John McGuire Olsen: Path of Beasts

ShoeboxLA Presents

John McGuire Olsen: Path of Beasts

Saturday, December 15, 2012 from 4-7pm

Half Off Clothing Store, Los Feliz

1748 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027

“Sometimes in the mountains the animals make paths by using the same route again and again. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you might think it’s a path made by humans—it looks that way. If you follow that path, the path of beasts, you won’t get anywhere at all. People lost in the wilderness, they follow these paths and only get more and more lost. Sometimes they lose their way and they die. It’s not a path for humans, it’s a dangerous diversion.”  Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein

  

ShoeboxLA is pleased to present John McGuire Olsen: Path of Beasts. Video games offer worlds which can be accessed from practically anywhere.  In John Mcguire Olsen’s case, he accesses these worlds in his studio and collects particular “moments” from these games which may eventually become paintings. Olsen uses these snapshots to create dreamy, trance-like images that are pensive and quiet - something missing in most contemporary, mainstream video games, which favor kinetic action over thoughtful reflection.  Olsen embraces the idea of becoming lost or sidetracked from the original intention of a game and sets off on a path to dissect the rarely celebrated act of failure (or in video game language, “failure state”) and, in turn, creates visionary paintings which gently whisper for the viewer to pause and reflect.

John McGuire Olsen received his BFA from the University of California, Santa Cruz, California.  He lives and works in Los Angeles.

Email: shoeboxla@gmail.com for more info or press images.  

(Half Off Clothing Store in Los Feliz offers men's and women's contemporary clothing always at 40%-70% off the retail price.  www.halfoffclothingstore.com)

John McGuire Olsen: Path of Beasts

Saturday, December 15, 2012 from 4-7pm

Half Off Clothing Store, Los Feliz

1748 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027

ShoeboxLA in the LA Weekly

We are thrilled and excited to have been included in Carol Cheh's article in the LA Weekly on the top 10 art spaces in Los Angeles that are changing our idea of what art spaces can be!  We are doubly thrilled she covered one of our favorite shows, Cut Both Ways, with artist Jay Erker.  We love being an alternative, alternative space.  Thank you Carol and the LA Weekly: 

 http://blogs.laweekly.com/arts/2012/11/alternative_art_spaces_galleries.php?page=4

ShoeboxLA: Art on a table
ShoeboxLA is a specially constructed display table about the size of two shoeboxes laid side by side. This highly portable space -- which, like Open Arms, uses the simple, rectangular structure of a traditional gallery but in a whimsical manner -- roams the streets of L.A. for three-hour pop-up shows in random public locations.

Founders Sophia Allison and Paul W. Evans, artists themselves, wanted to create a mobile art experience that interacted closely with the environments it found itself in. After about a year in operation, the shoebox has appeared in a bookstore, an ice cream parlor, a bowling alley and a shopping mall. Artists are invited to create new work that is specifically geared toward the dimensions of ShoeboxLA (no pre-existing work is accepted).

Back in September, the gallery planted itself in the also tiny Los Feliz Triangle Park to show artist Jay Erker's Cut Both Ways, a handmade book of sliced and layered fashion-magazine images. On a boiling hot day, Erker (who also runs the nearby Weekend Gallery) stood under an umbrella, turning the pages for a steady stream of curious and enthusiastic passersby.

photo: Carol Cheh

Thank you, Carmine!

We had record turnout for Carmine Iannaccone's IAmTheGravitySurfer at Alias Books in Atwater Village on Saturday, Nov. 17.  Despite the rain and a power outage which lasted 40 minutes, you all kept coming and Carmine kept us all captivated by his words and beautifully elegant installation.  We met so many new people and can't thank you all enough for coming out. 

If you didn't make it, please go to Alias Books often and repeatedly.  It's simply a great bookstore run by some special people.  Thank you, Patrick.  We love being in your store.

Here are some shots from the opening.  If you'd like one of Carmine's zines, let us know via email and we'll see that you get one.

*SAVE THE DATE - Saturday, December 15: JOHN MCGUIRE OLSEN (location TBA)

November 17 at Alias Books

We're thrilled to announce we'll be back at Alias Books for Carmine Iannaccone's IAmTheGravitySurfer.  Note our new time, from 6-9pm.  Stop by and see great work at the best little bookstore in Los Angeles!

ShoeboxLA Presents

Carmine Iannaccone: IamTheGravitySurfer

Saturday, November 17, 2012 from 6-9pm

Alias Books East, Atwater Village

3163 Glendale Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90039

ShoeboxLA is pleased to present Carmine Iannaccone: IamTheGravitySurfer.  At some height above the city, a cyclist speeds down a curving mountain road. The rider leans into the bends, negotiating a startling rush of forces. Her motion causes the road’s static plane to heave and dip like a swelling ocean. She navigates those swells and dips, pockets and humps, cutting a line across the onrushing topograph.

MEANWHILE, HUNDREDS OF FEET BELOW THE RIDER: countless layers of alluvium compress under the weight of their own accumulation. Differentiations across their breadth activate, crumpling the mass into uplifts and domes, folds and depressions. A slab breaks the surface, its submerged cross-section becomes visible as layers, mineral chemistries irradiated by light now become color.

IAmTheGravitySurfer and the accompanying publication Accordion Fold simultaneously disassemble and reproduce these conditions in sculptural form. In so doing, Carmine Iannaccone looks at the nested plays of time and energy and how they combine to create patterns. In their dazzling variety and tantalizing offers of legibility, these patterns calibrate our perception of the world and speak to our anxieties about how we fit in.

Carmine Iannaccone has been making art in Los Angeles for over 20 years. He received his BA from Dartmouth College and his MFA from Otis College of Art and Design. He is currently a studio mentor and teaches graduate seminars in critical theory at Claremont Graduate University.

Now in its second year, ShoeboxLA gives Los Angeles artists an opportunity to do one-day, site-specific exhibitions outside the traditional gallery setting. Artists and founders Sophia Allison and Paul W. Evans provide an intimate space that challenges artists' and viewers' expectations of size and scale. Locations change for each show but the space remains the same.

 

(Alias Books East is a curated, general used bookstore located in the heart of Atwater Village. They carry a wide selection of used and out of print titles with an emphasis on literature, film and the arts. www.aliasbookseast.com)

Carmine Iannaccone: IamTheGravitySurfer

John Souza...Angel Youth...Thank You.

Heartfelt thanks to everyone who came out for John Souza's show.  We loved seeing you all under the Angel Youth sign and even though those rare L.A. clouds hovered and rain seemed imminent, we each were captivated and amused by John's thought-provoking installation.  As it got dark we were able to use our fancy flashlights in the gallery, which added to the sculpture's ominous feel.  At 7:00pm John destroyed his piece as we all watched in shock and awe.  ShoeboxLA artist Michael Blasi took a video of this moment, which we'll upload at a future date.  Thanks, John for a great time!


SAVE THE DATE!  Sat., Nov. 17, Carmine Iannaccone: IAmTheGravitySurfer‏, location TBA.