Art is LIFE!

in·tu·i·tion: the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning.

If there could be only one word to describe the formation of Robert Vargas' work it would be intuition.  His creations are all free hand and guided by the way he thinks they need to be, like the images exist before he gets there and the wall was just waiting for him to paint.   But it's not just the paint that manifests Vargas' creations it's the people that fill in the metaphorical gaps around every edge of every mural.  Whenever and wherever Vargas creates there needs to be an audience, there needs to be witnesses who not only see what he is making but then interact with each other and that interaction feeds his work.  The laughter, the conversations.  In a way watching the paint form a face or the charcoal mirror the subject gives the public a learning experience you just can't duplicate on youtube, they are there though.

With Vargas' recent mural of Mike Muir of the band Suicidal Tendencies, he challenged himself to the creation of not just this massive mural that expanded over the side of the Skanska Construction Building on the edge of the Arts District but simultaneously he created a mural for Trinity Elementary school in South Los Angeles.  During the day the kids got to watch an artist at work and in the wee hours of night Vargas rocked out to heavy metal and opera to complete the Muir mural.  It was as if the shadows that played on the wall duplicating his presence represented the number of painters at work, two sometimes three would follow him around.  

Location:  585 S. Santa Fe Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90013

Mural: Mike Muir of Suicidal Tendencies (south side of building)

The streets of downtown Los Angeles are home to Robert Vargas in more ways than one.  At the corner of Spring Street and 7th Vargas sets up a tarp just below his mural 'Our Lady of DTLA' to continue an ongoing project titled 'Portraits of the World.'  This project doesn't just happen in Los Angeles, Vargas has traveled all over the world and set up the same outdoor studio to capture the faces of as many people as he could to truly make this project live up to its title.  With every session on the streets Vargas selects a person at random, sits them down and whispers to them instructions and then he creates.  His movements are so fast as the hands of a clock move he is finished and the subjects stand and stare at their mirrored self-drying on the sidewalk.

Location: Spring Street and 7th Street, Los Angeles, CA

Mural: 'Our Lady of DTLA' (Building)

In addition to creating art, Robert Vargas promotes the art of others as well during his Red Zebra parties held at the Crocker Club in downtown Los Angeles.  Recently restarted this year these art parties, meant to repeat quarterly, host a fashion show, a live tattoo artist, performers and some great music all within the walls of a former bank.  And of course, a stage where more 'Portraits of the World' can be created.  

Location: The Crocker Club 453 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013

As with any artist, there are moments where private commissions are requested and this night at Seven Grand was one of those portraits.  Set up in front of a live band it was as if the setting wouldn't be complete without music to accompany Vargas as he drew on the floor.  Knee pads ready and the light just right charcoal flew along the paper and erasures sat alongside the canvas ready to subtract the edges to create the final image.  His hands glide over the portrait with quick wit all connecting with the form that was meant to be.  And again surrounding him as if called by instinct the crowd, initially there for the whiskey, started to form.  They watched and marveled and of course asked who he was.

Location: Seven Grand Whisky Bar 515 W 7th Street #200 Los Angeles, CA 90014

Paint is Robert Vargas' conversation with the city of Los Angeles and the world.  The brushstrokes are his sentences and the buildings his paragraphs, the public's reaction is the response to everything he says with paint.  So the next time you see a mural in Los Angeles stop and consider not just the hard work it took to make but consider the message within the design, within the colors and within the location that was meant to be seen by you, the public.  

Location: The Kinney Venice Beach 737 W Washington Blvd Venice, CA 90292

It’s about the line but it’s about so much more than that.  It’s about community and family and how an image can manifest into a work of art when it lived right beside the world for years without anyone truly seeing.  Abel Alejandre does just that; he makes the invisible, visible through his drawings. 

“I am interested in narratives/vignettes about the discarded    unimportant moments that shape our culture. This is not by design it is just what pulls and tugs my attention.  I feel that when talking   about these throw away moments nobody truly cares but, when I   make art about it people pause.” Said Alejandre a Long Beach Graphite Artist who creates intricate drawings of friends and neighbors in life size dreams of heros and themselves. 

