INTERNal Affairs: Life is Like a Thanksgiving Feast

INTERNal Affairs is a series by GCAC Curatorial Intern and CSUF Art History major Shauna Hultgrien.

The holidays are upon us my Internet friends! Thanksgiving is just days away, which means Christmas is just around the corner (try not to panic too much you last minute shoppers). As I sit wrapped in my scarf and bundled in my coat in attempt to beat this California winter, I have decided to stop complaining about the bitter chill of sixty degrees and instead take a moment to consider something for which I am thankful.

While there are many things I enjoy; fish tacos, movies based on young adult book series, fish tacos, my wool coat, my scooter, fish tacos and my black boots, there is still one thing that I am thankful for far beyond anything else, and that thing is YOU. As a frequenter of the art world, it is no secret that my passions lie in the products of the creative mind. However, in considering this notion, another thought sprang upon me: I’m passionate about the product of any mind! Creativity is a human quality that we all utilize in various forms. It is what F. Scott Fitzgerald calls the “inexhaustible variety of life;” the fact that we are each unique; we are all our own, unlike any other there was, is, or ever will be. There is no possible way to recreate the exact circumstances which make you, you. And because of this, I am constantly flabbergasted, bewildered, amused, and entertained, over and over again.

My position as intern here at Grand Central Art Center has afforded me the opportunity to experience art as it is today. My jaw dropped when I first experience Cumulus, the gargantuan homage to the L.A. Aqueduct by Braden King and Matthew Moore. My mind spun and my side ached from fits of laughter after a walk through Eamonn Fox’s tongue-in-cheek exhibition. My heart ached as I fully absorbed the weight of the message embodied in Beatriz Cortez’s Time Machine. But art is not something simply hung from the walls. Art is everywhere and art is everything. My jaw also drops in awe of my microwave that can cook my potatoes in three minutes. The Dyson Airblade Hand Dryer is arguably the greatest invention of the last decade and I am overwhelmed with wonder and excitement every time that dryer returns my hands to me without the slightest hint of water. Every time I wheel my luggage from terminal to terminal I am beside myself with appreciation for whoever decided to fasten wheels to my over-packed suitcase. The bottom line is that we, as the human race, are great. Whether you’re Henry Ford or Pablo Picasso, the things we produce and the actions we take allow us to help each other experience that full spectrum of emotion. I am so thankful that we are all different and all bring our own homemade dish to this thanksgiving feast of life, it all looks so delicious and I want to try everything! I am never bored and always amazed and it is all because of YOU.

So thank you whoever decided to fry that fish and blanket it in a tortilla, bravo! Thank you shoemaker who cut the boots precisely to the height I prefer, wonderfully done! Thank you automotive company in Italy who knows how to package fun on two wheels, amazing! Thank you J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer and Suzanne Collins, your literary geniuses translated beautifully on the silver screen, a most excellent feat! And thank you, you! We are all in this together and you are making it one heck of a journey. This is your grateful GCAC intern, over and out.

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INTERNal Affairs: Once Bitten

INTERNal Affairs is a series by GCAC Curatorial Intern and CSUF Art History major Shauna Hultgrien.

It’s spreading. Fast and unapologetic, the Creative bug is buzzing and has struck the arts community of Santa Ana. I’ve been on the front line here at Grand Central Art Center for just a few months now, but in that time I have seen artists turned mad with ingenuity and innovation, hardly able to contain their creative impulses; once the Creative bug bites the virus seems to run rampant through its host. After experiencing October’s first Saturday Art Walk, it has become abundantly clear that this outbreak has viciously begun to affect the arts community at large. The symptoms by which this virus manifests itself are as diverse and varied as the artists themselves. It is still unclear as to how this creativity spreads: is it contact? Is it airborne? Is it something in the water? Perhaps it’s some sort of contamination of the food? As you know, my Internet friends, I am no doctor; no, I am simply GCAC’s humble intern and your loyal reporter, so let’s take this time to review the evidence together and get to the bottom of this epidemic.

