NELA Live

Brushes of Fire and Free Form Art Exhibitions Opening at Avenue 50 Studio September 11

Sonya Fe  and Margaret Garcia

The Dead Need To Be Fed — Sonya Fe

 

Woman in Red — Margaret Garcia

The Avenue 50 Studio is proud to present Sonya Fe and Margaret Garcia in an exhibition of recent paintings.  We are honored to host two powerful artists as our participation in  Latino Heritage Month for the City of Los Angeles and in Northeast LA’s Second Saturday Art Night.

Sonya Fe:  Sonya’s large scale works in oil, wax and copal are composed of earth tones, soothing to the eye, yet whose content shakes you out of your normal comfort zone.  Fe is an exuberant person with a large personality.

Margaret Garcia:  A painter with fiery brush strokes and colors just as aggressive, Garcia’s images are as potent as the artist herself. 

Each artist delves into personal struggles matched by tremendous strength of will.   This is an exhibition you will not want to miss.
 Opening night reception:  Saturday, September 11, 7-10 pm

September 11 through October 3, 2010

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
a 501(c)(3) non-profit art gallery
131 North Avenue 50
Highland Park, CA  90042
323-258-1435
www.avenue50studio.com 

Opening at Avenue 50 Studio August 14

Roberto Gutierrez
José Orozco

 

 

Opening night reception:  Saturday, August 14, 7-10 pm

August 14 through September 5, 2010

The Avenue 50 Studio is proud to present East Los, a series of new works documenting East Los Angeles with paintings by Roberto Gutierrez and photography by José Orozco.

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
a 501(c)(3) non-profit art gallery
131 North Avenue 50
Highland Park, CA  90042
323-258-1435
http://www.avenue50studio.com

Avenue 50 Studio Presents "The Hybrid Project” A Collaboration With Peter Liashkov -- Opening May 8

The Hybrid Project”  A Collaboration With Peter Liashkov

Oksana Badrak, Raoul De la Sota, Craig Havens, Cidne Hart, Nancy Kyes, Haven Lin-Kirk, Poli Marichal, Lino Martinez, Andrés E. Montoya, Miguel Angel Murillo, Trevor Norris, Toti O’Brien, Pierre Picot, Victor Rosas, Marianne Sadowski, Francesco Siquieiros, Pen Tsou, Ingrid Von Sydow, J Michael Walker, Ruth Weisberg, Kent Williams
 
Artists’ reception -- Saturday evening, May 8, 2010 from 7 to 10 p.m.

The Avenue 50 Studio is proud to present The Hybrid Project, a project conceived by Peter Liashkov.  The exhibit opens with an artists’ reception on Saturday evening, May 8, 2010 from 7 to 10 p.m. and closes on Sunday, June 6, 2010.

The Hybrid Project is a collaborative partnership between selected local artists and artist Peter Liashkov.  Each participant was invited to select one of Liashkov’s life size silhouettes, drawn or painted on synskin (a translucent fiberglass paper). Each artist reworked the piece in his/her own manner the form of painting, drawing, printing, sculpture and installation.  This is the second exhibition of the ongoing Hybrid Project.  The first of these was held at Blackgate Space in Silverlake in the spring of 2009.
 
Peter Liashkov is Professor Emeritus from Art Center College of Design, Pasadena since 1975.  He is in the collection of the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art; the Brooklyn Museum, New York; the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia; and the Howard Ahmanson Collection, among others.

Please join us on Saturday, May 8, 2010 for the opening night reception of The Hybrid Project.

When:   Saturday, May 8, 2010 from 7 to 10 pm.

Where:  Avenue 50 Studio, 131 North Avenue 30, Highland Park, CA  90042 (323) 258-1435.  www.avenue50studio.com

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Avenue 50 Studio, Inc. is an arts presentation organization grounded in Latin@ Chican@ culture. Our monthly shows principally exhibit artists of color who display a high quality of work, and who have not been represented in mainstream galleries. We seek to build bridges of cultural understanding through artistic expressions. Using content-driven art to educate and to stimulate intercultural understanding, we build relationships and collaborations with artists and communities.

Avenue 50 Studio is supported in part by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the California Community Foundation, the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC)

Avenue 50 Studio you are invited to attend Opening Night Reception April 10

Above: The Violinist - Martin Charlot

Please join us at Avenue 50 Studio for this Opening Night Reception: Saturday, April 10, 2010 from 7-10 in tandem with NELAs Second Saturday Art Night, April 10

The Avenue 50 Studio is proud to present Horizons, an exhibition of works by contemporary artists Martin Charlot and Raoul De la Sota. The exhibit opens with an artists' reception on Saturday evening, April 10, 2010 from 7 to 10 p.m. and closes on Sunday, May 2, 2010.

Martin Charlot, son of the renowned artist and muralist, Jean Charlot, is an oil painter and a muralist working in the fresco tradition. Taught by his father, Martin's careful draftsmanship and skillful color expresses a humanist spirituality grounded in earthiness. His work speaks to life reborn; the life of earth and of humanity. His love of flora and fauna is exhibited in his lushfully surreal landscapes, meant to be lingered over like an intensely flavored feast.

Raoul De la Sota's work reflects his beliefs in ancient cultures and civilizations as they relate to cosmic imagery. Mystical and dreamy, De la Sota's work points our eyes skyward in search of his Mayan nebulas and constellations. De la Sota's imaginative colors reinvigorates and deepens our interest in the universe as cosmic creator. At the same time, he deals with ecological matters in terms of ancient ideas as well as contemporary warnings.

Please join us on Saturday, March 10, 2010 for the opening night reception of Horizons - as far, and farther, than the eye can see.

