“Life isn’t a matter of milestones, but of moments.” – Rose Kennedy
25 years is a long time. It’s one quarter of a century. It’s half or better the life expectancy rate of eleven percent of the world’s nations. Of course in the grand cannon of human history it’s practically nothing, but looking back over the last twenty-five years of the current era, we’ve hit some pretty heavy milestones. For instance, it was twenty-five years ago that “.com” was born. Stop to think about that as you read the url of this very site. That same year (1986) also marked the debut of the Oprah Winfrey show, which ended as a herald for the launch of her own channel. It’s hard to fathom that success track and the speed and breadth to which it propelled. Also celebrating quadranscentennial anniversaries? Burning Man, Chernobyl, Pixar, Lady Gaga and the Olsen Twins. But in a world where life really does imitate art, the most significant commemoration this year for me will be the twenty-fifth birthday of my work place; the birthplace of lowbrow, the foundation of pop surrealism: Happy Birthday, La Luz de Jesus Gallery! And just what are we doing for our silver celebration? We’ve commissioned one new piece of art from almost everybody who has ever shown in a feature exhibition (Robert Williams, Mark Ryden, Joe Coleman, Matt Groening, Shag, Baseman –and literally hundreds more), which will be bound together in a catalog called La Luz de Jesus 25.
There are far too many artworks to fit in a single month’s exhibition, so we’ve spread the 270 or so pieces over two months. In addition to the new works by living artists, we’ve tracked down rarely seen masterworks for posthumous exhibition. The full exhibition roster is below, organized by date. The full index for both exhibitions can also be found on the gallery site, here. As you scan the names, you’ll get a sense of the cultural impact of this single gallery, which from a pop-culture sense is rivaled only by the legendary Ferus Gallery, where between 1957 and 1966 the very first Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha, Ed Moses, Roy Lichtenstein, Ed Kienholz and Llyn Foulkes exhibitions were held …and none of them created The Simpsons!
Part 1
Opening October 7 & 8
Friday & Saturday, 8–11 pm
Jennybird Alcantara
Marco Almera
David Anderle
Rick Araluce
Robert Armstrong
Axel
Roberto Baldazzini
Paul Barnes
Glenn Barr
Lou Beach
Vicki Berndt
Cathie Bleck
Jon Bok
Walter Bortolossi
Frijol Boy
Scott G. Brooks
Calef Brown
Ken Brown
Mark Bryan
Robert Burden
Kalynn Campbell
Christian Clayton
Rob Clayton
Joe Coleman
R.S. Connett
Lisa Crafts
Jason D’Aquino
DAST
John de Fazio
Gerald de Jesus
Alex de Leon
Georganne Deen
Marc Dennis
Daniel Martin Díaz
Sam Doyle
Myron Conan Dyal
Brice Eichelberger
Bruce Eichelberger
P-Jay Fidler
Matt Fink
Tony Fitzpatrick
Mary Fleener
Alan Forbes
Don Fritz
Gregg Gibbs
Mark Gleason
Paul Glynn
Ralfka Gonzalez
Josh Gosfield
Bruce Gossett
Phillip Graffham
Matt Groening
Tamara Guion
Don Ed Hardy
Scott Harrison
Ric Heitzman
Al Honig
Jason Houchen
Norma Jones
Damara Kaminecki
Christine Karas-Gough
Dean Karr
Norbert H. Kox
Frank Kozik
Krystine Kryttre
Stacy Lande
Jon Langford
Craig LaRotonda
Laura Levine
Laurie Lipton
Alpha Lubicz
Sam Lubicz
Snow Mack
Jason Maloney
ManWoman
Hudson Marquez
Lyn Mayer
Matjames Metson
Sergio Mora
Iva Morris
Victor Moscoso
Stanley Mouse
Clare O’Callaghan
Manuel Ocampo
Mu Pan
Gary Panter
Brad “Tiki Shark” Parker
Robert Pasternak
Lisa Petrucci
Gail Potocki
Matthew Price
Moritz R*
Brent Riley
Chris Roberts-Antieau
Francisco Rodriguez Maruca
