Wednesday, August 06, 2014
Heads Will Roll
I can only let these amazing powerful women's bio's and statements speak for themselves. This has and continues to be an amazing experience. Thank you to Mat Gleason and Bryan Chagolia at Coagula Curatorial for you generosity, kindness and professionalism in making our show a reality. Also thanks to Mike Vegas art installer extraordinaire.
“HEADS WILL ROLL’ GROUP ART EXHIBIT
July 30-August 11
Reception: Saturday, August 2, 7-11 pm Featuring live performance by Little T and the Swigs
Gallery Hours Wednesday-Saturday 12-5pm
Coagula Curatorial is pleased to announce our early August group exhibition Curated by Kelly Thompson, Featuring Alice Bag, Diane Gamboa, Meg Madison, Shizu Saldamando, Lorraine Scognamillo, Kelly Thompson, Sashiko Yuen
"Heads Will Roll" - it’s not a concept, it’s an attitude! These 7 strong, talented artists are united in their passion for living a creative lifestyle. Not always satisfied with just one form of creative outlet, they are not afraid to explore, experiment, and organically evolve, traits seen in the evolution of "Heads Will Roll" itself.
This show brings together emerging as well as established artists from different backgrounds and cultural experiences. The strength of this group is a mutual respect and support for one another as well as a vision for equality and empowerment. Through their distinctive voices these artists hope to inspire the audience to individually move forward while communicating a message of mutual support and inclusion.
Bio:
Alice Bag was the lead singer of The Bags, a punk band that helped to spearhead the West Coast punk revolution of 1977. After spending many years as a working musician in Los Angeles, she moved to Arizona in 2006. She was slow to get to know people there and without the opportunity for musical collaborations, she was forced to find new forms of creative expression. Alice threw herself into writing, sewing, and baking and started taking fine art classes through the continuing education department at a local community college. Occasionally, she would post a painting on social media and upon return to L.A., she received an invitation from artist, curator and friend Kelly Thompson to be part of a group show.
Alice is a long-time blogger turned author whose first book, Violence Girl, East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage was published on Feral House in 2011. She's also a former bilingual elementary school teacher. An outspoken Artivista and self-proclaimed troublemaker, Alice plans to display several pieces depicting punk feminism as part of the Heads Will Roll exhibit.
Statement:
When I considered the title of the show I thought of phallic heads, patriarchal symbols and figure heads. Heads Will Roll brought to mind a punk band I used to play with in the early eighties called Castration Squad. The titular castration was never aimed at men, it was aimed at male privilege and gender inequality, it was aimed at infiltrating male dominated spaces and doing it with the irreverence and creativity of punk rock. My paintings focus on the women of Castration Squad who will always be my sisters and who continue to be audacious in their personal and professional lives.
Bio:
Diane Gamboa received her degree from Otis College of Art and Design. She is a recipient of a California Community Foundation Individual Artist Grant, and her solo exhibitions include “Bruja–Ha” at Tropico de Nopal Gallery and “Chica Chic” at Patricia Correia Gallery in Santa Monica. In the early ‘80s, she photographically documented the East Los Angeles punk rock scene. Throughout most of the ‘80s, she was associated with ASCO, a conceptual multi-media performance art group. Gamboa organized numerous site-specific "Hit and Run" paper fashion shows — created as easily disposable streetwear. The shows became quite popular and some designs ended up in museums. During the ‘90s, she found herself using the tension and stress involved in the urban environment to create new works, leading her to develop a Pin Up series of 366 ink drawings on vellum as an in-depth study of male-female relationships. These works led to her “Endangered Species” series, which recreates some of the Pin Up drawings in a three-dimensional form. Many of the figures in the Pin Up drawings are covered in tattoos, which is an ongoing fascination for Gamboa.