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
a 501(c)(3) non-profit art gallery
131 North Avenue 50
Highland Park, CA  90042
323-258-1435

http://www.avenue50studio.com

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc. is an arts presentation organization grounded in Latin@ Chican@ culture. Our monthly shows principally exhibit artists of color who display a high quality of work, and who have not been represented in mainstream galleries. We seek to build bridges of cultural understanding through artistic expressions. Using content-driven art to educate and to stimulate intercultural understanding, we build relationships and collaborations with artists and communities.

Opening at Avenue 50 Studio/The Annex March 13 A Prayer For Juarez, A Curse On The Killers

Opening at Avenue 50 Studio/The Annex March 13: A Prayer For Juarez, A Curse On The Killers
Opening Night Reception:  Saturday, March 13, 2010 from 7-10 pm

March 13 through April 4, 2010

 

Participating artists:

Alfonso Aceves
Laura Blanco
Angela Briggs
Ismael de Anda
Antonio Escalante
Judithe Hernandez
Cindy Suriyani
Vincentmayakovsky

The Avenue 50 Studio is participating in A Prayer for Juarez a world-wide call to attention dedicated to uplift and raise awareness about violence against humanity around the world, beginning in Juárez. The main approach is to no longer come from a place of anger, hate or protest, but from a place of love and prayer towards this city and its people.

Anyone is invited to come pray as they do for the sole purpose of casting a light on Juárez: the city and the women there. When police, guns, armies, militias, government and money have not made an impact in saving the lives of the residents in Juárez living amongst violence, hate towards women, and drug wars every day, A Prayer for Juárez acknowledges that the tragedies in Juárez are a spiritual battle, and it will make a stand to tackle this war with the biggest army we as humans have behind us….the power of love and prayer.

As part of A Prayer for Juarez, a network of companion exhibits will take place in March.  Below is the update on places that will be part of this art protest dialogue.

A Sculptural Installation, Albuquerque, NM Contact djgavel@gmail.com

Honoring the Women of Juarez and the West Mesa Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala
Contact: Renata Luna E-mail: lumartica@yahoo.com

Fort Worth, Texas Producing group: Sound Culture
Contact: Tammy M. Gomez Email: sound_culture@hotmail.com
Phone: 817.924.9188

Juarez City No More Femicide
At the International Women's Day Rally at the Sydney Town Hall
Sydney, Australia (March 13, 2010 from 10 am to 3 pm
Sydney Action for Juarez Concert Contact: Liliana E Correa Email: lilianaec_27@yahoo.com.au

Priéres de femmes pour Juarez
Biblioteque du mile-end,
l'exposition dÌmages de femmes
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Montréal Longueuil, Québec, Canada
dans le dadre de Contact: Claudia Cortés Email: claudiacortes1@hotmail.com

A Prayer for Juarez
Casa 0101-  Los Angeles, California
Contact: Josefina Lopez & Victoria Delgadillo
Email: aprayerforjuarez@gmail.com  www.aprayerforjuarez.org

Femicide
March 12th –  April 10th  2010 – Opening March 12th 7:00 – 10:00pm
Contact: Mia Roman, curator (artbymamamia@yahoo.com)
Abrazo Interno Gallery:  Clemente Soto Velez Cultural & Educational Center
107 Suffolk Street , New York , NY 10002

Citizan Divas:  Women, Art and Social Justice
A Panel in celebration of International Women's Day
MOCA - Museum of Contemporary Art, Auditorium
250 So. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA  90012
Free of Charge, open to the public
Organized by Nancy Buchanan, Christine Wertheim and students from CalArts ID 517
This symposium focuses on social, geographical and conceptual arenas where the power of women to speak on behalf of themselves and their peers is strongly, radically asserted through works of art and activism.
12.00-12.30 - Introduction by artist Andrea Bowers
12.30- 2.30 - Lourdes Portillo will discuss the making of her film, Senorita Extraviada, Missing Young Woman, a documentary examining the mystery of the hundreds of young women murdered in Juarez, Mexico. For further information:   buchanan@calarts.edu, wertheim@calarts.edu

Barcelona, España
Contact: Susana García Medrano Email: susana@equidad.org.mx

Buenos Aires, Argentina
Contact: Sandra Román

Mexico City, DF Contact: Pilar Aranda Email: unaoracionporjuarez@gmail.com

Opening at Avenue 50 Studio March 13 “Cuentos de Hadas” (Fairy Tales)

Rapunzel - Esau Andrade     

Mercedes Gertz and Esau Andrade reinterpret fairy tales

with photographs by Elizabeth Beristain

Opening Night Reception:  Saturday, March 13, 2010 from 7-10 pm

The Avenue 50 Studio is proud to present “Cuentos de Hadas” (Fairy Tales), an exhibition of works by two contemporary Mexican artists.  Through a narrative language, Gertz and Andrade portray the female vs. male versions of fairy tales.  The exhibit opens with an artists’ reception on Saturday evening, March 13, 2010 from 7 to 10 p.m. and closes on Sunday, April 4, 2010.

Mercedes Gertz. Using humor and sensuality, Gertz’s fairy tale series asks us to consider where women are in the 21st century.  Her heroines are unapologetic symbols of female confidence.  We sense in them a comfort with the body, with play and decoration.  They confidently own the sensual, and relish in being a woman in charge.

