finearttrekkinVeniceBeach

TRACK 16 Features Skate Decks and Surfboards for VENICE SKATE & SURF AUCTION, Venice Beach, California, Friday May 20, 2011 from 6-10 P.M. ART WALK/SURF/SKATE . PhotoJournal by Ginger Van Hook

2011-05-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

Friday, May 20, 2011 from 6-10 P.M.

ART WALK/SURF/SKATE
One-of-a-Kind Skate Decks & Surfboards Featured in Silent Auction
to benefit the Venice Family Clinic and to kick-off the Venice Art Walk

LOCATION: TRACK 16 BERGAMOT STATION SANTA MONICA, CA
2525 Michigan Avenue Santa Monica, CA 90404 (310) 453-7535

"WHO IN THE HEAVEN IS SPANTO?" Skate Deck Artwork by Ginger Van Hook
Photo collage, Photos, Acrylic Paint, Gloss Medium.
Photo by Ginger Van Hook© 2011

"FLOW!" SKATE DECK ARTWORK BY LUKE VAN HOOK
Nano Glass Balls, LED Lights, Batteries.
"Living Works series by Luke Van Hook born date of piece 5.18.2011 9:49pm"
Photo by Ginger Van Hook©2011

"WHO IN THE HEAVEN IS SPANTO?" Skate Deck Artwork by Ginger Van Hook
Photo collage, Photos, Acrylic Paint, Gloss Medium.
Photo by Ginger Van Hook© 2011

"FLOW!" SKATE DECK ARTWORK BY LUKE VAN HOOK
Nano Glass Balls, LED Lights, Batteries.
"Living Works series by Luke Van Hook born date of piece 5.18.2011 9:49pm"
Photo by Ginger Van Hook©2011

"FLOW!" SKATE DECK ARTWORK BY LUKE VAN HOOK
Nano Glass Balls, LED Lights, Batteries. (View of back side with batteries)
"Living Works series by Luke Van Hook born date of piece 5.18.2011 9:49pm"
Photo by Ginger Van Hook©2011

Venice Art Crawl Happening Third Thursdays! Join the Art Community on September 16th, 2010!

2010-09-15T03:07:00.000-07:00

Story and Photography by Ginger Van Hook

Launch night began a new era in the Fine Arts of Venice Beach!

The Venice ART Crawl Collaboration with OTIS Alumni has unleashed the creative

instincts in the deepest, darkest and oldest part of the beach scene:

VENICE BEACH, CALIFORNIA!

(Every Third Thursday in Venice Beach)

To participate, get involved, or attend contact:

www.veniceartcrawl.com

On September 1st, 2010 I attended a meeting of artistic minds

that make up the Venice Beach Art Community.

Daniel Samakow led the charge to organize the next Venice Art Crawl scheduled

for September 16th, 2010 to empower the artists of Venice Beach, California.

Daniel Samakow, photo by Ginger Van Hook

At the meeting, discussions revolved around the artists having a stake in the future of Venice Beach. Artists, Vendors, Businesses, Gyms, Boutiques, and owners of parking lots, boardwalk front properties and Restaurants are all encouraged to participate and much was said about the success of the first Venice Art Crawl that occurred on August 19th, 2010. I sincerely felt that there was so much energy in the room, that a spontaneous combustion could light up a city anywhere in the world. Artists were excited. Dialogue was taking place. Plans were being made. Artwork would be displayed, sold, purchased; APPRECIATED! There is a distinctly strong sense of community building up into a grassroots movement that challenges the past to a duel with the future. Venice is EDGY, original, REBELLIOUS, and full of artistic PIONEERS as folks gather to make a difference in their community. The seeds of creativity were being planted in the minds and hearts of the citizens that represent one of the most unique Beach communities in Southern California. It was totally surreal!

And another important revelation came about while I was there. Toward the end of the meeting, someone mentioned SPONTO! and suddenly, the room became abuzz about a man that had become a legend since his passing. SPONTO was a Venice Beach resident

whom I had met a little over five years ago in his own small gallery simply called SPONTO.

Sponto had begun a movement to involve local artists to exhibit their artworks in his gallery, show local artist movies, and have film screenings frequently.

He had an enormous following.

And when he passed away, he left a huge hole in the hearts of those that loved him.

But, the folks in this meeting had not forgotten Sponto.

"LONG LIVE SPONTO!"

Someone shouted and the rest of the group

at the meeting chimed in the cheer.

The spirit of SPONTO does live on. Join the artists and residents

of Venice Beach, California this Thursday September 16th, 2010 and

come see for yourself the ghosts of the past come alive and welcome

new spirits of artistic ingenuity to the present.

LONG LIVE VENICE BEACH!

