25 April 2008

Twenty Questions with Trine


Well it's 18 questions actually...

Art blogger Claudio Parentela recently interviewed Otis alum Trine Wejp-Olsen ('94) about her studio practice, her path to art school and what advice she would share with the next generation of artists.

Some of my favorite responses include:

(as to why she wanted to become an artist)-
"My Dad is a cartoonist (Werner Wejp-Olsen), and as he had his studio at home, growing up I watched him do his cartoons, and I guess the idea of becoming an artist for a living never seemed difficult or daunting…Being naive sometimes is a good thing."

(describing her first year at Otis)-
"The school has a bit of a boot camp first year, where they load a lot of work on you, and in as many disciplines as possible. I discovered within this first year that what I meant to do was to express my voice through imagery. I found it to be too limiting to be hired by someone else as an illustrator to express his or her point of view or need. And therefore I ended up in the fine art department concentrating on painting instead."

(the materials she uses when making work)-
"I work with oil on canvas + watercolor, color pencil and sometimes milk paint on paper. For sculpture work I use all kinds of materials, fabrics, plaster, and my last sculpture was a bronze."

(what she would tell a young artist)-
"There is no right or wrong in art, so don’t be afraid of mistakes, they often turns out as successes."

The complete interview is available at Parentela's blog- Elvis in Hawaii

image- Blue Monkey, 2007 oil on canvas 16" x 20" from the Trine Wejp-Olsen website

22 April 2008

Gains Through Greening

Happy Earth Day! Otis has been working toward being a leader in sustainable living. Some of the efforts to date include the incorporation of environmental projects into many of the Integrated Learning courses, the hosting of the Do it Now: Live Green exhibition in the Ben Maltz Gallery last summer and student clubs in both Fashion and IPD that are focused on sustainability.

Beyond college-wide efforts, many Otis folks making sustainable living a part of their daily lives. A good example is Fine Arts Associate Professor Holly Tempo. She was one of several Brewery art colony residents featured in a LA Times article on gardening. The story chronicled the efforts of the artists to create urban gardens, often with found plants. Describing Tempo's own garden writer Paula Panich said "She presides over a small but aesthetically balanced and ordered garden of specimen plants in well-chosen metallic containers. Her flowering palette begins with yellows and oranges and reds and moves to purple as the seasons change."

In citing one of the environmental benefits of her garden Tempo commented "It's a great way to unwind. Plus, plants absorb toxic air- and they are (a) really visible joy."

So recycle a bottle, turn off a light or carpool today, every little bit helps.

09 April 2008

An Eddy for Mounger



Otis Foundation Associate Professor Christian Mounger was honored along with other local teachers last night at the 2008 "Eddy" awards, which where held at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton. Sponsored by the LAX Coastal Area Chamber of Commerce, the annual awards recognize outstanding educators from each of the schools in the Chamber's area.

Mounger, who has been teaching at Otis since 1994, was recognized for his contributions to the Foundation program's curriculum and his dedication to his students.

06 April 2008

Saar Says Come Hither


Noted Otis alum Allison Saar's latest solo show "Hither" at L.A. Louver, which closed yesterday received a lot of attention including a strong review from Leah Olman in last Friday's Los Angeles Times.

In a nod to Saar's influence on the local art scene Olman said "...Saar is one of the most significant sculptors working today, and her shows tend to be serious occasions." The review concludes with "Saar's forms register immediately in the body as well as the soul. For all their wonderous physicality, they are elegantly poetic; for all their knowing eloquence, they endow silence with presence."

You can find another substantial write up about the show in the March issue of ArtScene.


Image of Hither detail from L.A. Louver website

27 March 2008

Toy Story Told in Toy Book


Otis has one of only three Toy Design programs in the United States and it is featured (along with FIT) in the March 2008 edition of The Toy Book, an industry magazine for the toy industry.

The article lauded the impact the two programs have had on the industry- "Both feature professors still active in the industry, various internship opportunities, and a job placement rate for graduates that can't be beat." And- "The toy industry is one in which a new trend is declared the next best thing before you've even had a chance to turn around. The importance of that child giggling at home with Elmo, however, is one aspect that will be around 10, 20 or even 100 years from now. The Toy Industry 101 textbook may not have a specific chapter on this, but learning it early and having it reinforced often are things that make those who spend the two years at Otis or FIT very valuable for the future of play.