Bio:
Meg Madison is an artist who uses photography to conceptually examine contemporary life. She was born and raised in New York City, studied film at San Francisco University with Trinh T. Minh-ha who taught her “the things surrounding the subject are as important as the subject.” Madison moved to Los Angeles in 1988 and a series of traumatic events motivated her to purchase a twin-lens Rolleiflex and begin making photographs. After a decade of taking pictures Madison had her first solo exhibit in 2005 with the Kristi Engle Gallery. The exhibit, Surface Streets was called by Holly Meyers in the Los Angeles Times “a poetic visual essay that explores the most common of daily activities- driving- with fresh eyes. Madison continued showing with the Kristi Engle Gallery and has been involved in many collaborative art and photography projects as well as numerous group shows. Her photographs have won awards and are in many private and institutional collections.
Madison is part of the collective OIMOA (Optical Image Makers of America) that is working on a photography show of the “the invisibles” ; OIMOA was awarded Venice Arts First Fresh Perspective Curatorial Exhibit in 2013 for their show NARRATIVE SPACE. Madison has curated and organized exhibitions, fundraisers, and collaborates with other artists in Los Angeles.
Statement:
“Letters to mother” explores cultural ritual and myth in the form of the traditional birthday card. This series includes 31 birthday cards, one for each day of the supposed birthday “month” celebrated by the mother depicted in the series.
The abundance of birthday greetings helps the viewer observe the underlying dysfunction of family relations. Cultural ritual dictates that birthday cards call for best wishers and express fondness for the recipient. In these pictures the artist’s letters the body of text, in neat catholic school handwriting, illustrating the never-ending quest for parental approval. With a nonchalant tone the cards make statements in direct contradiction to the cultural norm of both the exaltation the mother, and the celebration of the birthday. The text reveals unresolved family drama in emotions bubbles of family secrets.
There is also a handmade limited edition book of the cards, a children’s book has been deconstructed and the pages of the cards have been substituted. Teddybears Cookbook “Letters to Mother” is a handmade limited edition of 20 that alters the original children’s book by inserting the artists birthday cards to her mother. The original hardcover is Teddybears Cookbook by Susanna Gretz, & Alison Sage, Doubleday & Company, the substitution of 34 pages of artists inserts. Los Angeles 2010 The children’s book in the viewer’s hands in not what it seems, the cards are not what they seem, and the photographs pose countless questions for the viewer.
Bio:
Shizu Saldamando is a Los Angeles-based artist who has exhibited her drawing, painting, sculpture and video work both locally and internationally. She received her B.A. from UCLA’s School of Arts and Architecture and her Masters degree in art from California Institute of the Arts. She has worked as a general staff for such organizations as Center for the Study of Political Graphics, Self-Help Graphics & Art in East Los Angeles, and Slanguage Studio in Wilmington, CA. She is the recipient of the California Community Foundation’s Fellowship for emerging artists and one of the co-founders of Community Foundation’s Fellowship for emerging artists and one of the artist-run cooperative Monte Vista Projects in Los Angeles. She currently teaches drawing to continuation high school students in Los Angeles and is learning tattoo.
Statement:
I am interested in the way subculture function and manifests itself through fashion and music. Visual codes are re-interpreted and remixed with new generations by recontextualizing seemingly outdated fashion, music and language. This remix within subculture is often in contrast and a response to mainstream marketing and co-optation. I am interested in capturing specific fleeting social moments within local backyard parties, independent music shows, and the like, but I also am considering the pervasive and problematic context of binary subjectivity (good vs. evil) by depicting personal moments of reflection and contemplation that resist this limiting categorization. I view portraiture as a means to reclaim self image and subjectivity not only in response to mainstream media’s flattening and one dimensional gaze, but also as a pro-active process in that enables and gives agency. I use a mix of materials within the process such as wood, bed sheets, color pencil, washi paper and ball point pen, to give nod to the varying contexts and situations I depict. My overall objective is to create images with unconventional materials, honoring people and moments that resist categorization and question the existing archetypal and hierarchical norms.
