Tag Archives: Arts Events

ENERGY Extended Through Jan. 23

Due to popular demand, ENERGY has extended its run. It will remain on display at the Williamson Gallery through Jan. 23.

ENERGY investigates how natural forces shape not only material things, but affect our emotions and intellect.

Don’t miss the closing reception later this week, Thursday, Jan. 13 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Check out an ENERGY installation by artist (and Grad Art alumna) Rebeca Méndez in the video below:

If you haven’t already seen the exhibit, stop by the Williamson Gallery and check it out. The gallery is open Tuesdays through Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. and Fridays noon to 9 p.m.

Read what others are saying about ENERGY:

Art Center Students Help Launch Watts Art?


Watts Art? is a collaborative art project created by Art Center students, Watts House Project and St. John’s United Methodist Church in the historic Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts. The goal is to encourage community derived creative projects and to facilitate new artistic commissions at St. John’s. Watts Art? was born from the Designmatters studio Case Studies for Social Change, led by Edgar Arceneaux, Dave Bailey and Alexandra Grant this term.

On Sunday, Dec. 19, the inaugural exhibit of the collaborative project, 34,830 Watts, will be presented at St. John’s near the historic Watts Towers from 3 to 6 p.m. More than 20 local and community artists will show work, a site-specific light work will be unveiled, a dance performance and more are planned for the day. 34,830 Watts aims to highlight the uniqueness and rich cultural legacy of the Watts neighborhood.

Three Boys From Pasadena Opening Tonight in NYC

Tonight is the New York opening of Three Boys From Pasadena: A Tribute to Helmut Newton, featuring the photographs of Art Center alumni Mark Arbeit, Just Loomis and George Holz. The exhibit will run through Jan. 30 at Clic Gallery in New York.

Helmut Newton (1920-2004), a native of Berlin, was known for his provocative and erotically charged black-and-white photography, especially of female nudes. His shocking and later much-imitated style was a constant in the pages of US Vogue and Vogue Paris.

Arbeit, Holz and Loomis first met Newton in 1979 while students at Art Center. Eventually all three became Newton’s assistants during one of the most exciting and prolific times in his career. For 30 years, they kept in touch, sharing their personal work with Newton and his wife, June.

In June of this year, Three Boys from Pasadena, curated by June Newton, premiered at the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin. The exhibit consists of each photographer’s individual work, as well as several memorabilia panels consisting of never-before-seen snapshots, handwritten notes, journal pages, contact sheets and other souvenirs of Newton’s life. Three Boys from Pasadena is an exceptional memorial to one of the 20th century’s most iconic photographers, and an unusually revealing look at personal and professional relationships among artists and protégés.

The accompanying book, published by Factory/LeJoker, is available as well. There will be a book signing at tonight’s event.

Three Boys from Pasadena: A Tribute to Helmut Newton
Dec. 7, 6 to 8 p.m.
Clic Gallery, New York

Silent Auction Benefits Gulf Wildlife

Just because the Deepwater Horizon oil spill isn’t dominating the headlines these days doesn’t mean that it’s not still wreaking havoc on wildlife along the Gulf Coast. Luckily, someone is doing something about it.

This Saturday, October 23, the American Society of Picture Professionals (ASPP) West Coast Chapter will hold a silent auction fundraiser to benefit the National Wildlife Federation’s Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund. The event will be held from 6:30 to 10 pm at Wildfire Studios in Los Angeles.

“The NWF’s Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund has declared this a wildlife emergency,” explains ASPP West Coast Chapter co-president and silent auction committee member Ellen Herbert. “The money we raise directly helps the Gulf’s wildlife and breeding grounds.”

The fundraiser and evening program aim to encourage others to see the importance of rebuilding and sustaining the fragile Gulf ecology.

More than 40 printed original photographs are being donated for the silent auction, including works by Ralph Clevenger, Norbert Wu and Frans Lanting. A preview of the photographs to be auctioned can be seen online at both Facebook and at the ASPP West Coast Silent Auction blog.

Tickets for the event can be purchased here. Those not able to attend in person are encouraged to donate or bid through a proxy, as all proceeds go to the NWF’s Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund.

ENERGY Opening Friday

This Friday, October 8, ENERGY, a new exhibition at the College’s Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery, will open as part of the annual ArtNight Pasadena. The exhibit’s opening reception will be from 6 to 10 p.m.

ENERGY investigates how natural forces shape not only material things, but affect our emotions and intellect.

As part of the Williamson Gallery’s mission, students in Art Center’s Design for Sustainability 2 class will use a section of the gallery as their studio, studying and displaying their exploration of the question, “Where do energy and design intersect?”

ArtNight Pasadena kicks off Pasadena ArtWeekend, a three-day, citywide arts festival.