(Eamonn Fox performing with Jenny)

I did my best to expect the unexpected during October’s Art Walk. I realize that this is the month of mischief and mayhem, so I kept an open mind and a watchful eye for anything out of the ordinary. This proved to be an arduous task; the last three months GCAC has happily facilitated artist Eamonn Fox, and for those of you who have experienced Fox and/or his work can sympathize when I say, it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish the ordinary from the extraordinary. I have somehow seemed to normalize absurdity and thusly am phased by very little. This speaks volumes to my bewilderment that was to occur on Saturday, but I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s start from the beginning.

(Beatriz Cortez with patron)

(The Eternal Telethon: The Power Suit Edition)

(Beatriz Cortez: The Time Machine)

(The Eternal Telethon: The Power Suit Edition)

(Braden King viewing Beatriz Cortez: The Time Machine)

So, it began like any other art walk, eager patrons strolling in to GCAC to get their last glimpse of Beatriz Cortez’s The Time Machine, and Eamonn Fox’s Solo Residency Exhibition for the Purposes of Furthering My Career, as well as to witness the unveiling of Cumulus, the newest installation in the main gallery by Matthew Moore and Braden King. Fox decided to take full advantage of his last art walk here with us by using his space to host The Eternal Telethon, a telethon for the 21st century organized by artist Jen Bruce, with Paul Michael White Jr., Niko Solorio, Alexis Disselkoen and Marcos de la Siref. Artists of varying talents took turns in front of the crowd and in front of the webcam (the telethon was streaming live on the internet), showcasing their skills for our enjoyment. This was the first indicator that the Creativity virus was spreading; artists from San Diego to Bakersfield turned out to plug in to this artistic outlet. There were musical acts, comedy routines, performance pieces, and two lively MCs that seamlessly supplemented the show. The inundation of artists and their passion for their craft indicated that they had not escaped the clutches of the Creative bug. Upon noticing this, my concern for the patrons grew. Not wanting to alarm anyone at a potential infestation of creativity here at GCAC, I carefully and quietly scanned the masses for signs of the Creativity bug. The crowd persisted through the Telethon in its entirety, excusing themselves occasionally to take their turn in The Time Machine or to gasp in awe at the enormously impressive Cumulus. All seemed well, until I saw it. I caught a glimpse of a patron’s eye and there it was, that glimmer of craze. I knew they had caught the bug; a sort of benign rabidity that propelled them through the galleries until their creative appetites were satisfied hastened their movements.

(Cumulus: Matthew Moore and Braden King)

(CSUF student exhibition at Memphis)

(Cumulus: Matthew Moore and Braden King)

The glow of the perfectly formatted projections on to the wooden reconstruction of the LA Aqueduct emanated from the gallery that houses Cumulus, or what King calls, “ 50 feet, 6,000 pounds, and18,000 lumens of awesome.” Feeling overwhelmed by the artistic greatness housed in GCAC and by the realization that the Creative virus is much bigger that I had initially suspected, I ran into the promenade for some fresh air, but that crazed look was in nearly everyone’s eyes! The vendors, the street performers, the passerby’s; in a dazed panic I stumbled towards the nearest illuminated room and found myself in the Memphis of Santora’s Backdoor Gallery. The modest gallery, donated by artist, curator and CSUF/GCAC MFA alum David Michael Lee, has become the new home to the works of some of Cal State University Fullerton’s students. Curator, featured artist, and GCAC MFA resident Caesar D. Alzate Jr. assured me that this was to be the first of many shows that would take place in the space. I was happy to meet our neighbors, but it only confirmed my fears that this Creative bug had spread past GCAC’s walls and was now beyond anyone’s control.

