NEEDLES AND PENS - CARTOON ART MUSEUM - DOUBLE PUNCH

COLLECTIVELY GRASP - SHOOTING GALLERY - STUDIO GALLERY

08.15-16.09

(with assistance from Pakayla Biehn and RWM)

Needles and Pens: Chrissy Piper - Three Records, Zine Release & Art Show.

Comment by AB: According to the dissertation, "Los Angeles based photographer Chrissy Piper poses a simple question to the people she meets... 'What are three records that changed and/or inspired your life?' She takes each answer, pairs it with the person's portrait, and adds it to the pages of her zine." Don't you love clarity? I sure do. No bloated puffery. No turgid interpretives. Just the facts. Fresh as a cool country breeze. Plus special added bonus-- almost everything's priced under $50.

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Cartoon Art Museum: Once Upon A Dream - The Art of Sleeping Beauty, Featuring Ron Dias.

Comment by AB: Select retrospective of the art of former Walt Disney artist and animator Ron Dias, as well as of the making of the Disney animated classic Sleeping Beauty. Included in the exhibit are working drawings, finished cells, character sketches, and more. If you're curious about how they did it way way back in the good old days, this show is required viewing. You know, artsters... the Cartoon Art Museum is not necessarily on everyone's radar, but it's got one of the most active and fascinating exhibition programs in town. There's always plenty to see and cogitate on here.

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Collectively Grasp: Closing Party.

Comment by AB: Closing party celebrates all the art and artists brought to us by Collectively Grasp. Thank you!

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Double Punch: Unbridled Lambency.

Artists: Dan Fleres, Joshua Herbolsheimer, Jon Knox, Jack Teagle, Jon Boam, Tomasso Meli.

Comment by AB: Art about toys courtesy of Bay Area and European practitioners. Double Punch specializes in collectible toys and this show pays homage to that.

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The Shooting Gallery: Shawn Barber - Tattooed Portraits... Snapshots.

Review by AB: The latest episode in Shawn Barber's remarkable creative journey and documentation of tattoo art in America, and of the artists and personalities responsible for evolving the discipline into what it's become today. Not only does Barber paint it, but he's been studying and perfecting the tattoo craft with some of the most notable tattooists/teachers anywhere, and as if that's not enough, he's a diligent student of the history of tattooing as well. The upshot? He's certain to become one of the foremost authorities on the art form.

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Studio Gallery: Terrain - Views of California.

Artists: Bill Cone, Paul Ferney, Rab Terry, Jeremy Mann, Sookyi Lee, Kanna Aoki, Sandra Speidel, Chris Leib, Richard Benbrook, Juntae Kim, Scott Grabowski, Nicholas Coley, Lindsey Kustusch, Sadie Valeri, Sylvia Gonzalez, Anna Conti & L. Maude Kirk, Wilma Parker, Michael Schoenig, Linda Pedersen, Phyllis Rockne, Barbara Kleinhans, Proehl Studios, Chris Grassano, Carol Allen and Michele Feder. We're also happy to welcome nine artists showing with us for the first time: Sandy Ostrau, Wendy L. Miller, Greg Nelson, John Ager, Matias Salas, Natasha Lisitsa, Jean Elston, Richard Weinberger, Wendy Goldberg.

Review by RWM - image c/o Studio Gallery: Beautiful images of the wondrous State of California. There is a stillness to these images even though they depict trees that appear in the wind, fields of grass, rivers and the seashore, as well as cloudscapes, fabulous rocks, and abstract works. Most of the paintings presented are realistic, others are stylized. Not just postcards, something more instead.

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