To watch Alejandre create is to watch someone meditate as he rests his hand on a custom attachment created by his own hand to better allow his dreams to come true.  Staring inches from his canvas’ Alejandre commits to every single mark because he believes “It is one of the building blocks of the artist’s DNA. It must be laid down with purpose and a commitment to its surface.” While working Alejandre operates as if in a meditation but surrounds him with the auditory world of podcasts that invite his other senses to expand.

For the past few months Alejandre has been working on new pieces for his upcoming solo show ‘Public Secrets’ at Coagula Curatorial a premiere exhibition space for contemporary art based in Los Angeles’ Chinatown.  ‘Public Secrets’ will open for a reception on April 9, 2016 from 7pm-11pm and runs until May 22, which coincides with Alejandre’s permanent installation at the Expo Line extension of the Los Angeles Metro.  Alejandre’s work will be on permanent display at the Westwood/Rancho Park Metro Station, which will officially open for service May 20th.

To check out more of Abel Alejandre’s work find him through his website www.abelalejandre.com or Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.

"I am interested in narratives/vignettes about the discarded unimportant moments that shape our culture. "  -- Abel Alejandre "'The mark' is more significant than a fingerprint or signature. It is one of the building blocks of the artist’s DNA. It must be laid down with purpose and a commitment to its surface. It doesn't matter if the mark is smudged, dragged, pushed, or erased and redrawn over and over. If that is how your work is composed, so be it. My marks, they are calculated and must fuse the selected surface. I think of it as a tattoo that impregnates the surface and should you try and remove it, it will fight. It will be present as a reminder that I once committed to its permanence. "  -- Abel Alejandre

            Everything seems to come full circle in life and even more so in the world of art.  16 years ago I was living in New York and caught the tail end of a show on TV that was talking about a building, I missed where, with these beautiful squares inside it, the light accentuated the structures and the entire interior was meant to be viewed at various times of the day.  I logged that image into my long-term memory in the hopes of one day finding out where it was and what it was; well now I know.  It was Donald Judd’s Untitled Works in Mill Aluminum at Marfa, Texas. 

Cut to the present day and a new studio visit with a quilter it took a minute for me to connect the dots and to realize the boxes I saw on a tiny television screen all those years ago were now manifesting in the designs of Luke Haynes, a quilter based here in Los Angeles at the Brewery Art Colony. Haynes has a background in architecture as well as art and is currently creating a 50 quilt solo exhibition, which is taking themes from Donald Judd’s work with the Milled Aluminum installation. “I am working on 50 iterations within constraints similar to that project but in my case, it’s within the vernacular of quilting.”  Said Haynes.

Haynes’ work ethic also adds to his prolific nature of creating with stacks of sheets lining his studio wall prepped and ready for use in his latest creations.  Originating from North Carolina, Haynes has created a world unto himself that combines the aesthetic eye of an architect with the warmth of textiles that culminates into clean lines and picture perfect manifestations of custom creations.  “I made my first quilts to see if I could create images within the material constraints of 'quilt', so I was always interested in the figural and painterly qualities of the medium.” Said Haynes. 

In addition, to the process, Haynes is also fascinated with ‘form vs. function’ in the world of quilting.  “I love the idea that materials of construction inform the ornamentation of a product. I think the function should be strongly implicit in the form. That way the eye of the maker and the history of utility and experience are incorporated into each choice.” Said Haynes. 

This February 18th quilters will gather for Quiltcon West ‘the largest modern quilting show of it’s kind’ in Pasadena, California where Haynes will be providing a shuttle to his exhibition at Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles.  The show titled "The Log cabins of Donald Judd" with showcase 50 quilts 90 inches square with “different variations with the same language, all red centers with white and black fabric.” Said Haynes.  VIP tickets are available for the Opening Reception from 4-6pm HERE, which includes a swag bag. Regular admission is free starting at 6 pm going until 10 pm at 112 e 22nd st #10 Los Angeles CA 90731.