(Cumulus: Matthew Moore and Braden King)

(Artist Tony de los Reyes)

(Desiree and Greg Glenn, Jim Skuldt, Jesse Sugarmann and his wife Erica)

(Mary Leigh Cherry with her son and daughter, and artist Lauren Bon with one of her project’s promotional mules)

(Artists Matthew Moore, Braden King, Micol Hebron, Carrie Marill, Jesse Sugarmann, Tony de los Reyes gather with program/projection system designer Brian Chasalow, Cherry and Martin gallery owner Mary Leigh Cherry, Filmmaker Alexa Sau, Sound Editor Borja Sau for post reception get together at C4)

My head spinning, I made my way back to GCAC where I ran into Matthew Moore and Braden King, who were both enjoying the opening of their remarkable installation, along with program/projection system designer Brian Chasalow and project assistant Kim Larkin. I knew that the Creative bug had bitten them all; it was abundantly evident in their work. Over the last month their condition never stabilized, it only intensified as the scope of their project seemed to abandon all boundaries until it eventually culminated into the fantastic creation that is Cumulus. It was then that I began to notice some familiar faces around the gallery and I realized then that I had been naïve to believe that the Creative epidemic had only been affecting Santa Ana. The return of Mary Leigh Cherry and Tony de los Reyes to the corridors of GCAC was a happy reunion after de los Reyes 2012 show in our gallery, but this also a red flag, the Creative bug was much more powerful than I anticipated. This was further confirmed when I noticed Creative Capital grantee artists, Jim Skuldt and Jesse Sugarmann bouncing between the galleries. King and Moore are also Creative Capital artists, so to have four under one roof was overwhelming to a young, impressionable intern such as myself. Artists Carrie Marill and Micol Hebron were roaming the spaces as well. The coup de gras, however, was when Lauren Bon parked her mules from her upcoming, 100 Mules Walking the Los Angeles Aqueduct so that she could experience Cumulus, which stands as another homage to the centennial celebration of the LA Aqueduct. It was then that I came to a full realization that Creative bug cannot be contained; it’s indiscriminately hitting everyone and surfacing in the form of fantastically innovative works.

(Aili Schmeltz: Cross Cut)

(Rage Bear: Juggling Awesome)

(Tim Youd will be “Performing” A Scanner Darkly)

(Nov. 2, The Big Draw LA event at GCAC in collaboration with Ryman Arts)

(Vincent Goudreau – detail from The Juan Recordings: Migrating to the Senior Tour)

So that’s it Internet community, but I don’t know where this leaves us. After this recap of events, the only conclusion that I have reached is that no one is safe. I suppose my only advice is to enjoy it, because if you haven’t encountered the Creative bug yet, you soon will. Especially if you choose to join us on November 2nd for the first Saturday Art Walk when GCAC will continue Cumulus and open two new shows, Aili Schmeltz’s Cross Cut and Rage Bear: Juggling Awesome curated by MFA in Illustration student Marvin Chow. That evening will also mark the beginning of Tim Youd‘s month long “Performing” A Scanner Darkly and we’ll host a one night Big Draw LA event for the entire family with Ryman Arts throughout the evening. And did I mention, artist Vincent Goudreau arrives in residence this week from Maui and will be at GCAC for the next two months? Since contact with the Creative bug is inevitable, I suggest you welcome it with open arms and join us sooner rather than later here at GCAC. I hope that you come to your senses and embrace the madness because if you can’t beat them, join them. This is the GCAC intern, over and out.

FALL SEASON PREVIEW – Grand Central Art Center

FALL SEASON PREVIEW
Exhibitions / Artist in Residence / Theatre

EXHIBITIONS

 

 

 

 

Adriana Salazar: Nothing Else Left
2013 California-Pacific Triennial Partnership with Orange County Museum of Art
through September 22, 2013

Is there an end to our existence? Can we be separated from our bodies and be transformed into something else? Adriana Salazar’s work has continued to revolve around these questions in different ways. This is why the realm of mortuary customs appeals to her: it presents numerous ways to approach the ultimate unknown.

