RR08-2008

Tonight, a memorial was held in Little Tokyo for Robert Rauschenberg. Attendees ranged from curators, writers, fellow artists, collectors and a great many connected to Bob through Gemini GEL.
This picture is of a Robert Rauschenberg that I learned about in school. This is not the artist I knew.

The photo below is the Bob I knew working on a litho series where he painted diazo onto plates. I proofed and editioned some of the prints on this project. We (the printers in the shop) knew that Bob was coming by whenever the Jack Daniels and fresh ice showed up in the kitchen area. When a project was going to start, a TV set would be installed in the artist studio. One time, I was sent down to Sears to buy a ping-pong table for him to use. My friend Stan was later stuck with it in his part of the shop where he continually had to move it out of his way.

I did a whole lot of the edition screen printing for the Samarkand Stitches set (below). Screen printing wasn't my specialty, so I sort of half-assed it in order to match all the crazy unique patterns within the photo images that we did during the proofing session. When I thought it was all done, I stripped the image and then came a decision to increase the edition when more of the silk fabric became available (it was hand woven in the communist Russian state of Samarkand). I had moved onto some litho project so Stan was given the chore of matching what I did in order to recreate the proofs. He didn't say much when I showed him the odd stencils and masks I had used, but I know he didn't have much fun finishing it.

The memorial had the familiar (to me) presenters, Darryl Pottorf, Sidney Felsen, Joni Weyl, Stan Grinstein and his daughters. There were others new to me-Bernice Rose, Paul Schimmel. I never interacted with them during my time at Gemini. Ed Ruscha imitated Bob's wheezing cackle of a laugh that we would hear cutting through the shop noise. Adele Lutz gave a stream of thought collection of words peppered with her personal musings. She defined the interpretations and uses of the word "cool" in a way I've never considered before. It was nice to hear Irving Blum, he is a cornerstone of the LA gallery scene and has the backroom stories to prove it. Kat Eppie participated in many of Bob's performance pieces as well as his events. She played a song dedicated to Bob on the flute that, while short, effectively illustrated the creative process according to Bob.Dickie Landry blew some free-association riffs on the sax as early (50s) performance pieces were projected.

It was good to see printers I worked with- Jim, Carmen Schilaci, Stan Baden, Tony Zepeda and some that preceded me that I've been fortunate to get to know- Dan Freeman, George Page, Tim Isham, Barbara Thomason.

Doug Chrismas, Peter Gould, Frank Gehry...I haven't seen them in too long. I felt bad to have to reunite with everyone for a memorial, but at the same time, it was comforting to be together with all of them. Everyone had a Bob story, few of them repeatable in public. I learned just how many people in our corner of the country were not only friends of Bob but felt a part of the Rauschenberg family. He treated everyone the same, made no distinctions for anything, whatsoever. He had a gravitational quality when it came to personalities he liked, was always open to new ideas and was never shy with an opinion. I feel privileged to have been able to work with Bob. He listened to my suggestions and even changed the name of a litho because of one. He was a regular guy, heart o' gold, raconteur, he even played the role of sage on occasion. When he saw us struggling to move the large brass sheets used for the Borealis Shares in an effort to avoid fingerprints, Bob told us to grip the material firmly- any prints, or markings were "free drawing"...sort of a bonus, the way he saw it. That pretty much exemplifies him as to the way we the printers knew him, a seasoned professional with the ability to see the utility of things we ignore and the willingness to accept things he could not completely control.

...Jake, it's Chinatown

I received this invite last week:

It turned out to be a guerilla exhibit in the middle of the sidewalk. I couldn't take any pictures so imagine a structure made of cardboard such as these:

...only a bit taller, much neater, and filled with art!

The box was a portable gallery. I don't have any images so try to visualize one of these sample images surrounded by wine sipping, cracker nibbling viewers drawing participants from the torturous film features from nearby "official" galleries. The culprits were an Art Center trio- Connie Wong, Saejean Oh, and Wendy Cogan-Toyoda. This spectacle succeeded in several ways. The subversive action of squatting on some prime gallery real estate has a long history and this event is notable for its timing and use of materials. Evenings other than opening nights on this side of tourist Chinatown are bleak, providing an opportunity to set up camp without having to fight for space with noshing opening lemmings. The quality of the work rivalled any of the upcoming artist galleries offer- precisely crafted, loaded images, honest and personal content.

This was an experience and a good one at that.

This display works as a dark echo of our gloomy economic situation. The conversations at openings these days are often filled with negative views on the future of art as a viable economic element but this cardboard venue is a positive response in that it truly celebrates the art for the entertainment and diversion that it evokes. It portends a possible way of exhibiting in case the recession collapse into a depression. There are the echos of NY happenings, Fluxus street events and Soho performance in this modest production.

I normally avoid installations and outdoor events. I probably would have thought against going Saturday night if it were not that I am a sucker for the art. The entire experience was a pleasant surprise- very honest and refreshing without seeming cute or quaint. Another event is in the works for another artburb in LA. I'll be there...and armed with cameras this time.