To learn more about Luke Haynes and his articulate creations or to commission him to create a work for your home you can find him at the following sites. www.LUKEHaynes.com Instagram: @entropies Twitter:@lukehaynescom

"Each piece of material has its own implicit story, that and the range of textures I get from letting the availability dictate the range of textures and palate is beyond what I could choose on my own. It’s a dialog with the material. "  -- Luke Haynes "Also to remove the narrative component, I want to make a show that isn't about figure/ground but rather about the understanding the medium and materials and contextualizing the work as object/sculpture."  -- Luke Haynes "Since the pieces will be hung for the viewers to move around the show it will be an immersive one with the sound dampening a bit as well as the kind of environment that overwhelms similar to Richard Serra pieces."  -- Luke Haynes

            Everything seems to come full circle in life and even more so in the world of art.  16 years ago I was living in New York and caught the tail end of a show on TV that was talking about a building, I missed where, with these beautiful squares inside it, the light accentuated the structures and the entire interior was meant to be viewed at various times of the day.  I logged that image into my long-term memory in the hopes of one day finding out where it was and what it was; well now I know.  It was Donald Judd’s Untitled Works in Mill Aluminum at Marfa, Texas. 

Cut to the present day and a new studio visit with a quilter it took a minute for me to connect the dots and to realize the boxes I saw on a tiny television screen all those years ago were now manifesting in the designs of Luke Haynes, a quilter based here in Los Angeles at the Brewery Art Colony. Haynes has a background in architecture as well as art and is currently creating a 50 quilt solo exhibition, which is taking themes from Donald Judd’s work with the Milled Aluminum installation. “I am working on 50 iterations within constraints similar to that project but in my case, it’s within the vernacular of quilting.”  Said Haynes.

Haynes’ work ethic also adds to his prolific nature of creating with stacks of sheets lining his studio wall prepped and ready for use in his latest creations.  Originating from North Carolina, Haynes has created a world unto himself that combines the aesthetic eye of an architect with the warmth of textiles that culminates into clean lines and picture perfect manifestations of custom creations.  “I made my first quilts to see if I could create images within the material constraints of 'quilt', so I was always interested in the figural and painterly qualities of the medium.” Said Haynes. 

In addition, to the process, Haynes is also fascinated with ‘form vs. function’ in the world of quilting.  “I love the idea that materials of construction inform the ornamentation of a product. I think the function should be strongly implicit in the form. That way the eye of the maker and the history of utility and experience are incorporated into each choice.” Said Haynes. 

This February 18th quilters will gather for Quiltcon West ‘the largest modern quilting show of it’s kind’ in Pasadena, California where Haynes will be providing a shuttle to his exhibition at Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles.  The show titled "The Log cabins of Donald Judd" with showcase 50 quilts 90 inches square with “different variations with the same language, all red centers with white and black fabric.” Said Haynes.  VIP tickets are available for the Opening Reception from 4-6pm HERE, which includes a swag bag. Regular admission is free starting at 6 pm going until 10 pm at 112 e 22nd st #10 Los Angeles CA 90731.

To learn more about Luke Haynes and his articulate creations or to commission him to create a work for your home you can find him at the following sites. www.LUKEHaynes.com Instagram: @entropies Twitter:@lukehaynescom

What would the idea of beauty be like if it had a form?  And what if that form was flat?  These are the things that come to mind when one looks at the work of Leigh Salgado, an artist based in the Huntington Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.  Salgado’s work began with painting where she incorporated “burning surfaces and drawing.” It wasn’t until the 1990s when Salgado was working on a 7x4 foot piece she calls a ‘doodle’ drawing that a moment of frustration brought her to your next manifestation of her craft.  “I picked up an X-Acto knife and aggressively cut out areas I didn’t want. This felt very liberating and cutting then became part of my drawing/painting process.”  Said Salgado. 