During a two-month residency at Grand Central Art Center, the artist desired to go deeper into that moment of transition between life and death, finding out as much as she could about what happens with our bodies, with our consciousness and with everything we build around the death of others. In her words, “I found, amongst other things, that there is an aesthetics of transition, that there are rituals trying to maintain life after death, and laws which govern our bodies, even when we are not fully present. I also found out that there are transitional techniques and an intricate industry around them.”

Salazar has decided to rescue as many cremated artificial body parts possible. These parts remain as solid as they were inside their bodies and are nevertheless considered residue. She found their value in this very ambiguity. They embody the question of the status of our own existence on a physical level: their materiality creates confusion between those objects as parts of a physical body and our own body, thus opening the gap between our certainties and uncertainties, beyond the matter of human death itself.

 

 

 

 

Beatriz Cortez: The Time Machine
through October 13, 2013

The Time Machine is an installation that explores the dual realities of a first world metropolis, Los Angeles, and of urban space in a developing region of the world, in this case San Salvador. These spaces coexist in the same hemisphere, separated by over 2,300 miles. However, they have strong connections to one another through labor and culture. Los Angeles is home to the largest Salvadoran population outside of the capital city of San Salvador.

Cortez’s work explores memory and loss in the aftermath of a war and in relation to the experience of immigration. Her installation conveys the experience of an immigrant who lives in Los Angeles, but who simultaneously inhabits another reality, that of one’s own city of origin. As a result, the installation makes reference to a landscape of diverse layers, the superimposition of two urban realities. The outside wall of the room displays a video projection of the City of Los Angeles in the daylight, viewed from the Griffith Observatory. The inner space of The Time Machine, on the contrary, is dark and shows a view of the city of San Salvador at night. It is a space reminiscent of childhood and nostalgic memories – a childhood of an artist who was raised during a war torn period in Salvadoran history.

 

 

 

 

Eamonn Fox: Solo residency exhibition for the purposes of furthering my career
through October 13, 2013
Performance: October 5 from 7-10pm

Eamonn Fox solo residency exhibition… is a real time adventure in art making. The artist approaches the exhibition opportunity as a fluid series of related events, as opposed to an exercise in the arrangement of static objects. Featuring sculpture, photography, printmaking, painting, and performance in a bizarre and unpredictable rotation – the artist hopes to engage audiences on a personal level, one individual at a time. Taking time away from his day-job, Fox plans to be in “residence” and on site during gallery hours (as much as possible) to collaborate with patrons, field questions or perhaps play darts. Without a discernable strategy in terms of “big picture” meaning making, content is variable and specific to individual works. As fleeting, fast and dynamic as contemporary life is, the exhibition aims to be an enlivened site of exchange – nimble enough to adapt to news items, world events and local engagement through the constant development/arrival of un-predetermined artworks and programming.

 

 

 

 

Matthew Moore and Braden King: Cumulus
Residency/Exhibition with support of the Metabolic Studio
October 5, 2013 – January 5, 2014
Opening Reception: October 5 from 7-10pm

The journey of water is not a foreign concept to artist Matthew Moore; it is actually central to generations of his family’s lively hood. For without the control of water, it would have been impossible for Moore to become the fourth generation of farmers in his family, sowing land in what would otherwise be considered hostile desert environment of western Phoenix, Arizona.

Through his artistic practice, Moore has found his artistic voice, while at the same time coming to a realization – the actions of taking raw desert/native land, converting it into fertile farming land by diverting water, and creating infrastructures, actually provides the perfect environment for suburban sprawl to occur. He also realized that his practice of farming this land might actually exploit more natural resources than the subdivisions he was so quick to criticize.

Matthew Moore has invited filmmaker/artist Braden King to collaborate through residency at Grand Central Art Center. They have spent time traveling the LA Aqueduct route from Central to Southern California. Along the way they’ve reflecting upon its impact, connecting and having conversations with individuals who live, work and engage this structure on daily bases. Informed by these experiences, the artists will create a major site-specific installation, marking the aqueduct’s 100th anniversary on November 5, 2013.

