CS Editions

[cseditions]

Exhibition : Meghan Whitmarsh @ New Image

We are very excited to see Meghan's exhibition of new works this Saturday (Sept. 22, 2012) at New Image Art. This is going to be such a fun show!! Whitmarsh's sculptural and flat works are at once meticulous and playful, pop-ey and personal, and always a joy to see.

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STORE : Fall Sale 15% Off!

Hey everybody! With the approaching Fall and the promise of cooler weather here in LA, we've decided to throw a 15% off sale on all our products! Including all our serigraph prints from artists like Ramsey Dau, Albert Reyes, Cleon Peterson, Mark Whalen, Deedee Cheriel and more. And all our notebooks and t-shirts are on sale too! Just go to our store and enter coupon code: FALL15 at checkout and you'll receive 15% off your entire order. Sale is for a short time only!

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Exhibition : Jonathan Zawada @ Prism 9/8/12

We are really looking forward to Jonathan Zawada's new exhibit at Prism this weekend. We stopped by his basement studio a couple months back to check on the show's progress and were astounded to see the scale and quantity of work he is producing for this exhibition – and all in a tiny, fluorescent-lighted basement room with no windows!

Jonathan is truly one of the most gifted creative types we've met, and this show is sure to exhibit his talents across many media.

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NEWS : Ed Templeton on Leica

There's a great interview with CSE friend and contributor, Ed Templeton, on the Leica blog. Here's the video:

Ed Templeton: A Professional Skateboarder Turns Artist from Leica Camera on Vimeo.

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NEWS : ARTIST RESIDENCIES AT ART PARK, OZ (FEAT. NAT RUSSELL)

Art Park - Byron Bay, Australia

A couple years back, two friends got together to turn their love for contemporary art, design and publishing into a little streetwear brand called Art Park. But instead of slapping a logo on some T's and hitting the action sports trade shows, Craig Rochfort and Paul McNeil decided to build something with a broader scope – something that would give back to the community of artists they planned to collaborate with.

Not only does Art Park partner with contemporary artists on their clothing line, publish a quarterly art newspaper (the Art Park Journal), and operate a gallery/bookstore with art and goods they collect from around the world, they also coordinate an artist residency program.

So who have you guys had out to Byron Bay so far?

So far we have had photographer Joni Sternbach, painter Nathaniel Russell, painter Andrew Gordon and arriving soon, painter Serena Mitnik-Miller. All the artists to date have produced a body of new work while with us — although it should be stated, there is no obligation on the artist to actually produce any work. As long as they get something from their stay (and maybe get inspired to create when they get back home…) we are happy.

Joni Sternbach

Nat Russell

Andrew Gordon

Serena Mitnik-Miller

Both Nat Russell and Andrew Gordon had exhibitions of their work at the end of the program. It turns out that this is a nice way for the community and the artist to share in the results of the program. Both Paul and myself are very pleased with the way the Residency Program is working out and are stoked to be helping artists in this way.

You were recently in California, is Art Park expanding into the States? Anything new in the works?

Yes, I recently visited Los Angeles. Art Park Apparel was working with Urban Outfitters on a Surf/Art pop up store which was fun. I also met with a few of the LA-based Art Park family of artists (and some new ones) and discussed new projects with them. Excitedly, we are working with Thalia Surf Shop in Laguna who are launching our brand in California this US summer. So I spent time with those guys bedding down that relationship. We are stoked to be working with Thalia, who are seen by many as the most influential surf store (for new brands) in the US. I also spent time looking at manufacturing options in Los Angeles and talking to partners who will help us roll out our products in North America. Apart from all that, I also I caught up with some gallery shows, went up to Cal Arts to visit our buddy Scott Massey which was cool, visited the Eames House over at Pacific Palisades — it was a fun trip all round!

Oh I should say, that I am a '60's LA art nerd' so I did find time to explore some of the old galleries, bars, and other places that the early LA contemporary artists worked and hung out in during that time — artists like Kienholz, Ruscha, Kaufmann, Berman, Moses, Irwin and the rest.  I'm particularly interested in the Hopps/Blum Ferus Gallery period, so I spent time pounding the La Cienega pavement soaking up some early LA art history. Nerdy huh? Fun though…

Nat Russell talks about his experience at Art Park

How did your experience at the Art Park Residency Program correlate to your expectations before you went to Australia?

