Los Angeles Art News, Art Blog

ART BLOG

ARTICLES FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE 2011
Contributing Bloggers: John Harbinger Jr.and David Harbrenig

Friend us again

. Our Facebook page was deactivated due to a technical problem, so please help us build a new network of L.A artists and art enthusiasts as quickly as possible
Artlanow Members & Friends are welcome to post information about their current and upcoming exhibitions and events on our fan page

Get your Google Goggles ready for the Getty

What would we do without Google? Next time you visit the J. Paul Getty Museum and you don’t want to pay out for an audio tour guide, get yourself a smart phone with Google Goggles apps. Why? Because if you have one, you can now take a picture with it of any painting in the museum’s permanent collection and zooOOOp, up will come all kinds of interesting information. Among the things you will receive on your screen are commentaries and stories by historians, curators and artists about the work.

For those (like me) who have no idea what Google Goggles is: It is a “visual” search engine that is activated not by typing in keywords and phrases, but by taking a picture on your smart phone of an object which can be recognized by the application. The technology is referred to as a “visual query” by those-in-the-know. From now on (end of June 2011) the Getty will partner with the internet giant to provide images and content for this specific use.

This new initiative comes in addition to the “Google Art Project” launched earlier this year, which offers users a virtual tour of 17 prestigious museums across nine countries and the power to zoom in and magnify any inch of more than 1,000 artworks.

I’ll give it a try –one day.

The Ellen Art Show: Is Seeking An Art Gallery or Venue Space in L.A.
&
Has Call to Artists
For
Celebrity Themed Group Art Show and Charity Fundraiser
Los Angeles November, 2011

The Ellen Art Show is seeking an art gallery or venue space in Los Angeles for a Group Art Show featuring 50 Original Portraits of Ellen Degeneres by artists from Miami, New York, and Los Angeles.

Interested in having The Ellen Art Show at your gallery or venue or interested in participating in the show as one of the 50 artists? Want to help sponsor? Want to help curate? Want to help promote or get publicity? Want more details? Contact Renda Writer (310) 404-4184 RendaWriter@Yahoo.com.

Call to Artists: Artists interested in participating in the show can contact the show’s curator, Renda Writer, directly for more information on how to submit a portrait for the event. Portraits can be of any medium, and may not exceed 4’ x 5’ in size.

Like many themed group art shows, the goal is to unite various artists and have them all focus on a central theme, while allowing them each the freedom to use their own unique styles and mediums. With this show, the goal of uniting artists is taken a step further by bringing together three art communities from across the country, Miami, New York, and Los Angeles. Deadline for submissions is October 29^th, 2011.

As a charity fundraiser event, it is understood that artists will be donating their time and talents and will not receive any monetary compensation for donating their portrait of Ellen Degeneres to the show.

All paintings will be auctioned off, and donations will also be collected at the door to raise funds for one of the three anti-bullying non-profit organizations listed on Ellen’s website.

The Trevor Project (TheTrevorProject.org)

The National Center for Bullying Prevention (Pacer.org/bullying)

GLSEN (The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) (GLSEN.org)

All artists, however, will receive a great deal of promotion and publicity with their participation, as the show will be very heavily promoted for at least 3 months prior to the night of the event.

Every participating artist will have their bio and website included in the official program for the show and will also receive extensive promotion via the internet and various social media networks.

Among the 50 portraits of Ellen Degeneres will also be a few pieces that were featured in the first edition of The Ellen Art Show, which took place at GAB Studio in Miami in January of 2011. It was covered by nearly every print media outlet in South Florida (Miami New Times, Broward/Palm Beach New Times, Sun-Sentinel, South Florida Gay News, etc.), several websites, and NCB 6 Miami’s daytime news show, South Florida Today, where the show’s curator, Renda Writer, was interviewed by television personality Roxanne Vargas, and he brought 5 of the portraits on the show for viewers to see.

The November event will also feature music by a known DJ (to be announced) and a performance by the show’s curator, performance poet Renda Writer. The event will be open to the general public and all ages are welcome. Suggested donations of $5 will be collected at the door.