Major funding support for this project provided by Metabolic Studio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tim Youd: “Performing” A Scanner Darkly
Throughout November 2013

Novelist Philip K. Dick lived the latter part of his life, and died, in Santa Ana. During his time in Santa Ana, he wrote some of his most highly acclaimed work. One of these late classics is A Scanner Darkly, a semi-autobiographical novel of drug use and paranoia set in a dystopian Orange County of the then near future (he wrote the novel in 1977, setting it in the mid 1990s).

Artist Tim Youd will “perform” A Scanner Darkly over the course of a 2 to 4 week period in the Grand Central Art Center lobby as part of his new series of novel/typewriter based work.

 

 

 

 

 

Aili Schmeltz: Cross Cut
November 2, 2013 – February 9, 2014
Opening Reception: November 2 from 7-10pm

Cross Cut, from Aili Schmeltz’s Tomorrowland series, explores the idea that utopia can be considered not only a place or a goal, but also as the very act of striving for such a target. Schmeltz’s hybridized structures are materializations, remnants of an ideal that never was and may never be. As fallen monuments to a utopic philosophy, they function as relics of both a “good place” and “no place.” Part architectural, part fossil, part potential: these works utilize discarded building materials that appear to have crystallized within a ‘natural’ process—strata that have undergone philosophical transformation yet to be fulfilled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rage Bear: Juggling Awesome
Organized by Marvin Chow, CSUF MFA in illustration
November 2, 2013 – February 9, 2014
Opening Reception: November 2 from 7-10pm

An exhibition representing both in-game artwork, concept artwork and fan artwork as it relates to Rage Bear – a concept involving a Bibi bear whose specialty juggling skills allow him to juggle ridiculous amount of objects when he gets angry. Through the invitation of Marvin Chow, 30 Los Angeles-based entertainment artists will develop work for the exhibition, creating part of the Rage Bear storyline in their own personal style.

 

 

 

 

 

Miracle Report: Julianne Swartz and Ken Landauer
January 18 – May 11, 2014
Opening Reception: February 1 from 7-10pm

Julianne Swartz and Ken Landauer spent their Social Studies residency at the Arizona State University Art Museum looking for miracles. The artists explored the miraculous through people’s perceptions of it in their lives, interviewing students, school children and community members of all ages and backgrounds. They combined their findings in an installation of fleeting vignettes playing on all of the available sound and video equipment in the museum’s possession. In the words of the artists, “Our installation will strive to embody some beauty, some hocus-pocus and some unexplainable magic.”

Initiated by John D. Spiak, this project was realized at the ASU Art Museum and supported by a grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts as part of the Social Studies series. Upon Spiak’s departure to accept his new position at Grand Central Art Center, Heather Sealy Lineberry curated the exhibition at ASU Art Museum with curatorial assistance from Nicole Herden.

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

(Cog•nate Collective) Amy Sanchez and Misael Diaz
Eamonn Fox
Matthew Moore and Braden King
Julianne Swartz and Ken Landauer
Holly Myers
Tim Youd
Vincent Goudreau
Daniel Tucker
Heather Layton and Brian Bailey

GRAND CENTRAL THEATRE

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Show #1 – ALMOST, MAINE
by John Cariani
Directed by Kari Hayter
The residents of and visitors to the tiny mythical town of Almost, Maine are falling in and out of love.
“An all encompassing globe of love: puppy love, hidden passion, love lost, burgeoning love, and many that fall in-between.” Amanda Gunther MD Theatre Guide
Performs 8pm 10/4, 10/5, 10/10, 10/11, 10/12, 10/16, 10/17, 10/18, 10/19
Tickets: http://www.fullerton.edu/arts/gcac/theatre.html#maine

Fall Show #2 – THE SUBMISSION
by Jeff Talbot
Directed by Mark Ramont
A raw, unsentimental play about race and gender exposing quiet prejudice and intolerance in the theatre.
“A mischievous dance across the minefield of affirmative action in the arts” David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
Performs 8pm 10/25, 10/26, 10/31, 11/1, 11/2, 11/6, 11/7, 11/8, 11/9
Tickets: http://www.fullerton.edu/arts/gcac/theatre.html#submission

