Venice Muralist Never Hits Minneapolis - A Day Of Prince Art

Well, I'm back in Minneapolis for a bit, but always take a little Venice with me. I was happy to hear that muralist Jonas Never (artist of the big black and white Touch Of Evil piece on Windward in Venice, among many others) was here in town working on a big Prince piece downtown in the North Loop, on the side of a Floyd's Barbershop.

I went down to check it out, and it's a great addition (though the face reminds me more of Fred Armisen as Prince) to the many Prince tributes around the legend's hometown. It made me want to pay a visit to Paisley Park, as I hadn't been out there since I went after Prince's death in 2016. All the hoopla has settled down out there, but as I drove down Highway 5 past Paisley Park, I had to pull over fast. I saw that down a bike path along the highway there was still a big fence full of purple tributes to Prince Rogers Nelson. There was nowhere to safely park, so I went to an office park, climbed a fence, walked back along the highway, through a drainage ditch, over another little fence, and behold - a beautiful memorial remains for all to come from around the globe and pay their respects.

There were so many lovely sentiments written, and so many creative ways of showing one's love for the Artist that can never be replaced, and who will clearly never, ever be forgotten. People had whole books inside of plastic sleeves, flowers, pancake mix, starfish and coffee, and even a purple Prince jacket. One could spend the whole afternoon just reading what Prince has meant to so many.

A little sign said that the memorial was kept up by area neighbors, and to please not take anything, and to be sure to visit the tunnel too. Tunnel?! On my way ...

I was surprised to see a guy down there in the tunnel under the highway, wearing a purple beret and painting away at an easel. His name is Dan Lacey, and he is known as the "Painter of Pancakes". I remembered seeing him back in 2016, when he was set up among the droves of mourners and tributes, doing a piece of Prince on a bike.

Lacey continues to paint Prince and help maintain the Memorial, and he was great about giving me all the information and trivia on Prince that one would ever hope for. He even had a flyer printed up called "Prince's Places", and you can go visit the various homes and landmarks made famous by our beloved native son, including all of the local murals.

There was a piece of Prince done on the ceiling of the tunnel, that Lacey told me was done by an artist that used to cut herself, but now uses knives to create. He pointed out the detail on her piece, and you could see that the whole work was made up of Prince symbols created with a knife. Cool.

A couple more people came through while I was down there in the tunnel chatting with Lacey, and you could see that they too were visibly moved. It was their first visit to Paisley Park, and I forget now where they were from, but their point of being in Minnesota was to pay their respects at Paisley Park. Prince's life was so big and reached out so far, that it's sad all over again when you realize what a massive void his loss has left, and how easily it could have been prevented. It's truly a damn shame.

I told Lacey I would let him know when the Never mural was done and where it is, so here you go! And thank you for helping to keep the wonderful memories of this once in a lifetime star alive for Minnesotans, and for his legions of fans from around the world. He was truly something else.

Prince Rogers Nelson June 7, 1958 - April 21, 2016 - Forever.

Hearts Of Our People - Native Women Artists At The Minneapolis Institute Of Arts

I've been missing writing stories, and then I went to the most spectacular art exhibit yesterday here in Minneapolis, and thought "This is a story for EVERYONE!," and as my Minnesota friends always read about my Venice/Los Angeles stories, I thought it might be nice for them to read about something in their own town, and L.A. to have something to try to get to before Hearts Of Our People: Native Women Artists ends in August (though I suspect it will be extended - it's so good). It was one of the best, most moving art shows I've ever attended, and everyone who can must go. I think I'll make "Clogtown" be my name for my Minnesota stories, after the popular Scandinavian shoe I wear all the time here.

The MIA is huge, so the ticket woman told us to "Look for the black El Camino", which we found easily (and was actually an art installation restored and done up in traditional pottery patterns by Rose B. Simpson - Santa Clara tribe) and collected our audio headsets to really understand the exhibit. Next to the ticket counter was a shelf with various native medicines to be made as offerings from Natives throughout the exhibit. As the sign said, "The center of the circle of life is respect."