*The show’s host and curator, Renda Writer, is a performance poet whose goal ever since 2007 has been to perform his original poem, “Half Hearted,” on The Ellen Degeneres Show. He will perform this poem, as well as other poems, at The Ellen Art Show in the November. This is one of the reasons for the event - to help bring more public attention to Renda Writer’s dream of appearing on The Ellen Degeneres Show to perform his post 9-11 romantic ode to the half-heart-shaped swans swimming in New York City’s Central Park. Renda Writer has over 40 poems in his performance repertoire.

http://www.RendaWriter.com

http://www.YouTube.com/RendaWriter

http://www.Facebook.com/RendaWriter

http://www.TheyWantToSeeRendaWriterOnEllen.Blogspot.com

Upcoming Charity Event

The "DON'T SLEEP" Movement’s 10^th Anniversary Art Exhibit is looking for all types of artists to submit their own interpretation of the "DON'T SLEEP" symbol for a red carpet charity event at the Latino Art Museum 281 S. Thomas St Suite 105 Pomona CA 91766 on July 2nd - July 30, 2011 Opening Reception, Pomona Art Walk Sat, July 9, 6pm - 9pm

I have attached information regarding the event. Below you will find a link to the official press release. Also attached you will find the Artist Submission Rules & Regulations.

http://www.prlog.org/11513118-the-dont-sleep-movement-inspires-artists-at-the-latino-art-museum.html

There’ll be a special Musical Performance by Award Winning Ensemble THE LOWKEYS www thelowkeys.com

For details contact: Erika Wright
HEAT.WAV Records Sr. Director of Public Relations/Marketing/Events

Direct: 909.232.2646 Fax: 888.253.1278 Email: misserika.heat.wav@gmail.com

Submission Rules & Regulations:

*Submissions MUST be artists' own interpretation of the "Don't Sleep" Movement symbol *Participants may submit any form of media (i.e. Mixed Media, Acrylic Oil, Collage, Photography, etc.).

*Participants may only submit ONE (1) piece into the exhibit.

*Paintings & Photographs MUST be ready-to-hang.

*Submissions may NOT exceed 60 inches in all directions (including the frame).

*Submission may NOT exceed 50 lbs.

*Selected artists MUST sign a Lender's Agreement agreeing to permit LAM to display submissions for the duration of the entire exhibit.

*LAM will NOT be liable for loss or stolen submissions during transit or while displayed at the exhibit.

*80% of auction monies received for the winning submission will be donated to the Latino Art Museum.

Submission Details:

*All submissions MUST be turned into the Latino Art Museum on Saturday, June 25, 2011 between 3.30PM - 6.30PM.

*All submissions MUST be hand-delivered to the Latino Art Museum unless other arrangements have been made.

*Artists may NOT store any wrapping or coverings for submissions in the museum.

*Artists can retrieve their pieces Saturday, July 30, 2011 between 6:30PM - 9:30PM

*Participants MUST have the following labeled on their submissions:

1. NAME 2. TITLE OF WORK 3. MEDIUM 4. DATE OF COMPLETION 5. DIMENSIONS

PRIZES & AWARDS

*Winning submission owners will be notified by Saturday, July 9, 2011. Submission winners will receive:

1. Best Artwork Prize presented by LAM

2. Submission displayed for one (1) year on Latino Art Museum's official web page

Please contact the Latino Art Museum directly regarding any further questions or concerns latinoartmuseum0@gmail.com or (909) 484-2618.

Blog June 22 2011

Concrete Street Art translated onto Canvas at PMCA

The Pasadena Museum of California Art (PMCA) is following in the footsteps of the L.A. MOCA with an exhibition called “Street Cred.” It is an exhibition of works created for the fine arts milieu by Los Angeles graffiti artists parallel to their street art.
The artists in the show have been making influential street art for some time but have recently expanded their creativity towards work that can be viewed in galleries and museums. PMCA Exhibition Curator Shirlae Cheng-Lifshin has put together the show with help from Los Angeles author and graffiti historian Steve Grody, who has been documenting high-quality work in the streets of Los Angeles since 1990. The exhibition includes some of his photographs which show the diversity and evolution the graffiti scene, the complexity of its visual “language” and the ways in which the street work is re-born onto the canvas work.

