‘Retinal Delights’ attracts young folks, celebrities
June 23rd, 2008, 12:10 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Richard Chang
“In the Land of Retinal Delights,” a 1968 oil on canvas by Robert Williams.
So I went to the Laguna Art Museum Saturday night to check out the opening reception for the exhibition “In the Land of Retinal Delights: The Juxtapoz Factor.”
It’s a gigantic group show, so naturally, scores of people attended. I’d say a few hundred folks.
The exhibit is based on artists who have shown up in the pages of Juxtapoz magazine. It seems the whole “lowbrow” art scene has been catching on like wildfire in Southern California. Certainly the Laguna museum and the Grand Central Art Center have been showcasing a lot of lowbrow art lately.
Anyway, the reception was a lively affair. A DJ spun tunes, drinks were served, and a lot of the young, cool, hip art crowd showed up. Nice to see them at a south O.C. art museum.
There were also celebrity sightings: Athlete Lance Armstrong was there, along with his (relatively new) girlfriend actress Kate Hudson. Patricia Arquette, the lead character in NBC’s “Medium,” was also in attendance.
Of course, dozens of artists showed up to the opening as well. Some of the featured artists include Gary Baseman, Sandow Birk, Enrique Chagoya, R. Crumb, Carlee Fernandez, Llyn Foulkes, Gajin Fujita, Camille Rose Garcia, F. Scott Hess, Margaret Keane, Mike Kelley, Takashi Murakami, Mark Ryden, SHAG, Jeff Soto, Jeffrey Vallance, Kara Walker, Robert Williams and Basil Wolverton.
The curator for the show is Meg Linton of the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.
“In the Land of Retinal Delights” is a cool, extensive show, and I’ll have more on the exhibition in the newspaper and online later this week.
Oh, a side note: The press materials for “Retinal Delights” say Juxtapoz is the most widely read art magazine in the United States. Hmm, I thought ARTnews has a bigger circulation. I’ll have to look into it.