This piece is just the latest in a series that have highlighted the success of our Toy program and it is especially gratifying for the students' work to be acknowledged by the industry whose future they will shape.

Photo Otis Toy seniors courtesy of Candice Lavin and Otis Toy Design Flickr pages

16 March 2008

A Brief Pause for Poultry

In 1978 Otis alum Jeffrey Vallance buried a store-bought chicken in a pet cemetery. "Blinky" as the bird was known, was given a "proper" burial complete with a service and a headstone.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Blinky's burial and subsequent exhumation (conducted in 1988 to mark the 10th anniversary), Vallance created a chapel inside Track 16 Gallery.

Paul Young from the Los Angeles Times talked with Vallance about the project in the 03-06 edition of The Guide's "60 Seconds With..." section. The exchange included this question from Young and response from Vallance-

What's the Strangest Reaction to Blinky That You've Ever Seen or Heard of?
"Several people have told me that they stopped eating chicken. which makes sense because I was a vegetarian when I performed the piece 30 yeas ago. I didn't eat meat for health reason and because I was against the inhumane treatment of animals. Similar to the Unknown Soldier, Blinky represents all chickens that have been slaughtered for the dinner table."

The chapel and accompanying exhibition remain on display through April 5th.

06 March 2008

A Complimentary Compare and Contrast

The thrust of Holly Meyer's February 29 review in the Los Angeles Times of the parallel solo shows at Carl Berg Gallery is that the two artists- Megan Williams and 2005 Otis grad Jessica Minckley are products of their respective generations and their work is reflective of those separate times. Williams coming of age in the turbulent 70's versus Minckley arriving in an art scene that is "booming; LA has become a widely respected art capital; galleries are sweeping up artists right out of school..."

Despite the significant differences that result from those two generations, Meyers found much to like about both shows. Of Minckely she said, "...has a much lighter approach: Her exhibition is quiet, delicate and contemplative. Each piece feels considered and specific in nature, a sequence of discrete conceptual statements..." And "The most enchanting works are the simplest: a series of pattern-oriented drawings made on the epigraph pages of books; a ceiling high stack of pink cake boxes; a MormonAd (a poster distributed by the Mormon Church) coated with a thick crust of salt. Concise yet enigmatic, each has the air of a meditative excercise."

Both shows close this Saturday- March 8.





Jessica Minckley
Untitled2007
Cake boxes
125 x 9 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches

From Carl Berg Gallery

04 March 2008

Remembering Milford Zornes

Otis alum and noted watercolor painter Milford Zornes '27 passed away on February 24th at his home in Claremont. As noted in his obituary from the Claremont-Courier he was "the last living artist in the small but elite group of California Scene Painters." As noted in the The Oaklahoman, this group of painters were "credited with elevating watercolor to a legitimate art form..."

After completing his studies at Otis, which including taking classes from Millard Sheets, he completed a Bachelor's degree at Pomona College. Upon leaving college he taught art at several schools, including at Otis.

According to the Los Angeles Times he maintained an active artistic practice until the very end of his life- "
He continued painting and teaching into his 90s, completing a mural for East Los Angeles College in 2004. He gave his last public demonstration in January at the opening of an exhibit celebrating his 100th birthday at the Pasadena Museum of California Art..."

As part of the College's Legacy Project, Mr. Zornes was interviewed last November and I have included it here.


02 March 2008

Illustrating Influence

This week's Los Angeles Times Magazine is the spring fashion issue. It's full of Otis mentions including a nice piece about Ruben and Isabel Toledo written by Rose Apodaca. It's a nice plug for the upcoming "Inside the Designer's Studio" series that Fashion Chair Rose Brantley hosts- the next installment featuring her discussion with the Toledos on March 11th- but my favorite part of the piece is Isabel's response to Apodaca's question about why they have worked with our students so often-

"To us, the spirit of California is unique." (I) tell the students "Search your soul for your identity. Allow necessity to be the mother of invention and remember that, for a creator, time in obscurity is a blessing. It allows you to incubate your ideas."