The artistic skill displayed by many of these artists in the streets and on canvas is quite remarkable. “Street Cred” shows how a genre born on concrete translates into canvas, and how the two worlds interact.

On contemporary art - I try to keep an open mind

This year’s Venice Biennale has featured some works of art which have really raised some eyebrows and some fundamental questions. Among the more bizarre examples, (and there were plenty of them) a group of Austrian performance artists “performed’ a piece called “Some Like it Hot” in which a few naked artists covered a man in oil and then buggered him with a banana. Their performance the next day involved one of the troupe, screwing a hollow branch.

So, what is art? What is the function of art? Artists are products of their relative cultures and time periods and the role of the artist in society is to create art that reflects and comments on the society in which he/she lives. So, this said, what does so much of contemporary art say about our society? Whereas in the past art rendered homage to the beauty of nature, praised the deeds of men, glorified god and generally added aesthetic quality to our lives, 21^st century artists have decided that the world and everything in it - is crap – and their role is to show it to prove it to us.

In the old process of reflection and questioning the viewer of art asked, "Is this good art?" or "Is it aesthetically pleasing?" Nowadays, it seems, that is no longer relevant. With the works of many contemporary artists, viewers are forced to adopt different ways of appreciating and responding. Much of contemporary art defies our expectations and totally rejects artistic conventions. First we are asked to accept all artistic intentions and styles as Art. Then we are challenged to limit our consideration only to whether the art is “shocking” or "interesting."

Working in mediums which did not exist before, such as video, installation, performance art, pop art, minimalism & conceptual art contemporary artists create works with materials, such as elephant dung, piss, garbage and bananas, which stretch our ability and our willingness to understand if it is even deserves to be treated as Art.

In my own quest to understand what is happening on the contemporary art scene, I realize I constantly force myself to keep an open mind. But, it is not easy when I come across “art” like the banana buggery. I used to think art should elevate us above the everyday humdrum problems of our daily lives. I certainly don’t need it to perpetually lower my moral, disgust my morality and cast my sensibilities into the gutter.

A New child Art Prodigy Hits the New York Art Scene.

How many of you have studied art and spent years creating while hoping & dreaming of a solo show in New York? And how many of you have that dream unfulfilled? Well, for 4 year old Australian art prodigy Aelita Andre, who has been crawling around on canvasses since age 9 months, your dream is her reality. At the ripe old age of 4, she has her own solo show “The Prodigy of Color” at the Agora Gallery in Chelsea, New York where three of her paintings have sold for $27,000. (That will buy a boatload of toys and candy!)

Her parents, who are both artists, strongly admire their daughter’s abstract expressionist style and have managed to find her other gallery shows, including one in Hong Kong in 2009 where a painting from her “early period” sold for $24,000.

If you’re in the market for a young, emerging artist, the 24 paintings on exhibit at the Agora Gallery are priced from $4,400 to $10,000 each.

Aelita is not the first child art prodigy to be “discovered.” In 2005, Marla Olmstead of New York State, 4 years old at the time was heralded as the next Jackson Pollack when her abstract paintings brought in more than $300,000 in just a few months. In 2007, she was the subject of a film documentary, “My Kid Could Paint That” which questioned whether the works were genuinely her own creations or whether she‘d been assisted by her painter father.

Let’s wish her success!

Aelita, Hard at work in her studio

Blog June12 2011

Why do Artists destroy their own works?

In 1970, John Baldessari burned all the works that he made between 1953 and 1963 and stored the ashes in an urn. The remains of these works were then re-born as an artwork themselves. Years later, when asked if he regretted the destruction of 10 years of artistic creation, he admitted it was “a stupid act but not one he regretted since at the time it was reasonable.” Pressed to give his reasons for his pyrrhic gesture he replied “I did it because I was in National City and there anything goes.” (I’m sure there is logic there, somewhere, but I fail to get it…..)