These … fairy or folk tales … recur over and over through millennia in the guise of innocent stories telling us time and again that the docile, young body gets the prince, that the girl brave enough to venture into the woods—the space of men--meets her fate at the hands of the big bad wolf. Peter Pan lives forever as a boy, Wendy must grow up--it is her calling, her duty, her essential nature. -- Marlena Doktorczyk-Donohue, Art Critic, Essayist, Poet

Esau Andrade.  Following in the footsteps of the Latin American surrealists, Esau Andrade twists reality, creating canvases bursting with color that are pop in nature.  He instills a childlike exuberance into his delightful paintings. Andrade comes from a folk art background, as both his mother Guadalupe Valencia and brother Raymundo Andrade are also artists.  He is mainly a self-taught painter, although attended La Escuela de Artes Plasticas de la Universidad de Guadalajara.

Unlike the candy colored confections of his more stylized folk art paintings, these other works by Andrade place him firmly in the surrealist tradition shared by many Latin masters. He retains a naiveté and originality with quirky images that are both charming and serious, and also remain indebted to his rich culture for visual symbols that are vivid and intense.  -- Kathy Zimmerer, Artscene 11/2004

Elizabeth Beristain.  Elizabeth was born in Mexico City.  A graduate of the Escuela Activa de Fotografia and staff photographer for “El Reforma,” one of the top national daily newspapers in Mexico, she moved to Los Angeles as a freelance photographer and later became Photography Editor for the cultural publication Latino Weekly Review.  A product of her Mexican mother’s artistic sensitivity and her Portuguese father’s decidedly more adventurous side, this subtle mixture of Old and the New World influences are germinal elements of Elizabeth’s artistry. Additionally, in devising the art direction of her own work, a wider range of crucial creative features shine through, from the world of opera, painting, music, and cinema, in a vision where a unique sense of artistry never intrudes with a boundless appreciation of our common humanity.  Elizabeth has participated in various collective and solo shows, both in Mexico and Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband, cinematographer Gabriel Beristain ASC, BSC, and their two children Max and Victoria.  She is currently at work on her new series, entitled Crowned Nuns.

March 13, 2010 through April 4, 2010

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
131 North Avenue 50
Los Angeles, CA  90042
323/258-1435
www.avenue50studio.com 

Avenue 50 Studio: Closing Event for Here is My Heart: March 7

Artists and Friends:  Sunday, March 7, from 1-3 pm, the Avenue 50 Studio will hold a special closing event for our exhibits Body Language and Here is My Heart.   Our Heart fundraiser in the Annex Gallery has been very successful with many of the hearts already sold, but there are a few very special ones that still want to be adopted. 

Please bring your friends to our closing event from 1 to 3 p.m. when the auction closes, take home a beautiful heart, and enjoy a last look at the art of our Body Language artists Judithe Hernandez, Jose Lozano, Louie Metz, Willie Middlebrook and Andres E. Montoya.

Light refreshments will be served

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
a 501(c)(3) non-profit art gallery
131 North Avenue 50
Highland Park, CA  90042

323-258-1435

http://www.avenue50studio.com

The Annex Presents: 50 Artists - 50 Hearts For Sale - Mini FundRaiser for Avenue 50 Studio

For our first fundraiser of the year, Saturday, February 13, 2010 from 7-10 pm, the Avenue 50 Studio asked 50 artists to paint, decorate or write poems on hearts that will sell in silent auction with opening bids of $100 each.  The artist of each heart will not be identified during the exhibit.   The hearts, of four distinct designs, are already formed from composite wood, approximately 8" x 9" and ready-to-hang.  We  hope that you will join us at this special event.

Participating artists include:

Lalo Alcaraz, Katrina Alexy, Guillermo Bejerano, Kay Brown, Yrneh Brown, Nancy Bucanan, Mita Cuaron, Raoul De la Sota, Diane Destiny, Kiki Edder, Kathy Gallegos, Margaret Garcia, Graham Goddard, Pat Gomez, Yolanda Gonzalez, Lauren Gonzalez, Frank Gutierrez, Gerald Hacer, Lucy Hagopian, Cidne Hart, Kevin Hass, Amy Inouye, Jose Lopes, Robert Lowden, Jose Lozano, Maja, Poli Marichal, Amyliah Mejia, Andrés E. Montoya, Beth Peterson, Ester Petschar, CCH Pounder, Stuart Rapeport, Sonia Romero, Nancy Romero, Abel Salas, Peter Shire, Suzanne Siegel, Rachel Siegel, Joe Sims, Annie Sperling, Stormie, Cindy Suriyani, Howard Swerdloff, John Paul Thornton, Richard Turner, Sergio Vasquez, Gisel Vincent-Osuna, Lamont Westmoreland, Mike Yanagita, Val Zavala

 Opening Night Reception:  Saturday, February 13, 2010 from 7-10 pm

Where:  
Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
131 North Avenue 50
Los Angeles, CA  90042
323/258-1435
www.avenue50studio.com

Avenue 50 Studio: Second Saturday Exhibitions February 13

"Body Language"

Judithe Hernandez, Jose Lozano, Louie Metz, Willie Middlebrook, Andrés E. Montoya

Adam - The Surrender - Judithe Hernandez

Artists' reception -- Saturday evening, February 13, 2010 from 7 to 10 p.m.

The Avenue 50 Studio is proud to present Body Language, an exhibition of works which use the human form as story teller.  

Judithe Hernandez began her career in the midst of the turbulent 1970's as part of the vanguard of Chicano Art.  Hernandez was the only female member of the important Chicano art collective, Los Four.  Working together with East Los Angeles youth, she created murals reflective of the times, exploring political and cultural topics while also incorporating personal narrative.  Judithe is most know for her pastels on paper.  Using lush colors, she continually draws creative inspiration from her cultural inheritance.  Judith has exhibited extensively in the United States, Europe and Mexico, including the ground-breaking first exhibition of contemporary Chicano Art in Europe: Les Démon des Anges.  Her exhibition with the Avenue 50 Studio marks her return to Los Angeles after a 30-year hiatus.

