September 2009:
ARTslant "Gallery Hop"on Post-American L.A.
by Michael Shaw
August 2009:
Los Angeles Times "Feature" on Post-American L.A.
by David Pagel
link to LA Times Feature
Fine Arts LA on Post-American L.A.
by Danyel Madrid
Flavorpill on ArtNight &Post-American L.A.
by Shana Nys Dambrot
May 2009:
DailyServing on ArtNight & Cults, Collectives, & Cocooning
March 2009:
ArtScene Vol. 28, No. 7
February/March 2009:
THE Magazine
February 5, 2009:
The Argonaut, "What's On" Shangri LA Architecture in a State of Flux
May 29, 2008:
100% Other: Artists & Psyco-Demographic Transitions is "What's Hot," on Santa Monica Mirror Online
The Argonaut, "What's On" review of
100% Other: Artists & Psyco-Demographic Transitions
March 19, 2008:
LA Weekly review of Patriot Acts
February 7, 2008:
Santa Monica Daily Press photographs Patriot Acts
January 31, 2008:
Palisadian Post review of Patriot Acts
Art Exhibit 'Acts' Out First Amendment Issues
by Michael Aushenker
Transcending Partisan Politics in 18th Street Art Center's 'Patriot Acts'
As you enter the 18th Street Art Center in Santa Monica, you are greeted by a colorful, cartoon-y, ostensibly cheerful wallpaper that might superficially evoke pop artist of the moment Takashi Murakami. But upon closer inspection, this work comments on our national obsessions and consumptions''war and food''in the form of hot dogs, pie slices, cookies, donuts'and tanks!
Hillary Mushkin's 'Untitled (Junk Food Camo)' is one of a dozen works comprising the art exhibit 'Patriot Acts,' which runs through March 28.
Palisades resident Clayton Campbell, the Center's artistic director since 1994, devised four topics under the over-arching theme, 'The Future of Nations,' for the artists to frame their art: 'The Constitution,' 'Demographics,' 'Urban Environments' and 'War as a Way of Life.' He enlisted various curators and artists to create new works around these sub-themes.
Part one of four of a year-long, multi-pronged exhibit, 'Patriot Acts,' curated by Linda Pollack, represents the work of 13 artists spanning a gamut of styles and media, including installations, wall hangings, books, paintings, and a series of postcards.
'These themes are based around election-year issues and civic engagement''which 18th Street thinks is very critical''without being partisan,' Campbell says. 'This is not political art where it's agitprop. There's not a piece in here where it's 'I hate Bush' or 'I love the Republicans.' It's more about the broader issues of citizenship and what freedom really means. These artists are really stretching it beyond the election, going deeper into these issues.'
Rebecca Ripple's 'Absolutely if you will,' executed in paint and graphite, literally presents shifting shades of meaning and gray area. The work consists solely of text: 'Absolutely' scrawled across a wall; 'if you will' across the counter opposite it. The phrases fade in and out. According to Pollack, the former comments on an overused vacant blanket term, while the latter can be interpreted as a somewhat passive-aggressive command.
The visual highlight of the show might well be Zeal Harris' folk/na've art mixed-media mural 'Devil's Rejects,' a colorful, surreal landscape inspired by an Iraq War vet's stories and peopled with characters in a circus-like atmosphere. Harris also has a piece titled 'Jody and Fee La Beau Haunting.'
Pam Strugar and Shirley Tse's 'AWOL AWOL' (some word play at work, as this installation utilizes a pair of false walls) is a mixed media, two-artist, two-parter that includes skiing champion John 'Madcow' Hembel's quote, 'Freedom to me is skiing at 150 mph,' across one of its panels. Nearby, a monitor features various people interviewed about the meanings of 'freedom.'
Another multi-media work, Vincent Johnson's 'The Ballot of History,' casts a voting booth as its centerpiece and illustrates various voting technologies both on a wall and in book form to make its point.
Projects such as Meena Nanji and Tommy Gear's 'Transmission from 'Alphahville' (a twin-monitor installation referencing Godard's 1965 futureshock caveat which depicted a society controlled by an ominous master computer), are interactive (says Pollack, it comments on 'two different pulses that shape our intellectual landscape'), but none are as interactive as the 'Habeas Lounge,' created by Pollack herself '' a red-and-white, all-purpose room with Valentine's Day-ready d'cor wherein various visiting guest speakers lecture on voting issues.
Performance art by Adam Overton, Susan Silton's offset lithography 'The Five W's,' and Sara Hendren's video 'Tools for Historical Imagination' round out the show.