27 February 2008

Futbol Fashion Feature

Several Otis juniors in the Fashion Department are creating the new uniform designs for the Brazilian national soccer team. The project is being done in conjunction with Nike. Yesterday there was a fitting for the uniforms and local news channel KNBC4 was there to capture it!

Take a look:

Otis Fashion on KNBC4

25 February 2008

Serving Up Support for the Santa Monica Musuem

Last week's Home section of the Los Angeles Times included this item- Otis alum Gajin Fujita was one of 12 artists commissioned by the Santa Monica Museum to create a limited edition plate in honor of the museum's 20th anniversary. At a cost of $2000 each set and with only 125 being made, it's doubtful that folks will be serving dinner on them though!


image from Los Angeles Times website by photographer Carlos Chavez

24 February 2008

Juno May Get the Oscar but Otis May Get the Most Eyeballs

Shadowplay, the Los Angeles based studio created the opening title sequence for the multi-Oscar nominated film Juno. The sequence has received some buzz of its own including this interview with Shadowplay's co-founder Gareth Smith:

The Submarine Channel interview

Otis has worked with the folks at shawdowplay several times, most notably in the creation of our video "Discover Otis." They report that is one of the most viewed pieces on their site and it's been very successful for us!




22 February 2008

One Year of Observing Otis

One year ago today I started The "O" Observed. It has been a wonderful experience to find and blog about Otis in the media, in museums and galleries and other places out in the world.

With a year's worth of posts I've only scratched the surface. For every post I make there are three more I could if I had more time.

I'm looking forward to another year of observing Otis and I hope you are too.

Cheers,

Marc

18 February 2008

Otis in the OC and Endangered Species


This weekend I was at the Laguna Art Museum's Auction 100 event, which raised money for their exhibition and education programs. It was quite a fun evening and Otis was well represented with works sold from alums Billy Al Bengston, Sandow Birk, Kavin Buck, Adam Mars and Pattsi Valdez. In addition the evening's piece that fetched the highest price, nearly $30,000 was by another Otis alum, John Altoon.

I also caught the opening of the new group show Endangered Species at Santa Monica College's Pete and Susan Barrett Art Gallery (part of their new Performing Arts Center). It includes work by Otis grads Sarah Perry and Peter Zokosky along with Otis faculty member Robin Palanker. The show remains on view through March 8th.

John Altoon "Untitled" 1959

09 February 2008

Motion Theory Magic

It seems like Motion Theory must be a pretty cool place to work. I should check in with Otis alum Cui Haozheng '06, who is an animator at the firm. With offices here in Venice as well as New York and Europe, they are able to work with a diverse set of clients including Beck, Hewlett Packard, Gatorade and Budweiser.

Probably the best description of what Motion Theory has done for the world of advertising comes from writer Diane Mehta in her story Loco Motion, which appears in the February issue of Fast Company magazine:

"Now it's leading a wave of New York- and L.A.- based companies that are reinventing the TV comericial, even the look of video itself, and changing the way advertisers and other clients connect with the public...no one blends those worlds better than Motion Theory, with its radically strange hybrid of live action, visual effects and 3-D animation."

When describing Otis' Digital Media program, I often use the phrase we are teaching our students to tell stories through motion. The work that Motion Theory does is an excellent example of what I've been trying to say. They have selected pieces on their website. If you only watch one, make it the video for Beck's song "Girl."

Enjoy!

28 January 2008

Many Mentions of the Monk


Shaolin: Temple of Zen, a photography exhibition by Justin Gurarglia will debut at Otis' Ben Maltz Gallery this Saturday, February 2nd with a reception from 5 to 7 PM but the show is already showing up throughout the blogosphere. In addition to being the Monday feature on Artdaily, it has attracted attention from several blogs and was picked up in Calendar Live.

In addition to the photographs, opening night visitors will see a live demonstration by one of the monks featured in the work, Shi De Chao, who has traveled from his temple in Henan, China.

The show, an outgrowth of the book published by Aperture will continue in the Gallery through 29th.