You pass over an installation by Mona M. Smith (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Oyate) of a babbling brook in the woods - to enter the exhibit, where another projection of a Native woman (Juanita Espinosa) welcomes visitors in the Dakota language. The state name "Minnesota" comes from the Dakhota word "Mnisota" - "land where the water reflects the sky". If you've ever flown into Minneapolis in the daytime, you know this to be true. I learned that the center of the Dakota universe is "Bdote" - "Where two waters come together" - which is the exact spot where the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers meet. There is no better place for this first of its kind exhibit featuring all Native women to have taken place, and I couldn't have loved it more.

Each title card was written in both English and the Native translation (if available or chosen to do so), where some of the written languages were art unto themselves. The art dates back 1,000 years, and the show is so extensive, you will look at all of this and still have so much more to see. The audio tour was helpful (I've never nerded out and done that before, and now I'm mad at how much I've missed out on!), and when hearing the stories of the art in the artist's voice and with their emotion behind it, it brought chills and tears more than once. Like when learning about the Give Away Horses beaded dress and accessories by three generations of women.

Joyce Growing Thunder Fogarty, her daughter Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty, and granddaughter, Jessa Rae Growing Thunder (Dahkota/Nakoda) all beaded this masterpiece together, and the proud legacy passed down is visible in each tiny bead making up the beauty of the whole. It's stunning, and such a piece of living history. The same was true of Blanket Stories: Three Sisters, Four Pelts, Sky Woman, Cousin Rose, and All My Relations, 2007 by Marie Watt (Seneca Nation of Indians). The blanket column is meant to resemble Greek columns, but also Native totem poles. Blankets are given for gifts at important life celebrations, and play a large role in Native tradition. How cool.

Also cool were the baskets of offerings that Native visitors have left behind, and all are to be used in a big celebration at the closing of this show.

While some of the art went back centuries, there was also very much a modern presence. In Hit, 2008 by Tanis S'eiltin, (Tlingit) comments on all the massacres of Native people connected with the modern U.S. military invasions. She understands how many of these missions are advertised as "Saving women and children", while really being greedy military actions. Still. Heavy.

Kaa, 2017 was a gorgeous photograph by Cara Romero (Chemehuevi) of her model, Kaa, who comes from a notable pottery family in Santa Clara. The ancestral Pueblo clay designs are overlaid on the nude form, and shows how the spirit of the clay is passed down thousands of years. Everything is tradition, and this show will most assuredly help to keep them all alive.

Another moving piece was Thinking Caps, 1999  by Shelley Niro (Six Nation Turtle clan)- a mixed media installation again showing how the Native arts are passed down from generation to generation. Four sets of images were side by side, each showing a different age of female, with hands from child to old woman surrounding each piece.

Different caps were in front of each one, designed to show the wisdom and growth over time, with the final cap having mirrored parts to reflect you in them. Every piece in this show would make me stop and think, and I probably need to return to process it all. This land is our land, but we took it from them, and the show bears both that heaviness, but also the light that comes from beauty, art and tradition.

One of my favorites was Nahookosji Hai (Winter In The North), 2018 by DY. Begay, (Navajo). It is a painting on textile of Lake Superior in Grand Portage, MN. It invokes the same sense of calm that I've always felt gazing at that Great Lake, with the serenity coming this time from wool, natural dyes and Begay's talent.

Another real favorite was the show stopping painting that serves as the model for the exhibit's promotional materials. The Wisdom Of The Universe, 2014 by Christi Belcourt (Michif) is so beautiful you truly gasp. It depicts the plants and animals that are endangered or extinct in Canada, and is meant to display gratitude for the natural world. It's something special huge ...

... and then you zoom in on the detail and it looks like it almost could be another exquisitely beaded piece (of a hummingbird!), but it's acrylics! I loved it so much.

As much as you were entranced by the beauty of everything, you are also learning a great deal during your walk through this exceptional undertaking. For example, I didn't know that "Bone China" was really Buffalo Bone China, 1997 by Dana Claxton (Lahkota) as buffalo bones were valued by Europeans for their quality and durability, reducing the buffalo population from thousands to a few hundred. For tea cups. Wild buffalo run by on a video installed over a pile of broken china pieces. Ouch.

... the sky is darkening ..., 2018 by Jolene Rickard (Tuscarora) is a remembrance of the passenger pigeons that were hunted to extinction, and this is Rickard's celebration of their song through her bead work. It is yet another gorgeous, but deeply thought provoking piece - as they really ALL are.

