cool new bookstore downtown that has more than just books

http://www.unusualbooks.net/

1228 w. 7th street, Los Angeles 90017

ART OPENING PROTOCOL 101 (excerpts)

BY Alan Bamberger - originally published in Coagula Issue #81, June 2006

I’m amazed at how many artists completely disregard their openings.
They spend weeks, months, or years creating the art, but not ten minutes reflecting on how they’ll present themselves at its public debut. They show up, stand around, smile, chit chat, schmooze with friends, sip wine, shake hands, respond, react, go home, and forget about it. What don’t they do? Prepare with purpose.

The number one rule of art opening protocol is to BE THERE from the opening bell to the closing clink. If you have to leave, for whatever reason, tell whoever’s in charge where you’re going, how long you’ll be gone, and when you’ll be back. This way, people who want to meet you know exactly how long they have to wait. You see, anyone can show up at anytime with any agenda, and your duty is to be available or accounted for 100% of the time. Better yet, unless it’s an emergency, stick around. Remember, we’re talking hours, not days.

Now that you’re there, make yourself available, especially to people you don’t know.

Keep the traffic moving; keep conversations simple and answers brief; keep the potential buyer pool as large as possible. Speak in everyday language that anyone can understand. Best procedure is to answer all questions in thirty seconds or less. If someone wants to hear your life story, tell it later, after the show.

Pay attention to everyone you talk to; make sure they understand what you’re saying. Most importantly, avoid the tendency to be argumentative or to correct anyone who misinterprets your art or sees it differently than you do.

Walk up and introduce yourself to anyone who’s actively scoping your art, your resume, your statement, or your price list. Remember, all kinds of people want to talk to you for all kinds of reasons, but MANY ARE AFRAID TO ASK.

You see, people spook easy around art. Sure, they love it and want to own it– everybody does– but as soon as they don’t understand something or feel the least bit confused or uncomfortable, they run the other way. Keep it simple right from the start, because that’s how we like it. Simple. We’re at an art opening sipping wine and being chic, not at a postgraduate seminar. Remember?

As for the curators, critics, reporters, bloggers, photographers, and
videographers, no matter how insignificant their publications or websites or how much you disagree with their views, give them absolutely everything they ask for. You want reviews, so know your players and chat them up. Publicity is always good, no matter where it appears or what it says; every time someone writes about your art, that means your art’s worth writing about.

link to full article

A Park Comes To Historic Downtown Los Angeles

The eight of an acre that is being set aside for the new park is located on South Spring between 4th and 5th streets. It is currently being used as a parking lot and work area for some of the 'renovations' being done to convert more building to lofts downtown. I guess people have been complaining that there aren't enough places for their dogs to pee and children to play.
Well bring your hand sanitizer when you take your kids down there in the daylight and bring your new taser C2 when you take your little dog to pee at night. I think we all know what's going to happen here...
It's all supposed to go down in March. I saw some strange lights coming from the area yesterday. Maybe Fame 2 has finally moved their movie production out of the Spring Arts Building, where they messed up my whole week at the real job, and into the streets of lovely downtown LA. Yes, ya'll look for some familiar downtown scenery in the sequel to the ever popular musical Fame.

reminder to self:

• see Fame (the first one)
• fight the urge to get a dog

The Hive Group Show: Opens Feb. 7

Group show Artist:

Clinton Neuhaus / Lea Vendetta / Taslimur / Akhito nmar/ Dustin Myers / Natalie Repp / Nicole Linde / Gyorgy Szabo / Lauren Over / Grant Fuhst / Lance Richlin / Joshu Lucas /
Ben Rittenhouse / Brian Smith / LD Grant / Kenji Tanaka / Delphia / Stephen Canthal / Monica Martinez / Skyler Gonzalez / JJ Martin / Amanda Sage / Brandon Sopinsky / Miss Withers /
Laura Diamond / Ted Von Heiland / Zachary Schoenbaum / Michael Nikolas / Craig Cartwright / GusFink/ Lea Vendetta / Alex Freeman / Elizabeth Caffey / Richard Pelligrino /
Nicole Linde / Teresa Flowers / LeeAnne Hale / Mike Lewis / Christopher Lyles / Michael Pukac / Mylan Nguyen / Dustin Myers / Adam Scott Miller / Steven Sattler / Ramon Felix / Chad LeDuc /
Kio Griffith / Carol Powell / Erick Rodriguez / Pamela Mower-Connor / Ching Ching Cheng / Eliza Fry / Michael Pukac / Melody Duenas / Alan DeForest / Sara Brum / Hikaru /
Carl Lozada / Joe Scarano / Chris White / Andrea Shear / Ramon Felix / Asylm One / Jennifer Lee / Kayla Sanders / Justin Schaefer / Snow Mack / Ewelina Ferruso / Cheryl Cambras /
Jeff Riggan / Mark Gunderson / Christopher Arnold / 13:11 / Big Toe and more!