Bio:
Lorraine Scognamillo has been in and around the art world for the last several decades. She studied in the 80’s at Otis Parsons and worked on a variety of different committee based art projects. Lorraine has also been involved with art production for TV and film. For the last 15 years, she has been running the art department for a non-profit enrichment program. Despite the fact Lorraine has been immersed in art, this will be her first art show.
Statement:
For this show, I am influenced by vintage postcards depicting mischievous devils. I used recycled and vintage material to recreate the modern trickster. At times, challenging someone or something to change using a sense of humor can allure one into viewing a different outlook acknowledging heads can roll in laughter too!
Bio:
Kelly Thompson began her art career working as a graphic artist in Chicago, then relocated to Los Angeles where she continues to exhibit and work as a motion picture set painter. A community based artist who’s work is inspired by the people and situations around her. Thompson is deeply rooted in local as well as global culture. As a feminist and artist, Woman's rights and socially political issues are an ongoing strong influence in her work. Her paintings have been seen in Galleries, Museums, Television Shows, Feature Films as well as in many private collections. She is an avid cyclist and passionate about promoting bicycle safety and alternative transportation.
Thompson's recent work is based on Feminine Deportment. “Deportment refers to the way a lady carries herself; how she moves, walks, inclines her head, her manners etc. A lady walks, talks, eats, stands, quite differently than a male counterpart and it is the sum of all of these parts that embodies what it is to be a lady”, via the Glamour Boutique website. Exploring the feminine illusion according to these differences and society's expectations of what it is to be Feminine. These works mostly consist of woman's legs in what are socially appropriate or acceptable ways for a lady to behave.
Statement:
I'm excited to expand on my Feminine Deportment painting series for the “Heads Will Roll” exhibition. In this new work, I’m exploring how clothing, uniforms, and outerwear communicate ideas that may challenge the feminine illusion. These simple articles of clothing can change and shape the way the world and society view a woman, and, as women ourselves, inevitably mold our own personal reactions. One of my new works is in honor of the "Gulabi Gang", Hindi for the “Pink Gang.” This group of heroic and fearless women in India that has taken it upon themselves to protect the poor and call out the country’s most corrupt officials, popularizing their actions by wearing a commonplace pink sari. Another painting in the show is titled “Girl Scout Uniform”. This simple uniform invokes a myriad of personal experiences among American women of all cultural backgrounds.
Bio:
Sashiko Yuen, aka Wishcandy, is an odd nomad currently located in Southern California. Often going on adventures in SF, NYC, DC, and Baltimore to refuel. She spends her time creating work referred to as , "a candy-coated horror show," inspired by retro culture, street fashion, kitsch, beauty and the grotesque.
Statement:
My work is a double-edged sword. It's bright, colorful, and fun but it tackles darker subjects. I enjoy exploring both the beautiful and the grotesque. They're not mutually exclusive.
I'm currently creating work based on juxtaposing opposites, listening to the subconscious, and emotions. Some of the themes include rebellion, ridiculousness, indulgence, restriction, sadness, violence, and femininity. Encouraging others to reject standard societal expectations and create their own stories. Building a collection of women with bad attitudes. It's definitely semi-autobiographical, powerfully packed with metaphors and a sense of humor!
Coagula Curatorial was launched in 2012 by Mat Gleason, founder/editor-in chiefof Coagula Art Journal, a publication which gained notoriety for its no-holds-barred critique of contemporary art and the art world. To celebrate 20 years of publishing Coagula Art Journal, Gleason opened Coagula Curatorial as a premier exhibition space of contemporary art. Located in the historic Chinatown district of Downtown Los Angeles, Coagula Curatorial is the commercial gallery component of the Coagula empire, and in its short tenure has risen to prominence with solo shows by Karen Finley, Llyn Foulkes, Kim Dingle, Mark Dutcher, Tim Youd, Gronk, among others.