Like for sure Sunshine On A Cannibal, 2015 by Andrea Carlson (Ojibwe) which portrays the cultural cannibalism that our Western society always does ... objectify, consume, assimilate, erase ... and this piece asks us to stop and think about how our culture consumes others. Complete with a trigger warning.

Another piece that brings into focus that cultural cannibalism is Childhood, 2013 by Lou-Ann Neel (Kwakwaka'wakw). It is a photo mosaic made up of hundreds of photos of kids taken from their homes and put into boarding schools to try to erase their Native ways. This happened all over the country, and remains an outrage.

I was hired to write a script about this once, but it was for a horror film, and I thought the fact that they were ripped from their homes, made to cut their hair and not speak their native languages, etc ... was horror enough. All of these little faces making up the image of Neel's nephew in traditional costume is impressive, and once again very weighted. As it should be.

Another outrage is depicted in December 5, 2016: No Spiritual Surrender, 2016 by Zoe Urness (Tlingit), a digital photograph that portrays the pride and defiance of the Standing Rock standoff a few years back that remains as yet another blight on our nation's troubled recent history - and past.

And if we're talking about outrages - and we are - you can't forget The Garden, 2017 by Julie Buffalohead ((Ponca). It reminds us of when the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden thought it would be a good idea a few years back to include a piece of a gallows (Scaffold) where 40 Native men were hanged in 1862. People were obviously horrified, and the offending piece was removed. Buffalohead's work shows a wolf carrying off the Sculpture Garden's blue rooster in it mouth, "Revealing the ignorance and vanity of the predominantly white art world and its incompatibility with the Native peoples' lived experiences." - according to the title card. Burn.

Another personal favorite of mine was also called Childhood, 2004 by C. Maxx Stevens (Seminole/Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma), who suffers from memory loss. Family members trigger her memory with objects like a childhood dress - here hung with a light inside and a crow on the outside, for her protection. The unfinished quality is meant to illustrate the fragility of memory ... and this one made me cry again.

The Hide cradleboard, c.1890 by a Kiowa artist was beaded to honor new life, and again shows why Native culture is so beautiful with its symbolism and reverence for nature, family, and tradition. Every single item in this show holds nations inside of it, and the memories that keep them alive, I can't say enough good about it.

A beaded Woman's parka (tuilli), c. 1900 (Inuit) was stunning, and also functional, as they were made from caribou hide and used in the whaling harbors of Canada. They were often passed down from mother to daughter, and were treasured possessions. Of course, look at it!

Another heavy - maybe the most heavy - piece was Fringe, 2007 by Rebecca Belmore (Anishinaabe). This work addresses the violence toward Native women that is sadly not uncommon. The figure is in a traditional European painting pose, but her deep scar shows the trauma for Native people ... and is then sewn up with beads, portraying their resilience, strength, and ultimate survival. Wow.

I loved Women's Voices at the Council, 1990, by Joan Hill (Muskogee Creek and Cherokee), and shows the power that women hold to decide between war and peace. This piece is particularly powerful now, as we as a country attempt to navigate equal rights and less war, along with a renewed respect for women - we hope.

Women from all nations love their shoes, as the intricately beaded moccasins shown off in this exhibit clearly show, but perhaps none more than this stunning pair of Christian Louboutins, Adaptation, II, 2012 zhuzzed up in beaded and feathered Native style by Jamie Okuma (Luiseño/Shoshone-Bannock) that I deeply covet.
 

How could It's In Our DNA, It's Who We Are, 2018 by Anita Fields (Osage) not be one of my favorites? The brightly colored military coat is after those that were given to Osage men by U.S. government officials, but they were too small for them, so the women took to adorning them and wearing them for special ceremonies. Fields took this excellent one a step further by sewing treaties and photographs into its lining ... and adding a top hat that isn't explained. I loved it.

I loved every piece in Hearts of Our People, in fact. It is groundbreaking, it is exquisite, it is moving, it is beautiful, and it is important.  Important because it asks us to celebrate Native women and their art, but also to remember. To remember where and who we came from, and also to remember who we want to be. A poem hanging near the final works called Remember by Joy Harjo (Muscogee/Cherokee) really summed the entire show up for me. I'll leave you here with it, and urge you to visit this magnificent exhibit at MIA at least once during its duration.

