but the problem with the rabbinical method is it’s perverted into the guru, and the guru has a stigma of people mindlessly following the guru, the leader…who takes them on their life quest. I don’t want to say spiritual quest, much more how to actually live, you know. So, I’m a rabbinical learner, so I know everything Dylan’s ever done, every song he’s ever sung. And Leonard Cohen, you know…Cohen, he mentions rabbis in his songs and stuff. But it’s a way to learn. Just follow one person, and get as much from the thing they do, and not…see the problem with gurus is, what happens is the guru ends up banging the hot chick in the group of people following him, you know? So, I don’t care about Bob Dylan the man. But the art, what he is preaching, and I consider him to be preaching, it’s an absolute blueprint on how to transform yourself, and live. So, you mention Dylan, and that’s a very important part of my life. That’s my school.”

 
10)   Before Coagula, you had planned to be an artist, but you don’t paint anymore. Why not?

“I was an art major at Cal State LA. I was terrible. Oh no, no, no, because my art is my writing, and my persona. That’s my art. So, that’s my creative gesture, and the thing that I do to live on and to live bigger than one can encounter all the people you can encounter through your art. I wanted to be a painter. I ego identified with being an artist. You know, 'I’m going to be an artist', and I had a studio, and I had a bunch of canvases that I bought at the canvas store, and I made paintings that I thought were supposed to be…you know, I could tell you why it was historically important, and where I fit in, in this…but it was a painful break, but it was growing up too. But that was me, I was already happier with my writing. People would always respond to my writing. Always. It’s the responding to your art, you know, if they never responded to my writing, maybe I would have worked harder or differently at the art. When I say most art sucks, I was making art and I couldn’t get my hand to do what my mind and my eye had envisioned…and that’s all I ask of people.”

Thanks Mat!


Coagula Curatorial
977 Chung King Road
Los Angeles, California 90012
The gallery is open Wednesday thru Saturday, Noon – 5 PM...and you should really go!


*KrossD note to persnickety assholes: Yes, the link to "Visions Of Johanna" is a wildly different version of the song than the one on Blonde On Blonde. It's still pretty great, and if you don't know the original, than stop reading this blog and go do your homework. I'm just kidding, you should tell your mom about me!

Art Pick of the Week: Leigh Salgado at Coagula Curatorial

Leigh Salgado's "free form cut paper" sculptures (?), paintings (?), assemblage (?), um...let's say indefinable works of art have to be seen to be believed. Even then, you probably won't believe it, but no other artist has ever explored anatomical themes or feminist concepts quite like Salgado. Don't even start with me about Judy Chicago, this is something else entirely. At least I think it is, but I have a "why" chromosome.

At any rate, trust me when I tell you that "New Work" at Coagula Curatorial will surely be the best art bet in Los Angeles tomorrow night. Oh, did I forget to mention Llyn Foulkes, and Vito Lorusso? Yeah, you're gonna want to see this!

This exhibit will run October 27 thru November 24.
The gallery is open Wednesday thru Saturday, Noon - 5 PM

Coagula Curatorial

977 Chung King Road

Los Angeles CA 90012

(424) 2-COAGULA

Photo courtesy of Coagula Curatorial & Leigh Salgado