I really had very few expectations before going, I just new I would be in Australia for the first time and would adjust accordingly. That said, the people I met, my accommodations and the vibe in general were incredible. Everyone at the Art Park and the Atlantic were friendly and supportive and seemed to go out of their way to make me comfortable and offer me new experiences. I made friends that I will have for the rest of my life.

What was your schedule like when you where there? Can you give us a typical day's itinerary?

Typical day was this: wake up about 8, walk over for coffee and breakfast at one of the local cafes, maybe walk down to the beach for a swim, work in the studio until lunchtime, another walk around for more coffee and food, back to the studio, little after-school skate session with the kids from the Atlantic on the mini-ramp, maybe a little more studio time, meet up with Paul down at the beach for some dinner, maybe a couple beers at the Rails or the Beachy, then back for some downtime and start all over the next day. I would often go along for trips to neighboring villages and towns to markets or art supplies, skateparks, and exploration.

What was your most memorable experience there?

Honestly, the whole thing was so great for me it's hard to pick out one thing. But something that really stands out for me was skating an old legendary drainage ditch just out of town with Paul and A-Mac. I'd wanted to roll around a place like that since I was 12 and it meant a lot to me. Also my girlfriend Katie got to come stay for the last couple weeks I was there and it was really great to be able to share that experience. We ate a lot of good food and spent a lot of time checking out local critters and walking around.

How different was this time period from your "at home" studio experience, and did the residency have an effect on your practice?

It was utterly different from my home experience. I had a beautiful open studio filled with light that I could go to as much or little as I pleased. The bird sounds are different. I didn't really have to worry about making money or doing freelance gigs, I just had time to do whatever I felt. And it felt really good to just sit and draw all day. I ended up having a show at the end of my time there, and I felt no pressure or stress about art-making at all. It was all very free and easy and like it should probably always be.

[cseditions]

Exhibition : Slacker Recap (Recent Shows)

We've slacked on posting some recent shows from this year, so this post is a melange of four different LA shows we've liked but failed to post on individually. First up – Deedee Cheriel at Merry Karnowski:

Next we've got some shots from my favorite show of the year so far - Jonas Wood at David Kordansky:

Next we have some pics from The Art Dump show at This Gallery. The show was a tongue-in-cheek recreation of the artists "work spaces" (read: cubicles) at Girl Skateboards where they make up the art department. The current incarnation of this art collective consists of Andy Jenkins, Andy Mueller, Eric Anthony, Hershel Baltrotsky, Michael Coleman, Christian Morin and Chris Waycott.

And the last show of this recap is the Jamie Reid show at Subliminal Projects. Reid is responsible for the iconic Sex Pistols and punk art he created in the late 70's and 80's, and there were a number of new pieces that he collaborated on with Shepard Fairey.

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Studio Visit : Megan Whitmarsh

One of the great things about living in Los Angeles is the proximity of so many great artists' studios. We had a chance to drop in on the always beautiful Megan Whitmarsh this week and see what she has in the works.

Your backyard studio space is amazing! When did you build it and how as having such a great workspace affected your practice?

We bought our house in 2001 and started building the studio in 2009. It was finished in early 2010 I think. Rachel Allen, our architect, was really fantastic about working within our modest budget while trying to achieve our ambitious vision. Our house is a 1912 Arts & Crafts that we restored ourselves. We wanted a clean and modern feel for the workspace, but we loved the warmth of wood and the ease of built-ins, so we used the things we learned from restoring the house to inform the studio plans.

It has really changed my work to have so much space, and a space that is so sunshiney and feels so good to be in. I have always been really sensitive to environments and if I have a beautiful space to work in I work much more! Our house is tiny (785 sf) and we have 5 year-old twin daughters, so we had to decide between moving to a bigger house and having a studio in a garage or something, or staying in the tiny house and having a great workspace. We chose the latter. We love our tiny house and although sometimes it can feel like a puzzle to keep everything ordered, I actually like that it promotes minimalism and really choosing the things you possess. We are not big consumers and what we have we care for and try to make last a long time. I was brought up Quaker and one of the basic tenets is to live simply. This has always suited me and I feel good about continuing that tradition for my daughters – especially in this era of excess!

