I visited MOLAA a few weeks ago  and highly recommend this museum which offers, among others, poetry, films, cooking classes and is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary of Murals Under the Stars starting on July 18th. I might just have to go back on that day just so I can taste the Mango Cheesecake offered by Viva Cafe. I had their arroz con leche on the outdoor patio and I can still taste the generous offering of sticky sweet rice and cinammon.

Their current exhibit: “Of Rage and Redemption: The Art of Oswaldo Guayasamin” runs through August 16th.

The pictures on this post are only a small sample of the eclectic art gracing the Robert Gumbiner Sculpture and Events Garden.

Oswaldo Guayasamin’s El Grito II, The Cry II, 1983, Oil on canvas.

One thing I love about the Bootleg theater is that they often have great art work in the lobby and if you take the time to look at it you realize it was created especially for the show currently playing. Just received the following press release that I find terribly enticing. Tomorrow’s preview is Pay What You Can.

WHAT:
The bomb may have dropped out there, but the party’s just getting started in here. The REPO division and Bootleg Theater present the world premiere of Doomsday Kiss, a savagely funny, terrifying, and sexy multimedia collaboration between visual artists, writers, directors, actors and musicians riffing on the theme of doomsday. An art installation, four interwoven plays and musical performances combine to examine the complicated relationships between people facing certain annihilation.  The central character is Randal Maxit, a has-been designer of the apocalypse desperate to atone for his sins.  A lobby exhibition of Maxit’s life’s work (developed by artists from various mediums) offers a reference point before entering the theater.

WHO:
* Written by: Eva Anderson, Clay Hazelwood, Wesley Walker and Sharon Yablon
* Directed by: Adrian Alex Cruz, Andrew Hopper, Amber Skalski, Gordon Vandenberg
* Featuring: Shawn Buchholz, Hank Bunker, Alana Dietze, Michael Dunn, Jessica Hanna, Lily Holleman, Niamh McCormally, Ben Messmer, Gray Palmer, Babar Peerzada, Alina Phelan, Mickey Swenson, Tina Van Berkelaer, Annie Weirich, Jacqueline Wright
* Art installation curated by: Sandy Rodriquez
* Visual artists:  Ron Dotson, Jorge Javier Lopez, Isabelle Lutterodt, Derrick Maddox, Rigo Maldonado, Anne Martens, Guadalupe Rodriguez, Rebeka Rodriguez, Sandy Rodriguez, Brian Scott, Allessandro Thompson, Armando H. Torres, Vincent Villafranca, Victor Wilde and Scott Winterrowd
* Musicians: Toni Senatore and Cody Cameron
* Creative Director: Andrew Hopper
* Presented by: the REPO division and Bootleg Theater

WHEN:
Preview: April 16
Performances: April 17 through May 10
* Thursday at 8 pm: April 16 (preview)
* Fridays at 8 pm: April 17 (Opening Night), 24; May 1, 8
* Saturdays at 8 pm: April 18, 25; May 2, 9
* Sundays at 7pm: April 19, 26; May 3, 10

WHERE:
BOOTLEG THEATER
2220 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90057

HOW:
213-389-3856 or www.bootlegtheater.com

TICKETS:
General Admission: $25
Students/seniors: $10
Preview performance: Pay what you can

Malcolm McNeill and William S. Burroughs:The Lost Art of Ah POOK

April 4th-May 2nd, Track 16 Gallery @ Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Avenue, Bldg C-1, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Telephone: 310-264-4678

Sam Cherry’s photographs take the viewer on an historical journey through intimate moments with Charles Bukowski, the 1940s Bohemian scene at The Black Cat Café (San Francisco’s creative hub), and Los Angeles’ Skid Row in the 1980s. The gallery also presents the west coast premiere of The Lost Art of Ah Pook IS HERE, paintings, drawings and prints from the unfinished collaboration between William S. Burroughs and artist Malcolm McNeill. Named LA Weekly’s Pick of the Week last week, these are two exhibitions not to be missed!

For more information, go to www.track16.com

JK Gallery is excited to announce an exhibition of recent work by Jennifer D
Anderson.  This exhibition will be held from November 1 through December
20, 2008.  

Working on found ledger paper, the surface generally used for transactions
of monetary funds, Anderson combines images to highlight the uneasy
exchanges that often take place in terms of body and soul in warfare.
Injured and exposed bodies contrast with the cool crisp font of the word
cash printed at the top of each page as well as the handwritten names and
the clean lines of children playing soldiers and formal regalia of the
military.  In the artist’s own words she explains, “Without any intention of
furthering any side of the present debate regarding war, this work is about
the loss of innocence shown through the simple line figures and diagrams of
soldiers, guns and children playing with the harsh reality of loss of life
and limb that occurs in the theater of war.”
 