FRONT STAGE PERFORMANCES:

--pre-show ambience by graffiti61 [myspace.com/graffiti61music]
8:15 - 8:45 - ccxxii [ccxxii.com]
9:00 - 9:30 - C. Ashleigh Caldwell [myspace.com/cashleighcaldwell]
--intermission ambience by graffiti61
10:00 - 10:30 - MA:46 [myspace.com/ma46]
--intermission ambience by graffiti61
11:00 - 11:30 - Heartkour [myspace.com/heartkour]
12:00 - 12:30 - Lo-Fi Freq [myspace.com/lofifreq]


BACK STAGE/DJ BOOTH PERFORMANCES:

8:00 - 9:30 - DJ Persyst [myspace.com/djpersyst]
9:30 - 10:30 - Teddy Heavens [myspace.com/ftwmanagement]
10:30 - 11:30 - DJ Special Blend [myspace.com/djspecialblend]
11:30 - 12:30 - DJ Kronick [myspace.com/jasonkronick]

Face Painting by: www.myspace.com/amytour1 / amy_in_mx@yahoo.com

Burlesque Performance by: Feminine Oddities www.feminineoddities.com

Mark Ryden signing at the MOCA Saturday

Mark Ryden signs "The Tree Show" at MOCA for his new book.
Saturday, January 31, 3-5PM
MOCA Grand Avenue, 250 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles
213-621-1710

Hive Drop off/Pick up: this Sunday, Feb.1st 2-5PM

Thanks all of you who participated in the Hive's January Visionary group show and featured artists. We hope to see your work soon in the coming months. Come by on Sunday between 2-5 PM to pick up your paintings if they haven't sold. If you RSVP'd Nathan's email for February this is the time to drop off work as well.

PLEASE NOTE PICKUP POLICY:

"Los Angeles-based Artists shall collect all their unsold artwork by the end of the exhibiting period stated above. Failure to do so, gives the rights to the Hive Gallery to discard uncollected pieces. If not retrieved within a week of designated pick up date, a $30 a month fee will be charged to participating artist for storage of artwork. If not picked up within 3 months, artwork deemed the ownership of The Hive Gallery."

PLEASE HELP PROMOTE THE SHOW! Use the info provided below to help the Hive grow. The more info that's out there, the better! You can right-click and copy images in this email. Also remember to be at the opening- it helps with sales of your work and helps fuel the upstoppable art movement happening in our downtown nest. You are a big part of The Hive, take pride in your involvement!

oh yeah- and subscribe to our You tube channel and blog- we update it with movies custom-made by Konovision and Gwydion for each group show! Just hit the Subscribe button on our channel.

www.youtube.com/thehivegallery

Wednesday Movie Night : 8:30 PM

hive artist - randy kono...will be hosting movie night at the hive...wed. 1/28/09 @ 830pm...featuring the documentary "the treasures of long gone john"
come check it out...
www.thehivegallery.com

"The Treasures of Long Gone John" is a feature length documentary profiling collector and independent record producer Long Gone John through his art and musical obsessions. As the founder of the label Sympathy for the Record Industry, he single-handedly released over 750 records by over 550 bands including the Gun Club, Hole, and The White Stripes. His compulsive desire to accumulate things grew from thrift stores and swap meets to fine art galleries.

This film profiles the work of four artists from John's collection: Todd Schorr, Mark Ryden, Camille Rose Garcia, and Robert Williams, including original animation of their work. The scope broadens to expose the expanding popularity of an underground art movement merging into the mainstream.

FEATURING:
Todd Schorr
Mark Ryden
Camille Rose Garcia
Robert Williams

with:
Anthony Ausgang
Gary Baseman
Tim Biskup
Nathan Cabrera
The Clayton Brothers
Coop
Seonna Hong
Frank Kozik
Bad Otis Link
Liz McGrath
Takashi Murakami
Marion Peck
The Pizz
Dave Pressler
Savage Pencil
Shag

Featuring over 40 tracks from the Sympathy for the Record Industry Catalogue.