Alice Bag
Kelly Thompson
Sashiko Yuen
Med Madison
Diane Gamboa
Shizu Saldamando
Lorraine Scognamillo
“HEADS WILL ROLL’ GROUP ART EXHIBIT
July 30-August 11
Reception: Saturday, August 2, 7-11 pm Featuring live performance by Little T and the Swigs
Gallery Hours Wednesday-Saturday 12-5pm
Coagula Curatorial is pleased to announce our early August group exhibition Curated by Kelly Thompson, Featuring Alice Bag, Diane Gamboa, Meg Madison, Shizu Saldamando, Lorraine Scognamillo, Kelly Thompson, Sashiko Yuen
"Heads Will Roll" - it’s not a concept, it’s an attitude! These 7 strong, talented artists are united in their passion for living a creative lifestyle. Not always satisfied with just one form of creative outlet, they are not afraid to explore, experiment, and organically evolve, traits seen in the evolution of "Heads Will Roll" itself.
This show brings together emerging as well as established artists from different backgrounds and cultural experiences. The strength of this group is a mutual respect and support for one another as well as a vision for equality and empowerment. Through their distinctive voices these artists hope to inspire the audience to individually move forward while communicating a message of mutual support and inclusion.
Bio:
Alice Bag was the lead singer of The Bags, a punk band that helped to spearhead the West Coast punk revolution of 1977. After spending many years as a working musician in Los Angeles, she moved to Arizona in 2006. She was slow to get to know people there and without the opportunity for musical collaborations, she was forced to find new forms of creative expression. Alice threw herself into writing, sewing, and baking and started taking fine art classes through the continuing education department at a local community college. Occasionally, she would post a painting on social media and upon return to L.A., she received an invitation from artist, curator and friend Kelly Thompson to be part of a group show.
Alice is a long-time blogger turned author whose first book, Violence Girl, East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage was published on Feral House in 2011. She's also a former bilingual elementary school teacher. An outspoken Artivista and self-proclaimed troublemaker, Alice plans to display several pieces depicting punk feminism as part of the Heads Will Roll exhibit.
Statement:
When I considered the title of the show I thought of phallic heads, patriarchal symbols and figure heads. Heads Will Roll brought to mind a punk band I used to play with in the early eighties called Castration Squad. The titular castration was never aimed at men, it was aimed at male privilege and gender inequality, it was aimed at infiltrating male dominated spaces and doing it with the irreverence and creativity of punk rock. My paintings focus on the women of Castration Squad who will always be my sisters and who continue to be audacious in their personal and professional lives.
Bio:
Diane Gamboa received her degree from Otis College of Art and Design. She is a recipient of a California Community Foundation Individual Artist Grant, and her solo exhibitions include “Bruja–Ha” at Tropico de Nopal Gallery and “Chica Chic” at Patricia Correia Gallery in Santa Monica. In the early ‘80s, she photographically documented the East Los Angeles punk rock scene. Throughout most of the ‘80s, she was associated with ASCO, a conceptual multi-media performance art group. Gamboa organized numerous site-specific "Hit and Run" paper fashion shows — created as easily disposable streetwear. The shows became quite popular and some designs ended up in museums. During the ‘90s, she found herself using the tension and stress involved in the urban environment to create new works, leading her to develop a Pin Up series of 366 ink drawings on vellum as an in-depth study of male-female relationships. These works led to her “Endangered Species” series, which recreates some of the Pin Up drawings in a three-dimensional form. Many of the figures in the Pin Up drawings are covered in tattoos, which is an ongoing fascination for Gamboa.
