Opening tonight in Culver City “Instant LA Summer” is a group show presented by Stefan Simchowitz curated by Esteban Schimpf. The show features work for a dynamic group of highly intelligent artists working in conceptual realms of installation, sculpture, performance and painting. From the preview images of the show I suspect that this will be a really engaging exhibit. Artists include Charles Irvin, Daniel Desure, Emily Mast, Emily Steinfeld, Eric Yahnker, Josh Mannis, Kenneth Tam, Los Super Elegantes, Maya Lujan, Mark Hagen, Margaret Haines, Orlando Tirado, Pascual Sisto, Sarah Sieradzki, Sean Kennedy and Simon Haas.

While all of the art is sure to be amazing, I’m particularly intrigued by the neon light sculptures by Pascual Sisto. Based on situationist-inspired graffiti lifted from the streets of Paris 1968, these industrial sculptures manage to be smart, witty and historically referential without being elitist or inaccessible – a tough balance to strike. Also be on the lookout for assemblage work by Sarah Sieradzki, and installation work from Kenneth Tam.

Opening August 19th, 7-9 PM

Carmichael Gallery
5795 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232

I stumbled into an amazing (and sometimes shocking) new artist. Helen Gorrill is both a painter and sculptor who in only two years has had shows at many top venues around the world. Jim Fitzpatrick, the artist behind the famous Che Guevara illustration said this about Helen,  “I have never seen that whole role-reversal thing done so well before. Don’t expect too many people to ‘like’ it. Real art takes an age to be appreciated and people feel threatened by this kind of work. I would love to see it on a bigger stage…”

And I think we are ready to see her on a bigger stage as well. Gorrill has a very clever approach to working as well as an interesting theme on which she bases both paintings and sculptures.

Gorril describes her own work: “My work is concerned with destabilising gender and investigating the female submissiveness advocated by Christianity, politics and social conditions.  Christianity has given us the controlled and submissive image of Woman, and throughout most of art history Women have been presented as passive and controlled objects of the Male gaze.  Taking influence from Butler’s Gender Trouble, my 2d work is created using water-based ink to create a bleeding and merging of colour within a finely defined area in order to demonstrate the fluidity of gender.  My sculptural work is both life-size and sculpted from life, and its direct emotional power challenges the viewers preconceptions associated with gender.”

Finally check out this review of her degree show by the folks over at The Observer: “The [drawings reverse] the female submissiveness advocated by a religious pamphlet posted through her door, put women in a dominant position while the men are bound and bent in sexual submission. The male figures have been censored but to protect whom? The spam I receive contains more indecency than Ms Gorrill’s work. And it is much less interesting because she makes a valid point.” Henry Porter, 2009, in ‘Britain is not radical enough’

You can see more of her work on her website at helengorrill.com and decide if you like Gorrill for yourself. I am certain that this artist will blow up. The only question is: “When?”

As I try to marry the relationship between art and architecture both stylistically and as a studio practice, I am finding myself being more interested in sculpture that questions the very structure in which it is placed. The work of the artists below is significant because they constantly question the idea of the art gallery as a physical space. They are questioning the form of the venue which is usually a white cube in which paintings are hung. This is a series of artists who are “bringing down the gallery walls.” These artists are, pardon for the cliche, ‘thinking outside the box’ in a literal way but also metaphorically. And because no gallery or museum in their right mind will ever bring these artists together (imagine the construction costs), I decided to curate this fictional show right here on Curbs and Stoops.

Felix Schramm: “German artist Felix Schramm creates the illusion of architecture gone awry. Made from drywall, paint, steel frames, and wood, his site-specific installations resemble the aftermath of disaster inside the gallery, where the delineations between the work and the institution’s architecture are difficult to discern. His twisted, splintered fragments of structural forms — walls, ceilings, floors — burst from the building’s framework at dramatic angles, producing large-scale works that seem at once threatening and fragile.” – SF Moma.

