La Luz de Jesus Gallery is showcasing the works of over 200 artists for its 29th annual Laluzapalooza show. This is La Luz’s biggest show of the year, and the greatest group show of the year, which encapsulates the variety of artistic styles that the gallery exhibits–lowbrow, pop surrealism, street art, illustrations, cartoons, paintings, sculptures, taxidermy, dolls, realism, abstraction, and art within its own category all come under the La Luz roof for one month to give you but a glimpse into the world of Off-Broadway contemporary art.
LALUZAPALOOZA
Exhibition Dates:
March 6, 2015 – March 29, 2015
La Luz de Jesus
4633 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Participating Artists:
Donna Abbate, Peter Adamyan, Nathan Andersen, Azygous, Briana Bainbridge, Dan Barry, Alexandra Bastien, Davidd Batalon, K. David Bena, Vicki Bemdt, Michelle Bickford, Big Toe, Sue Blanchard, Jason Brammer, Katherine Brannock, Jennifer Celio, Adrian Cherry, Carol Connett, Robert Steven Connett, Edward Robin Coronel, Matthew Couper, Robert Craig, Brain Dombrowsky, Mike Egan, Bruce Eichelberger, Haunted Euth, Joshua Flint, Frank Forte, Michael Folkrod, Francisco Franco, Don Fritz, Richard Frost, Wendy Lee Gadzuk, Jeff Gillette, Mark Gleason, Bruce Gossett, Conrad Haberland, Walt Hall, Howard Hallis, Derek Harrison, Annette Hassel, Scott Holloway, Jack How, Stephanie Inagaki
Joka, Nozomi Kanai, Simon Kangiser, Jeffrey R. Kibbe, Craig LaRotonda, Gabe Larson, Joshua Lawyer, Mavis Leahy, Dave Lebow, Chris Leib, MJ Lindo, Alexis Lopez, Danni Shinya Luo, Dion Macellari, John MacNair, Drew Mancilla, D.W. Marino, Aya Masuda, Caitlin McCormack, Patrick V. Mcgrath Muniz, Genie Melisande, Jason Miracle, Graham Moore, Pamela Power Conner, Michael Murphy, Dave Naz, Jaya Nicely, Ron Norman, Daisuke Okamoto, Christina Natsuko Paulos, Andrea Pavles, Peca, Agnieszka Pilat, Valerie Pobjoy, Matthew J. Price, Eric ‘Q’ Quezada, Rob Reger, Jeffery Richter, Aaron Rivera, Lena Rushing, Ken Ruzik, Jeanny Jean Sandoval, Van Saro, Jonathan Shaw, Josh Stebbins, Sean Stepanoff, Deirdre Sullivan, Dani Terrazzo, Lili Todd, Paul Torres, Roxi Tattoo, Pol Turgeon, Inge Vandormael, Vega, Dave Warshaw, Nicole Waszak, Lauren Wilde, Marc Willey, Christine Wu, Kate Zambrano
Valerie Pobjoy “Couple”
Christine Wu “Cold”
There are some familiar names in the show–Christine Wu, D.W. Marino, Stephanie Inagaki, Craig LaRotonda–but Laluzapalooza also serves as a step in the door for many emerging artists, including recent student alumni. One of such artists was Valerie Pobjoy, a recent graduate from Art Center College of Design. I recognized her work from this year’s LA Art Show, which she showed at the Art Center’s booth in the Littletopia section. Having graduated in 2014, Valerie’s CV is already filling up, and showcasing at Laluzapalooza is an auspicious start for one’s career.
The unique concept of Laluzapalooza is that it gives the public a glimpse of the intensity of gallery curation and selection. Curator Matt Kennedy goes through thousands of art works every year, and thousands specifically for this show, searching for upcoming talent, to then have to select but a handful of the hundreds of artists he connects with, knowing that the gallery cannot pave the path for every artists well deserving one. There is only so much time in a year and only so much space in one gallery. But this show provides an opportunity for hundreds of emerging talent to have their month on a well sought gallery wall. Could you image Saturday Night Live doing an entire show of unknown talent performing sketches?
Josh Stebbins “Above His Cold Gaze He Wore A Crown Of Crosses”
MJ Lindo “Can we just sleep tonight”
Additionally, this show provides the potential for these artists to develop a relationship with the gallery that might lead to a solo exhibition further down the line, but it also presents the opportunity for other curators and industry folk to view their work. Even further, the show allows us, the public, to be audience to the legacy of artists before their careers have launched. For those who cannot attend the gallery in Los Angeles, you can view the works on the gallery’s website—a wise thing to do as you’ll want to take note of these artists. This won’t be the last time you’ll be seeing them.
La Luz de Jesus is where pop surrealism was born. Since 1986 La Luz has given visibility to the quality of counter culture artists by facilitating a professional space for the public to connect with their work. And in the very spirit that founded their philosophy and gallery, they continue contributing to the progression of the underground by digging for diamonds in dark caves–in other words, La Luz has not sold out to the commercialization of counter culture. They have remained rooted in the underground and Laluzapalooza is the fruit of their tree of good and evil.
Vega “Lords of Burden”
Robert Steven Connett “Sea Flowers”
Matthew Couper “Façade”
Jeffrey Richter “Headache”
Craig LaRotonda “One of us”
Pamela Mower-Conner “The Monarch Queen”
Graham Moore “Exotic Percussion”
Frank Forte “Psychedelic Cat Dreams”
Don Fritz “Retribution”
Dave Naz “Matty Boi”
Daisuke Okamoto “Jelly Fish”
Brian Dombrowsky “Los Olivios de Cielo”
Aya Masuda “Habanero March”