Louie Metz, born in an army hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico, moved with his mother to Los Angeles at the age of nine.  At the age of fourteen, Louie and friends, responding to the world around them, formed Mad Society, a punk band.  He received his B.F.A. from Otis Parsons in 1990.  Louie's subjects reflect an inner psychological reality.  He conveys a classicism that is complex and straight forward - brutal yet beautiful.

Willie Middlebrook, obsessed with the need to communicate in an honest and direct manner, uses photography to reflect the ideals and the integrity of being Black.  His work speaks to an African-American sensibility that is always centered on his community.  Willie produces strong sepia toned images of his people; not necessarily in a positive light, but always in a true light.

Jose Lozano lived in Juárez, México during his youth. There he found many of the cultural touchstones that continue to influence his work today - bad Mexican cinema, fotonovelas, ghost stories, comic books, and musical genres such as bolero and ranchera.  He creates revealing, yet not always flattering, works about his neighborhood and its residents - parties, quinceañeras, strip clubs, weddings, and baby showers. Lozano prefers to work in a series, and focuses on particular themes and topics.  In his series for the Avenue 50 Studio, Lozano focuses, in a wry manner, on the numerous strip clubs scattered throughout Juárez.

Andrés Montoya utilizes the landscape and figure as a metaphor for the human condition, exploring personal experiences through thoughts, dreams, realities, and absurdities.  Born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, yet growing up in Los Angeles, Montoya's multi-cultural reality merged and blended, transforming his truth into patterns of subdued color and reflective composition.

The exhibit opens with an artists' reception on Saturday evening, February 13, 2010 from 7 to 10 p.m. and closes on Sunday, March 7, 2010.

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
131 North Avenue 50
Los Angeles, CA  90042
323/258-1435
www.avenue50studio.com

Imagine a Valentine's Day that is about Love, Peace and Global Unity

The Valentine Peace Project presents Poetry & Peace, A Night of Poetry, Music & Art

 

"Poetry is an act of peace.  Peace goes into the making of a poet as flour goes into the making of bread." -- Pable Neruda

Cindy Rinne
Gloria Alvarez
William Archila
Lois P. Jones
William O'Daly
Ron Baca
Susan Rogers
Kathabela Wilson
Taoli-Ambika Talwar
 
MUSICIAN:  Rick Wilson

We will be creating poem-wrapped flowers this evening as a call to peace

Saturday, February 6, 2010 from 7 to 9 pm

Peace
 
Peace is freedom from the
pain. Victory over the
deep hurts. Love that
will flow to others.
Able to be the real me
in my own country.
 
By Cindy Rinne

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
a 501(c)(3) non-profit art gallery
131 North Avenue 50
Highland Park, CA  90042

323-258-1435
http://www.avenue50studio.com

*   *   *   *   *

The Valentine Peace Project:  February 2010
 
One World Flowers (www.oneworldflowers.org )  - supporting sustainable business practices, human rights compliance, and fair compensation for flower workers in countries all over the world through Fair Trade flowers.

Budding partnerships for 2010: Where Peace Lives, P5Y, The Hub, Transfair USA, and IKV Pax Christi.
 
Where Peace Lives (www.wherepeacelives.org )
Creating a dynamic new vocabulary of images through children's art and peace cards - where the art of peace meets the world.
 
Peace in 5 Years (www.p5y.org )
Working together on a bold vision of world peace in five years - peace defined as safety from politically organized violence.
 
The Hub (www.the-hub.net)
Hub Bay Area opens joining Hub Amsterdam, Hub Milan, Hub Berlin and Hubsters around the world showcasing  'world changing ideas'.  A place for conversation, strategy and celebration of new initiatives for a radically better world.
 
TransFair (www.transfairusa.org )
Fair trade certifier - through Fair Trade Towns "committed to raising  awareness in our fellow community members that every dollar we spend is a powerful decision, with ramifications that echo across continents, countries, and communities."
 
IKV Pax Christi (www.ikvpaxchristi.org ) (www.vredesweek.nl)
The largest peace organization/movement in the Netherlands - supporting peace and reconciliation efforts in conflict areas in more than twenty countries over four continents.  Locally- the Seeds of Change festival, VredesWeek (Peace Week) and other initiatives to serve and broadcast the message and work of peace.
 
You
'The ones we've been waiting for.'
 
Working to spread thoughts of peace worldwide the Valentine Peace Project aims to highlight global citizenship, promote peace discussion and education, and celebrate the many faces and meanings of peace and love in today's connecting world community.  Generate your own involvement or contact info@valentinepeaceproject.org for information.  www.valentinepeaceproject.org; Federico Hewson, Project Director, The Valentine Peace Project, telephone: + 31 (0)6 16 777 520.

Artists in Discussion at Avenue 50 Studio, Sunday January 24

Birth of My Grandmother - Mita Cuaron

Sunday, January 24, 2010 from 1:00-3:30 pm

Please join us for a "round table" discussion with the artists of our Testimonies Two exhibition as we explore and dialogue on questions of spirituality in art and thoughts on working towards a theme-based show.  You are invited to bring your questions, or just enjoy the exchange of ideas.