Local artist John Baldessari, whatever his reasons, is not the only artist to burn his own artwork.

During the Italian Renaissance Sandro Botticelli, famous for his works depicting mythical scenes & pagan topics, came under the influence of the monk Savanarola and threw some of his own works onto the bonfires of the vanities in the Piazza della Signora in Florence.

Ettore “Ted” Degrazia, who died in 1982, was an American impressionist style painter and sculptor of Native American peoples and Western themes. During his lifetime he opened three of his own galleries where he showed his own work and work by his friends. In 1976 Degrazia engaged in a protest against inheritance taxes which at the time were based on assessed market values of work. The artist claimed that the IRS regulations would make him a ‘millionaire’ at death and force his heirs to pay heavy taxes when he had no money to leave them. In a well publicized protest the artist rode a horse into the Superstition Mountains in Arizona and burned more than 100 of his paintings –just to screw the IRS.

A few ago a Ghanaian artist called Zima Manyenzi, whose works are in many African museums and galleries, invited guests to his garden where he poured gallons of kerosene on 24 of his paintings, (estimated value $3 million), surrounded them with dry grass and set fire to them. According to the artist, the burning process was meant to inspire him to attain higher standards in his carrier.

US Artist Rah Crawford had other reasons for destroying his work. During his 2005 exhibition called Deus ex Machina, the artist declared he would destroy any works which remained unsold. On the last day, after making a final attempt to get the assembled audience to “buy and rescue his work from destruction” he took up a chainsaw and ripped them to bits.

I’ve known many artists be piqued when sales were bad –but Crawford’s reaction beats them all.

A Generous offer from Banksy –free Admission to Art in the Streets

MOCA’s “Art in the Streets” Exhibition at the Geffen Contemporary, which traces the development of graffiti from the 1970s until today, features paintings, mixed media sculptures, videos and interactive sculptures by 50 dynamic artists. Though the show documents other US cities, it emphasizes the evolution of the street art movement in L.A.

This week the MOCA announced it will offer free admission every Monday until August 8, when the show ends. The freebie comes courtesy of Banksy, the most famous street artist of them all. The controversial British graffiti artist, painter, and filmmaker's reasoning for the gift is simple – he doesn't think you should have to pay to look at graffiti. Given that there are such great works to be seen all around the streets of L.A. free of charge (including some of his own), his generous gift makes sense.

At the time of the show’s opening back in mid April some artists quickly put their mark onto the walls surrounding the MOCA Geffen annex as a way of protesting that Art in the Streets –should be – in the streets.

Now the exhibit is free every Monday, I hope a lot of underprivileged street art admirers who can’t afford the admission price will join the already large public who has visited the show.

ABRA Gallery Westlake (June 9,2011)

Los Angeles area artists are always interested in knowing about the presence of art galleries in the area and the possibility for submission opportunities. ABRA Gallery at 30941 Agoura Road #310, Westlake Village, CA 91361 sent in some information about an upcoming show there and, when I looked at their website, I noticed they are accepting submissions. Remember, every gallery has its own distinctive identity just as you have your own artistic style. Check out ABRA online (or better still go to one of their exhibitions) and if you think your work fits their presentation.

Hours: Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm (also open by appointment)

www.abragallery.com

This is taken from the website:

Dear Artist,

In order for your artwork to be reviewed, Please submit the following to art@abragallery.com

Artist Name

Artist Biography

3 images of artwork

We have a committee that meets every month to review all submissions.

Thank You,

ABRA Gallery

Leave fame and fortune to chance

Many emerging artists dream of being “discovered” –of becoming the next star of the global art scene. The dream is often troubled by nightmarish episodes when the harsh reality of wanting to live as an artist, sinks in. It is easy to become bitter when your work remains unsold, when unpaid bills begin to pile up, when you compare your work to that of commercially successful artists who are, in your opinion, vastly inferior as “artists” - and find no logical reason for your failure to launch.