The girls have an area in the studio as well and it functions like a family studio in a way.  I also love our neighborhood (Highland Park), know all my neighbors, and have some real friendships I have developed over the last 11 years of living here. We have a neighbor up the hill who is 65 and lives in the house he grew up in. He has amazing fruit trees and has taught my daughters to love all these special fruits – like pineapple guava and custard apples. My sister lives next door and my daughter's music teacher lives next door. It's really nice to have a community. I think people often think that LA is not community oriented but I think in the small, older neighborhoods there is a very strong sense of community, and I feel lucky to be a part of it. The fact that French restaurants, and coffee shops are nearby, and Scoops (my kids' favorite "restaurant") is coming to York Blvd. is just icing on the cake!

What projects are you working on right now?

I am working on some stuff for shows coming up in NY (fairs and group shows) with Jack Hanley Gallery. I'm also working on an animation with Becky Stark (Lavender Diamond) and Peter Glantz which is great. I have done my own stop action animation but never had my drawings animated, and I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out. Becky is an amazing talent and I am always delighted to work with her!

I am also making a book of my work with Spoonbill and Sugartown (booksellers in NY) and making some hand embroidered dresses and blouses and scarves for Grey Area in collaboration with JF and Sons (clothing designer in NY). Lots of other projects! Keeping busy!

For more on Megan's work, stop by her website here. Fecalface has some good articles here. There is also a great mini documentary on Megan at Creative Lives here. And This Gallery has a nice studio visit video here.

[cseditions]

Exhibition : The Art Dump at THIS Gallery, LA

If you've ever owned or admired a Girl Skateboards product, then you're familiar with The Art Dump. This hodge-podge art collective consists of past and present Girl art department heavy-weights, and this show, "Clocked In" features work by Andy Jenkins, Andy Mueller, Eric Anthony, Hershel Baltrotsky, Michael Coleman, Christian Morin and Chris Waycott.

This Gallery is located at 5906 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042.

The show's launch party is Friday, April 6th from 7pm-11pm.

Andy Jenkins (Bend Press):

Andy Mueller (The Quiet Life & Ohio Girl)

[cseditions]

Contest : Shepard Fairey Autographed Notebook Winners

We've picked the winners of our "Win A Shepard Fairy Autographed CS Editions Notebook Contest." The lucky winners are Tiffany Jones (Los Angeles, CA), David Yao (University Heights, OH), Adam Oakman (Austin, TX), Tommy Roz (Bradley Beach, NJ) and Andrew Schmidt (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA). Thanks to everyone who participated, and if you'd like to pick up a non-signed copy of Shep's notebook, just head over to our store.

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NEWS : AUSTRALIA'S ART PARK IN LOS ANGELES

We got a visit the other day from Craig Rochfort (one of the guys from the Art Park crew out of Australia) with a little care package, including copies of their new Art Park Journal #3 which features a painting by our very own Ramsey Dau. The Art Park guys are doing some really cool stuff over in Byron Bay. In addition to collaborating with artists on their clothing line and publishing projects, they really put their money where their mouth is with a twice-yearly 6-week artist residency program. Past attendees include all-around awesome dude, Nat Russell (who has a show up right now in the Bay Area at Mollusk). Stay tuned for an in-depth interview with these guys coming down the road.

Anyway, Craig is in LA taking part in the Hellawood surf-inspired pop-up shop and art show at Space 15 Twenty in Hollywood April 6th (7pm-10pm). Artists include Danny Fuller, Alex Kopps and Kassia Meador, while some of the brands present include Art Park, Tallow, Mikoh, Insight, Surf Bazaar and more.

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Win A Shepard Fairey Autographed Notebook!

UPDATE: Contest has ended - we are picking winners now!