'It's good art,' Campbell surmises. 'It creates a conversation instead of shoving a political view in people's face.'
'Patriot Acts' runs through March 28.
The next Habeas Lounge will begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday, February 3, featuring a round-table discussion with the topic: "How to Improve the World: Artist-Citizens on Hope, Apathy, Healing, and Piece of Mind [During Wartime].' The discussion, presented by Art Spa, will be followed by a group participatory performance of 'What Do We Do Now?'
The 18th Street Arts Center is located near the intersection of Olympic Boulevard at 1639 18th Street. Contact: (310) 453-3711 or visit www.18thstreet.org.
January 24, 2008:
LA Times review of Patriot Acts
by Lea Lion
Artists engage in 'Patriot Acts'
By -- Lea.Lion @latimes.com
January 24, 2008
ON a recent Monday afternoon, Linda Pollack was sitting on a spiral-shaped, bright red couch in an otherwise empty room that she has dubbed "the Habeas Lounge." Despite its comfy environs (think plenty of pillows and a pot of tea brewing in the corner), the lounge has quite a lofty purpose: to facilitate democratic dialogue.
And facilitate it has. Named for the legal concept of habeas corpus (a protection against unlawful imprisonment), the lounge is part of "Patriot Acts," a politically minded group show curated by Pollack at the 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica. In past months, the space has hosted conversations with a Burmese monk, a Loyola Law School professor and the League of Women Voters. Coming events include a Monday symposium on the presidential candidate selection process and a discussion titled "How to Improve the World (You'll Only Make Matters Worse)" on Feb. 3.
"Patriot Acts" is the first in a yearlong series of exhibits and happenings titled "The Future of Nations," which explores big-picture issues, such as the Constitution, demographics, urban environments and war. (Zeal Harris' mixed-media canvas, for example, deals with the complex issues enveloping an Iraq vet.)
"It has a lot to do with our feeling that this is an incredibly important election and, without being partisan about it, we really wanted to give artists a platform," says artistic director Clayton Campbell.
Housed in a single-story building not far from the Habeas Lounge, the rest of "Patriot Acts" occupies a white-walled gallery space that, fittingly, will transform into a polling place during the Feb. 5 presidential primary election.
But for now the gallery is filled with less literal manifestations of the Constitution. There is Hillary Mushkin's vinyl wallpaper, which incorporates images of junk food and military vehicles into a camouflage-like pattern in shades of pink, brown and olive; and Vincent Johnson's "The Ballot of History," an installation that juxtaposes photos of historic voting machines with a brand-new Pollmaster II voting booth (which, incidentally, folds up into an briefcase).
"I felt like my role as the curator was to create a space for the artists to explore different constitutional ideas that struck their fancy," Pollack says. "Whenever you mention an art show and the Constitution, most people only think of aesthetic concerns around the First Amendment and freedom of expression, and there was a much more complex treatment with these artists."
Like Pollack's lounge, Pam Strugar and Shirley Tse's "AWOL AWOL" deals with the concept of habeas corpus, albeit in a much different way. The mixed-media installation plays on the meaning of the military term by printing it on a movable wall. "We really liked the idea of the false wall, because it challenges the preconceived idea of the stability of the system," Strugar says.
"In reality, every time there is a change of power, the law is open to interpretation," Tse adds.
'PATRIOT ACTS'
WHERE: 18th Street Arts Center, 1639 18th St., Santa Monica
WHEN: Reception: 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday. Open: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays to Fridays; ends March 28
PRICE: Free
INFO: (310) 453-3711; www.18thstreet.org
December 19, 2007:
Palisadian Post review of The Future of Nations
18th Street Arts Tackles Political Issues
December 19, 2007
As part of its mission to create a forum for civic engagement through the arts, 18th Street Arts Center presents 'The Future of Nations,' its 2008 season of exhibitions dedicated to examining the issues related to the 2008 presidential campaign.
The series aims to address many issues that will determine the future of the country. Using the broad themes of the Constitution, demographics, environment and war, artists and curators will create a forum for the issues of our time while examining this country's highly politicized demeanor.
'The artists involved come from diverse political, religious, cultural and artistic backgrounds. This is not a monolithic group espousing a narrow political art agenda,' says 18th Street Artistic Director Clayton Campbell. 'Rather it is a group of humanists who care about the quality of life around us and feel their contributions are part of mainstream cultural and social conversations.
'Everywhere I have been over the past three years, artists and curators have obsessively talked about the Bush administration, the Iraq war, immigration, abortion, all of the hot-button issues that directly affect our lives,' says Campbell, who is a Palisades resident.
