Manifestations Exhibit: The Opening Night!

First Thursday Was a Hit!

Yesterday was the first Thursday of the month, which here in San Pedro, CA means Art Walk day. Each month, the streets downtown become packed with folks from around LA who show up to check out all of the local art galleries. We finally got our Halloween themed exhibit set up and boy did we get some traffic!

We had several artists exhibiting in our show. In a previous post, I showed some of James Muscarello's work but I had not yet gotten to see the hilarious and awesome piece shown above. I just love his stuff. So creative! It fit right in with the rest of the wild and crazy artwork that we have on display.

The above doll, Skinless Chuck, was a character that was originally designed for Bleeding Edge toy company to be in their now defunct Kinder Goth line. The line ended up being cancelled and it never made it into the series.

"The Sweater Monster" is one of my favorites. Sadly, the Steem images come up kind of small, but hopefully you can make out the monstrous character on the sweater with the random tacos dangling around it. I think this is a reference to something but I can't remember. Or maybe it's just random and funny. Either way, I dig it. I'd wear it!

It's Mother!

James' wife is also an accomplished artist. This is her version of Norman Bates' mother from the movie Psycho.

I must say, this thing was pretty creepy to look at with only the black lights on.

Unfortunately, the effect doesn't really come through in photographs, but you can still appreciate the creepiness!

Here's another view of what @gooddream aptly called a "possessed Homer Simpson". By the way, I told the artist that an online friend said that and got a great laugh out of it.

This wild piece was done by the friend of another artist in our building. I need to get her name and I'll replace it here in the text. I can't seem to find it at the moment. It's a pretty interesting piece!

The following busts and the Nemo porthole works are all done by James Muscarello as well.

I honestly don't know where he finds the time or energy to make these after working 8-11 hour shifts everyday sculpting for the toy industry. I guess you have to really love what you do!

You may remember the Poe work from a previous show that he was in with Amanda.

I love that guy! Rod Serling is a man you won't soon forget if you've watched any of the classic Twilight Zone episodes - a show which he created. I think James did a great job on this one.

Sadly, Rod died at the young age of 50 after multiple heart attacks. Apparently he was a major chain smoker!

Most People Say I Am Amazing As Artwork

Whatever you think about the Donald, those are pretty hilarious. When these were brought into the exhibit, I was a little worried that people would get offended, but everyone was pretty chill. That's the fun thing about fine art, all types of expression are welcome, even controversial ones.

Before the show, I went to the store and grabbed a bunch of snacks and some wine for the visitors. This was all fine until these group of kids decided that they were going to wipe out the food, leave for a few minutes then come back and eat more after I refilled the plates.

Finally they came in for a 4th time and Amanda yelled at one of them, "I hope you got enough to eat!".. Then he ran out yelling 'sorry, thanks!'

I was actually kind of glad that they devoured most of it because I didn't want to carry any of it home. Especially since I am trying to watch the ol' gut.

These faces are pretty funny. Amanda had asked me a few weeks ago to make the most horrible faces that I could make so that she could get some reference material.

So these drawings are not me per se, but they are certainly based on my face. I hope that doesn't scare anyone.

And of course you'll recognize all of these squares from Amanda and my Manifestations experiment. I case you didn't read the last post, these were made by Amanda and I sketching with charcoal on canvas, then trading the canvases and painting each other's drawings. The results were pretty hilarious. Especially since I don't know how to paint.

There's another view of James' awesome Self Portrait with Fever. I just love this thing!

The ravens were already up on the wall, but since they were appropriate for the show we just left them there. Amanda keeps getting offers from buyers but keeps turning them down for some reason. I think she has gotten a bit attached to her art!

This piece was really neat. It is made from a mannequin wrapped in paper clothing and hair. The artist did a really great job! It also looks pretty amazing in the black light. I will also update this with the artist's name as soon as I have a chance to go back and look.

There's another piece from the Poe show. One of crazy things about these pieces is that they all look interactive but they actually aren't. We were having a lot of trouble keeping people from touching the artwork. I don't know why people think it's okay to grab these things. Would they do this in the Louvre?

Amanda made up a bunch of Halloween cards from our Manifestations canvases which were a big hit at the show. I must say, I felt weird having art on display that I had a hand in, since I don't consider myself an artist. But if I am being honest there is a lot of crap out there being passed off as fine art that can be considered questionable! But that is a story for another day.

The above video is just a smartphone clip of me walking around the gallery checking out the exhibit. Please have a look to see everything in context. As always, thanks a ton for your support and for stopping by! Much love!