The visceral and corporal understanding of the body presented in Jennifer D.
Anderson¹s work arises from the folklore of her Southern Appalachian
upbringing. Through the combination of hand processes and digital imaging,
she examines the complexity of the human form and life, creating these hard,
harrowing images tempered by their vulnerability and ephemeral nature.  Her
work has been exhibited in both national and international venues and is
included in several public and private collections including the Royal
Museum of Fine Art, Antwerp, Belgium. Anderson has a MFA from the University
of Georgia and presently is the instructor of printmaking at Orange Coast
College. For more information on the artist, please see her website.
 
JK Gallery is a unique and important addition to the art community in the
Culver City Art District, a integral part of the exciting Los Angeles Art Scene. JK Gallery is dedicated to presenting meaningful artistic expression that engages
a diverse clientele. It dedicates time to hosting and exposing local,
national and international artists and art.
 
For further information, please contact:
Javad Kheradmandan, Director
JK Gallery
2632 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90034
jk@jkgallery.net                                
Telephone:310.837.3330                  Fax: 310.837.4001

Ofelia Esparza by Gil Ortiz. Tropico de Nopal fashion show 2006. Copyright Gil Ortiz/Tropico de Nopal.

The photograph on Ofelia’s head piece is that of her mother’s great grandmother, Mama Pola, and Ofelia’s baby brother.

“In 2001 for Day of the Dead at Self Help Graphics, Ofelia recreated a prison cell in a corner of the gallery. She intended the entire installation to represent “grief for the living dead”–those who are in jail, their loved ones, and others around the world who lead lives that are unfulfilled, tragic, or lack freedom. At the foot of the bed she assembled a small traditional ofrenda made from materials that would be available to prisoners: papel picado made from newspapers, paper flowers of toilet paper, small offerings of pictures and flowers. Thus she celebrated a universal human condition in a truly traditional Mexican manner.” Alliance for California Traditional Arts.

To celebrate Ofelia Esparza’s first solo exhibit, I asked the artist to answer a few questions knowing that what Ofelia truly deserves is to be the subject of a documentary or a book about her life and the lives of her ancestors for whom she builds altars year after year not with grief but with a deep love and admiration for the blessings her ancestors received and the hardships they lived through and conquered, if not within their time, at least within hers.

Ofelia Esparza’s peace altar for the LA VS. WAR art show, April 2008.

Smiling Spider: Who are the artists who have influenced you the most?

Ofelia Esparza: There are many artists I have come to admire and from whom I draw inspiration today. But there are three who have been in my sights since I was a child. The first one has been my mother from my earliest recollections. She never called herself an artist, she didn’t learn her art in school, but her resourceful, creative spirit, her imagination sparked my own beginnings in my life and love for creativity and art.  Thus, I have been greatly influenced by the Mexican folk art that I have been surrounded by for most of my life.  During my childhood, folk art, brought back from my mother’s visits to Mexico every year, mirrored my mother’s own style of bright colors and handmade decorations for her home altars and our celebrations.  Perhaps this is why- as a very young girl, when I discovered Diego Rivera (from postal cards my mother sent me on her trips) I was drawn to his images of people who resembled me or those in my life around me, and by the familiarity I found in Rivera’s images of people engaged in activities I recognized.

Later, by the time I was in junior high school, I discovered Charles White in his book of portraits called “Images of Dignity”. I was always drawing things around me, but especially faces of people- mostly my own. White’s graphite drawings of ordinary people in his life, was an inspiration to me to keep drawing and striving for likenesses in my images. As I got older I began to understand why White called his portraits images of dignity– something I recognized in people around me–they  had not written a book nor held any degrees, but many commanded respect through their hard work, and carried themselves in dignity despite their humble possessions or limited resources. Charles Whites’s influence has held me to this day.

Charles White, “Spiritual.”

Ofelia Eparza: In more recent years I have been enthralled by Helen Frankenthaler‘s free, flowing colors in her abstracts. And most recently, although I resisted really looking  into her work and her life ( I suppose I was put off by the excessive, blatant use of her images- which I think is demeaning of her work), Frida Kahlo has become one of my most admired artists. I believe I see something of my mother’s spirit in her. There are several contemporary artists, mostly young-  who join in inspiring me,  reminding me that art has no boundariess and that I can go on as long as I want to.

Ofelia Espara’s altar to commemorate Sister Karen Bocalero, founder of Self-Help Graphics.

The Smiling Spider: How do you renew your art as an altar maker when you get commissions year after year?

Ofelia Esparza: My past work, and the thought that I want to explore different ways of presenting the concept of remembering loved ones, is what drives me to an idea for the next project. I also have to include the ideas that come up in the brainstorming sessions with my son Xavier ( who will most likely build the frame or the foundation for my altar) and now with my daughters Rosanna and Denise who have been working closely with me these past couple of years. The first consideration, of course, addresses who is being commemorated, or if there is a theme to be considered, how will this best be correlated? Well ahead of the final configuration of the altar is the research gathered on the intended dedicated or the theme of the piece and/or the event and any writing that this will entail.

Smiling Spider: Can you share with us the process involved.

