Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Sonic Youth. It took some days to digest this show. Amazing. Imagine, this band is an early 80s band. I was turned onto them somewhere in the later later 80s, but here it is 2010, 30 years later and they can still make great music, and they can play live like none other. From the many meters we sat from the stage, Kim Gordon looked great. Thurston sounded awesome, Lee and Steve Shelley rocked it. They played like a great unit and didn’t mess with their hits. The coolest thing about the show was it was 9 songs, and yeah… no, “Teenage Riot”, “Kool Thing”, etc. What nerve they have! If I were in a band like that playing the Bowl, I’d almost think you’d have to play those songs. But that’s what makes SY, SY. Until it gets taken down… here’s a link to the show!
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Wendy's friend Vivian was visiting L.A. from Hong Kong for the first time this weekend, so we did a little sightseeing. Of course, The Getty Center was part of it. No matter what your stance is on the art collection, the architecture, landscaping, and view are unbeatable. The Getty made Los Angelenos care about what a building can aspire to be, leading the way for the Disney Concert Hall and so on. And after taking the tram, you really do feel like you're in another world. We walked down to the garden as the marine layer was burning off and got there just in time for clear skies. Yes, we applied sunblock to Eloise and carried one of those free-range umbrellas, too. I love those dumb umbrellas but I also wish they chose yellow or orange or something more cheerful. Later on, we discovered a section dedicated to children. It was still pretty early and uncrowded so we screwed around there for a while. The cubicle below is a kid-version of furniture in one of the crustier sections of the museum. This mini mattress was complemented by books on beds in both English and Spanish. Below, an illuminated version of an illuminated manuscript with spots left open for little hands to fill in. I started the bunny head for Eloise to finish… (I expect to be done drawing outlines pretty soon, since her draftsmanship is improving exponentially.) We also saw a grown-up exhibit: Engaged Observers: Documentary Photography since the Sixties. As a guy who likes to take pictures, it was mind blowing to see what the selection of “real” photographers did, taking their cameras to places where they could take pictures that would make a difference. Among others, Leonard Freed's Black in White America series, W. Eugene and Aileen M. Smith's photos of Japanese villagers who were poisoned by mercury, Susan Meiselas's images of revolutionary Nicaragua, and Mary Ellen Mark's encounters with homeless children in Seattle are as moving as they are artistic and inspiring as they are depressing. Philip Jones Griffiths on the above image: “Limits of friendship. A Marine introduces a peasant girl to king-sized filter-tips. Of all the U.S. forces in Vietnam, it was the Marines that approached 'Civic Action' with gusto. From their barrage of handouts, one discovers that, in the month of January 1967 alone, they gave away to the Vietnamese 101,535 pounds of food, 4,810 pounds of soap, 14,662 books and magazines, 106 pounds of candy, 1,215 toys, and 1 midwifery kit. In the same month they gave the Vietnamese 530 free haircuts.” All this and way more at the Getty until November 10, 2010.
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Deth P Sun and Ferris Plock descended upon GR2 in Los Angeles. Deth P Sun's been showing at GR since either 2002 or 2003. So long ago, that I can't quite remember, but I do recall the show. Ferris Plock, I met at APE way back. 2001? What kind of name is that? I thought. Bay area dudes and their graffiti names. But he didn't do graffiti, he put stickers up with his drawings. I remember it was the familiar red, black, and white color combo. These dudes knew each other via their friends, fiancees, wives, all knowing each other and going to school together. Now, they get to do a show. Deth did his grids. I really like the way these come out.
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Back-to-back nights at the Hollywood Bowl. I swear I'm not that upscale. I was going to take my dad to see Tom Petty & the Hearbreakers for his birthday way back in May, but it got postponed. My friend Hane suggested one on the Heartbreakers must have been in rehab, then added something to the effect of “Whatever! Now we get to see ZZ Top open instead of Joe Cocker!” It just so happened that the show was rescheduled to the night after Sonic Youth, Pavement, and No Age. The atmosphere was totally different, with throngs of hippies, classic rockers, burnouts, and entertainment lawyers working their way up Highland. We heard ZZ Top's first song while waiting to get in, and were in our seats by the second number… I didn't really expect much, but crap. ZZ Top was damn good. Leader Billy Gibbons shared that after 40 years, it was the same three guys and same three chords… Those are three mighty
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[nggallery id=76] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Art show opening Deth P. Sun and Ferris Plock at GR2 October 2 – November 3, 2010 Reception: Saturday, October 2, 6:30 – 10:00 p.m. GR2 2062 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025 gr2.net (310) 445-9276 Giant Robot is proud to host Fare Thee Well, a joint show featuring new work by Oakland- and San Francisco-based artists Deth P. Sun and Ferris Plock. Deth P. Sun’s acrylic paintings on panels bring epic landscapes and cosmic occurrences into a private and personal world. Influenced by David Attenborough, as well as the Moomin series and films of Terry Gilliam, Deth seeks to create a fantasy world as a reflection of his own experiences and worldview. It is a place where cold mountains loom under the stars, cloaked figures arrive with the night, and lone dreamers struggle–a place where hope and belief still shine in dark times. For Fare Thee Well, Sun is making about 100 or so paintings that will be joined by an overarching theme and a new color scheme. Ferris Plock’s work is primarily character-based imagery that incorporates his passion for storytelling. Based on sketches, his artwork more often than not incorporates animals or monsters in everyday human conditions: going to work, dodging splashes from cars, walking their pets, or some other scenario involving the amazing creatures. Using acrylic, watercolor, spray paint, dip pens with India ink, gold or silver leaf, collage and stains on wood panels, canvas, and found objects, Ferris attempts to build suitable environments in which his subjects can comfortably reside. Plock is creating a new cartoon (Seafarers 3) for the opening and basing 21-28 hand-pulled silk screens on it for the show. Giant Robot was born as a Los Angeles-based magazine about Asian, Asian-American, and new hybrid culture in 1994, but has evolved into a full-service pop culture provider with shops and galleries in Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as an online equivalent. An opening reception for Sun and Plock will take place from 6:30 – 10:00 on Saturday, October 2. For more information about the artists, GR2, or Giant Robot magazine, please contact: Eric Nakamura Giant Robot Owner/Publisher eric@giantrobot.com (310) 479-7311
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