Spain Rodriguez
Jonathon Rosen
Isabel Samaras
Corey Sandelius
David Sandlin
Kim Scott
Anna Sea
Jonathan Shaw
Jacqueline Shepard
Shrine
Aaron Smith
Owen Smith
Alyson Souza
Karl Stalnaker
Joanne Stephens
Stanislav Szukalski
Yoko Tanaka
Gary Taxali
Michael Teague
Pol Turgeon
Christopher Umana
Elizabeth Uyehara
Sarita Vendetta
Trici Venola
Nicola Verlato
Byron Werner
Robert Williams
Suzanne Williams
S. Clay Wilson
Martin Wittfooth
Dennis Worden
XNO
Trevor Young
Part 2
Opening November 4 & 5
Friday & Saturday, 8–11 pm
Ray Martin Abeyta
Jessicka Addams
Carrie Ann Baade
Ana Bagayan
Shawn Barber
Bill Barminski
Gary Baseman
Humberto Batista
becca
Wayne Martin Belger
Tim Biskup
Mark Bodnar
Michael Brown
Graham Chaffee
Albert Chow
Saiman Chow
JAW Cooper
Torii B. Cooper
Freddy Corbin
CrAiGer
Steven Daily
Jessica Dalva
Patrick “Star27” Deignan
David Dexter
Bob Dob
Daniel Elson
Catalina Estrada
Al Farrow
Eric Finzi
Warren Fitzgerald
Damian Fulton
Lauren Gardiner
Massimo Giacon
Frieda Gossett
Max Grundy
Raul Guerrero
Walt Hall
Howard Hallis
Derek Harrison
Samantha Harrison
Jim Heimann
Danny Heller
Fiona Hewitt
Scott Holloway
Scott Hove
Karen Hsiao
Michael Hussar
Charlie Immer
Jordin Isip
Jennifer Jelenski
Jill Jordan
Jessica Joslin
Eric Joyner
Yumiko Kayukawa
Magda Keriakos
Susie Ketchum
Miran Kim
Caia Koopman
Bari Kumar
Dennis Larkins
Dave Leamon
Daniel Lim
José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros
Carl Lozada
Danni Shinya Luo
Chris Mars
Aaron Marshall
Elizabeth McGrath
Tara McPherson
Jason Mecier
Miss Mindy
Click Mort
Mark Mothersbaugh
Lyle Motley
Scott Musgrove
Joel Nakamura
Mitch O’Connell
Brian O’Connor
Jayme Odgers
Nathan Ota
Misato Otake
Tammi Otis
Robert Palacios
Cristina Paulos
Daniel Peacock
Marion Peck
Mark Atomos Pilon
The Pizz
Jenn Porreca
John Puglisi
Rob Reger
Bonni Reid
Lesley Reppeteaux
Martha Rich
Noble Richardson
Mark Ryden
Samvel Saghatelian
Krystopher Sapp
Van Saro
Judith Schaechter
Shag
Peter Shire
Dale Sizer
Morgan Slade
Joe Sorren
Mike Sosnowski
SiMON Sotelo
Andy Steele
Gin Stevens
Adam Strange
Hui Tan
Ken Tanaka
Tim Tate
Miles Thompson
Cameron Tiede
Mark Todd
Yosuke Ueno
Christopher Ulrich
Shawn Warcot
Thomas Wargin
Heather Watts
Mel Weiner
Eric White
Marc Willey
Jasmine Worth
Christine Wu
There will also be altars in each of the two exhibitions featuring original art work from several of our fallen comrades:
Ned Baughman
Martin Emond
Rev. Howard Finster
Neon Park
Will Powers
William Reagh
Pam Roberts
Hank Shire
R.K. Sloane
Chick Strand
Bill Ward
Miriam Wosk
Some pricing and images forthcoming and some works have already sold, with more pieces getting snatched up by rabid collectors each day. It’s a lot to sort through, but trust me when I tell you that some of the best pieces are from artists you might never have heard of yet.
It’s been a great privilege to be connected with this landmark exhibition, and I welcome you all to attend the festivities. The book of the exhibit will be released in time for the opening receptions and most of the artists will be attending, which presents a golden opportunity to purchase and get yours signed right on the spot. With that roster of pop art royalty it’s quite possible a signed book could lighten the weight of your kid’s college fund some day. The books will be available through the shop, but you can call or email me at the gallery about availability and purchase info for the art:
Matt Kennedy
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 666-7667
[email protected]
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