Additional Mentions (added Feb 1):

LA Cityzine
A Little Birdy Told me
Sean Slavin Photography
Flavorpill
Ian O'Phelan Artlog
Apartment Therapy
Lady Hooligan
ArtSlant
Marshallastor
Nothing to Do in LA

17 January 2008

Some Paintings Some Party!


Last Saturday, I went to the opening of the opening of Some Paintings, the LA Weekly's third Biennial at Track 16 Gallery. I got there pretty late- after 10:30 and the place showed no sign of slowing down. I was thankful I had not arrived any earlier!

Curated by Doug Harvey, the show features Los Angeles painters, including alums Sandow Birk '88 and Steve Roden '86 (doing double duty by also standing in for Robert Williams) as well as Otis faculty member Carole Caroompas. Ben Maltz Gallery Director Meg Linton also had a mention related to artist Don Suggs.

With the crowd and over 70 artists, the experience was a bit overwhelming. My favorite part of the show (apart from seeing the work) was Harvey's statements about each artist. It was a rare treat to have the curator's thoughts about each artist available as a wall label.*

Gifted multimedia narrative populist Sandow Birk’s amazing “Depravities” show at Cal State Long Beach in December used up his store of new Iraq-war paintings, but he dug out an early-’90s collaboration with graffiti artist Devin “Relm” Flynn for “Some Paintings.”

Carol Caroompas’ punkadelic patchworks of archetypal gender conflicts played out by glamorous rock stars, clip-art domestics and B-movie exotics over eye-boggling textile patterns bring Pattern and Decoration through the looking glass of experimental narrative semiotics into the 21st century.

Renaissance dude STEVE RODEN’s multivalent work is imbued with a profound familiarity with Modernist design principles and an avant-gardist appetite for getting lost in translation. But it was his paintings that first caught my attention, and which never fail to dazzle and mystify.

Even though DON SUGGS seems to have spent most of his career making fame-evasive shifts in style and media, his own persistence is beginning to catch up with him. Last spring’s OTIS survey (curated by me and Meg Linton) exposed the still center of the spinning Suggsian universe, and there’s nowhere left to hide! Ha ha ha ha ha!

Some Paintings remains on view through February 16.

*All of Harvey's statements are also available in his LA Weekly article about the show.

11 January 2008

Roll Call Roundup

Artillery magazine's "Roll Call" spread is chalk full of Otis folks in the latest edition (volume2 number 3):

Christian Mounger at Haus Gallery (Martin Gantman show)
2007 "O Award" recipient Kori Newkirk at High Energy Constructs (Mark Dutcher show)
Roy Dowell, Carol Caroompas and an unidentified Adam Mars at Western Project (for Carole's opening)

The two year old magazine has frequently covered the work of Otis faculty and alums and recent MFA grad Tucker Neel is a regular writer.

You can pick up a copy of Artillery in the Ben Maltz Gallery and at many galleries around LA and NYC.

09 January 2008

Santa's Southland Workshop

The holidays are over and old St. Nick is back in the north pole working on all the toys for 2009. He's not alone in that effort. Otis has the leading program for Toy Design in the country and over the years it has received a lot of media attention- stories in the Los Angeles Times and news spots on KNBC and ABC World News Tonight being just a few.

Often the stories come during Christmas time and this year was no exception when Toy Design Chair Deborah Ryan and faculty member Mark Taylor were featured guests on the KCRW show Design and Architecture, hosted by Frances Anderton. You can still access their interview via podcast here:

The Serious Business of Designing Toys

Enjoy the interview. If you wind up on the correct side of Santa's list next year one of your gifts might come via Otis!

03 January 2008

Look Out for the Lueys!


In the latest volume of Hi Fructose magazine, there is a nice photo spread featuring Otis alum and faculty member Bob Dob's creation- "The Luey's." These hard living little critters have been prominent in his work and if you haven't seen them, take a look!











Universal Bad Habit 8" x10" (from bobdob.com)

02 January 2008

Otis in 08

As we head in to 2008 I hope you will look forward to more notes about Otis in the media. I've been writing this blog for almost a year now and throughly enjoy it.