Bio:
Meg Madison is an artist who uses photography to conceptually examine contemporary life. She was born and raised in New York City, studied film at San Francisco University with Trinh T. Minh-ha who taught her “the things surrounding the subject are as important as the subject.” Madison moved to Los Angeles in 1988 and a series of traumatic events motivated her to purchase a twin-lens Rolleiflex and begin making photographs. After a decade of taking pictures Madison had her first solo exhibit in 2005 with the Kristi Engle Gallery. The exhibit, Surface Streets was called by Holly Meyers in the Los Angeles Times “a poetic visual essay that explores the most common of daily activities- driving- with fresh eyes. Madison continued showing with the Kristi Engle Gallery and has been involved in many collaborative art and photography projects as well as numerous group shows. Her photographs have won awards and are in many private and institutional collections.
Madison is part of the collective OIMOA (Optical Image Makers of America) that is working on a photography show of the “the invisibles” ; OIMOA was awarded Venice Arts First Fresh Perspective Curatorial Exhibit in 2013 for their show NARRATIVE SPACE. Madison has curated and organized exhibitions, fundraisers, and collaborates with other artists in Los Angeles.
Statement:
“Letters to mother” explores cultural ritual and myth in the form of the traditional birthday card. This series includes 31 birthday cards, one for each day of the supposed birthday “month” celebrated by the mother depicted in the series.
The abundance of birthday greetings helps the viewer observe the underlying dysfunction of family relations. Cultural ritual dictates that birthday cards call for best wishers and express fondness for the recipient. In these pictures the artist’s letters the body of text, in neat catholic school handwriting, illustrating the never-ending quest for parental approval. With a nonchalant tone the cards make statements in direct contradiction to the cultural norm of both the exaltation the mother, and the celebration of the birthday. The text reveals unresolved family drama in emotions bubbles of family secrets.
There is also a handmade limited edition book of the cards, a children’s book has been deconstructed and the pages of the cards have been substituted. Teddybears Cookbook “Letters to Mother” is a handmade limited edition of 20 that alters the original children’s book by inserting the artists birthday cards to her mother. The original hardcover is Teddybears Cookbook by Susanna Gretz, & Alison Sage, Doubleday & Company, the substitution of 34 pages of artists inserts. Los Angeles 2010 The children’s book in the viewer’s hands in not what it seems, the cards are not what they seem, and the photographs pose countless questions for the viewer.
Bio:
Shizu Saldamando is a Los Angeles-based artist who has exhibited her drawing, painting, sculpture and video work both locally and internationally. She received her B.A. from UCLA’s School of Arts and Architecture and her Masters degree in art from California Institute of the Arts. She has worked as a general staff for such organizations as Center for the Study of Political Graphics, Self-Help Graphics & Art in East Los Angeles, and Slanguage Studio in Wilmington, CA. She is the recipient of the California Community Foundation’s Fellowship for emerging artists and one of the co-founders of Community Foundation’s Fellowship for emerging artists and one of the artist-run cooperative Monte Vista Projects in Los Angeles. She currently teaches drawing to continuation high school students in Los Angeles and is learning tattoo.
Statement:
I am interested in the way subculture function and manifests itself through fashion and music. Visual codes are re-interpreted and remixed with new generations by recontextualizing seemingly outdated fashion, music and language. This remix within subculture is often in contrast and a response to mainstream marketing and co-optation. I am interested in capturing specific fleeting social moments within local backyard parties, independent music shows, and the like, but I also am considering the pervasive and problematic context of binary subjectivity (good vs. evil) by depicting personal moments of reflection and contemplation that resist this limiting categorization. I view portraiture as a means to reclaim self image and subjectivity not only in response to mainstream media’s flattening and one dimensional gaze, but also as a pro-active process in that enables and gives agency. I use a mix of materials within the process such as wood, bed sheets, color pencil, washi paper and ball point pen, to give nod to the varying contexts and situations I depict. My overall objective is to create images with unconventional materials, honoring people and moments that resist categorization and question the existing archetypal and hierarchical norms.
Bio:
Lorraine Scognamillo has been in and around the art world for the last several decades. She studied in the 80’s at Otis Parsons and worked on a variety of different committee based art projects. Lorraine has also been involved with art production for TV and film. For the last 15 years, she has been running the art department for a non-profit enrichment program. Despite the fact Lorraine has been immersed in art, this will be her first art show.