The numbers are clear: only a small percentage of creative individuals will rise to become world renowned artists with huge bank accounts in their name. In order to avoid the pain, deception and disappointment, the young artist needs to let go of the art star fantasies and work toward redefining his/her own image of success in a more realistic manner. One’s individual interpretation of success determines how far over the rainbow you expect to go. So, if you don’t want to knock your head against the wall, set the bar for success at a realistic level.

Once you acknowledge and accept that the value of your art is not in the dollars of its list price, the amount in your bank statement, or whether your name is mentioned in international art publications but is to be found in your genuine desire to create, you will be able to liberate your creative energies from these other disruptive & corruptive motifs.
The chances are you will not be the next Pablo Picasso. The chances are you’ll never be rich from your art but that doesn’t mean that you’ll go un-noticed and unappreciated. A good artist can still leave his/her own mark within the art community. You and your art can be influential at the local or regional level and make an impact so that you will be able to make a living (or at least establish a supplementary source of income) – doing what you love to do.

Focus on creating art. Do your best to market yourself. Persevere without stressing yourself about succeeding and most importantly - leave fame and fortune up to chance.

Elton John supports L.A. Art at Venice.

Good news for Los Angeles artist Ruben Ochoa this week at the Venice Biennale. Ochoa, who was born in Oceanside, California, creates monumental works of sculpture by relocating industrial or outdoor materials such as cement, rebar, pallets, and dirt into art galleries and by displaying his urban artworks in unlikely areas throughout the city of L.A.

British Musician Sir Elton John, who was visiting the Palazzo Papadopoli on the Grand Canal for a private tour of artworks, shortlisted for the Future Generation Art Prize sponsored by Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk, bought three concrete slabs/sculptures by the artist. The slab sculpture looks as if it has been ripped out of a highway and dropped into the luxurious halls of the 16^th Venetian palace.

Elton John’s new acquisition “27 Hundred & 85 Kilos of Displacement Plus Metal Plate 2011 is destined for the garden of his country estate near Windsor Castle just outside of London. The true weight of the installation is, apparently, less than its title suggests (2785 kilos) but nevertheless it had to be installed by heavy duty cranes and will certainly not fit into the singer’s Rolls Royce car.

Ochoa’s long time dealer Susanne Vielmetter said that the price for each “slab” was $75,000.

From Andy Warhol’s factory to outsourcing art in India

Many great artists of the past have employed assistants to help them when they had numerous commissions to complete. The amount of “input’ by the assistants varied but, in general, the “master” would contribute sufficiently to the actually execution of the work so that it could be attributed to his talent and creative genius. Since the days of Andy Warhol’s factory, things have changed. Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, among many other contemporary artists, employ armies of assistants who create works from A-Z while the only input by the “master” is an idea, a bit of supervision, and then his signature to the finished work. So, if some very rich and successful artists have already taken the idea of “assistance” to that level –why not go one step further…. Outsource the actual making of the work to somewhere cheaper and make better profits.

Alexander Gorlizki has done just that. He is an up-and-coming artist, living in New York and has made a name for himself with paintings that superimpose fanciful images over traditional Indian designs. He has had shows at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Denver Art Museum and Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum. His works command prices of about $10,000. Mr Gorlizki is quite candid about his decision to outsource the production of his art to a group of assistant artists living and working in Jaipur, India. He explains: "I prefer not to be involved in actually painting my work. It would take me 20 years to develop the skills of my chief Indian painter and the other in the team. It liberates me not being encumbered by the technical proficiency."

Perhaps he will inspire Jeff Koons or Hirst to follow in his footsteps. Koons who has about 150 people on his payroll has said he himself never wields a paintbrush. "If I had to be doing this myself, I wouldn't even be able to finish one painting a year," Every year his studio averages 10 paintings and 10 sculptures. In the last four years, six of his works offered at auction have sold for prices between $11 million and $25 million each.

Art-market insiders say soaring prices and demand for contemporary art is spurring the use of assistants by more artists. But not everyone agrees with the new factory production methods. Fortunately, some collectors and dealers still prefer to acquire paintings and sculptures executed by an artist's own hand. One can only imagine the difficulties future experts will have to authenticate works by early 21^st century masters.