Now Showing: Art Center Alumni, Faculty and Students


Danger, Set Free, by Rob and Christian Clayton (2008)

A few current exhibits featuring work of Art Center students, alumni and faculty:

  • Clayton Brothers: Inside Out, a new major exhibition at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, presents paintings and mixed-media installations created collaboratively by Illustration alums Rob and Christian Clayton. The exhibit will be on view through January 2, 2011. Madison Museum of Contemporary Art
  • Graduate Art faculty member Taft Green’s new show, Settings, opens at Praterstrasse48 Berlin on Sept. 30.   Praterstrasse48
  • Graduate Art faculty member Skip Arnold, Graduate Art alums Jennifer Moon and Jeff Ostergren, and Fine Art alumnus Jorge Pardo are in a group show opening Sept. 25 and curated by Grad Art faculty member Jan Tumlir, Jerry/Jury Rigged, at the Glendale College Art Gallery.  Glendale College Art Gallery
  • Fine Art alum Devin Strother currently has a solo show at Richard Heller Gallery in Santa Monica. Richard Heller Gallery
  • The Blab! Show features work by Illustration alums Marc Burckhardt, Owen Smith and Lou Beach. Through Oct. 2 at Copro Gallery in Santa Monica. The Blab! Show
  • Grad Art alumna Emilie Halpern’s latest show, Eclipse, on display at Pepin Moore through Oct. 23. Pepin Moore
  • Painting faculty member Kent Williams has a solo show at Evoke in New Mexico through Sept. 30. Evoke Contemporary
  • Alumna Korin Faught has an opening September 25 at Corey Helford Gallery. Corey Helford Gallery
  • MDP student An Xiao Mina participating in a poetry reading this Saturday at the Pacific Asia Museum. Southern California Haiku Study Group Anthology

What did we miss? If you know of any student, alumni or faculty shows, let us know.

Tad Beck Weighs in on Current Work

It’s always interesting to hear about an installation directly from the artist. As we recently reported, contemporary artist and Art Center alum Tad Beck’s current exhibition, Palimpsest, is part of LACMA’s Manly Pursuits: The Sporting Images of Thomas Eakins. His work is a response to Eakins’ Grafly Album, also on view in the exhibition.

Beck weighs in on his installation in a guest post on LACMA’s blog, Unframed:

“During the installation of my exhibition Palimpsest, I was able to have my own private exploration of Manly Pursuits. I had never seen many of these works in person, though Eakins has been one of my primary influences since parallels emerged with my own practice. … Both Eakins’s and my own work focus on nude models. The locations look very much the same, and both Eakins and I are treading water. There was even similar passion for creating axis. While none of these parallels were intentional in Roll, they became definitive and almost seemed beyond coincidence.”

Read more: Tad Beck on his Installation, Palimpsest

Roll from CellPhoneStories @LACMA on Vimeo.

Now Showing: Grad Art Alumni and Faculty

Our Graduate Art Department members and alums have been busy this summer! A few current exhibits:

Emilie Halpern, Marble Letter

  • Through August 7: Alumnus Brian Kennon has a solo exhibit, Group Shows, at Steve Turner Contemporary.
  • July 30 through August 20: Alumnus Tad Beck is in a group show/event, Its Own Nothingness, at Krowswork in Oakland. He is also will have an installation, Palimpsest, as part of LACMA’s Manly Pursuits, July 25 through October 15.
  • Through August 21: Grad Fine Art faculty member Walead Beshty organized the exhibition Picture Industry (Goodbye to All That) at Regen Projects, featuring more than 30 artists.
  • Through August 21: Alumna Emilie Halpern is in a group show, Long Long Gone, at Leo Koenig in New York. Her work can also be seen in the curated online artist resource “Culturehall” issue #46: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
  • Through September 4: Alumna Jennifer West is in a group show, Just a Matter of Time, at Iris Kadel in Karlsruhe, Germany.

What did we miss? If you know of any student, alumni or faculty shows, let us know.

Ego, Destruction and Facebook

Untitled (Wrestler), by Salomón Huerta

Illustration alum Salomón Huerta is known for revealing identity by obscuring it. He has painted collections of finely detailed portraits of the backs of heads, florid but unemotional masked lucha libre wrestlers, and unassuming suburban homes stripped of individuality.

He’ll be giving a free lecture tonight at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), presented by Zócalo Public Square.

Huerta has exhibited at the Whitney Biennial, the Gagosian Gallery and LACMA. He will discuss his creative methodology and his notions of art, ego and creativity.

Salomón Huerta:
Ego, Destruction and Facebook
Wednesday, July 14, 7:30 pm
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)
250 South Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA

Summertime Is Showtime

A number of our students and alumni are exhibiting work this summer in galleries around the country. A few current exhibits:

  • Photography and Imaging student Chase Koopersmith has work in the group show Inspired, opening at the Steven Kasher Gallery in New York on July 14.
  • Advertising alum Ed Mell’s solo exhibit, Ed Mell: Paintings of the New West, is currently on display at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff.

We’re sure there are some we’ve missed. If you know of any student or alumni shows, let us know.

(Pictured: Outside AB Tool Crib: Matt, Mike, Carey, Steven, John, Mel and Karl by Sharon Lockhart.)