August 2010 Art Night
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Please contact Ronald Lopez at (310) 453-3711 Ext 103 or rlopez@18thstreet.org for use of high-resolution images or additional requests
EASTSIDE MEETS WESTSIDE: 18th Street Brings Tattoo Art, Lowrider Cars and Live Music to Santa Monica
Santa Monica, CA- On Saturday August 7, 2010, 18th Street Arts Center throws its annual Summer ArtNight with opening receptions for its newest exhibitions: Martin Durazo’s Pain Management 100 in the 18th Street Gallery and Ana Guajardo’s Tianguis in the Project Room. Visitors to ArtNight can experience the electrifying tunes of sound artist and master guitarist, Massaro on 18th Street’s Outdoor Stage. ArtNight takes place from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at 18th Street Arts Center, located at 1639 18th Street, Santa Monica, just north of Olympic Boulevard.
This year’s Summer ArtNight features appearances by the Old Memories SGV lowrider car club, tattoo-art installations by Darlene DiBona, open artist studios, and a Karaoke party hosted by Otis M.F.A Public Practice Program and POP: Pedestal & The All Girl Band. ArtNight visitors have the opportunity to interact with local art and social organizations participating in the program referred to as the “18th Street Connect.” LA’s sexiest food truck, Komodo dishes out street food with a gourmet twist from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. while the CoolHaus truck sweeten things up with their architecturally inspired ice cream sandwiches from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Complimentary beverages are provided by Izze Sparkling Juice, Pama Pomegranate Liqueur, Hpnotiq, and LunaAzul Tequila.
Outdoor
To describe Massaro’s sound as ambient, noise and psychedelic, would not quite capture what all three do in combination. Imagine the hard-driving guttural growl Hendrix managed to capture in his guitar, then imagine that sound being used by the ambient artist of your choice, but in a totally non-noise way with discernable melodies and chanted vocals. This sort of comes close to capturing what Massaro does with his music. Perhaps it would be easier to think of him as a sound artist, but that conveys some sense of detachment from the music. Because that’s ultimately what Massaro is all about: music, in the sense of pleasing and moving noises that wash over your ears, stirring something in us that we can’t quite place.
The San Gabriel chapter of Old Memories SGV lowrider car club shakes up 18th Street’s parking lot with “all original” lowrider cars that are fully loaded with hydraulics, spoked rims, chrome accessories and booming sound systems.
Art Openings:
As part of 18th Street’s yearlong inquiry into the Creative Economy, the organization is presenting projects by Martin Durazo and Ana Guajardo in the 18th Street Gallery and Project Room.
In the 18th Street Gallery Durazo’s project, Pain Management 100, is a 3-month investigative “hands on” laboratory that explores and exposes the connection between the illegal drug trade economy and the “legal” pharmaceutical drug business. Durazo’s installation consists of audio clips, video projections, posters, collage, music and other works meant to arouse the sensation of the underground drug culture and challenge society’s desensitized attitude towards the legal and illegal drug trades by inspiring dialogue on a local, national and global level.
Guajardo’s project Tianguis (the Nahuatl word for open air markets dating from the Mesoamerican period) will transform 18th Street’s Project Room into a 3-month exploration, integrating an exhibition, a live tianguis, community dialogues and workshops. Tianguis is a project examining a contemporary community of vendor-artists in Los Angeles that participate in and innovate the urban, public market culture. Tianguis aims to illuminate the complex networks of art, commodity, politics and culture that are activated in the temporal and spatial constructs of these markets.
Pasillos II: Darlene DiBona’s Tattoo Parlor
Featured on the Discovery Channel for her tattoo designs, artist Darlene DiBona exhibits some of her signature tattoo creations along with painterly works that inform her tattoo art.
18th Street Connect:
As part of the 18th Street Connect, the Otis M.F.A. Public Practice program hosts a Karaoke party in their studio with POP: Pedestal & The All Girl Band. At the same time, a group of Latino artisans (Araceli Silva, Becky Cortez, Botan, Daisy Tonantzin, Dewey Tafoya, Elisa Garcia, Elena Esparza, Felicia Montes, Lili Flor, Lisa Rocha, Monica Hernandez, Nena Soulfly, Orchidi and Reyes Rodriguez) transform the 18th Street outdoor area into a creative marketplace of unique craftworks in conjunction with Ana Guajardo’s show in the Project Room.
Open Studios:
The studios of 18th Street artists in residence are open to the public during ArtNight. Participating artists include: Karl Doerrer-Attaway, Luciana Abait, Henriette Brouwers, John Malpede, David McDonald, Highways Performance Space, Susanna Dakin, Ichiro Irie, Michael Barnard, Continuum Montage, Continuun Studio, Henriette Brouwers, Suzanne Lacy, Otis MFA Public Practice, Clayton Campbell, Yvette Gellis, Electronic Café and International Artist Liu Shih-Tung.
For more information about ArtNight and exhibition openings visit http://www.18thstreet.org. ArtNight is sponsored in part by the cultural funding initiatives of the City of Santa Monica, the Santa Monica Arts Commission, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, the James Irvine Foundation, the California Community Foundation, The Getty Foundation, Crossroads School of Arts and Sciences, IZZE Sparkling Juice, Hypnotiq Liqueur and Pama Pomegranate Liqueur.
18th Street Arts Center’s mission is to provoke public dialogue through contemporary art making. 18th Street is a community which values art making as an essential component of a vibrant, just and healthy society.