Fall Show #3 –ILLYRIA
Book, music, and lyrics by Pete Mills
Directed by Kari Hayter
Illyria is a musical based on William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
Performs 8pm 11/15, 11/16, 11/21, 11/22, 11/23 (dark Fall Break) 12/4, 12/5, 12/6, 12/7
Tickets: http://www.fullerton.edu/arts/gcac/theatre.html#cradle

MISSION

Grand Central Art Center is dedicated to the investigation and engagement of contemporary art and visual culture – regionally, nationallyand internationally – through unique collaborations between artists, students and the community.

SUPPORT
Grand Central Art Center programs are made possible with the generous support provided by:
Metabolic Studio
Efroymson Family Fund
William Gillespie Foundation
Fainbarg-Chase Families
Memphis at the Santora
An anonymous donor
The Yost Theatre
Memphis @ The Santora
Community Collaborative Partners

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR GRAND CENTRAL ART CENTER
Quality exhibitions, programs and outreach of Grand Central Art Center are made possible through the generous support of individuals like you.

MAKE A DONATION TODAY – Support GCAC for Continued Success!
Please call Tracey Gayer @ 714.567.7233

GALLERY HOURS
Closed Mondays and Holidays
Tuesdays – Sundays 11.00 am – 4.00 pm.
Extended hours: Friday & Saturday 11.00am – 7.00 pm.
(First Saturday of the month galleries are open until 10.00 pm)
http://www.grandcentralartcenter.com/maps.php

Thank you for your continued engagement and support!

Grand Central Art Center
a unit of Cal State University Fullerton’s College of the Arts
125 N. Broadway
Santa Ana, CA 92701
t. 714.567.7233
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INTERNal Affairs: Guitar Fights and Neon Tights

INTERNal Affairs is a new series by GCAC Curatorial Intern and CSUF Art History major Shauna Hultgrien.

(Multiple Possessions performance)

Did you see that guy getting chased by a guitar-wielding musician? How about those three gentlemen who striped down to neon tights? Did the musical melodies of LYSOL pierce your eardrums and shake your entire being? No? Well then you must have missed September’s Art Walk! Shame on you for ignoring my last blog! I told you, Grand Central Art Center is a hotbed of experimental and exciting artistic collaboration, and it should not be missed! Those who attended can attest to that and are fully aware that words hardly convey the events of that evening. However, as your faithful reporter I will do my best to recreate the happenings of that thrilling Saturday as they occurred to me, GCAC’s dutiful intern.

(patrons view The Time Machine)

September resumes the shows from August’s opening of Beatriz Cortez’s, The Time Machine and Eamonn Fox’s, Solo Residency for the Purposes of Furthering My Career; the artists rose to the challenge of keeping their pieces stimulating and engaging. Cortez obliged inquisitive minds by remaining in her exhibition space for the duration of the evening, offering insight and guided tours to any and all who were willing to venture on her artistic journey. Fox fulfilled his objective of involving the public in art by completely submerging them in three jaw-dropping performance pieces.

(Multiple Possessions performance)

(Multiple Possessions performance)

(Multiple Possessions performance)

Fox welcomed back fellow artist Patrick Ballard, as well as Nathan Bockelman and Brian Getnick, in the evening’s first performance, Multiple Possessions. Ballard (the Cyclops conjuring, blue mouthed, Mozart of the synthesizer that performed during August’s Art Walk) joined Bockelman and Getnick in dropping their drawers and drawing a crowd. If you were lucky enough to have been present, you’ll remember me as the door monitor warning all that the show contained “adult content.” The three wandered about the stage area boasting sheer neon tights (complete with newspaper for censorship), looking confused and muted as though they were trapped in a bubble in which the audience could not understand them and they could not be heard. After the artist’s wandered the stage, they each took a place behind a microphone and began chanting one word each until they reached a unified, melodic tune. The tune stopped and the center performer picked up a guitar and proceeded to never play. After a brief silence, a glow of normalcy returned to the artists’ faces and with that, the performance concluded. As a uniformed audience member, (I didn’t discuss the project with the artists) I took the performance to be a commentary on the general public’s reception of art. Certain works may not fulfill the expectations of the creator nor the observer and while artists do create with meaning, there is not a wrong way to interpret art; it is as unique as the person experiencing it.