BYOB

Highlights from the Inaugural Ball at The Mayan.

True I may have went for the art but the Mutaytor performance was a wonderful surprise. The crowd was into them. The energy seemed to be pumping through the veins of every single person in the theater. Check out the Mutaytor website for more pictures of the event.





Hive Gallery owner Nathan Cartwright with Kat and her lady liberty attire.










Artist Patrick Haemmerlein featured with Fabiola the happy purchaser of 'Obama Art' ... which is sweeping the nation.
Not only did this woman have great taste in clothing, but apparently she also have great taste is art!

This was the first piece we sold at the Mayan ball. It went faster than we could set up the store, literally.

Thanks for all the support. Hope to see you at our next event.

Abraham Obama Billboard

21 January, 2009 (17:09) | Video | By: Daniel Lahoda

In an obvious celebration of our new President, it looks like a rogue member of Ron English’s crew of billboard hijackers has successfully liberated another ugly billboard; this time it can be seen on the corner of Pico and Fairfax in Los Angeles. Across from the supermarket, next to a gas-station.

The new Abraham Obama billboard resides directly over one of the coolest murals in LA by Retna and El Mac.

Go see it now while it’s still up!

(Special Note: All these photos were sent to us anonymously.)

Process photos after the jump:

lifted from: http://www.jetsetgraffiti.com

EL TOPO

Wednesdays are movie nights at The Hive. Tonight we're watching Alejandro Jodorowski's "El Topo" . The film starts at 8:30 pm. The address: 729 S. Spring St. Downtown LA. b.y.o.b.

Comments from imdb:
"See the naked young Franciscans whipped with cactus. See the bandit leader disemboweled. See the priest ride into the sunset with a midget and her newborn baby. What it all means isn't exactly clear, but you won't forget it."

Feminine Oddities at The Hive Gallery!!!

Feminine Oddities LLC
in association with
The Hive Gallery Presents:
"Mystery Box"
http://www.feminineoddities.com

Who:

Feminine Oddities LLC host the closing show at the Hive Gallery! It's a one night stand of art, music, and more titled "Mystery Box". Feminine Oddities LLC was formed by emerging artist and performer Debra Haden to showcase her many talents and the talents of others. The mission and inspiration of this company is derived from the term Wabi-Sabi. It's an understated beauty that is striking but not obvious, it is imperfect, incomplete and should be treasured because it will not last forever. Feminine Oddities "Where beauty is found in the oddest ways."

Feminine Oddities Artists:
Debra Haden, Joe Holliday, Nikki Windham, Donna Letterese and more……..


There will also be art-work from the talented Hive artists, and work from the recent Visionary Show!

Tuesday, Obama Inaugural Ball 8-12PM at The MAYAN/ $10 door- artworks provided by The Hive Gallery

Wonderland adVentures Presents
"Art of Change Inaugural Ball - Los Angeles"
Featuring The Mutaytor at The Mayan
Tuesday, January 20, 2009

LOS ANGELES, CA - The "Art of Change Inaugural Ball - Los Angeles" brings artists and creative thinkers from all communities together to celebrate the swearing in of President Barack Obama on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. The revelry will take place in Downtown LA at the beautiful Mayan featuring The Mutaytor as well as DJ Motion Potion, DJ Wolfie, a Crystal Method, and artwork provided by The Hive Gallery and Studios http://www.thehivegallery.com .
Creative formal attire is encouraged! Located at 1038 S. Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90015, to learn more about the venue please call 213-746-4674 or visit http://www.clubmayan.com. Doors open at 7:00pm and guests 21-years old or older are welcome. Tickets cost $10 and an advance purchase is highly recommended as the event is expected to sell out the Mayan's 1,500 capacity. For more information or to purchase tickets please visit http://www.wonderlandadventuresinc.com.

The time-line:

• 7:00pm - Doors open, tunes provided by SF's DJ Motion Potion (www.motionpotion.com), dine on healthy, organic fare catered by Carbon Grill (separate cost), a farmers market favorite
• 8:00pm - Rebroadcast of President Obama's Inauguration Speech in HD on six BIG SCREENS. DJ Motion Potion spins until 9:30pm
• 9:30pm - The Mutaytor (http://mutaytor.com) takes the stage for their celebratory theatrical extravaganza, hot off the heals of their San Francisco New Year's Eve show (with Thievery Corporation and Bassnectar) with extra special musical and visual surprises to salute our new President
• 10:30pm - An "Extra Special Guest Artist" take the stage and rocks out until we cant stand up anymore (around midnight)
• 12midnight - DJ Wolfie (www.djwolfie.com) brings it home for those who want to party into the wee hours (wrap up by 2:00am)

Hive Movie Nights: Wednesday at 8:30

Jan 13, 2009 5:12am

Baraka, movie night

Wednesday after 8ish we are watching Baraka!