Blog June 4 2011

A German art scandal reaches Hollywood

Hollywood star Steve Martin, who among his many achievements has published a novel about the New York art scene, has a Modern and Contemporary art collection to be proud of…. But he won’t be strumming many happy tunes on his banjo if he buys more artworks like “Landscape with Horses” by Heinrich Campendonk which has tied his name to the biggest art scandal in Germany since the Nazis theft of art.

Mr. Martin bought the painting in 2004 from a Paris Gallery believing it was a genuine 1915 work by Campendonk. He paid 700,000 Euros. In 2006, he put it up for sale at Christie's auction house where it was sold off to a Swiss businesswoman for €500,000. So far so good - except for the $200,000 loss to Steve.

Now, for the link….Recently Berlin police investigators, delving into the shenanigans of a group of German swindlers caught in 2010, believe the Campendonk is one of many fakes which originated from two ‘contrived’ private art collections composed of forgeries.

Between 2001 and 2010 two men and two sisters allegedly sold dozens of forged works by 20^th century artists including Campendonk, Max Pechstein, Fernand Léger, Max Ernst and others to prestigious galleries with a story that they were either part of the art collection of a Cologne businessman, who was the grandfather of the two female suspects, or that they belonged to the grandfather of one of the accused men. The fakes, like the one Steve Martin bought, were so well done that they convinced art historians and experts to authenticate them with a seal of approval.

Who knows? Now the real story is unfolding, the present owner might sue Christie’s, who might sue Steve Martin, who might sue the gallery in Paris and get back his original 700.000 Euros. If this is possible, he’ll not be the only one, for the charges against the 4 accused indicate that total losses to the art community - from the sale and resale of just 14 of the forgeries - reached nearly €34.1 million ($48.6 million).

Possible reasons why an artist doesn’t succeed.

I have given up trying to understand why certain contemporary artists attain fame and fortune while so many others of equal ability remain in obscurity and receive no recognition for their work. The whole thing is a total puzzle.

Before the era of Modern Art, it was easier to tell who was better at doing what, since most artists were working along similar principles. Until the Moderns came along aesthetics were the foundation of art and it was just easier for us to feel what was more pleasing. The realism of the art enabled the viewer to recognize and judge what each artist was capable of creating. Then along came abstraction, conceptual and performance art with every artist doing his/her own individualist, anarchist & totally baffling thing. How do we distinguish artistic squiggles from childish ones, a better idea from a lesser, how do we compare apples to pears? Seeing as I have no idea why one contemporary artist walks the path to success, while another knocks his head against the wall and eventually falls into the pit of oblivion, I have decided to establish a list of questions; possible reasons for “the failure to achieve lift off.” Perhaps, compiling such a “negative” list will help me understand why those who do fly –fly.

The art of the un-successful artist is technically inferior? The ideas are boring or disagreeable? The fledging artist is asking too high a price for his work? The artist has no idea what or why he is creating? The work is a bad copy of somebody else’s work? The unsuccessful artist is only doing it for the money. The unsuccessful artist never shows his work to anybody else? The unsuccessful artist spends so much time thinking about creating a master-piece he never actually produces any work at all? The work is just plain crap –and somehow, I just can’t see it, while everyone else can?

Your first (studio) exhibition

You send out invitations to all your friends & family, you put notes in the mail boxes of all your neighbors and phone every person to whom you have ever said ‘Hi’ to invite them to your first exhibition. On the day of the big event you spend the whole morning cleaning up your apartment/studio, take out countless bags of accumulated trash, and then pass the afternoon hanging and rearranging your paintings until you are finally satisfied. With little time remaining before the allotted hour of the Grand Opening you set out the wine, the mineral water, the cheese and crackers.

With only 5 minutes left before your guests are due to ring at the door you sit down and gaze around; a year’s worth of work has been framed, hung and lighted. It is truly spectacular! And you are proud of your talent.