If you see some mention of Otis that you think would be a good mention, just give me a shout.

Happy New Year!

-Marc

19 December 2007

A Sandow Sampler



Otis Fine Arts alum ('88) Sandow Birk has been a busy guy lately. Among his recent activities- His solo show "The Depravities of War" just closed at the Cal State Long Beach University Arts Museum (after premiering at Catherine Clarke Gallery) and he is participating in a group show at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art. His film latest "Dante's Inferno" was recently screened in London. Here is just a sampling of the buzz his work has been creating:

Depravities of War
Los Angeles Times review
Orange County Weekly review
Long Beach Press Telegram review
The District Weekly review

The Landscape of War
Metro active review

Dante's Inferno
London screening
Household Opera blog review
A Distant Mirror blog book comments

04 December 2007

Passionate About Painters

(Chad Robertson Untitled 2006)

In this December 2nd piece for the Los Angeles Times Painting Gets a Broader Brush, Christopher Knight makes the case that painting is not dead, has not been dead for some time (if it ever was) and is not likely to be dead anytime soon- "Lingering animus toward painting is so end-of-the-20th century. Painting hasn't been the black sheep of the art family for a couple of decades now, except in academic backwaters of provincial thought."

Knight suggests that if anything, Los Angeles is the hot bed in the United States for painting- "Unlike New York, Los Angeles never had an established reputation as a painting town. That might help to explain the abundance of painting now: Without history's heavy baggage, the field seems wide open -- ripe for the picking."

To illustrate his points he identified 45 Los Angeles (broadly defined) artists under 45. The list includes seven Otis alums- Kevin Appel '89, Michael Brunswick MFA '07, Gajin Fujita '97, Sandeep Mukherjee '96, Chad Robertson '91, Steve Roden '86 and Timothy Tompkins '03. It was gratifying to see the College so well represented in Knight's list.

As a further illustration of the LA influence on painting, Knight called out Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects as the gallery that provides painters with the most "parity." Vielmetter represents both Roden and Tompkins.

Each artist was represented on the cover of the Arts and Music section (where the story ran) by a detail of one of their paintings. The full images can be seen on the Times' website.



(Kevin Appel Houses and Timbers 27, 2006)


27 November 2007

Roden Resonates in Austin


Otis Fine Arts alum Steve Roden's recent two person show (the other artist was Stephen Vitiello) at Lora Reynolds Gallery in Austin struck a chord with reviewer Kate Green in the Dec/Jan issue of Modern Painters.

Describing the choice of the two artists, both involved with sound pieces for a long time Green wrote- "Steve Roden and Stephen Vitiello...share a Fluxus-influenced interest in how it (sound) might look or feel when synesthetically translated into other media. Their pairing...seems as if it should have happened a long time ago."

Green's take on Roden's work focused on the piece Another, Another Green World. Created in 2002, he sculpted clay forms with eyes closed and using only touch in response to music as his guide. "the resulting balance between intuition and discipline resembles the structured play of a musical composition."

In concluding her assessment of the show she said "This layered work embodies Roden and Vitiello's experimental dialogue about how visualizing sound emphasizes its ability to stimulate our other senses.

16 November 2007

A Conversation with Caroompas

In advance of her new solo at Western Project, longtime Otis Fine Arts faculty member Carole Caroompas was featured in the Nov/Dec 07 issue of Artillery magazine.

The article by Ezrha Jean Black starts out as a light read- "As we enter the studio, we're greeted by one her (Caroompas') cats, a lion-sized marmalade named Arthur Lee, followed by a slightly smaller Asian blue named Lux..." but as the article moves toward a discussion of her current work, it morphs into a much denser exchange- "...an element of transcendence one step removed from Sartrean (and perhaps Hustonian) existentialism- the flip side of the absurd universe Maxine, Shannon, and the others swim through, the Huston jungle absurdly destined to become the Puerta Vallarta of Burton and Taylor: what for Caroompas anyway, appears to be the possibility, however fraught or contingent, of meaning."

Working through the whole article is worth it, you'll have a better sense of what drives Caroompas in her work and the physical space in which she makes it.

Her exhibition at Western Project remains up through December 22nd.

