Views from the Island of Petropoulous

After opening to a packed house on July 7th, Rene'e Petropoulos' solo show at Rosamund Felson Gallery was reviewed by Leah Ollman in last Friday's Los Angeles Times Calendar section. The Otis faculty member received accolades for specific elements of the show- it "...has merit as a diffuse collection of prompts about space and perception." though Ollman was less generous in her overall assessment- "the show ends up feeling like a compilation..."

The exhibit remains on view through August 18th.

I Spy ML at MLI

Meg Linton, Director of the Ben Maltz Gallery and Public Programs at Otis was featured in a New York Times photo that accompanied a story about the Museum Leadership Institute (MLI) program, which is sponsored by The Getty. She just completed the 2007 edition of the prestigious program where she studied alongside directors and curators from around the world including The Smithsonian, SFMOMA, the Van Gogh Museum and the MET.

In addition to the NY Times story, you can read about the program at Pierre Arpin's MLI blog.

Still Flying High at 96

Tyrus Wong has long been respected as an artist, held up as an example of longevity in a art world that does not always support long careers. In today's Los Angeles Times magazine West, the Otis alum is honored for his longevity as a person. At 96, he is the oldest of five people profiled who explain their various approaches to staying healthy and happy. Wong's solution? Kite-flying. In commenting on why he took it up in retirement he said "In fishing, you look down; in kite-flying, you look up."

Having just been given a kite, I'm now inspired to go see for myself.

Rave for Rogue Wave

Rogue Wave '07, currently on view at L.A. Louvre gallery was described by Leah Ollman in her July 6 review as one that "...abounds in freshness and vigor. Its contents are insistently visual, materially inventive and thoughtfully subversive..." Among the 12 artists in the show are Otis alums Timothy Tompkins ('03), Eduardo Sarabia ('99) and Sandeep Mukherjee ('96).

In calling attention to Mukherjee's pieces in the show, Ollman noted that the only "pure abstractions" in the show are "luminous..."

The show runs through August 18.

Success with the SIMS

The SIMS in the Hands of Artists opened at Otis' Ben Maltz Gallery on July 14th and it received a strong write up in the Los Angeles Times this past Thursday. Sixteen Otis students had their work selected from among all the entries. In addition to being in the exhibition, several students won cash awards from exhibition sponsor Electronic Arts. The first place winner in the coveted Machinima category was Olivier Chatard ('07 Communication Arts). His winning piece "H20=Life" can be seen on the Otis College YouTube channel. The exhibition runs through August 11.

Oldham Awed by Harper

Otis alum Todd Oldham used to be known primarily as a fashion designer. These days like so many others he's entered into the "life style" market- making objects, creating interiors, hosting a television reality show- Top Design, etc. Now you can add book author to the list. On Wednesday (07/18) Oldham will be signing his new book "Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life" at Hennessey and Ingalls bookstore in Santa Monica from 7 to 9 PM.

Charlie Harper was a prolific illustrator whose work Oldham first saw as a kid. In the July 12 edition of the LA Times Calendar section he commented- "Charley illustrated my favorite childhood book, 'Giant Golden Book of Biology.'" It wasn't until 2002 however that he linked the artist to the work had been enjoying for so many years.

After making a pilgrimage to Harper's home in Cincinnati Oldham began work on the book. Describing Harper's style Oldham said in the same article- "It's like he never saw painting before. He's completely unattached to the tenets of someone who went through art school. His brain is very open."

Oldham finished the project in time to show Harper a proof this past May. The artist passed away the following month at age 84.

Otis in the Galleries

Otis faculty, alums and students are routinely showing all over LA and beyond. I've added a new list section to the bottom of the blog where current shows are called out. I've made special mention of receptions that are coming up.

Am I missing an exhibition listing? Give me a shout and I'll add it!

Where's Your Otis Been?

So the focus of this blog has been to catalog and comment on the many mentions of Otis in the world, primarily in the press (broadly defined). It occurs to me however, that those of us at Otis go out into the world all the time. Near and far, mundane and exotic, the locations vary as does the purpose for being there.

I want to know where "your Otis" has been. If you are on a trip, out for the day or just wanted an excuse to take a photo, take your Otis tee shirt with you and document it! Send me the picture along with where you were and what you were doing. To get you started, Meg and I each took a photo on recent trips in California. They are posted on the Otis Admissions Flickr pages.

Don't have an Otis tee? You can get them from the folks at GraphAids Westchester store(heck they'll even mail them to you after you buy one) or be one of the first three people to email me about this and I'll send you a shirt to wear.

So get out there and let us know where your Otis has been lately!

Hanging out in the SFMOMA Bookstore

On a recent trip up to San Francisco I stopped into the musuem shop at SFMOMA. Among the seemingly endless books, posters, note cards and the like, I saw publications by several Otis alums, including Blaine Fontana ('02), Camille Rose Garcia ('92 ) and Darren Waterston ('88)!