Ochoa Very Well Received at Vielmetter

Otis alum Ruben Ochoa's current show at Suzanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects received strong praise from Holly Myers in her September 14 review in the Los Angeles Times.

Describing the show in comparison to his recent work at LAXART, Myers said "His current show at Suzanne Vielmetter is more modest in scale but no less eloquent. Here he focuses primarily on the intricate entanglement of the urban and natural environments as reflected in the figure of the ficus tree..."

Her thoughts on the installation piece in the show included "Simultaneously delicate, even fragile, and dauntingly impenetrable, the installation is an impressive sight, emblematic of Ochoa's knack for extracting elegance from banality."

The exhibition- “A Recurring Amalgamation” remains on view through October 20.

Ota Has Your iPhone Covered

Illustrator and Otis faculty member Nathan Ota has created a very cool "skin" for the new Apple iPhone based on his painting "Robo."

The skins are for sale on the tech site AudioCubes.com

Now if he only had one for the iPod...

Sandow Singled out in San Francisco

Sandow Birk ('88) was singled out for praise in the San Francisco Weekly in response to his new show "Depravities of War", which opened at Catherine Clark Gallery last week. The show features 15 new large scale prints that Birk created during a recent residency in Hawaii.

Commenting on Birk's ability to weave current events with historical reference author David Downs said "Birk has mastered the retooling of iconography, and here he posits the iconic American soldier in an interrogation with another icon of the Middle East -- the riddling and mythic Sphynx, who challenged travelers like Jason to answer its questions before they could continue on their quest."

The exhibition remains on display through October 20th.

I Sing You Sing We all Sing for Ice Cream!

Karaoke Ice, the mobile art event that features frozen goodies in exchange for belting out a happy tune, made its way to Otis yesterday. The project was conceived in 2006 and is on its summer tour of Los Angeles with support from LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions)

Our students and staff turned out and so did reporter Dave Malkoff from KCAL9 so click on the link turn up your speakers and enjoy the entertainment!

Karaoke Ice at Otis

Do it Now! Watch it Now!

Meg Linton, Director of the Ben Maltz Gallery and Public Programs at Otis was featured in a news story on KCAL 9 news this afternoon. Reporter Dave Malkoff did a walk through of the Do it Now:Live Green show, which opens tomorrow with a public reception from 4 to 7PM.

The interview will run again on the cbs2 8PM newscast.

You can read a blog entry about the show and watch the interview on-line:

Dave Malkoff's blog

Live Green interview

Silver Success for Koplin Del Rio

Christopher Knight found a lot to be happy about in his Los Angeles Times review of Koplin Del Rio's 25th Anniversary show. Titled "Light and playful, solemn and deep" the piece calls out two Otis alums for praise- "...Peter Zakosky's ('81) hauntingly lovely 'Aboriginal Skull'... positions art- and anniversaries as earnest, ritualized hedges against mortality." -and- "The show's most mesmerizing work is Kerry James Marshall's ('78) black ink-wash 'Study for a Portrait of John Punch (Angry Black Man Year 1640).' The story of John Punch represents a turning point in the nation's history- one of the cruelest imaginable. Sentenced to slavery 467 years ago by a Virginia court, he marked the passage from an already evil system of indentured servitude to hopeless, permanent bondage...the artist gives the otherwise anonymous figure a sharply drawn, indelible countenance."

The exhibition closed last weekend but work from the show can still be viewed on the gallery's website. Koplin Del Rio is owned by alum Eleana Del Rio ('89).

Green Garners Great Gab

Do it Now:Live Green, hasn't even opened yet (it will this Saturday 08/5 at 4PM) at Otis' Ben Maltz Gallery but it is already getting a lot of buzz in the blogosphere. Sites highlighting the exhibition include:

Green LA Girl
Art Daily- including a nice plug and a photo by Amanda Lovelee
LAist- featured the show in its "Do Goooding" section
Vincenze's Pit- from all the way down under, noting that there will be another Live Green show the same day in Australia
A Little Birdy Told Me
Yahoo events
Backpage.com
California Green Solutions
H3 Environtmental
Knoend-which has products in the exhibition
outside.in
ArtScene
Bio-Diesel Action Center-they are helping organize the bio-diesel parade
Atelier Zero Event list
LA Weekly
Juxtapoz Event List
Craig's List
Yelp

And the list could go on...Come out and see the show!

Info Lit is a Hit!

This week two blogs focused on the world of libraries (PLAI and Ames Chat) picked up on Otis' novel approach to information literacy, applauding the College in particular, for its video on how to cite your sources.

"Information Literacy:Identify Your Sources" stars our own Dr. Parme Giuntini, Director of Art History. She takes us through the basic categories of information sources, highlighting the benefits and drawbacks that each type brings to academic writing. It was produced through the Teaching/Learning Center in the Millard Sheets Library, which also maintains Otis' YouTube profile and ITunesU presence. My favorite part of the video is the discussion of "substantive news," a term I must admit I was not familiar with prior to watching this piece.