Mark X Farina and Sponto, Venice Beach, California

Photo By Ginger Van Hook, 2005

Artists and Residents of Venice Beach

immersed in discussions about the upcoming

Venice Art Crawl, Sept 16, 2010 (photo by Ginger Van Hook)

Ceres Madoo, representing Otis College of Art and Design,

along with arts students from the college

attended the planning meeting to lend their support.

Photo by Ginger Van Hook, 2010

Right outside the CANAL CLUB Restaurant, a resident

of Venice Beach wanted me to take his picture with his puppy.

photo by Ginger Van Hook, 2010

THE FOLLOWING PHOTOGRAPHS

ARE A TRIBUTE TO SPONTO

as well as Halfpipe, a famous dog that attended

SPONTO's Gallery and movie screenings regularly.

from 2005. By Ginger Van Hook

Another legend in Venice Beach history at the SPONTO Gallery

was "HALFPIPE", a beautiful red, gold, white and tan dog

that belonged to Nick Feller. Halfpipe too, like Sponto went off to the

Gallery in the Sky and is genuinely missed by the residents, but his

four legged legacy lives on!

Halfpipe loved art!

Halfpipe is pictured here with

Luke Van Hook and his human, Nick Feller

Photo by Ginger Van Hook, 2005

Painting by artist Mark X Farina.

Photo by Ginger Van Hook, 2005

Luke Van Hook, Nick Feller, Halfpipe.

Photo by Ginger Van Hook, 2005

*****************************************************************************

North Venice Street in front of the Canal Club restaurant and

sushi bar. Photo by Ginger Van Hook, 2010

VideO in Venice: VENICE ART CRAWL & OTIS Alumni @ Danny's Art Bar

2010-08-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

On August 19, 2010, the artists Laura Daroaca, Annetta Kapon,

JJ Stevens, Mark X Farina (MXF), Preston Webb and Andrew Clinco exhibited their

video works as the Launch night began a new era in the Fine Arts of Venice Beach!

The Venice ART Crawl Collaboration with OTIS Alumni has unleashed the creative

instincts in the deepest, darkest and oldest part of the beach scene:

VENICE BEACH, CALIFORNIA!

(Every Third Thursday in Venice Beach)

To participate, get involved, or attend contact:

www.veniceartcrawl.com

Winward Street is lit up with only the lights from the shop signs,

and the headlights from cars looking for a parking space as

Danny's Deli ART BAR hosts artwork by numerous video artists

during the www.veniceartcrawl.com event, a free monthly

exploration of Venice art and the Venice Beach artist community.

Video artist Annetta Kapon and Curator Ceres Madoo

discuss how best to serve the Otis College Alumni artist community in Venice Beach.

Photo by Ginger Van Hook

Annetta Kapon was one of my former professors at Otis College of Art and Design, while

I was working on my MFA. One of my favorite classes I took with Annetta Kapon

was the "Evil in Literature" class which explored all manner of dastardly deads done in

the name of literature.

We studied philosophers and artists that explored their inner demons

and came up with some pretty cool and scary artistic literature.

What I liked the most about Annetta Kapon was her

straightforward guidance about being an artist and her unwavering support of her students.

Her philosophy is that an artist has to come out of their shell to make a mark in the world.

One of my favorite video installations that Annetta Kapon did a while back was her video of

Rejection Letters that aired on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood on an enormous electronic billboard.

Talk about making a mark in your world. Annetta Kapon knows how to leave an impression!

I say we bring back those rejection letter videos she has and

make the installation bigger and show it off on billboards

on the 405 freeway where the passengers in the airplanes can see it!

Annetta Kapon

Annetta Kapon Video Installation at the

Venice Art Crawl Launch Night. August 19, 2010

Photo by Ginger Van Hook

Annetta Kapon is an artist who works in Sculpture, Installation and Video.

Kapon, born in Athens, Greece, now lives in Los Angeles and

has exhibited in the United States and abroad since 1982.

She is a professor in Graduate Studies at Otis College of Art and Design,

where she teaches both studio and theory seminars.

Her work has been featured at Side Street Projects,

Jewish Museum in Greece, the University of Chicago,

LACE, Exit Art, Wexner Center for the Arts and the Biennale of Sydney among others.

She has had solo exhibitions at Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Armstrong/Schoenheit, French Institute and Zefxis in Greece, Carnegie Mellon University, U.C. Riverside, Southern Exposure in San Francisco and CAMAC.

Kapon holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki and the University of London, respectively. She then received her BFA from Otis College of Art and Design and her MFA from UCLA. She is the recipient of numerous artist residency fellowships, as well as WESTAF, Art Matters, Pollock/Krasner and California Community Foundation grants.

Biographical information from Wikipaedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annetta_Kapon

The countdown begins. Get your quarters ready...time is running out!

Only 6 minutes left before a cop writes you a ticket!

Talk about EVIL! The countdown began and the climax was incredible. The parking meter exploded!

YAAAAAA Now THAT's an evil movie plot! Kudos to this artist!