Leveraging Networks-
A Program of Americans for the Arts
Long Beach Expo-Long Beach, CA
10/17/09

Each year, the Emerging Arts Leaders of LA Network hosts a Creative Conversation, which is an event held by Emerging Leader chapters across the country during Arts & Humanities month – October! This time around, the theme is “Leveraging Networks to Maintain a Thriving Organization, Create Innovative, High Impact Art Programs & Advance Your Professional Career.” →

MAS EXITOS DOES IT AGAIN!
Verdugo Bar – Glassell Park, CA
10/13/09
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Mas Exitos will be live and in effect tonight in Glassell Park and will be featuring Special Guest DJ, TROPICAZA (MEX DF).  After a smashing dj tour through Chicago, NYC, Seattle, SF and LA, Tropicaza comes back to his second home, LA`s own Mas Exitos bringing a stash of insane mexican 45’s to make you dance like you never danced before… →

“Rather Be Played”

Meet Jump Clubb - a band from Beverly Hills whose music combines dance, disco, and electronic styles with indie mentalities and vocals straight from the height of the lo-fi era. Think LCD Soundsystem meets Beat Happening or Hot Chip meets Eric’s Trip. The juxtoposition melds an interesting style of music that Jump Clubb has coined “No Dance.” →

A Showcase of New Works
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Arts-W. Hllwyd, CA
10/08-10/29

Simon Birch’s dramatic large-scale portraits are breathtaking in their scale and sophistication. With a refined treatment of tone color and astute awareness of textural rhythms, the award-winning Hong Kong based painter and multimedia artist’s new oils on canvas dazzle and excite in their glorious portrayal of fluid human motion and fragmented emotional states →

On Sunday, an estimated crowd of 150,000 protesters traveled across the country to Washington on October 11, 2009.  The large group of activists marched down the streets of the nation’s capital to protest for support of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender legislative rights in all 50 states. A few celebrities also made appearances during the march, including Lady Gaga and Cynthia Nixon. Openly gay Army Lt. Dan Choi was also present in Washington. →

Josh Kun: Last Exit USA
Steve Turner Contemporary – Los Angeles, CA
Opening 10/17/09
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Steve Turner Contemporary presents Last Exit USA, a sound installation by Josh Kun. In his first solo gallery exhibition, Kun juxtaposes the home-grown music of 1960s Tijuana with the “Tijuana Sound” that was heavily marketed by American music companies. Fueled by the success of Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass, hundreds of albums were produced that caricatured Tijuana as a sleepy Mexican border town. In reality, Tijuana was an emerging industrial city and had a lively music scene →

Joel Meyerowitz © the artist/courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery

Aperture Foundation 2009 Benefit and Auction
The Lighthouse, Pier 61, Chelsea Piers – New York, NY
11/2/09
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Leaders from the international art, photography, publishing, design, business, and philanthropic communities will gather to celebrate the best in photography at Aperture’s star-studded 2009 Benefit and Auction on November 2, at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers, New York. This year’s event honors three individuals for their outstanding achievements in the field: Howard Greenberg, one of the world’s top photography dealers; Susana Torruella Leval, curator, arts advocate, and Aperture trustee; and master photographer Joel Meyerowitz, whose latest monograph, Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks, is being published by Aperture this month. →

Maria Robertson: I am Passions
Marvelli Gallery – New York, NY
Opening 10/15/09
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Marvelli Gallery presents I am Passions, an exhibit of photography by Maria Robertson. The exhibit features experimental darkroom prints that work outside of the social and technical conventions of the photographic process. Rich, saturated colors and paint-like textures present abstract and representational figures in playful references to trompe l’oeil. →

As you guys know, Maestro and I have been busy the last several months working on a video series called “The Process.” The idea came about from sharing stories about the small nuances and tidbits that I gain each and every time I meet people that inspire me. Most of you guys now know who Maestro is, his show, “Maestro Knows” has become an internet hit sensation. I met Maestro before all this was happening but I had a sense that this kid could shoot and he had an innate skill to frame a story. Collaborating with Maestro on this project came as →

The Dodos
Frenchkiss Records
(2009)
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Expanding their sound and enriching their palette, the Dodos have added a third member, Keaton Snyder, who plays vibraphone, the result of which has the band improving upon their past efforts. Given that the last record experimented with toy piano and xylophone, the addition to the band makes sense. The vibraphone parts supplement the Dodos’ rhythm-heavy folk with greater ambiance and melody. Opening the record, “Small Deaths” feels like a warm campfire in the winter morning, the smell of redwoods and moss →