Vernissage TV Touts Timothy Tompkins

Switzerland based Vernissage TV, the online art blog and video site, is highlighting Otis alum Timothy Tompkins' ('03) latest exhibition at Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects. Featuring an interview with Vielmetter, the piece provides background on Tompkins' body of work "Left Over" and footage from the August 4th opening reception.

According to Vielmetter's comments Tompkins' pieces start with the orphan goods that haven't sold when their "seasonal" life span is over. Visiting surplus stores (think Tuesday Morning or Big Lots) Tompkins arranges the pieces into a still life, clearance tags and all. The resulting compositions are then documented in his paintings.

You can view "Left Over" at Vielmetter's gallery in Culver City through September 1st.

WWD Points Out What Makes Otis So Good

Women's Wear Daily, the highly respected fashion industry daily, carried a feature story on Otis' Fashion program in its August 7th national edition.

The story covers both the program's innovation in using new technology and materials to create apparel and several "outcome" examples and quotes from industry heavyweights on why they prefer our graduates.

On the innovation side:

Rosemary Brantely, founding chair of the department is quoted- "We're focusing on new technology, new ways to see clothing in the world" and the writer reports about Otis' work with Nike- "the college recently worked with Nike in incorporating metal-plated fabric with stretch, used for the first time in apparel."

On the outcome side:

"Industry observers say Otis is one of the top four fashion schools in the country..."

"Otis differentiates itself from Parsons and FIT with the mentoring program for students."

Marla Schwartz, a senior recruiter for several Liz Claiborne lines (C&C California, Juicy Couture and Lucky Brand Jeans) is quoted- "I feel that their students are well rounded, with beautiful illustration skills. They are innovative, creative and willing to take some risks while still producing collections that are wearable..."

Noted designer John Varvatos, who served as a mentor in 2006 and hired two alums from the program. He said "I loved their sensibility and personalities and they have fit in wonderfully on my team."

The article is available on WWD's website but you must register to see the whole thing.

Book Blog Says Bully on Otis

Robotic Librarian, a blog that seems to be concerned with all things "library" cited Otis the other day as home to one of the best artist book collections around-

"Luckily, there are valuable portals online for armchair book-lovers. The Otis College of Art and Design Collections Online has a remarkable sampler of artists’ books, digitized and ready for browsing."

The post in which Otis is mentioned focuses primarily on the book binding process and is worth a read. Some of the language was complex enough that I found myself rereading some of the paragraphs but quite interesting with a nice primer on the history of binding books and some great examples of, well let's say unusual binding materials-

Human skin found book found in West Yorkshire
(image taken from Robotic Librarian blog)

Passionate about Perspectives in the Crowd

Art Forum's influential web section "Critics' Picks" is currently featuring a review of Perspectives in the Crowd, the video installation piece by recent MFA grad Tucker Neel. Drawn from video shot by audience members at Daft Punk's 2006 Coachella Music Festival performance, Neel created a compilation video, presented in an endless loop along with sound from the performance. On view at Otis' Bolsky Gallery through August 29, it has received high praise from Christopher Bedford-

"The effect of this unlikely project is mesmerizing and variously suggestive. Like much of the best performance documentation—think of Chris Burden’s early performance photographs or the Viennese Actionists’ fastidiously composed performance stills—this video compilation immediately establishes itself as ontologically distinct from the live source event."

Bedford goes on to compliment Neel's curatorial efforts- (his) "work has a presentness entirely absent from most performance documentation. This presentness derives chiefly from that fact that Neel accepts the formal limitations of the medium he is working with, as well as the serendipities of novice camerawork, and exploits those characteristics to create a shimmering, largely abstract audiovisual spectacle that offers the viewer an entirely self-contained, entirely gripping experience."

Having seen and enjoyed the installation myself, I wonder if Neel will consider returning to the piece's origins and place it on YouTube after the exhibition closes (of course most of the source video resides there already). Some of the sensory experience would certainly be lost but it seems a fitting way to close the loop on the project.

Heard it on the "Close" Radio

Doug Harvey's review of the "Evidence of the Movement" exhibition (currently on view at the Getty and part of a larger story about John Duncan and Paul McCarthy) provided a detailed account of the Close Radio archives from radio station KPFK, which are prominently featured in "Evidence."

The piece appeared in the July 27 edition of the LA Weekly and included mentions of Otis faculty members Suzanne Lacy and Paul Vangelisti. The latter being cited as "Otis' poetry guru..."

Vangelisti was program director for KPFK during the time of Close Radio- "There was a group at the radio station- myself among them- that believed what was progressive artistically was progressive politically."

Lacy was a frequent contributor to the program, one contribution noted in the article as "Suzanne Lacy reading police-blotter reports or recent sexual assaults on woman in LA..."

The entire article can be read here- Doug Harvey LA Weekly July 27

Information about the exhibit at the Getty- Evidence of the Movement

Audio excerpts from Close Radio- Close Radio Audio

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!