I took a class last week to get to know ChatGPT. It happened to be the same day as some of the creators or AI were warning our government about the consequences if it isn’t regulated immediately. Many people are extra worried about being replaced by AI. Many will. That sucks. Many artists could be replaced if they don’t make themselves better. And use AI to assist you, not replace you. Things to think about because that cat is out of the bag, and we need to use it before it kills us…just kidding about the killing thing (sort of.)
Humans are creative by nature. Ah, hell, animals are creative by nature. So up your creative game. Expand your creativity using AI. Play with it. Get to know it. And when you’re want to read art from people’s hearts, check out Poet’s Place, where Linda Kaye brings together poets monthly, to share their art.
So, what else is happening? I’ll list some of that info here…
Making Space: A Workshop on Space, Sci-Art, & Society
July 14-16 in Pasadena, CA
Making Space is an interdisciplinary workshop for artists, scientists, and educators about space and society, where we use art to explore scientific concepts and humanity’s relationship to the solar system. This workshop is about connecting with the cosmos, blending knowledge and art, and the role artists can play in space exploration, and features a combination of talks, discussion, and art-making. The theme of this event is Oceans & Ice: Exploring Icy Moons with NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission, featuring the mission’s Project Scientist (lead) Dr. Robert Pappalardo from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, celebrated LA artist and environmental activist Kim Abeles, and other guests from JPL, ArtCenter, and more. Come make art and explore space with us! https://makingspace.psi.edu/
SPARC Presents
“Coffee Table Books Live”
Featuring “The Paradise Circus” by JT Burke,
At Burke Triolo Studio, June 11, 2023
South Pasadena, CA, June 5, 2023…. “Coffee Table Books Live,” the meet-the-author and book-signing series hosted by the South Pasadena Arts Council (SPARC), features digital artist Jeffrey Thomas Burke and his new, lavishly illustrated book, The Paradise Circus, on Sunday, June 11, 2023, from 2 to 4 p.m. at BurkeTriolo Studio in South Pasadena.
In this collection of 170 digital collage works—color images of costume jewelry, trophies, and figurines, paired with quotes and narrative—Burke explores” the spirituality, beauty, grandeur, and myth of Paradise.” The book includes introductions by Peter Mays, executive director of the Los Angeles Art Association; and Shana Nys-Dambrot, Los Angeles-based art critic and reviewer. Nys-Dambrot will join Burke in speaking at the event.
BurkeTriolo Studio, co-owned by Burke and his wife, artist Lorraine Triolo, is at 538 Mission Street, South Pasadena, CA 91030.
A Q&A and book signing will follow the presentation. The Paradise Circus will be available for purchase. Light refreshments will be provided. Reservations not required.
Founded as a grassroots effort in 2009, the South Pasadena Arts Council (SPARC) is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit arts organization that develops educational and public arts programs, creates interactive projects, and collaborates with other organizations in the City of South Pasadena and the surrounding Los Angeles area to foster and produce cultural events featuring the visual, performing, literary, and media arts. SPARC is open to people in all creative fields, art appreciators, art patrons, educators, and any others interested in helping the arts thrive in South Pasadena and neighboring communities. Information: https://www.sopasartscouncil.org/.
Mercedes Dorame at work in her studio
For the inaugural installation of its new Rotunda Commission series, Getty has invited Los Angeles-based artist Mercedes Dorame to create a special installation in the J. Paul Getty Museum’s Entrance Hall at the Getty Center.
On view June 20, 2023, through July 28, 2024, Mercedes Dorame: Woshaa’axre Yaang’aro (Looking Back), explores how we position ourselves in our relation to the land we inhabit, asking viewers to adjust their perspective and imagine a point of view that prioritizes the original caretakers of Tovaangar (the Los Angeles Basin and Southern Channel Islands).
“We are delighted to launch a series of installations at the Getty Center that will highlight new work by contemporary artists,” says Timothy Potts, Maria Hummer-Tuttle and Robert Tuttle Director of the Getty Museum. “For this first commission, we felt it important to showcase the work of a Los Angeles-based artist and invited Mercedes Dorame who was featured in our 2021 Photo Flux exhibition to present the inaugural installation.”
“While visiting Getty, I have often heard the phrase, “on a clear day you can see Catalina Island,” explains artist Mercedes Dorame. “These experiences highlight my awareness of the Museum’s unique position as the only art institution I can think of to have this visual relationship to an island I have an ancestral connection to as a Tongva person. Through this project, I am interested in reversing the view of looking out towards Pimugna (Catalina Island) and presenting a return gaze through the vantage point of an island, a Tongva person, and the abalone to insist on engaging the First peoples of this place, our cultural memory, and the ecologies of our tribal territories.”
Dorame’s installation will consist of five large sculptures in the shape of abalone shells hanging from the ceiling of the Museum’s Entrance Hall, together with painted views of the horizon and coastline of southern California. Colored filters over the upper windows will affect the light pattern and spectrum of the sunlight filling the space. By positioning visitors below the shells and within a field of light, Dorame seeks to affect the viewer’s perspective and position, submerging them in the visions of an abalone, a mollusk that has long held an important role in the culture, survival, and persistence of the Tongva and other coastal California Native people.
The Rotunda Commission is a new series of installations specifically created for the Getty Museum’s Entrance Hall. The works are inspired by the Museum’s collection, architecture, and the Getty Center site. Each commission will be on view for a period of about one year.
About Mercedes Dorame
Mercedes Dorame was born in Los Angeles, California, and received her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and her undergraduate degree from UCLA. She calls on her Tongva ancestry to engage the problematics of (in)visibility and ideas of cultural construction.
Dorame is currently a visiting faculty member at CalArts and was recently honored by UCLA as part of the centennial initiative “UCLA: Our Stories Our Impact.” She was part of the Hammer Museum’s 2018 Made in LA exhibition and her work has been shown internationally.
Various Venues in DTLA, Culver City & Long Beach
June 22–25, 2023
Workshops, panel discussions, tours, artist talks, cocktail receptions and more with a focus on a broad range of design professionals. LA Design Festival provides a place for creatives to explore, collaborate and engage with other members of the design community. Free (some programs may involve fees).
Hauser & Wirth | DTLA
American Gurl: Film Exhibition
Saturday, July 24—July 30, 2023
Opening Reception: Saturday, June 24, 2023 | 6–9pm
This film exhibition presented by Womxn in Windows brings together a group of intergenerational artists curated with curiosity around the perspectives and nuances of the Black feminine experience related to beauty, success, freedom and power in America.
PHOTO INDEPENDENT VIRTUAL FAIR
OPENS THIS WEEK!
Discover original photographic works from international photographers from the comfort of your home.
Photo: © Zoe Wiseman, "Cyclone"
Virtual Opening Reception:
Saturday, June 24, 2023
2–4pm PST/5–7pm EST
Click here for exhibition details, including to RSVP for the Zoom reception link.