Baptiste Debombourg: Baptiste Debombourg is a visual artist and sculptor based in Paris who graduated from the Ecole Nationale Superiure des Beaux Art de Paris. In a recent interview with Michal Novotny Babtiste stated “… I started out painting and drawing at school, and I felt very frustrated with the format. I felt very disappointed by the size. Therefore I decided to experience three dimensional work. Sartre says that objects are not just a presence but that they exist in the same time as we do. I mean, they don’t exist in a human way, they’re not alive, but we share our existence with them. For me to work in the discipline of sculpture is a way in which to add some more existence into objects. I like painting and photography as well, but there is still more I’d like to express with material in three dimensions.”

Erica Hock: “Erika Hock (born in 1981) is a young German artist who likes to break walls as she plays with their resistance. All that’s needed in fact is a belt to damage the clean and rigid geometry of a hunk of wall. An approach that may well contest the “infrastructural ideas” that currently permeate modern art.” -Costume National

Robbie Rowlands: “Robbie Rowlands looks closely at the everyday objects around us, he questions their nature, their stability. Working both familiar and found materials, Rowlands cuts into and manipulates the recognisable, peeling back one form to reveal another, reflecting upon the passage of time and what lies beneath the surface of our familiar world.” -Rowland’s Blog

Urs Fischer: “In late 2007, Swiss-born artist Urs Fischer took a jackhammer to Gavin Brown’s pristine white West Village floors. A gallerist has got to have a lot of faith in an artist to let him rip through the concrete, upend pipes, and fill the space with a huge open trench of dirt and debris…” – Interview Magazine

In our interview with Jorge Rodriguez Gerada, Mark Jenkins was mentioned as an inspiring artist whose work is both impressive and creative. I chose to do some research on the Washington D.C. based artist, to find out more about his body of work. Jenkins creates sculptures, or public interventions if you will, in urban environments around the world.

These pieces are often satirical, and witty. The sculptures are not standalone objects. Instead, they respond to the context around them. “It’s good for people to remember public space is a battleground, with the government, advertisers and artists all mixing and mashing, and even now the strange cross-pollination taking place as street artists sometimes become brands, and brands camouflaging as street art creating complex hybrids or impersonators. I think it’s understanding the strangeness of the playing field where you’ll realize that painting street artists, writers, as the bad guys is a shallow view.” says Mark of his work.

While Mark works in several different mediums, his tape sculptures, are a significant portion of his work. He has some “do it yourself” workshops at www.tapesculpture.org

Mark was recently featured at the Manifest Hope show in Washington D.C. this past January. You can see more of his work at www.xmarkjenkinsx.com

I recently saw one of the most expressive set of sculptures that I have seen in years. The pieces, although only about 1ft tall on average do not only show details, they portray human feelings. These sculptures are the work of Oakland based artist, Derek Weisberg. Derek creates ceramic sculptures that are based on different points of his life. As such, they are deeply emotional.

“I want people to experience the sculptures and the environment and reflect on their own lives and situations.  To think about life and death,  to they themselves reflect on those that they have lost and those who are still living.  And for the viewer to actively take a part in the journey of any soul that they know which is not on this earthly plane.  All that spirituality and talk of afterlife and soul and such is really just a metaphor for memorializing the deceased and remembering the lives of those they have lost.”

This series of sculptures are even more emotional and expressive than prior ones. Recently afflicted by a life changing situation, his art also transformed. Derek shares his experience, “My mom past away just over 2 years ago and that has been a major event which I have reacted to and have made work about in attempts to reconcile with the loss, memorialize her, and journey into finding some kind of truth.” The works show exactly that. A spiritual journey of sorts.

To view these for yourself go to Dereks opening on February 21st at Rowan Morrison Gallery at 330 40th St. Oakland, CA. You can get more details on their website at www.rowanmorrison

I also encourage you to check out more of Derek’s work on his website at www.derekweisberg.com