Ofelia Esparza: I have to configure the space and any restrictions or constraints of space and regulations of the venue. Collecting materials, artifacts, or memorabilia, and determining colors of fabrics, walls, etc, all come into play in order to begin construction. Usually, there are purchases of materials and supplies to be made for each altar. This is quite an involved endeavor, but when the altar is finally finished; when I and all who have worked on the installation stop to contemplate our creation, we  experience a strong feeling of accomplishment and admiration for the work and our coming together in a true community effort.  I always feel somewhat sad to have to take it down when it is time to do so. I want to linger and contemplate – not only the work but especially the person or the people honored here. In the process, I know that we made a connection with those who are no longer here. It is also nostalgic for me to know that this work will never be here again- will never be duplicated- it is an ephemeral piece.  But then,  I know there will be another altar- a different one next time. I look forward to the work, but it is the process that stays and will be added, not only to my resources from previous work, but to the long list of remembrances of those whom I have honored throughout my many years as an altarista.

Ofelia Esparza with daughters Rosanna and Elena in front of the altar commissioned by the Museum of Chicago, Day of the Dead 2005.

Ofelia Esparza  by Gilbert Ortiz.

Ofelia Esparza is an altarista: an altar maker. Since she retired from teaching in L.A.’s public schools and raising 9 children with her late husband, Ofelia Esparza has been commissioned to do altars for museums as far as Scotland and as close to home as Chicago and San Francisco. But each November, it’s in her hometown of East L.A. that this diminutive woman gathers around her children and her community to build gigantic altars for the Day of the Dead celebrations. Don’t think Ofelia is not busy the rest of the year, since I’ve met her she’s been designing altars for a Frida Kahlo retrospective, the massive LA vs. WAR art show downtown, the Crewest gallery’s FALLEN exhibit to commemorate the lives of graffiti artists who died in the making of their art, and that’s just a few examples. Oh, and should I mention you may have seen her in one of Huell Howser’s most viewed CALIFORNIA GOLD episodes about the tradition of Nacimientos (nativity scenes.)

“Bienvenidos/Welcome”, 2007.

One of Ofelia’s most gripping and powerful work is a prison cell she recreated in 2001 at the Self-Help Graphics art gallery as an altar for “the living dead”, a picture of which is featured in her first solo exhibit which runs through December 13th in the Boathouse Gallery at Plaza de la Raza. The show also includes more altar pictures, her vivid print work and one Day of the Dead altar solidly planted in the ground, its many branches covered with figurines, offerings and the serene portraits of the departed eager for us to come and greet them.

I don’t believe photographs of her altars do justice to Ofelia’s art. Unfortunately, like the Tibetan Buddhist sand mandalas who “after having served its purpose of generating healing by transmitting positive energies to the environment and those who view it, and asking deities for blessings,” Ofelia’s altars are dismantled at the end of each event never to be seen again.

Having had the pleasure to sit with Ofelia and listen to her action-packed family stories in her multicolored home alive with objects and pictures that danced and whispered in our ears, it’s Ofelia herself who should be on display to share her family history spanning the Mexican Revolution and the move to America.

“Veladora” , 2007.

Before it gets dismantled never to be seen again, you can bathe in the light and warmth of Ofelia’s tribute to the loved ones who have come before her. I saw the show during Plaza de la Raza’s Day of the Dead celebrations. My camera captured the contrast between the altar in the afternoon light and in the evening with its christmas lights on. The many candles representing the souls of the deceased which adorn the altar cannot be lit because of fire regulations.

Ofelia Espara’s altar. Day of the Dead exhibit. Plaza de la Raza, 2008.

Next to Ofelia’s solo show is an art exhibit by students of Plaza’s art education programs. I contacted Plaza to find out the names of the talented artists of the work I photographed  (see below) but I haven’t heard back from them yet.

Through December 13 at Plaza de la Raza, 3540 N. Mission Road, Los Angeles, CA 90031. For gallery hours please call 323-223-2475.

Courtesy of Gilbert Ortiz. Nov.2, 2008.

www.gilortizfoto.com

Situated in the century-old Lincoln Park, Plaza de la Raza is the only multidisciplinary cultural arts center serving Latinos in Los Angeles. The organization was founded over 33 years ago by prominent labor, business and community leaders and incorporated into a non-profit cultural arts and educational center in 1970. Today, Plaza provides year-round programs in arts education and fosters the enrichment of all cultures. Through the arts, Plaza provides a vital human resource service, bridging geographic, social, artistic and cultural boundaries of Los Angeles and beyond.

Plaza de la Raza’s principal community-based program and crowning achievement of its 33-year legacy is the School of Performing and Visual Arts (SPVA). Since its inception in 1975, the SPVA has grown to provide 500-600 students each week with a full curriculum in theatre, dance, music and visual arts. Plaza recognizes the ability art has as an alternative to the often harsh experiences that come with growing up and living in Los Angeles’ inner city and is committed to providing a space where every student can give life to self-expression, innovation, creativity and individuality. Plaza also presents an energetic list of programs including performances on the Willie Velasquez outdoor stage and the Margo Albert Theatre. In the Boathouse Gallery, the school has exhibitions of work produced by its students ages five to adult.