(patrons view The Time Machine)

(patrons view The Time Machine)

(patrons view The Time Machine)

This idea seemed to travel through the halls of GCAC; as I stood in the foyer with my handy-dandy clicker counter, I could hear Beatriz Cortez asking what feelings her Time Machine evoked in those individuals emerging from the wooden box. She loved hearing the range of responses and when asked what it was supposed to mean, she simply responded with her view, but noted that it is something different for everyone. Meanwhile Fox was setting up his personal performance in the promenade.

(Emoticons performance)

Fox’s passion for actively involving the public in art led to a performance titled, Emoticons, which flung creativity and originality in the faces of the audience. A Santa Ana local who has certainly built up his frequent flyer miles here at GCAC shared with me his thoughts on Fox; he feels that Fox is indeed a true artist because true artists, “cut through the bulls*@t.” Eamonn Fox is certainly free of Buls*@t. He is sarcastic and ironic in all the right ways, while maintaining a consistent and blatant honesty in all that he does. Art is a creative expression of the thoughts and feelings of the creator, and Fox, with a band behind him and a microphone in hand, creatively expressed his thoughts and feelings to the entire promenade. The performance concluded with the guitarist chasing Fox into the gallery with his instrument drawn over his head like a battle-axe.

(LYSOL performance)

(LYSOL performance)

The final performance was once again in Fox’s gallery space and consisted of a live performance of the piercing sounds of the band LYSOL. It is difficult to place the band within a genre, but I would say it was a 50-50 blend of singing and screaming. Bravo to LYSOL for maintain energy and keeping their vocal chords intact. It was a wonderful opportunity for GCAC’s patrons, as well as myself, to fully appreciate the acoustics of our building; if you were ever curious as to how well sound carries through our corridors, the answer is very well. In fact, I would venture to say that in some parts of the building sound is even amplified. At this point in the evening I was that girl in the bowler’s cap in the lobby shouting greetings at newcomers as they entered, my need to greet and welcome could not be deterred by the overpowering sounds of a band who’s amps reach 11.

(Matthew Moore and Braden King: Cumulus – installation proposal image)

(patrons viewing Nothing Else Left)

Alright art world of the Internet, have you learned your lesson? I sure hope so, October’s Art Walk will be THE LAST time to see both Cortez’s and Fox’s work here at GCAC. We will also have a brand new show, Cumulus in the main gallery. This work is a collaborative effort of Matthew Moore and Braden King and it is going to be quite a display. This means if you have yet to see our current main gallery exhibition, Nothing Else Left by Adriana Salazar, get down here now! Her show ends Sunday, September 22. So please, I beg of you, do not make the same mistake twice. Come refine that creative palate here at Grand Central Art Center and be a part of history in the making. I certainly will be here, clicker in hand, waiting for you. This is the GCAC intern, over and out.

INTERNal Affairs: “Are You Cortez?”

INTERNal Affairs is a new series by GCAC Curatorial Intern and CSUF Art History major Shauna Hultgrien.

This past Saturday Grand Central Art Center (GCAC) participated in another successful Santa Ana Art Walk with the opening of two new exhibitions: Beatriz Cortez’s The Time Machine and Eamonn Fox’s Solo Residency Exhibition for the Purposes of Furthering My Career. Those who experienced the opening night firsthand are fortunate enough to have been a part of the hustle and bustle of a very lively crowd. For those who missed the momentous gathering, allow me to relay the evening as it occurred to me, through the eyes of a GCAC intern.