Broad Gesture

Eli the Broad has come forward and offered to put in 30 million in dollars to save MOCA (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-oe-broad-2008nov22,0,2108831.story). The catch is that this is a matching fund offer, good only if some other philanthropic patron(s) steps up to the plate with the same amount. Fair enough, I feel, since the level of museumness that MOCA aspires to achieve requires deep pockets. Some feel that art museums should be above such tawdry affairs (http://coagula.livejournal.com/)- a noble dream but not realistic. The history of museums is filled with tales of donors and patrons contributing funds, objects or other means of support for certain compensations. Check the names on founders lists of the major players back east and you'll see industrialists, financial moguls, aging debutantes... Look into past shows from any major museum and there will be the odd clinker show or WTF exhibit.

Museums are not the altruistic institutions they play on TV. They have sordid pasts, filled with tawdry affairs, illicit dealings conducted in back rooms and dubious business associates.

Donors used to be able to write off significant funds with choice donations until tax reform put the pinch on that. Museums have been used to launder money and broker stolen goods. Counterfeits and questionable artworks have been legitimized through the these institutions. Art is a dirty word. Modern art is tainted with bravado and hubris. To think that our local example would be free from that is ludicrous. There is little difference between corporate sponsorship for an exhibition and privileged patrons pushing a show based on their collection or brother-in-law's sister's Sunday paintings.

Mr. Broad's offer is an unique opportunity for LA's part time players to move up into a position that would establish a stable and consistent art patronage. The money is here, even in this gloomy economic atmosphere. Many local collectors get their art in NYC. Its time to steer them homeward. Broad's editorial challenge brings up a critical point about the development of a central cultural nexus in downtown LA. The projects presently lined up will suffer setbacks that could mire the efforts to build a real city core.

MOCA Chokes in Lala

The LA Times is baring some disappointing news for those of us hoping to see our fair metropolis become a serious player in the art world. It seems that MOCA has been lagging in their fundraising and as a consequence have had to dip into some accounts reserved for specific purposes other than rent and payroll (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-moca19-2008nov19,0,2100731.story).

The museum that arrived in our city of dreams with such promise is now in the market for a sugar daddy just like so many other aging starlets. Too many sad stereotypes about our community that relate to art pop up in our rumouring- not enough collectors or patrons in our town that care to support local endeavors, insurmountable disconnects with cultural venues and minority populations, an inpenetrable atmosphere of apathy towards the fine arts, etc...

The Times article mentions that MOCA is looking for more funding but today's economy quickly rules out the government so until some patron alights from the smoggy firmament expect some pleas directed at the membership. Even though the big M is my favorite big art box in town, I know my measly membership level won't do more than buy them a few more plastic swizzle sticks for their next gala opening.

Maybe some corporate partnership might be in the works. How about MOCA/Disney or Disney's Artlandia?

Studio Time

Last week I visited Dan McCleary at his studio in Macarthur Park.

This guy is on a roll. He's working on a new series of paintings so there was a lot of stuff thrown about his space. I actually dropped in on a day when he came in after working somewhere else for a couple weeks.

He spends a good part of the week at H.O.L.A. ( http://heartofla.org/) down the street. Dan runs art classes there and the results are quite amazing.

Cultural Leeches

I received announcements for Machine Project's event at LACMA this week. I scanned the info and after much soul searching (about 2 minutes worth) I decided I didn't like the smell of this self-serving waste of time. Machine Project (http://machineproject.com/) has created an interactive field trip that will do little more than clog up the LA County Museum and waste perfectly good public funds.MP is a non-profit agency which means ,as a gallery, they couldn't make a go of it. Their popularity and categorical success is blunted by the dilapidation that serves as their physical headquarters. Located in a local art hotspot- Echo Park- they've forsaken the locals in their eagerness to branch out. The events are products of creative grant writing binges and the funded projects never really gel until the lights are turned off and the receipts added up, too late to benefit the art-hungry poor and carless critical masses.

The info for this creative roadbump is: http://machineproject.com/engine/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/machinefieldguidetolacma.pdf. Too much drivel, even for my taste- and they admit to not fully imagining the real application of this kindergarten fingerpainting on papier mache covered with glitter and macaroni fun-fest.

Go. Have fun. We'll discuss this later, after you've thought about what you've done.

LA Old School

My friend Peter said we should go see a friend who was having an opening at Lawrence Asher Gallery. Richard Amend is a Cal Arts alum from way back and although the school was already entrenched in its well known conceptual doctrines he turned to painting. And while I missed his early geometric abstractions way back when, I found a reassuring quality of form and paint pushing in his current set of canvases. This show features two themes as subject matter, objects and architectual elements. Chandeliers as heroic portraits layered with creamy glazes show a fascination with things that, quite literally, are over our heads in terms of physical positioning and conceptual imaging. We, the viewer, are placed at eye level with these glowing characters but fine detail is occluded by the strength of their personality- or maybe the dimmer didn't work. The fuzz that is created by the inherent function of providing light forces one to fill in the gaps as to the whys and what fors of these objects.

The movie marquees are not the usual homage to fading architectual treasures. These historic icons are used as signposts in a cinematic snippet suggesting some type of action or event just out of sight. I know it sounds treacly,but these images held my gaze loner than usual- I just knew inside there was something more. More story or image, something was beyond what Richard was showing us.