Hearts of Our People 
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Now through August 18th, 2019

Thank you to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and the Minneapolis Institute of Art for bringing this must see show to Minneapolis for all to enjoy and learn from. It is a tour de force.

Paint The Bushes!

Deviating a little from my usual route this morning, I saw something that I think is kind of great on Main Street and Westminster. The floral-painted building on the corner that houses a production company (Concrete Images/Durable Goods), went out and painted their hedge to match!

I'm not sure how great this is for the foliage, I'm not a botanist, but I can tell you that it is awesome and fun, and sort of makes you feel like in Alice In Wonderland when they all go out and paint the roses, just for fun. It also reminded me of a quote from that book/movie that fits for the parts and people that I love the most in Venice ... "You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are."

Thank you for this entirely bonkers bush, folks. It made my day.

The Fine And Fanciful Art Of Alexis Murray

5/9/18: Lexi passed away this past Sunday. There are really no words that can express how sad that is, so I will let her story speak for itself. She was Awesome.
                                           
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Alexis Murray is a fine artist living and working in Venice, California. She's also my friend, and real cool. We had a chance to sit down recently and dig more into her art and the path that got her here.

That path began in Philadelphia, where Murray was born and raised in household where "Artists were like heroes in our house." Her family's appreciation for art was further encouraged in high school, where Murray had the first teacher that really celebrated her work in a Mrs. Alice Cook. That led to attending Cooper Union Art School in New York and then transferred to Rhode Island School Of Design to pursue her higher education in painting and photography.

After working gigs in graphic design and as a photography assistant, and working on the Duke and Duchess of Windsor auction at Sotheby's in New York, Murray was happy to be working in her field ... but really missed painting. She created her first studio in her friend's extra bedroom and got into grad school at the School Of Visual Arts in NYC. She also got into illustration while there, which I totally see in her work ... you really want her to illustrate some very cool book out there. She had to choose a mentor for her thesis, and renowned photographer Duane Michals filled that role. His sense of humor and surrealism impacted her work, and grad school set her off in the direction of her current work.

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Murray wound up falling in love with her childhood crush, Austin, and he lived in Los Angeles, so that meant a move across the country. Together they embarked on a worldwide trip, which so influenced Murray that she set up her art studio right when they got back, all inspired. Two (darling) little girls (Luna and Larkin) soon followed, and that meant the studio space got sub-letted, while Murray spent more time at home. Home also affected the work, as painting at home with babies necessitated smaller scaled pieces, both for space and time.

Being home with two little girls also meant lots of time spent with imagination, dress-up, role playing ... "All the things that inform who you'll become." As Murray explained, "I want my art to have that sense of magic that you have in life as kids." As you can tell by looking at any given piece of her work, it certainly does.

Her work also always has that sense of humor within it ... "Everything I do is fun for me ... I find myself laughing while I work all the time." That comes through in her paintings for sure, but perhaps most amusing are her gravestones. The above painting, Buena Suerte 2 is like a sketch for her real, fabricated, sculpted headstones that say things like, I Was Awesome or For You (for the heirs). One upping that is her plan for an inflatable Afterlife Machine, a large scale public installation, where the viewer would walk through and see what their next reincarnated life would be projected on the wall. Fun AND funny!

Now that the girls are in school and busy as kids are these days, Murray has a new studio in the Beacon Arts Building in Inglewood. Once each year, the building hosts Open Studios and this year's event is November 8th and 9th, from 12-5 pm. "Inglewood is super supportive of the Arts Community," says Murray (and now has far cheaper studio space than Venice - something we need to get a handle on if we still want to be a haven for artists. For real.) The November event is sure to be feast of fantastic art to behold.

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Murray's own work has grown once again, both in scale and meaning. As she explains, "I'm extremely interested in dualities. Almost all the paintings I make depict things trying to live in many worlds at the same time, and the struggle that inevitably presents." As in her Keeping An Eye ... "Here you see identity, sexuality, authority, femininity, aging, beauty, wisdom, bundled with severity, humor and melancholy." As you stand before it, you see for yourself - it's all there.

