The Venice Artblock - Excellent and Free!

The very first Venice Artblock was held on Sunday, and it was fantastic. And FREE! After many of our local artists were denied participation in the official Venice Art Walk this past Spring, they took it upon themselves to create - in a very Venice-spirited way, a little anarchist, take the power back style - their own event, free and open to the public, without any lines, wrist bands, or corporate headquarters ... just art, art and more art! In these times, that's both highly commendable, and historical.

It was done just as legit (if not more) as the Art Walk, with a great map, balloons and signs to signify where the stops were, and even a shuttle to get you around if you forgot your bike (always the best way to cover the most ground at these type of events). It was very spread out, from the beach to almost Lincoln, and from Venice Blvd. to Rose. The area around Vernon and Sunset was kind of the hub, with the most concentrated number of studios to hit.

It's so great to go around, and get to see inside the studios of artists that you may just know socially, or have heard of, and then get to peek inside their work space and understand how they operate. What a treat to have them share so much of not just their art, but themselves.

It was a party atmosphere at the studio of William Attaway, with Argentinian barbeque being grilled up, and music thumping. Attaway has a new series of paintings going that feel very bright and tropical, and it's always fun to see his sculptural works in progress.



Alberto Bevacqua's photographs are always haunting and provocative, and stood in stark contrast to the wooden circus animals of Pamela Weir-Quiton down the street. There is certainly something for everyone to admire in Venice.

Gary Palmer had his studio open and shared some stories about his recent excursion to participate in a big sidewalk chalk drawing event in Atlantic City. If you saw his Abbot Kinney in chalk at the Street Fair, you know Palmer is a master of this craft. His oil paintings are collected all over the world, and it's cool to see where it all begins. Very cool.

I always love to see what they have going on at the Curio Studio, one of my favorites in town.  

361 Vernon, where Palmer's studio is, also had a whole slew of studios open, from video installations to ceramics and everything in between. There is so much going on all the time, that you don't have any idea about, which may explain why so many people feel that Venice truly IS a creative vortex.

With SO much going on, it was difficult to hit all the points on the map, especially when you get held up chatting and catching up with other art lovers enjoying such a remarkable day. I stopped by to see what performance artist  and awesome lady Amy Kaps had going on, and she showed off her works while performing hostess duties all decked out in black, white and hot pink. She is a Venice treasure, for sure.

Across the street on Electric, Rohitash Rao was showing his paintings done mostly on garbage. Faces and phrases painted on empty coffee cups or other flotsam, all comic with an edge. Good stuff, good hang too.

I got a late start so it was already almost 5 (closing time) when I got over to SPARC. The talented and erudite Kay Brown showed some of us how her gorgeous wood block printing, and how the printing process is done. Her floral print reminded me of Attaway's flowers at the first stop. Full Circle.

SPARC always has wonderful things to look at, and the murals surrounded by the old bars of the town jail that the building once was lend even more power to the images you're seeing. SPARC is a hallowed institution and if you live in or care about Venice, it really warrants your time to explore and know about.

Every person I ran into along the way raved about how excellent this event was, and how wonderful that it was free and open to absolutely anyone, not just those who can cough up the steep admission price of the official Art Walk. It somehow felt more REAL too ... like art for art's sake, not necessarily profit, though work was being sold, and perhaps as importantly, being seen, learned and known about. The community was out in force, great conversations were being had, and every artist I encountered was beaming with the success of the day ... and the FUN!

Artblock was in fact SO cool, that I have to imagine they're already plotting the next one. And you should be there. It's the REAL deal. Thank you to all the artists involved, for inviting us all into your creative spaces, and for being there in the first place. Venice needs you!!! Sincerely, Thanks.

Venice Openings Are Fun - From Hats to Art to Hair

This last Saturday was a grand old time in Venice, ringing in the new with a bunch of business and art openings. Once again, there was too much going on at once to properly get it all done, but we did our very best.

First up, I was delighted to celebrate with my guys at Nick Fouquet Hat. Co.,  creators and purveyors of the finest hats in the West.

They now have a gorgeous work/sales space in the house at 1629 Abbot Kinney Boulevard that they share with Kapital (fancy, spendy threads out of Japan), H.O.W.L. (cool jewelry) and M. Cohen (more cool jewelry). Mikey was serving up the drinks, and Nick was the charming host, and the place was packed when I headed out to the next stop with my bike posse.

It was so wonderful to see the beautiful photography work (and the big crowd there to see it!) of my dear friend, Paddy Wilkins, at Curio Studio and Collection on Sunset Avenue.

As owner, Anne Faith Nicholls said while introducing the show, "It's all about Venice," and she was right. Wilkins (who can be seen in pretty much every commercial on t.v. right now) lives in Venice, as do most of the models that appear in his gorgeous photos made on a vintage Polaroid 600SE.

It seemed that most of Venice was there as well, making the gallery extra steamy inside. That might have been helped along by the fact that the photos were fairly steamy themselves, with women in various stages of undress. As Wilkins describes in the press release:

In COLORFORM, Wilkins explores the senses with portraiture, focusing on anonymous women and the inherent beauty of both their bodies and what they cover them with. The subject's identities in the works give way to Wilkins’s focus on form, and the beautiful details captured in sheer fabrics, saturated hues, contrasting patterns and light translated through the medium of real film, without doctoring. In a world where we are manipulated by heavily altered images and impossible beauty, Paddy’s photos present a timeless, and unfiltered glimpse of woman. 

Yeah. You probably know some of these women, and part of the fun of the night was guessing who might be who. Curio is locally owned and artist operated, and always has excellent shows of innovative and profound artistry. Paddy Wilkins' Colorform will be showing until June 10th.

We then headed over to the opening of Trim's new location at 512 Rose, where it was all winding down by the time we pedaled over there. It appeared to have been a big success as all the party-goers were still standing around on the sidewalk having fun, as Venice Paparazzi was packing up the red carpet. They were handing out shirts that read, "Every man needs a little trim," so there might be your theme for the entire evening ...

 Plans were made, and the people dispersed out all over town, for points like The Townhouse, The Other Room, The Tasting Kitchen, and home ... whichever was your poison.

All in all, it was a great night, in a great town, with great and talented people making it even greater. Congratulations to Nick and Mikey and Paddy and Anne and Nik and Jaime, and everyone who went to their fun jamborees ... VeNICE!