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The Arts Blog ~ News and notes on Orange County's world of arts, from Tim Mangan (classical music), Laura Bleiberg (dance), Paul Hodgins (theater) and Richard Chang (visual art).

Archive for the 'Visual Art by Richard Chang' Category

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The art of Day of the Dead

November 2nd, 2009, 4:46 pm by RICHARD CHANG, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

day-of-the-dead-art_edit“El Casamiento” by Ladislao Loera.

As you may or may not know, Sunday was the Day of the Dead — or El Día de los Muertos — and the Mexican/Latin American tradition continues today, Nov. 2.

The two-day celebration corresponds with the Catholic holidays of All Saints’ Day on Nov. 1 and All Souls’ Day on Nov. 2. While the dearly departed are recognized on both days, many celebrants focus on deceased children on Nov. 1 and deceased adults on Nov. 2.

You can read a story about Day of the Dead celebrations in Orange County here.

As with other culturally-specific celebrations, a good deal of art comes out of the Day of the Dead. There are variously and colorfully decorated skeletons,  intricate altars to departed loved ones, colorful masks and costumes and sugar skulls that kids paint.

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China festival brings documentary to O.C.

October 26th, 2009, 2:09 pm by RICHARD CHANG, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A courtyard scene from “Shadow House,” directed by Laura Yilmaz. Screening Wednesday at Regency South Coast Village.

The ongoing “Ancient Paths, Modern Voices” Chinese festival is presenting another film screening this Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m.

“Documenting the Global City: Beijing” is a project by students from the USC School of Cinematic Arts and Beijing’s Communication University of China.The students shot seven short films exploring Beijing and Los Angeles as global cities.

The titles of the short films, filmmakers and descriptions are as follows:

  • “Two Brushes” by Chera Kee: Chinese and American filmmakers find a unique answer to the challenge of collaboration.
  • “Lessons of America” by Wen Jing: A Chinese exchange student gets a tough greeting on her first day in America.
  • “Children of the Sun” by Justin Feldman: In an orphanage for children of incarcerated parents, a young boy misses his mother.
  • “Big Red Heart” by Nahil Sharkasi: A Beijing performance artist wears a signboard declaring his love for his fiancé, but she has other ideas.
  • “Shadow House” by Laura Yilmaz: Visual ode to an odd commune of shadow players who struggle to keep this dying art alive.
  • “Invisible Wall” by Adan Avalos: A family is forced to leave Beijing and move back to the country in order for their children to get an education.
  • “Turn of the Harvest” by Tani Ikeda: A married couple who are simple farmers lead a complicated life.

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Comic artist takes on the Bible, warts and all

October 23rd, 2009, 11:03 am by RICHARD CHANG, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

jacketart-final-flatten3_edtYou may be familiar with Robert Crumb’s irreverent comics. He created Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural, Angelfood McSpade and the “Keep on Truckin’” logos.

Well, R. Crumb has just completed a new project: Genesis, the first book of the Bible. He has included all the nudity, sex, violence, gore and incest that’s in the text. Nothing has been left out — not even the weird, kinky stuff they skipped over in Sunday school.

The art exhibit, “The Bible Illuminated: R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis” opens Saturday at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. And the illustrated text, “The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb,” has just been published by W.W. Norton & Company.

Read a feature on the newest Biblical art and book by R. Crumb.

Previous posts on Visual Art by Richard Chang that you may have missed:

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David Hockney is painting with his iPhone

October 20th, 2009, 12:44 pm by RICHARD CHANG, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

hockney_iphonepaintingArtist David Hockney is painting pictures on his iPhone.

Using the application Brushes, he has created nearly a thousand images and has e-mailed them out to friends.

The blog Boing Boing talks about it, and he discusses his new hobby in the latest issue of The New York Review of Books.

As some of you may recall, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art presented an extensive “David Hockney Portraits” exhibit back in 2006.

Meanwhile,  in other art news, contemporary artist and graphic designer Shepard Fairey seems like he’s in a boatload of trouble. He’s in a court battle with the Associated Press over his iconic “Hope” image of then-presidential-candidate Barack Obama.

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Ragfest brings music fans to Fullerton

October 19th, 2009, 4:10 pm by RICHARD CHANG, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Vintage dancers enjoy orchestral ragtime music at the Fullerton Boys & Girls Club on Sunday. Photo by Ana Venegas/The Register.

The 10th annual Ragtime Music Festival filled the air in downtown Fullerton over the weekend with piano notes and other boisterous, turn-of-the-20th-century sounds.

More than 40 musicians performed for at least a couple hundred people. Nan Bostick was great at Mo’s Music Center — an excellent storyteller and a super piano player.

Read all about it in The Orange County Register.

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‘Heroes and Villains’ to open this weekend at LACMA

October 15th, 2009, 3:36 pm by RICHARD CHANG, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ravan-labeled_edit2“Ravan, the Demon of Lanka” by Abishek Singh. Appeared in Ramayan 3392 AD, issue 5 in 2006. It’s a pencil, ink and watercolor on paper from India.

A number of art exhibits are opening this weekend. There’s “On the Road to Trona,” featuring paintings and drawings by Kelly McLane, and “Backyards and Kitchens,” new woodcuts and linocuts by Carleton Christy at the Huntington Beach Art Center.

In San Dimas, “Living Wild,” the 13th annual Wildlife Art Show and Sale, runs Saturday and Sunday. Five Orange County artists are in the show, and it’s free.

At the L.A. County Museum of Art, “Heroes and Villains: The Battle for Good in India’s Comics” opens Saturday. It’s an exhibit of 53 paintings, works on paper and vintage comic books. The show examines the legacy of India’s divine heroes and heroines in contemporary South Asian culture through the comic book genre.

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Weekend art adventures

October 13th, 2009, 2:06 pm by RICHARD CHANG, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Sian Poeschl poses in front of some of her work at Studio Arts Gallery. Photo by Richard Chang/The Register.

On Friday, I attended a press preview for Carlos Amorales, Gao Shiqiang and Chen Qiulin at the Orange County Museum of Art.

Amorales, whose show is titled “Discarded Spider,” is a leading figure in the Mexico City contemporary art scene. His paper-collage drawings, video projections, paintings and sculptures draw heavily from the mysterious and perforated form of the spider’s web.

I got the chance to chat with him briefly. He seems like a very nice gentleman. He explained how, for his video installation, he composed images and ran them through a computer program so they would make automated sounds on a player piano and an electric sitar.

The Chinese videos are cool and worth checking out. One, “Butterly Lovers” (2007) by Gao Shiqiang, is epic and timeless, while the other, “Colour Line” (2006), seems to comment on the urbanization and development of contemporary China. More than one million residents of the Yangtze River Valley have been displaced because of the Three Gorges Dam project, and this video captures some of that destruction.

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