Yrneh Brown, Martin Charlot, Mita Cuaron, Ruth De Nicola, Pat Gomez, Yolanda Gonzalez, Mark Steven Greenfield, Lucy Hagopian, Cidne Hart, Wayne Healy, Heriberto Luna, Rafael Matias, Susanna Meiers/Peter Liashkov, Andrés E. Montoya, Toti O’Brien, Suzanne Siegel, Richard Turner

Light refreshments will be served

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
a 501(c)(3) non-profit art gallery
131 North Avenue 50
Highland Park, CA  90042
323-258-1435

http://www.avenue50studio.com

Fifth Annual Holiday Sale & Party! Avenue 50 Studio

Celebrating another wonderful year of art and community!  Avenue 50 Studio, Two Tracks Studio, Hi Tree, She Rides the Lion cordially invite you to our Fifth Annual Holiday Sale & Party!

Original and affordable prints, paintings, jewelry, scarves, etc. by the following artists:

Lalo Alcaraz
Joseph Botello
Joe Bravo
Benito Campos
Raquel Escobar
Jack Fenn
Margaret Garcia
Rosie Getz
Pat Gomez
Roberto Gutierrez
Mavis Leahy
Los De Abajo Printmaking Collective with Victor Rosas
Pola Lopez
Jose Lozano
H. Luna
Robert Palacios
Beth Peterson
Pounder-Kone Art with CCH Pounder
Nancy Romero
Sonia Romero
Marianne Sadowski
Jaime Sabate
Hector Silva
Stormie
Richard Valdes

Saturday, December 19th from 7:00pm to 11:00pm, and Sunday, December 20th from 12:00 noon to 4:00pm

“Testimonies Two - Contemporary Ex-Votos” -- Artists’ reception -- Saturday evening, December 12, at Avenue 50 Studio

The Avenue 50 Studio is proud to present Testimonies Two – Contemporary Ex Votos.  Curator Raoul De la Sota has assembled a group of artists for a special exhibit focusing on the Mexican-rooted art form of the ex-voto.

Lesser Saint No. 5 – Richard Turner 

Curated by Raoul De la Sota 
 

Ex-votos historically were devotional visual offerings to the Church for a miraculous cure or for some intervention by a specific religious figure that prevented harm or death.  In 16th century Spain they were painted directly onto the interior church walls as murals depicting the miracle.  The paintings themselves were called Milagros or miracles.  In 18th and 19th century Mexico they became the source of income for itinerant artists who depicted in their paintings some sort of miracle.  These artists, often academically untrained, created their works at the request of families, painting with inexpensive oils on whatever small scraps of material was convenient and cheap, most often tin or wood.  The works ranged from the charmingly rustic to the aesthetically profound. The works were then in turn donated by the family to a nearby church as gratitude for its intervention.  In the 20th century the craft continued but with less religiosity and more pleas for financial help or for material goods.  In all cases there was always a narrative text painted onto the surface that described the event and the stated gratitude of the donor.  Frida Kahlo was a modern artist who admired and patterned some of her work after these forms.
 
The present-day work by these diverse artists involves personal stories, narratives of gratitude and portrayals of visual histories. Some are graphic representations of difficult times while others are simple tokens of thanks for life’s pleasures.  In form they are sculptures, assemblages, collages, photographs and paintings.  They are no longer directed to a religious institution but rather are personal messages directed to a contemporary audience.
 
The exhibit opens with an artists’ reception on Saturday evening, December 12,, 2009 from 7 to 10 p.m. and closes with an artists’ panel discussion on Sunday, January 24, 2010.

Yrneh Brown, Martin Charlot, Mita Cuaron, Ruth De Nicola, Diane Gamboa, Pat Gomez, Yolanda Gonzalez, Mark Steven Greenfield, Lucy Hagopian, Cidne Hart, Wayne Healy, Heriberto Luna,
Dorothy Magallon, Rafael Matias, Susanna Meiers/Peter Liashkov, Andrés E. Montoya, Toti O’Brien, Suzanne Siegel, Richard Turner
 
For further information please contact:
Kathy Gallegos, Director, Avenue 50 Studio, ave50studio@sbcglobal.net
Raoul De la Sota, Curator, raouldelasota@sbcglobal.net

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
a 501(c)(3) non-profit art gallery
131 North Avenue 50
Highland Park, CA  90042
323-258-1435

http://www.avenue50studio.com

At Avenue 50 Studio Sunday, November 15 , 2009, 2 - 6 p.m.

Victor M. Valle

A Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter exposes one of the biggest municipal corruption scandals of the last century

Sunday, November 15 , 2009, 2 - 6 p.m.

Founded in 1957, the Southern California suburb prophetically named the City of Industry today represents, in the words of Victor M. Valle, “the gritty crossroads of the global trade revolution that is transforming Southern California factories into warehouses, and adjacent working class communities into economic and environmental sacrifice zones choking on cheap goods and carcinogenic diesel exhaust.”

City of Industry is a stunning exposé on the construction of corporate capitalist spaces. Valle investigated an untapped archive of Industry’s built landscape, media coverage, and public records, including sealed FBI reports, to uncover a cascading series of scandals. A kaleidoscopic view of the corruption that resulted when local land owners, media barons, and railroads converged to build the city, this suspenseful narrative explores how new governmental technologies and engineering feats propelled the rationality of privatization using their property-owning servants as tools.

Valle’s tale of corporate greed begins with the city’s founder James M. Stafford and ends with present day corporate heir, Edward Roski Jr., the nation’s biggest industrial developer—co-owner of the L.A. Staples Arena and possible future owner of California’s next NFL franchise. Not to be forgotten in Valle’s captivating story are Latino working class communities, living within Los Angeles’s distribution corridors, who suffer wealth disparities and exposure to air pollution as a result of diesel-burning trucks, trains, and container ships that bring global trade to their very doorsteps. They are among the many victims of the City of Industry.