One can’t help but see the feminin aspect incorporating itself into Salgado’s work with intricately cut ‘sculpted paintings’ of floral like corsets and bras and panties that weave their way into larger more intricate designs.  One piece in particular titled ‘Birdcage’ shows a metal corset with floral accents, Salgado says “I view undergarments and clothing as beautiful and interesting objects that can be both freeing and confining.” Her work is not too far off of how most women feel today about their spandex and six inch heels yet with Salgodo imagery one might not feel that way upon first glance, in fact one might feel connected to the delicacy of her work.  “Although conditioning has a role in what we consider to be sexy or attractive, we are also inherently drawn to patterns and mystery, elements in fabrics that are often used in female attire.” Said Salgado. 

Another element used in Salgado’s work is light, the placement of her pieces on walls in coordination with the light placement has an equally astounding visual effect. Depending on the overall light source a piece by Leigh Salgado can change “I think this adds visual interest and creates a sense of transience.” Said Salgado. 

From drawing to cutting to painting the various techniques that Leigh Salgado uses all culminates into the vision that exists in her creative mind that also holds girly, feminity and power to draw us in.  Which ever way you look at Salgado’s work you will definitely have an affinity for it, wether it is from across the room or as you stare inches from the piece.

To see Leigh Salgado’s work in person visit the Lancaster Museum of Art and Art History this coming December 5, 2015 for the opening reception of Vanity which be showing her latest work ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.’  The show runs from December 5, 2015 to January 24, 2016 with the opening reception December 5, 2015 at 4pm-6pm. 

In silence Terry Arena works with a graphite pencil constantly sharpened to allow for the figure to come to realistic life, a figure that is less than half an inch long.  These figures are Honey Bees, the reason is because she is driven to do so, and the purpose is to make us more aware.

What would we do without the produce we purchase every day?  How would we cope with the loss of plants and fruits all awaiting the pollinating support of the Western Honey Bee?  Arena’s work, titled ‘Symbiotic Crisis,’ delves into this dilemma, the official name is ‘Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)’ in which the worker bees disappear and leave behind a queen and her nurses to fend for themselves and raise the immature bees to hopefully support the queen.  Now considering how complicated this topic can become how would an artist create work that would shine light on such a dire situation?  Arena’s work took all the right turns when she knew CCD must be part of her work,             “I had been making still life drawings of GMO fruits and vegetables and multi- generational recipes. In addition, I was thinking about the cycle of plant life… seed         transfer, fertilization, and how it is all handled by nature’s design through the balance of     very complex relationships. Initially, it struck me as odd that bees, mere insects, were        being shuttled around the country to support a faction of the agricultural industry. I       knew that I wanted to investigate CCD at that point.” Said Arena

            To give an even deeper layer of metaphors Arena uses a variety of lids from jars some of which once held the very produce that was pollinated by Honey Bees.  During her research Arena found “that the initial comb form is round and the heat of the wings almost instantly causes the wax to settle into the hexagonal form we recognize in honeycomb.” Combined with this repurposed material Arena preps her lids that she sands and primes multiple times to get the right ‘canvas’ for her art and once they are displayed they appear as a modern day hive on the gallery wall. “Working with many individual parts, or surfaces to make a whole, reiterated the hive mentality of community and lent itself to the idea of symbiotic relationships and the ripple effect.” Said Arena. 

The presentation of Arena’s work also gives rise to a deeper contemplation as she has incorporated transportation as another element with ‘Symbiotic Crisis: a series of mobile installations.’  Arena rented a moving truck, and with the help of her contractor husband, created a mobile exhibition showcasing her work that could then travel much like the Honey Bees.  “The project was definitely outside my comfort zone, as I didn’t know if I would be asked to move the truck by a gallerist or other officials, and its creation was a major investment.” Said Arena.

Another aesthetic to Arena’s work is the process by which it is created as well as how it is experienced.  Arena works by the same method of the ‘Slow Food Movement’ that dictates ‘good, clean and fair’ a movement that also ‘advocates for sustainable foods and promotes local businesses.’  Arena says her work is “slow to make and slow to see,” a process that has the potential to pull the viewer into her work in opposition with the fast moving high technology world many of us live in today.  “Eliminating the seduction of color and using an overlooked media such as graphite seemed to be the best way to represent the notions I was investigating.” Said Arena