For another take on Caroompas and her work, here is an interview from earlier this year, done as a part of Otis' faculty profile series. Enjoy.

14 November 2007

Holy Helio!

For the Fall 2007 issue, Helio Magazine teamed up with several of Otis' Communication Arts students and now their work is featured throughout the edition.

Danielle Buerli, Julian Callos, Jessica Cooper, Saul Espinosa, Kim Lewis, Aya Masuda, Aaron Needham, Evelyn Salmeron, Joseph Anthony Samaniego and Niguel Sanders all contributed illustrations for the magazine and they provide short reflections about their inspiration for their piece on the contributors page.

For example, Jessica Cooper, who has the back cover said-

"Helios was the personification of the sun in Greek mythology, who drove a chariot through the sky with a team of magnificent solar bulls. I wanted to take this description of the sun personified and modernize it in an illustration while maintaining the integrity of the Helio flame logo."

Helio Magazine is an extension of Helio, the folks who tell you- it's not a phone, is a mobile experience...They recently opened a store on the Third Street Promenade and have also partnered withe former Otis Fine Arts student Tim Biskup on a couple of projects.

So check out the fall edition when it becomes available and see the great work our students did!

Pollari Picks Up the Props

Linda Pollari's architecture firm PXS, was honored by the Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Architects for her project "barcode housing system." Pollari, who is the chair of the Architecture/Landscape/Interiors program at Otis received a Citation in the Next LA category.

A listing of all the winners can be found in the September/October edition of Form magazine.

Congratulations Linda!

02 November 2007

Rosebud Was His Blog?

Otis student Christopher Barischoff took the notion of the research paper in new direction last month when he created the Citizen Kane:Case Study blog for one of his Digital Media courses.

It provides a quick primer on this remarkable movie- I remember watching it over and over again for my Intro to Film course at Chapman- complete with video and additional references.

Have a look at his blog and then have another look at the film!

19 October 2007

And the Emmy Went To


Sue Mondt! The Otis alum has been honored with an Emmy for "Individual Achievement in Animation" for her work as an Art Director on the Squirrel Secrets episode of the Cartoon Network series "Camp Lazlo."

The award was presented to her during the Creative Arts Awards ceremony last month. Unlike the most of the other Emmy categories, Mondt's award was through a juried category. There are no nominations, rather the Academy identifies excellent work annually.

Mondt was also nominated for an 2007 Annie award for her work on the Hard Days Sampson episode of the same show.

You can read more at The Ogden Reporter. They deserve special thanks because it was their story that alerted me about the award in the first place.

*photo courtesy of Sue Mondt's family and The Ogden Reporter

17 October 2007

Maberry the WPMu Maven


Since I have been writing this blog I've come across several examples that show librarians and their "clan" are major contributors to the blogosphere. This past summer for instance, I learned that our Information Literacy video was a favorite of a library group in the Philippines.

This week brought another example and another citation for Otis. In his blog bavatuesdays, Jim Groom discussed his favorite examples of colleges using WPMu (that's Word Press Multi-user as I found out) and he made special mention of Sue Maberry and Otis-

"Otis College of Art and Design is one of my personal favorites. Sue Mayberry(sic) has done an unbelievable job at Otis and needs to be applauded. The policy and the documentation is wonderfully done. And, as with most things from Otis, it looks so good!"

I certainly agree with Jim on this one. Sue has been a great help and support to me with this blog and has created an atmosphere on campus that really encourages faculty and staff to make creative use of blogs and other web2.0 "gadgets."

Congratulations Sue, well deserved!

16 October 2007

Oatey is Okay!


Otis alum Chris Oatey ('07 MFA Fine Arts) received a nice plug for his upcoming solo show in this week's Los Angeles version of Flavorpill. Labeled by Shana Nys Dambrot as "fresh faced," the mention describes Oatey's work-

"meticulously removes the majority of the detail from photo-based images, creating pattern-based abstractions based on athletic spectacle and hero worship."

Oatey's show at Seeline Gallery opens this Saturday (10/20/07) with a reception from 6 to 9PM and remains on view through November 24th.