Victor M. Valle is a professor and chair of the ethnic studies department at California State Polytechnic University. An investigative reporter formerly with the Los Angeles Times, he is the coauthor of Latino Metropolis, as well as several other books, articles, and literary collections.

“The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Victor Valle is the pit bull of Los Angeles
writers. In the mid-1980s he sunk his teeth into a story about corruption in the
strange city-state of Industry, and he never let go. Now, after twenty years of
relentless sleuthing, he tells a tale of epic greed that began in the dusty hills east
of Los Angeles but now engrosses the very centers of power in Southern
California’s Pacific Rim economy. As a noirish revelation of power and secret
history of L.A., this is a stunning non-fiction sequel to Robert Towne’s ‘Chinatown.’”

—Mike Davis, author of City of Quartz.

Avenue 50 Studio Art Opening November 14

 
365 . . . and Counting

“Cracks In The System” – Chukes

Opening Night Reception: Saturday, November 14, 2009 from 7-10 pm
Alex Alferov, Yrneh Brown, Nancy Buchanan, Chukes, Carol Colin, Kathi Flood, Sophia Gasparian, Graham Goddard, Miguel Angel Murillo, CCH Pounder, Suzanne Siegel, Joseph Sims, Charles Swenson, Richard Turner, Mark Vallen, Ted Waltz
 
The year 2008 was historic in the fact that a Black American became our 44th President.  We have asked our artists to demonstrate how they perceive the first year, the honeymoon period, of the Barack Obama Administration.  He has taken office facing high expectations and immense challenges.  Some questions we ask our "365" artists to consider are:  Does race affect political choices, or is it more a class question?  Have opportunities for minorities advanced?  What about health care, the turmoil in the Middle East, the economy?  Obama has declared a new spirit of engagement with the UN to confront global challenges, from climate change to nuclear proliferation. But is his foreign policy decisions an extension of Bush administration policy known for its political and international aggression?  Our "365" artists tackle these challenging questions with works that are aesthetically profound and timely.

November 14 through December 6, 2009

And Our Annex Presents:

The Writing On The Wall
A typo-active installation by Kay Brown, Poli Marichal and Marianne Sadowski

"A baited banker thus desponds,
From his own hand foresees his fall,
They have his soul, who have his bonds;
'Tis like the writing on the wall."

Jonathan Swift (Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, poet 1667-1745)

Taking the idiom, "the writing on the wall" (a portent of doom or misfortune, first used in the Book of Daniel), as a point of departure, artists Kay Brown, Poli Marichal and Marianne Sadowski have printed a series of flyers and other works on paper using phrases, slogans and idiomatic plays on words that address current issues concerning politics, ecology and ethics in a visually suggestive manner.

The artists intention is to create a space for thought and meditation in order to promote a call for pro-active action and grass roots  militancy and a return to common sense and self-sufficiency.

Brown, Marichal and Sadowski were inspired by the oeuvre of artists such as Barbara Kruger, Ellen Rothenberg and Jenny Holzer, among others, who use type to inform, provoke, agitate and confront the viewer.

The works were printed using a Laguna etching press owned by Sadowski and a Reprex letterpress proof printer owned by Marichal. Many of the phrases were created using vintage wood letterpress fonts and/or stamped fonts owned by Brown over monotyped abstract backgrounds.

November 14 through December 6, 2009

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit art gallery 131 North Avenue 50 Highland Park, CA  90042 (323-258-1435)

Papel Picado Workshop At the Avenue 50 Studio

Papel Picado Workshop
With papal picador artist Margaret Sosa

 

Papel picado (perforated paper) is the Mexican art of paper cutting.  Using sharp chisels and a hammer, elaborate designs are cut into a stack of tissue paper creating decorative banners, which typically are used to decorate for festive events such as weddings and quinceañeras, and on altars.  Papel picado can also be made by folding the tissue paper and cutting with small, sharp scissors.
  
3 sessions Thursdays October 15, October 22, and October 29; 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Workshop overview:  In this 3 day workshop, you will learn a brief history of papel picado; how to cut traditional papel picado on tissue paper using only scissors; how to design and draw a pattern which you will then cut using a more advanced technique which employs hammer, chisels and craft knife.
 
Session one: Brief history of papel picado.  Examples of paper cutting in other countries. Create papel picado using scissors.  Begin to draw your own pattern in preparation for chisel work.
 
Session two: Complete drawings.  We will be using hammer, chisels, and craft knives to cut your original design or use provided pre-drawn patterns. 
 
Session three: complete projects or begin new ones.  How to string the paper.  Explore other types of paper and other uses for paper cutting such as making cards and flags.

Margaret Sosa has been creating papel picado for over 25 years.  She learned the art form from master paper cutter Olga Ponce Furginson in Los Angeles.  Margaret has received countless commissions for her work and her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums as far away as Glasgow, Scotland. She has taught papel picado to children and adults at various schools, museums, and galleries.  Margaret has a BA degree in studio art from Cal State L.A.  She lives in the Mt. Washington area of Los Angeles.
 
 
$60 for all three sessions (checks payable to “Avenue 50 Studio”)

All supplies will be provided.

(Please mail your check in early as there are only 15 spaces available.)

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
a 501(c)(3) non-profit art gallery
131 North Avenue 50
Highland Park, CA  90042
323-258-1435
http://www.avenue50studio.com

Highland Park Gateway Park, Meeting 10/4 at Avenue 50 Studio

The Avenue 50 Studio Beautification Committee welcomes you to join a community input meeting Sunday, October 4, 2009. We will use the community's feedback to develop a design for a Highland Park Gateway Park outside of Ave. 50 Studio, for which we will then apply for a City of LA Community Beautification Grant. Come be heard and participate in this exciting project!