The allotted hour chimes and you nervously await the first arrival. You suddenly become aware of the silence in your apartment. You look at your watch –perhaps it’s fast. To calm your nerves, you tell yourself it’s “fashionable’ to be late to these kinds of events. The crowd will surely be here soon. Ten minutes pass and still no one has made an appearance. Another 15 minutes drag by and you are still alone. By now you are beginning to panic. “OMG –nobody’s coming” you think after 30 minutes have passed beyond the time of the invitation.

And just then, just as a dark cloud of despair begins to cloud your mind, there is a loud rap at the door. You open and the first of your many guests come in. They are quickly followed by others and then many more. Within an hour there is no room to move. You’re smiling, shaking hands and making conversation about your art. Everyone is there and everyone is full of praise and enthusiasm for your work. And then somebody taps you on the shoulder and says “How much is that painting over there?” You give the price and hear the reply “I’ll take it.”

It’s a moment you remember forever.

Juried Art Competitions & Events Deadline June 2011

The Associates of Brand Library & Art Center and the Glendale Public Library announce a call to artists for the 40^th annual juried competition/ exhibition “Brand 40 –Works on Paper” from September 17 - October 28, 2011 at the Brand Library Art Galleries in Glendale, CA. $4000 in awards. Juror: Peter Frank, art critic for the Huffington Post and Adjunct Senior Curator at the Riverside Art Museum. Open to artists residing in the United States. Work must not have been previously shown at the Brand Library Art Galleries. Any work on paper: collages, drawings, paintings, photography, prints, watercolors, 3-dimensional work, etc. $20 for first submission, $10 for each additional. Maximum 3 entries. Visit website for details, or send SASE to: Brand 40, 1601 West Mountain St., Glendale, CA 91201. Email:Irena Raulinaitis at irena.raul@gmail.com Tel: 818-244-0654 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting DEADLINE: June 1, 2011.

"Visions In Clay" LH Horton Jr. Gallery, San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, CA announces a call to artists for a juried art exhibition, August 18 - September 13, 2011. Awards: $1,000 1st / $600 2nd / $350 3rd. Juror: Judith S. Schwartz, Director of Sculpture in Craft Media, New York University. Entry is open to all artists residing in the United States. Ceramic works of any thematic and stylistic presentation will be accepted for entry. Clay must be the primary medium, and works may be functional, decorative or sculptural. Assembled works may not exceed 4ft. in any direction, and 50lbs in weight. $30 for 3 works, $5 each additional work. On-Line contest entry for Gallery exhibition. Questions? Contact gallery director Jan Marlese at jmarlese@deltacollege.edu or call (209) 954-5507 DEADLINE: June 6, 2011 begin_of_the_skype_highlightingend_of_the_skype_highlighting.

TAG Gallery in Santa Monica, California announces a call to artists for the "2011 California Open Exhibition", August 17 - September 2, 2011. Open to all U.S. artists 18+ working in computer art, drawing, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture. 2-D works maximum size 48"h x 36"w, sculptures no more than 40 lbs. $40 for 1-2 entries, $10 each additional, 6 maximum. Cash Awards. Jurors: Katherine Chang Liu and Peter Mays. Visit website for prospectus, or send a SASE to: TAG Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave. D3, Santa Monica, CA 90404. If you have any questions, please contact TAG Gallery at caopen@taggallery.net or call 310-829-9556 DEADLINE: June 15, 2011.

Sylvia White Gallery in Ventura, California announces a call to artists. Selected artists will participate in the Sylvia White Gallery 4th Annual Juried Show, August 3 - September 3. Additionally, three artists will be selected for a concurrent solo exhibition. Juror: Sylvia White. Open to all US/International resident artists at least 18 years of age. Eligible entries include paintings, mixed media, works on paper, photography, sculpture, installation art, digital media, video and performance. $30 for 3 images, $5 each additional image. Visit website for prospectus. Questions? Contact Raul Valdez at juriedshow@artadvice.com or telephone (805)643-8300 DEADLINE: June 30, 2011.