This is a great film. Time-lapsed photography of the world pulsing and growing. It was filmed in over 150 locations across the world. It contains no actors, no script, and no plot! It’s like Planet Earth on ‘roids.

This is a free event. Feel free to byob or even goodies to share! It’s usually low-key.

Hope to see you there.

Jan 7, 2009 1:02pm

Wednesday Movie Nights.

This week it’s El Topo, a film written and directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Stop by at 8:30 for a free movie filled with Bandits & Monks. Who could ask for more? Well, you can… and there is more to this controversial ‘western’. Join us and find out for yourself, but be prepared!!!

BYOB

click for more photos of Saturday’s festivities.

Saturday's Opening:

Saturday’s Opening: The Temple of Visions opening was a wonderful success thanks to all of you who attended the event this past Saturday. We put on these events for you, the art lovers, artists, and appreciators. Whether you come for the art, live music, or purely the social entertainment we encourage you participation in whatever way you feel fit. A special thanks to all of you who dressed up! The costumes and face paint were a great bonus to the already colorful characters buzzing around.

For those of you who made purchases from our gallery to add to your own collections… our artists can’t thank you enough! If you are not already aware of the ‘collectors’ pre-sale and you have purchased art from us, or are a serious collector, you are encouraged to email nathan@thehivegallery.com. If it’s any incentive buyers’ always receive special treatment.

Part of a new installation by Asia that is going to open Saturday night during our Temple of Vision Show.

What's so shocking about contemporary art?

The shock of color:

• “It shocks you every time.” William Eggleston, on his hyper-saturated (and ironically titled) blood-red photograph, Greenwood, Mississippi, at the Getty.

The shock of sex:

• Man Ray’s seriously booty-licious La Priére (Prayer), from 1930, at the Getty.
• More booty: Edo-era edition. Kitagawa Utamaro’s Utamakura (Poem of the Pillow), at the British Museum.
• Not quite sex, but close: Eugène Atget’s Three Prostitutes, rue Asselin, also at the Getty, in a style that Berenice Abbott described as the “shock of realism.” Perhaps what’s truly shocking is the smirky grins on these ladies’ faces, who all look like they could be my aunts.

• Plus: The thrill of unexpected nudity. John Lessore’s Diana and Acteon at the Byam Shaw, 1987, at the Tate, an homage to Titian’s Diana and Acteon.

The shock of violence:

• Otto Dix’s 1924 etching Shock Troops Advance Under Gas, at MoMA.
• The shock of seeing your imminent death: a 19th century print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, at LACMA.
• Beautifully abstract until you discover the subject of the photo: Gun: Shock Wave and Discharge, 1960, by Harold Edgerton at the Met. See another more pointed image, from 1957, here.
• Sometimes shock is disaster. See Philip Evergood’s 1940 painting Railroad Bridge Collapse, at the Boston MFA.
• This one had me at the title alone: A representation of the horrid barbarities practised upon the nuns by the fish-women, on breaking into the nunneries in France, a 1792 etching I found on the British Museum’s website. Shocking, in a saucy 18th-century kinda way.

The shock of a prank:

• Waaaay before Banksy: L.H.O.O.Q., Marcel Duchamp’s vandalized Mona Lisa replica from 1919, at D.C.’s National Gallery.

The shock of shock:

• Looking shocked: A Man’s Face, c. 18th century, by Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland, at the Tate, and Clandestine Marriage, an 1819 etching by Henry Hoppner Meyer, at the British Museum, .
• More surprise than shock, but wryly funny nonetheless: A Man Who Suddenly Fell Over, 1952 by British painter Michael Andrews, at the Tate.
• The gestures of shock: William Blake’s early 19th-century watercolor Judas Betrays Him, at the Tate.
• At England’s National Gallery, Queen Charlotte, 1789, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, captures the monarch after “having recently undergone the shock of George III’s first attack of apparent insanity.” Quite incredible. You can see the wear on her face.

List composed by: C-Monster

thanks Terry, those are also my sentiments about this blog.

Reality leaves a lot to the imagination. ~ John Lennon