Aug 05, 2014 Three artists, one night in Los Angeles
Saturday night in Los Angeles was atypical. It was unseasonably muggy all day and eventually it started to rain. Weird but good, especially during a seriously long drought in the Southland. My social calendar was atypical and good as well: I was able to visit three of my favorite artists and friends back to back to back!
My pal Prodip Leung was making his first trip to L.A. in two years. His wife Amy has relatives out here, but last year they were too busy to fly over from their pad in Hong Kong. So when I found out they were taking a break from their mahjong marathon with grandparents to go shopping in Venice, I immediately made plans to meet them at Intelligentsia Coffee.
I met Prodip in Kowloon way back in 2000 along with his fellow members of the underground Cantonese rap group, LMF (he’s more into goth, shoe gaze, and post rock than hip-hop, by the way). I’ve kept in touch with him because of his art. While Prodip has assisted Hong Kong’s god of figures Michael Lau since I met him, he has also designed just about every CD worth buying in Hong Kong (Josie Ho, 24Herbs, Eason Chan) and made his own documentary about UFOs (Hong Kong UFO Documentary). Oh yeah, he has also had solo art fine shows and is releasing a sculpture/terrarium soon (above, top left). I think he said there will be 200 pieces made, available in shiny or matte black. Look into ordering one before they vanish!
From Venice, we headed over to Sawtelle to GR2. My old friend Eric greeted me by saying, “Welcome back!,” since I used to work with him on GR mag back in the day. He was hosting the opening reception of Tiny Little Objects, featuring new work by Yukinori Dehara. Dehara’s hand-sculpted zombie children, yazuka and gangster molls, salarymen, and yokai of all kinds have been showing at GR2 for a decade now and I’m a big fan of both the art and the man.
Did I mention that I went on a road trip to Vegas with him, his wife Yoko, and our friend Nao back way back when? Or that Dehara sculpted action-figure sized versions of Wendy and me for our cake topper when we got married? My only condition was that if there were any mutations, open wounds, or parasitic attachments that they be on the groom and not the bride. He complied, and we were respectfully rendered with an alien sticking out of my head.
Dehara’s latest show is unique because he is making smaller pieces. Maybe the size of what you’d see on a Japanese soda pop top or a traditional netsuke. The carvings are like greatest hits in terms of subject matter and the prices are rather low due to the tiny size, so this is a great time for long-time collectors and first-time buyers alike to partake. I wouldn’t mind going back to peruse the work more leisurely/seriously…
Finally, we traversed the city to see new work by Shizu Saldamando at Heads Will Roll in Chinatown. The group show at Coagula Curatorial was curated by Kelly Thompson and featured local heroes Alice Bag and Diane Gamboa in addition to other notables. Wow! Too bad everyone was enjoying a punk/ska band that was jamming outside and I didn’t want to introduce myself by yelling in their ears. Hopefully next time. I had no qualms about snagging a picture with the gallery’s owner, Mat Gleason, though. He’s been a champion of underdog artists (and pain in the ass for the establishment) for at least two decades now and he’s a also a really nice guy.
Shizu Saldamando is known for her hyper realistic and unironic portraiture of young Latinos, Asians, and other members of youth–and not so young–subculture. Her masterful brushwork (using washi paper, foil, and other materials) and respectful understanding of goths, punks, and cholos (not exploitative or cheap in any way) has resulted in her work being shown in Teen Angel as well as the Smithsonian. One has to see it in person to appreciate Shizu’s craft and attention to detail, and I love that she goes to punk and metal shows, too. (Who else is catching High on Fire at the Echoplex?)
So it was excellent to catch up with her and Len Higa in the crowded, drizzling alley full of smiling faces, drinking beverages out of plastic cups and enjoying the music and scene along with O.G. punks from Chinatown back in the day. I love going to museums and galleries but that’s how art and friends should be experienced. Sweaty, loud, fun, and in person.
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