RSVP at our evite -
http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/XGCTGXBYPFNBDPJHWLUP/highlandparkgatewaypark

Feel free to forward invite.
Kathy Gallegos
Avenue 50 Studio
131 No. Avenue 50 Highland Park, CA 90042
(323) 258-1435

Mixer at Avenue 50 Studio Highland Park October 1

You are cordially invited to the "Happy Docent Hour" mixer October 1, 2009 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at Avenue 50 studio. Join Avenue 50 and the artist for the closing of "East of the River", Polaroid photographic prints by John Tapia Urquiza.
 
"John says polaroids are a journey filled with the stillness and the suspense of a Jim Jarmusch film." -Santa Sugiyama, director, winner Palm D'or for advertising

"Pearblossom Highway" 1989
 
Photography has played a major role in the development of modern society. It has so permeated our culture and consciousness that photography is in danger of being trivialized and lost. Its ability and the ease in which it can reproduce realism leaves, the untrained viewer unable to discern between their own vision and the photographer's voice. In its early days photography was a science and tool for documentation. In 1902 all that changed when Alfred Stieglitz known historically as a photographer, gallerist and husband to Georgia O'keefe held the first photography exhibition for the Secessionists. This growing movement of European and American photographers decidedly took photography from a documentary way of perceiving the world to a more expressive and emotional medium.
 
In that tradition Urquiza presents his Polaroids. The images of landscapes and vignettes of a past life are reduced to three by three-inch windows into time. The southwest prints evoke an era long past while the objects and scenes of East Los Angeles recall childhood memories. The more recent images of the river itself still haunt our present day with questions of how time has changed little.
 
Please RSVP to Kathy Gallegos at Avenue 50 Studios.
ave50studio @ sbcglobal.net
 
"East of the River"
September 12-October 4, 2009
 
Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
A 501(c)(3) non-profit art gallery
131 north avenue 50
323.258.1435

Upcoming: Dia de los Muertos at Avenue 50 Studio

Muertos Con Leche ~ A Lighthearted Look at Dia de los Muertos

 

"Nani Chula" - Jose Orozco

Celebration Reception:  Saturday, October 10, 2009 from 7-10 pm
Joe Bravo, Lalo Alcaraz,
Gomez Bueno, Pola Lopez,
Douglas Alvarez, Stuart Rapeport,
Kay Brown, Ronald J. Llanos, Isabel Martinez, Mavis Leahy, Mario Torero,
CJ Metzger, Ms. Mindy,
Heather Hoggan, Patricia Krebs, Jennifer Gutierrez Morgan,
Jose Orozco,
Kelly Thompson,
Olivia Sanchez-Brown,
Dan Van Clapp,
Ricardo Duffy

Cantinflas Altar by Ofelia Esparza
 
Avenue 50 Studio is proud to present a fun and satirical exhibition for this year's Dia de Los Muertos.  Once a year during harvest time, we pay homage to Death.  At harvest, while crops die, they give back life.  This is the spirit of Dia de Los Muertos ~ through death there is life.

Dia de Los Muertos is a pagan celebration to the Dead.  We offer up candies and flowers and images to keep the Dead happy. This Dia de Los Muertos we've asked our artists to feed Death's belly with laughter.  Through laughter, he will pardon and overlook our trespasses, and open a window to the underworld where we can communicate with our loved ones. Let us feed the demon Death with sweet life.  And through those spoonfuls, keep the living alive.  Let us laugh and celebrate life.  This Dia de Los Muertos, we hope to keep you entertained in honor and celebration of the duality of life.

Please feel free to dress in your favorite DOD attire

And our Annex Presents:

Dine with Your Dead!

An interactive installation by

California State University Northridge Chican@ Studies Students
-- Marianne Sadowski, Lead Artist

Bring the favorite food or photos of your loved ones who have passed.

October 10 through November 6, 2009

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit art gallery 131 North Avenue 50 Highland Park, CA  90042 (323-258-1435)
www.avenue50studio.com

Art Opening at the Avenue 50 Studio

Avenue 50 Studio is proud to present the paintings and drawings of San Antonio artist Alex Rubio.  Rubio's work speaks of the Latino experience in a fiery fantastical world.  His palate of brilliant hues, and use of high contrast -- reflective of the San Antonio sun -- explodes onto the canvas in swirling and undulating waves, as if each stroke transmits energy vibrating around and within the body.  No stasis here.  Rubio's large-scale black and white drawings reflect that same intensity -- sans color. 

Alex Rubio is one of Cheech Marin's collected artists in the Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge exhibition.   He is widely collected.  Alex currently works at the Blue Star Contemporary Art Center in San Antonio, TX as an instructor and studio arts manager.

The artist will be present.

Please join us on Saturday, September 12 from 7-10 pm for our opening night reception.

September 12 through October 4, 2009

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
a 501(c)(3) non-profit art gallery
131 North Avenue 50
Highland Park, CA  90042
323-258-1435
http://www.avenue50studio.com

Closing Event for Our Ashe and Contemporary Cuban Photography Exhibitions

 

“Hope” - Gloria Longval

I would like to invite you to join us for a closing event at the Avenue 50 Studio for the Ashe:  Blessings, Energy, Power exhibition.  Our artists, Eddy Bello-Sandoval, Lili Bernard, Gloria Longval, Wendell Wiggins, Susan Matthews, and Jorge Luis Rodriguez will be in attendance to talk about the relationship between Santeria and their art.

“Reflections” - Kevin Hass
  
Our Contemporary Cuban Photography artists Kevin Hass, Maria Luisa Gauerke and Alisa Adona will also join us in discussion.