15 October 2007

Gajin Fujita Probably Won't Read This


In the October issue of Juxtapoz magazine, Otis alum Gajin Fujita ('97) talks about his artistic influences, life after art school and the fact that he does not own a computer so its not likely that he'll read this post but I encourage you all to read the article.

Described as "elusive" by writer Shelley Leopold, she nonetheless draws Gajin out into the open. I was especially interested in his responses to questions about the gallery world, which included:

"It still hurts to this day that they take 50 percent. I wish artists in general would get treated more like athletes. And deadlines; I don't think art has or should be given a deadline. I have a qualm about that. It's contradictory to the process, but I guess it's tied to the business and money end of things."

The reality is that Gajin has become very successful and his work is selling quite well. His last show at LA Louver Gallery drew a great deal of interest, and he has had recent shows at LACMA and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art but he comments in the story that it is not the financial gain that drives him:

"I'd be doing this stuff even if I weren't getting paid. I always think that my art, or art in general comes from within."

Several images from his recent shows both at LA Louver and LACMA accompany the interview and more of his work is available at LA Lover's website.

19 September 2007

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.

13 September 2007

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...

10 September 2007

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.

07 September 2007

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

24 August 2007

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).

21 August 2007

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!

17 August 2007

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.

16 August 2007

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.

10 August 2007

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.

07 August 2007

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)

02 August 2007

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

31 July 2007

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.

30 July 2007

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.

29 July 2007

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.

23 July 2007

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.

22 July 2007

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.

16 July 2007

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.

14 July 2007

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!

09 July 2007

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!

02 July 2007

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)!

20 June 2007

I've Seen Fire and I've Seen Rock

Mike Gravel is a candidate for the Democratic Presidential Nomination in 2008. By all measures his is a campaign long on hope and short on prominence, he is polling in the 1% range in a crowded field that includes heavy hitters Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Otis faculty members, Matt Mayes and Guston Sondin-Klausner are two of Gravel's supporters and they believed in him enough to produce two videos for his campaign. The twin pieces "Rock" and "Fire" were posted to YouTube last month and enjoyed some immediate buzz for their unusual content. Things really took off a few days ago when John Stewart featured the Rock video in a segment of The Daily Show. Rock has now been viewed over 100,000 times and Fire is closing in on 50,000 views.

Following the Daily Show appearance, the story of the videos has been picked up by CNN, whose reporter Jeanne Moos did a profile, The New York Times blog, The Chicago Tribune blog, The Washington Post blog and MSNBC.com to name a few. Even some of the responses are garnering their own buzz.

Senator Gravel seems very pleased with the videos and with the resulting attention. Will it make a difference for his campaign? Who knows, but at a minimum it is a great example of the power of mass collaboration at work.

18 June 2007

Otis is the First Art School to be Honored by the NMC

Otis was honored at the 2007 New Media Consortium (NMC) summer conference as one of three recipients of the Center of Excellence Award. The College was recognized for "their creative, technical, and artistic support of the campus community"

It was the first time the NMC honored a professional school of Art and Design with such distinction. In addition to fellow 2007 honorees- The University of British Columbia and The University of Wisconsin, Madison other recipients have included- the California State University System, Johns Hopkins University and University of California, Berkely.

NMC CEO Larry Johnson noted that- “The NMC organizations recognized this year represent the best of our field, and each has had a tremendous history of accomplishment.” Lev Gonick, NMC Board of Directors Chair further noted that all three of the 2007 recipients "...exemplify the highest values of the NMC, and each has compiled a history of accomplishment that has helped set the standards in the application of new media forms to teaching, learning, and creative expression."

15 June 2007

Gama-Go Gets the Green for Otis

The Underwire, one of Wired Magazine's blogs had a nice plug for Gama-Go's event last night at 111 Minna Gallery. In addition to launching their new limited edition book, the "GG" folks also held a silent auction to raise scholarship money for Otis.

Nice deeds and good fun all at the same time, not a bad way for folks to spend an evening...