To commemorate the launch of our new Shepard Fairey collaboration, we are giving away 5 autographed notebooks! Shepard was kind enough to sign a handful of the new notebooks when we stopped by his studio the other day, so we're going to pass them on to 5 lucky fans.  All you have to do is sign up for the CS Editions Newsletter by clicking here or the "Sign Up" Newsletter button in the upper right corner of our website. The contest runs from March 20th - 27th. Full contest rules below. And if you'd like to buy one of Shepard's (unsigned) notebooks, or any of our other artist collaborative notebooks, please stop in our online store or visit one of our retailers.

Contest Rules: By entering this contest, you are agreeing to these rules. Contestants enter by signing up for the CS Editions Newsletter (clicking the "sign up" button in our website header and entering their email). Contest is open to legal US residents only. One entry allowed per person. Contestants who enter with more than one email address will be disqualified. Contestants must sign up between March 20th and March 27, 2012. Entry cutoff is March 27 at 11:59 pm Pacific Time Zone. Five entrants will be picked at random to win one signed notebook each. Winners will be notified within two days from the contest cutoff via email. If winners do not respond within 7 days with a confirmed US mailing address, they will be disqualified and another winner will be picked. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.

[cseditions]

STORE : SHEPARD FAIREY & PARRA IN STOCK

The wait is over! Shepard and Parra's new notebooks are now in stock and ready to ship. These two collaborations have been our most anticipated to date and we're super stoked on how they turned out. Stop my our store and pick some up!

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Exhibition : Os Gemeos at Prism in LA

We were out of town sliding some snow when this show went up, but getting to see Os Gemeos' Miss You mid-day with no one else around was pretty nice.  The show is at Prism Gallery in West Hollywood from Feb 25 - Mar 24, 2012, so you've still got a couple weeks to see it if you're in town.

As we were leaving we ran into Pat from RVCA who was kind enough to point us in the direction of this nearby gemeos secret stash.

Apparently these sewn pieces were made by the twins' mother. Totally amazeballs!

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Exhibition : Cleon Peterson : Guerrero Gallery SF

One of our first collaborators, Cleon Peterson, has a new show opening this weekend at Guerrero Gallery in San Francisco. The opening reception for The Brinksman is March 10th from 7-10pm and will be up through April 7th.

Peterson's new works portray a dystopian future (or is it past?) where, as he puts it, "law breakers and law enforcers are one in the same; a world where ethics have been abandoned in favor of personal entitlement.”

If you're in the bay area, this should not be missed.

The Brinksman

March 10 - April 7, 2012

Guerrero Gallery

2700 19th Street

San Francisco, CA 94110

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Q&A : Artist Mark Mulroney

Last month we had a fascinating interview with artist Mark Mulroney for Anthem Magazine (you can read the full interview here), and throughout the discussion we kept getting off-topic into some really interesting realms – religion, neuroscience, the importance of libraries. Some may argue that artist interviews should stay focused on the art, and this off-topic stuff should be cut because it's not really germane to the subject. But we find the dialogue very humanizing, and feel it gives a richer understanding of the artist as a person. We hope you enjoy this bit of b-roll we've compiled below:

You're currently living in the not-so-hot-spot-of-the-art-world, Syracuse, New York. How'd you end up out there? My wife and I have lived in Santa Barbara, Yorba Linda, Ocean Beach, San Francisco, Berkeley, Rochester and now we are in Syracuse, NY.  My wife got a job at the University of Syracuse as curator of rare books. They have a big collection of "Radicalism," and it's her job to buy books that fit that category.  Lately she's been buying mafia-produced pornographic comics. In the 20's and 30's the mafia produced pornographic comic books for sale at barber shops and the various trunks of cars and whatnot. They're called Tijuana Bibles because they were believed to have been printed in Mexico, and smuggled across the border – although that might just be a myth. Now she's looked into getting the complete run of Slash and Metal Mania. There are not many libraries that are building collections of underground music magazines. What I think with a lot of libraries…they've worked their way up to the 60's, and they've bought all the hippy culture stuff.  But the hardcore scene…she wants to get the papers, all the recording information for Bad Brains…Dischord Records…the Death Metal scene, libraries haven't tapped into that yet. Her job is to build the library collection. I am sure she would offer a better explanation for what she does but basically she buys material that would be of value to someone doing first person research on a subject such as women's suffrage or self-published pornographic comics. So is there a lot of backlash in the community that funds are being spent on this type of material? Syracuse is a private university so perhaps that provides a bit of a shield against those that might be critical of how their tax dollars are being spent.  Upstate New York is home to a lot of Christian religious cults.  The Oneida people are from here. They were started by a guy who believed that Jesus Christ had already come back for his "second coming," therefore man could now achieve perfection, and that he in fact had achieved perfection. So therefore, he got to decide who had sex with who. It was just a bunch of old dudes humping eleven year old girls. They were also really good silver craftsman and ceramicists. Many of their items are still being produced. Just flip that coffee mug over and see if there is an Oneida label on the bottom. They don't endorse child rape anymore, but their brand is still going. She collects a lot of stuff from the religious cults who have, for some reason, landed in this area or been founded around here.