When:  Sunday, August 2, 2009 starting at 2:00 pm.
   
Where:  Avenue 50 Studio 131 No. Avenue 50 Highland Park, CA 90042 (323) 258-1435
   
Light refreshments will be served.

  
Hope to see you here,
  
Kathy Gallegos

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
 a 501(c)(3) non-profit art gallery
131 North Avenue 50 
 Highland Park, CA   90042

Bodies Mapping Time: New Portraits of Women by J. Michael Walker” at Avenue 50 Studio, May 9

Opening Night Reception: Saturday, May 9, 2009 from 7-10 pm

 

Avenue 50 Studio is proud to present "Bodies Mapping Time: New Portraits of Women" by artist J. Michael Walker.
 
Known for mapping the soul of L.A. in his well-received project "All the Saints of the City of the Angels" the artist now explores another chart of navigation - the female body and the spirit that animates it.
 
"A woman's body is a map of her life's journey, a reflection of her experiences, and an expression of her spirit" - J. Michael Walker

Focusing on ten women ranging in age from thirty-two to seventy-eight, J. Michael worked collaboratively with his subjects to create empathic images wherein each woman's revealed body reveals her inner essence. 
 
Like many figurative artists, J. Michael has long used photographs as reference for his paintings and drawings of women.   However, he recently began looking at photography on its own terms, both as an artistic medium and, more importantly, as a tool to give his subjects a more direct say in their representation.  What the artist and his models have produced for our exhibition are sensitively poetic portraits of women as beautiful, strong, and wise: survivors of life's struggles and co-creators of their path. 
 
Please join us as we celebrate the graceful beauty of J. Michael Walker's new photographic works.

May 9 to June 7, 2009

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
131 North Avenue 50
Highland Park, CA  90042
323-258-1435

www.avenue50studio.com

Closing Reception for the artists - May 3, 2009 from 6:30-10:30

Closing Reception for the artists - May 3, 2009 from 6:30-10:30

This is also a party to celebrate the success of the show, the LA Times review http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/04/los-inbetweens-artists-sin-barrios-at-avenue-50-studio.html  and to hang out and chat for a bit.

Los Inbetweens: Artists Sin Barrios

"Untitled Self Portrait" - Stephanie Mercado

Curated by Armando H. Torres

Nena Amsler
Alix Gonzales
Marvin Jordana
Rigo Maldonado
Stephanie Mercado
Albert Reyes
Guadalupe Rodriguez
Sandy Rodriguez
Shizu Saldamando
Rainbow Underhill
Angel Villanueva

*A Catalog of the exhibition is available for purchase.

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
a 501(c)(3) non-profit art gallery
131 North Avenue 50
Highland Park, CA  90042
323-258-1435

http://www.avenue50studio.com

PACHAMAMA

Exclusive Mother's Day Jewelry Event at the Avenue 50 Studio

Participating Jewelers/Artists: Consuelo Campos, Jaime Sabatté, Diane Gamboa, Raquel Soto Escobar, Imelda Gutierrez, Stormie, Jack Fenn, among others

Thursday, April 30, 2009
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Avenue 50 Studio, 2 Tracks Studio, HiTree and She Rides the Lion present a unique opportunity to honor Mother Earth, Mother’s Day and our Mother Gallery, Avenue 50!   Buy handcrafted jewelry and original artwork directly from the artists at trunk sale prices for the Mother in your life!

Free Workshop @ She Rides the Lion Printshop!
DIY: Make your own Mother's day card!
Also available, gift wrapping services

Live Entertainment:  Jarocho Music by No Que No, Fire Dance Performance, and Refreshments!

Avenue 50 Studio, Inc.
a (501)(3)(c) non-profit art gallery
131 North Avenue 50
Highland Park, CA  90042
323-258-1435
http://www..avenue50studio.com

Los Inbetweens: Artists Sin Barrios

Los Inbetweens: Artists Sin Barrios

Curated by Armando H. Torres

“Hard to Swallow –Rigo Maldonado

Opening Night Reception: April 11, 7:00-11:00 PM

Nena Amsler
Alix Gonzales
Marvin Jordana
Rigo Maldonado
Stephanie Mercado
Albert Reyes
Guadalupe Rodriguez
Sandy Rodriguez
Shizu Saldamando
Rainbow Underhill
Angel Villanueva

With a spoken word performance on opening night by Reina Alejandra Prado Saldivar

The Avenue 50 Studio is proud to present an exhibition of 11 local artists in an exhibition curated by  Armando H. Torres.  Los Inbetweens: Artists Sin Barrios is a survey of creative individuals who have had  t deal with being in-between worlds whether due to issues regarding nationality, community, race, gender o sexuality, and how these issues have filtered into their Art.

Los Inbetweens: Artists Sin Barrios examines the tradition of the artist’s self-portrait as a means to  acess their particular concerns expressed within the work, and thus provides a systematic study of  cntemporary art, and its process by Latino/Latinas in 21st Century Los Angeles.

Los Inbetweens: Artists Sin Barrios is a direct reflection of the artist and of a defining moment within the period, and or reality, in which they currently live.

*A Catalog of the exhibition will be available for purchase on opening night.

Where:     Avenue 50 Studio, Inc., 131 N. Avenue 50, Highland Park, CA  90042.
When:      Saturday, April 11, 2009 from 7:00 pm – 11:00 pm

Gallery hours:   Tuesday-Thursday 10 am – 12 noon, Saturday and Sunday 10 am – 4 pm

April 11 - May 3, 2009

www.avenue50studio.com/ave50studio@sbcglobal.net