08 June 2007

Eye on iTunes

iTunes, the predominant site for downloading music and video debuted its "iTunes U" recently to much acclaim. Otis was one of only 16 colleges in the country to be included by Apple as a "launch" school and the only professional school of art and design. Visitors to the site can download lectures, features on world culture and current events and lots of "how to" pieces including a whole series by Otis faculty and staff on everything from drawing fundamentals to how to attend a National Portfolio Day.

The launch has been covered by several media outlets including The Chronicle of Higher Education, Technorati and The Daily Galaxy.

So have a look for yourself! If you have iTunes, just open it up and look for the iTunes U section. If you need to get iTunes first, just start here.

Like what you see? Let me know! Have a request for Otis content, tell me what it is.

15 May 2007

All the News That is Fit to Blog

Khoi Vinh ('93), the design director for NYTimes.com, gave an eloquent address to Otis' graduating class of 2007 on May 12th.

In his remarks Khoi extolled the virtues of failure to the students, imploring them to "...FAIL early and often. Don’t waste any time — get out there TODAY and start failing..." there was a clear bit of tongue-in-cheek in that recommendation but he also encouraged them to "Start doing WHAT YOU WANT TO DO now, and be willing to lose at it as much as you want it to succeed. Let your dreams get BEATEN and KICKED AROUND a little, let them leave the cozy confines of your imaginations and live in the REAL WORLD, so that they can realize their full potential."

I appreciated his very personal approach to the entire address, the contents of which he posted on his personal blog Subtraction. Read the whole thing, it's worth it.

11 May 2007

Red Got Inside Their Heads

In announcing why they picked Otis senior Jesse Kersey's entry as the winner for the 2007 Heineken USA/AAF Public Service Advertising Competition contest, the judges felt that her project was most effective in addressing all of the contest parameters-

This year, students were tasked with communicating the importance of not getting into a car with someone who has been drinking. Their campaign submissions were required to feature creative executions in media that speak to the post-graduation audience -- print, radio and Internet advertising.

Using a combination of traditional word games, puzzles and accompanying radio spots, Jesse's campaign would give people an opportunity to test their skills and therefore, their ability or their friend's to drive.

In addition to a $3000 cash prize, Jesse was flown to Heineken's US headquarters where she and the second place winner met with company officials and pitched their campaigns for possible use in the Enjoy Heineken Responsibly program.

Among the honorable mention winners was one of Jesse's classmates- Arlene Fontanilla.

Oh, and why the title Red...? If you've ever had a chance to meet Jesse, you'll understand.

10 May 2007

This Dr is Up in Smoke


That would be Dr. Cheech Marin. He was honored at Otis' commencement ceremonies on May 12th with an honorary doctorate.

While many known him only as half of the famous duo of inhalers in all the Cheech and Chong movies, Dr. Marin has also been amassing a very strong collection of Chicano art, including work by several Otis alums including Eloy Torrez and Patssi Valdez. In a recent Los Angeles Times article Agustin Gurza identified him as "...the nation's leading advocate for Chicano art." In the same story he was lauded for his donation of prints to several museums and universities.

Otis Sophomore in Great Demand

Charlie Edmiston is just finishing his second year at Otis and it looks like the Fine Arts major won't be wondering what to do with his summer. Thanks to his mural work at Paliskates, he has been approached by several other business owners to create original pieces for their stores. Today's edition of the Palisadian-Post has a feature on his work at the skate shop, where he has been a member of the skate team since he was a student at Palisades High School.

In describing the variety of media he uses in his work Charlie said "You don't have to follow any rules for art,' 'You find a medium that you're comfortable with." He further describes his recent projects- "...I have been working on mixed media, which includes tempera, spray paint and cel vinyl, a medium that cartoonists use for cartoon cels."

The article is also a nice endorsement of Otis' Foundation year program and the College's admission process.

01 May 2007

Second to One

Just one design team finished ahead of Otis' pairing of Matthew Gilio-Tenan and Eunice Yoon in the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles Interior Architecture Committee's 15th annual Student Competition. Gilio-Tenan and Yoon took second place, winning $6000 in scholarship money according to a story in the Orange County Register.

They competed against students from Art Center, Sci-Arc, Woodbury University and the winning team from Cal State Long Beach. In addition to the scholarships, all the winning teams will be honored at the association's annual gala this September.