'Yet not one arts organization or arts gallery was taking this on in a significant and sustained manner. There is a tremendous amount of caution and fear in the air. In response, 18th Street will provide an outlet for the unseen energy that artists have generated relative to the 2008 presidential election, and all it stands for.'
'Patriots Acts' and 'The Habeas Lounge,' curated by Linda Pollack, the first in the series, is on display through March 21.
The 18th Street Arts Center, 1639 18th Street, is an alternative contemporary art and artist residency center, supporting emerging to mid-career artists and arts organizations dedicated to issues of community, diversity, and social justice in contemporary.
August 16, 2007:
LA Times review of Nature (Interrupted)
VIEW IN PDF>>
World-Class Contemporary Arts Center in Santa Monica
Celebrates Anniversary
(originally printed in Westside Life, Winter 2001)
Where in Los Angeles can you see cutting edge dance and performance art, visit world-class visual artists in their studios, view contemporary art galleries, edit digital video, and get a low-priced legal consultation. You can at the 18 th Street ArtsCenter in Santa Monica, a top international contemporary arts center and one of the best-kept secrets in Los Angeles.
Located just north of Olympic Boulevard on 18 th Street, the Center's five buildings house over two dozen performance spaces, galleries, artist studios and offices, including the internationally-famous Highways Performance Space and Crazy Space, one of L.A.'s hottest new alternative galleries. The Center is also home to the 18th Street Arts Fest, the largest annual performing and visual arts festival on the Westside. 18 th Street's overriding purpose is to support artists and art making on local, national and international levels.
"Honestly, there's no place like 18th Street in Los Angeles," states Co-Director Clayton Campbell. "We're an international artist host and presenter, home to some of L.A.'s top visual and performing artists and a part of our community as well through our arts education program in local schools. There are very few art centers in the country, let alone Los Angeles, that are as versatile as we are."
18th Street has been home and host to hundreds of artists who hail from many continents, countries and cultures. Since the Center opened its doors in 1988, many of its residents have gone on to national and international acclaim, including MacArthur Genius Award-winner Guillermo Gomez-Pena, Guggenheim Fellows Kit Galloway and Sheri Rabinowitz of Electronic Cafe International and internationally-touring performers like Phranc, Dan Kwong and Keith Antar Mason. (See sidebar for current residents.)
The local community also receives tremendous benefit from 18 th Street's Arts Education Program, which places over a dozen professional artists in area middle schools in Santa Monica, Palms, Venice, Mar Vista and Marina Del Rey every year. At no expense to the school system, literally hundreds of children, many of them at-risk or from under served areas, get to work with high-quality artists and learn how to incorporate their everyday lives into art making.
"The look on hundreds of children's faces when they create their own artwork is priceless," states Michelle Berne, the Arts Education Program Director. "We teach them basic art techniques, appreciation and creative problem solving. We also develop teaching and community building skills among artists, so the program benefits everyone involved."
Representative of the unique organizations in residence at the Center, California Lawyers for the Arts (C.L.A.) is a statewide non-profit dedicated to low-cost legal services for artists of all disciplines.
"Many westside residents may not know this, but every October we produce the 18 th Street Arts Fest, which is the biggest site in the L.A. County Arts Open House and one of the single largest arts festivals in Los Angeles," states Program Coordinator Michael Sakamoto. "We also maintain a contemporary art gallery in our lobby open Monday through Friday."
Because of the recent dearth of artist workspaces on the westside, 18th Street has also become a de facto leader in the struggle to maintain a viable local arts community. Rent for residents at the Complex is subsidized to a point below market level.
"With practically all the live-work artist spaces being squeezed out of the westside due to closures and significant rent increases, 18th Street is the last bastion for a true arts community around here," asserts Co-Director Jan Williamson, who is also a long-time community activist. "And when you factor the international program into the mix, 18 th Street becomes that much more of an oasis in the L.A. arts scene."
As always, this crisis situation applies to exhibition spaces as well. For example, the alternative gallery Crazy Space is dedicated to fostering work that might not otherwise have a home because of its noncommercial or experimental nature.
"Our goal is to allow serious artists to advance their work by freeing them from financial concerns so that they can explore and experiment," states Crazy Space Director Lauren Hartman. "Without the support of 18th Street Arts Center, we wouldn't be able to keep our doors open and support these innovative artists. We are indebted to 18th Street for the wonderful work they do on behalf of artists of all disciplines."
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1639 18th St., Santa Monica, CA 90404 | Phone 310.453.3711 | Fax 310.453.4347 | office@18thstreet.org | Website designed by: Fei Liu
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