Showfolk is about family life. "It's about how we all change roles and shift in dynamics within any given scenario and continually challenge one another." Murray went on to say, "I also love kitsch. This informs a lot of my colors and the overall look of the painting, and adds an element of modernity to the very traditional style of painting I have studied and worked so hard to learn." So great.

You notice in Murray's work that she tends to also have fun with composition and traditional teaching about where things should go, tweaking the work with things you're taught not to do, and making those choices work.

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Among her body of work are the miniatures, work directly inspired by her time spent in India. Six inch squares that "demand intimacy from the viewer even in the way the need to be physically approached ... they should almost seem impossible to make and are the result of obsession." And because they're so little, you can both afford them and have the space for them! Win win. Another cool thing for Murray was that she was also recently chosen to design a commemorative coin for the state of Wyoming. How cool is that?

We also spoke about the Venice we love, and Murray told me, "I've only ever lived in Venice in L.A. - and I have every intention of dying in Venice." (Her headstones would certainly fit in here!) She felt similar to how I did when I first came here, that "Venice is the essence of being free to be who you are." Arriving from New York, Venice fit Murray to a T. "People are so open-minded and so cool ... it's bohemian, but upscale if you want that ... the climate ... the creative vibe ... you just meet the best people here." Fact.

Murray loves raising her kids here (you should see their house for Halloween - wow!), loves their neighbors, loves the Saints and Sinners bakery on Lincoln ("the epitome of Venice funk"), and loves that she gets to live and work in a place that so lends itself to exactly what she's doing. Living her art.





Visit Alexismurray.com to see more, or visit her at the Beacon Arts Building for Open Studios, November 8th and 9th, 12-5 pm. Murray is located in Studio 4D.

The Fine Art Of Justin Herber

Justin Herber is one of my very favorite artists - and friends. I first wrote about his art when he had a show up at The Other Room back in 2010 - when it was the highlight of that year's Art Walk for me (though not officially a part of it, as is often the case). His wood stain pieces depicting celebrated musicians lined the walls, one cooler than the next. The one I loved the most was Bob Dylan (Minnesota), and I've dreamed of it ever since.

Well, guess what?! Justin hand delivered that Dylan piece to my house the very day of my Glögg Fest in December! I own an original Herber! I'll never get over it. As every person who has visited my pad since has stood in front of it with their mouths agape, I wanted to put out a public - and ecstatic! - thank you note to Justin, so others can know about (and acquire) their own piece of awesomeness.

 

Herber is from West Texas, and spent a big chunk of his childhood very sick - like in a bubble sick. That led him to drawing, not only as self-entertainment, but as a means of survival. He overcame his illness 100%, but never lost his passion for drawing and painting - which led to his attending Pepperdine University's art program out here in Malibu.

 

Since then, Herber's life has been all about art, story and travel. Currently the Creative Consultant for Tom's Shoes, Herber handles all of those aspects within one job - living the dream. He also worked with National Geographic, traveling the world to tell our stories through art and a vision of working together for a more positive world.

His wood stain pieces came out of his love of street art and stencils, but his family's Texas farm background led him to try working with more natural, organic materials ... and his style was born. I think that's also why I love them - I wouldn't be into some big hero-worship style photo (and I pretty much revile our celebrity culture, especially here in L.A.), but the woodsy elements appeal to my own background in Minnesota, and I absolutely love these works. Every one of them.

Painting icons can be tricky, but the warm elements of the wood make it all the more approachable, and somehow you feel more of a connection with the work - and the person - because of it. Like a giant photograph of Dylan somehow wouldn't be as cool, you know?

With all of Herber's travels and other projects taking up a lot of his time lately, he hasn't had as many shows for these fantastic images to be seen, but he's in talks to reproduce some of them as a line of prints, and maybe a cool line of cards.

He will also do works on commission (I feel like there needs to be a Herber Bob Marley and probably a Joe Strummer in the world ... etc.), but not of your baby. Yet. Icons.
I'm so happy there's such good, quality people in this world, that are also such world-class talents. It's always the best (and increasingly rare) when they're both, and Justin Herber surely is.

To discuss your own never-ending conversation piece, you may contact the artist at JustinHerber@mac.com.

Eternal thanks, Justin! - from this Girl From The North Country.