Statement:
For this show, I am influenced by vintage postcards depicting mischievous devils. I used recycled and vintage material to recreate the modern trickster. At times, challenging someone or something to change using a sense of humor can allure one into viewing a different outlook acknowledging heads can roll in laughter too!
Bio:
Kelly Thompson began her art career working as a graphic artist in Chicago, then relocated to Los Angeles where she continues to exhibit and work as a motion picture set painter. A community based artist who’s work is inspired by the people and situations around her. Thompson is deeply rooted in local as well as global culture. As a feminist and artist, Woman's rights and socially political issues are an ongoing strong influence in her work. Her paintings have been seen in Galleries, Museums, Television Shows, Feature Films as well as in many private collections. She is an avid cyclist and passionate about promoting bicycle safety and alternative transportation.
Thompson's recent work is based on Feminine Deportment. “Deportment refers to the way a lady carries herself; how she moves, walks, inclines her head, her manners etc. A lady walks, talks, eats, stands, quite differently than a male counterpart and it is the sum of all of these parts that embodies what it is to be a lady”, via the Glamour Boutique website. Exploring the feminine illusion according to these differences and society's expectations of what it is to be Feminine. These works mostly consist of woman's legs in what are socially appropriate or acceptable ways for a lady to behave.
Statement:
I'm excited to expand on my Feminine Deportment painting series for the “Heads Will Roll” exhibition. In this new work, I’m exploring how clothing, uniforms, and outerwear communicate ideas that may challenge the feminine illusion. These simple articles of clothing can change and shape the way the world and society view a woman, and, as women ourselves, inevitably mold our own personal reactions. One of my new works is in honor of the "Gulabi Gang", Hindi for the “Pink Gang.” This group of heroic and fearless women in India that has taken it upon themselves to protect the poor and call out the country’s most corrupt officials, popularizing their actions by wearing a commonplace pink sari. Another painting in the show is titled “Girl Scout Uniform”. This simple uniform invokes a myriad of personal experiences among American women of all cultural backgrounds.
Bio:
Sashiko Yuen, aka Wishcandy, is an odd nomad currently located in Southern California. Often going on adventures in SF, NYC, DC, and Baltimore to refuel. She spends her time creating work referred to as , "a candy-coated horror show," inspired by retro culture, street fashion, kitsch, beauty and the grotesque.
Statement:
My work is a double-edged sword. It's bright, colorful, and fun but it tackles darker subjects. I enjoy exploring both the beautiful and the grotesque. They're not mutually exclusive.
I'm currently creating work based on juxtaposing opposites, listening to the subconscious, and emotions. Some of the themes include rebellion, ridiculousness, indulgence, restriction, sadness, violence, and femininity. Encouraging others to reject standard societal expectations and create their own stories. Building a collection of women with bad attitudes. It's definitely semi-autobiographical, powerfully packed with metaphors and a sense of humor!
Coagula Curatorial was launched in 2012 by Mat Gleason, founder/editor-in chiefof Coagula Art Journal, a publication which gained notoriety for its no-holds-barred critique of contemporary art and the art world. To celebrate 20 years of publishing Coagula Art Journal, Gleason opened Coagula Curatorial as a premier exhibition space of contemporary art. Located in the historic Chinatown district of Downtown Los Angeles, Coagula Curatorial is the commercial gallery component of the Coagula empire, and in its short tenure has risen to prominence with solo shows by Karen Finley, Llyn Foulkes, Kim Dingle, Mark Dutcher, Tim Youd, Gronk, among others.
Labels: Alice Bag, Coagula Curatorial, Diane Gamboa, Kelly Thompson, Lorraine Scognamillo, Mat Gleason, Meg Madison, Shizu Saldamando, Wishcandy
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