How do you think it is that these cults are able to get off the ground when, invariably, their founding tenets always include men being able to have sex with multiple women, often times young girls. I don't fully understand it. I mean, who joins these things…I get the older men part, but shouldn't it just be a bunch of older men? And these groups seem to show up in pockets. 150 years ago, this area was the hub, and now it's maybe Arizona and part of Texas…these kind of "nowhere" communities. Anyway, my wife buys a lot of this religious cult stuff. We've got all these weird sexually deviant pamphlets that we have bought for ourselves. Most of them we find at flea markets and estate sales. They all profess to disdain the sins of sex, yet everything they write is about sex. It seems that these people are thinking about it all the time. That stuff is so crazy. I read a book recently that discussed some really interesting case studies in the neurosciences. There was this man who late in life began exhibiting pedophiliac and sexually deviant behaviors. He was also having balance problems and had lost the ability to write or copy drawings.  He got an MRI and the doctor found a large tumor in his orbitofrontal cortex. After removing it, his urges and behavior returned to "normal." The tumor had compromised an area of the brain responsible for judgement, social behavior and self-control. That must have been so reassuring to that guy when they found the tumor. Like, "ok, I'm not really into child porn!" And maybe that Oneida guy had a tumor? I don't often make enough time for reading, but if I were into the sciences, neuroscience, that's where I'd go. The brain is so interesting. I like the story of how they figured out that when a soldier loses his arm, if you put a mirror next to him, the brain sees the illusion that the arm is there and allows him to relax a little bit. It's so fascinating. Or the people who reject their own limbs? They feel that "this leg is not mine and I want it gone." That makes perfect sense to me. You can't look in the mirror and not go, "huh, what am I…this body?"

A big part of your practice is the creation of sketchbooks full of collages of drawings and book and magazine clippings. Do you not find it difficult to cut up books and magazine, many of them vintage or collectable? Personally for me, you could give me a first edition of Junkie or something, and I'd cut it up if I felt I could make one collage out of it. There're not many things I won't cut up if I feel I can make my own work out of it. Perhaps that's just ego. I mean, my wife does get really mad when she comes home and half our books are missing pages from them, but we're never going to agree on that one. The one thing we do agree on is we both treat the library as if it were the Vatican. We use the library all the time. I have great respect for the books in the library. I mean, I've repaired books I've gotten at the library. If you go to the Berkeley Library, I guarantee you'll find several books where I've redrawn the covers and repaired the spines. Libraries are just fantastic and I won't cut their stuff up. But if I bought it, it's mine. I feel the same way about my work. If people want to light it on fire in front of me, you bought it, knock yourself out.

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Exhibition : Luke Ramsey

CS Editions' friend and contributor from the Great White North – Luke Ramsey – has an exhibition opening this Saturday (March 3rd - 17th : Night reception 7-10p.m, daytime 1-4p.m) at Madrona Gallery in Victoria, BC.  If you happen to be in Canada, you should definitely check it out, eh.

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ART : ANDY JENKINS NEW WORKS

Friend of CS Editions and head chimp of the Art Dump, Andy Jenkins, has some new work up for sale on Bend Press.