Wednesday, September 15, 2010

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

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



Sunday, August 22, 2010

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

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

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 SculptureInstallation and Video.
Kapon, born in AthensGreece, 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!