My role for the night was to greet our eager patrons while tallying the events attendance with the state-of-the-art silver handheld clicker-counter. The nature of my work demanded that I maintain post just steps away from the center’s entrance, which, as luck would have it, placed me directly in between the two galleries featuring the new works.

Bewilderment and intrigue painted the faces of visitors as they entered the gallery that is home to The Time Machine. This installation by Cortez serves as a visualization of a Salvadoran immigrant’s assimilation into the Los Angeles community. The devastated population that calls the war-torn El Salvador home has desperately sought refuge in places where they can maintain their culture without sacrificing their lives. This haven proved to be Los Angeles and Cortez’s work illustrates the integration of Salvadoran heritage with the Los Angeles lifestyle. The gallery is comprised of three parts: a shattered wall that has been reconstructed to include artifacts that can be seen through the cracks, a series of bones enclosed atop a mound of rubble, and a small wooden room in the center of the space that is to be experienced inside and out. To receive the full effect of Cortez’s amazing work, it is imperative to establish a basic context of her artistic vision. This contextualization can be achieved through a brief review of the wall placard, however, on this busy Saturday night a line quickly formed to enter the wooden room and thusly the wall text was blocked. As a result, I put my greeting duties aside to answer the inundation of questions; the most frequent being, “Are you Cortez?” I can see where my somber demeanor and outdated beret would lead many to believe that I was the brilliant artist responsible for this work, but alas, no; my talents lie in salutations and clicking. The true artist could be found, happy and even eager to discuss the depths of her project, ushering patrons into the gallery and periodically offering an impromptu-guided tour.

Fox’s installation across the hall is a nice contrast to Cortez’s work. An eclectic display of printmaking, sculpture, photography, drawings, and paintings, Fox used his space as a sort of experiment in art. Photographs complete with Fox’s clever memes, drawings, and written confessions are just some of the works that fill the walls. There is also a dartboard in the front of the gallery (adjacent to a giant image of a pizza) that invites visitors to challenge the artist to a game, while an electronic streaming sign located just above the board coerced participants to write a message that Fox would later Tweet. Fox’s vision is to create living, breathing, current-event art that is as unpredictable as everyday life. Fox aims to produce work that is both engaging and interactive.

To commemorate the opening of the exhibition, Fox invited guest artist Patrick Ballard to do a performance piece within the exhibition space. An array of neon lights illuminated the gallery and poured into the hallway followed by the organ-esque shrieks of Ballard’s keyboard. My view from the foyer was obstructed and I could bear the anticipation no longer; I abandoned my post and found a spot in the back of the growing crowd to witness the unfolding of the saga (I apologize to those who were not greeted while I succumbed to my curiosity). The keyboard’s cries conjured a creature from a makeshift doorway in the wall; the creature was wrapped in plastic and donned a paper bag on its head with a large ominous eye drawn on the front. The cycloptic being trembled in the doorway as Ballard (now resembling Cousin It of the Addams Family) hovered over the keyboard, methodically bobbing his head with each key he struck. This lasted a few moments longer until finally Ballard thrust his head toward the heavens and allowed a dye-induced blue liquid to drip from his gaping mouth. He then calmly caught his breath and drank from a bottle of water, and with that the piece was concluded. A common air of confusion, excitement, and intrigue lingered as the ringing in everyone’s ears subsided and the lights retained their normal glow. The crowd slowly dispersed and continued around the room. Due to my duties I had missed the masking of the creature, but I was present for the unveiling. Imagine my shock and awe when the one-eyed being removed the bag of anonymity and revealed himself as artist Mario Ybarra Jr.! The surprise twist of a guest artist within a guest artist’s performance left my mind spinning as though I had just experienced a fantastic dream in which an artistic inception had just occurred. We at GCAC were thrilled that Ybarra Jr. was not only interested in our gallery, but that he also felt so inclined as to lend us his creative talents for the evening. Ballard’s energetic performance served to further the creative explosion imposed by Fox, while provoking an attitude in the crowed that prepared them to effectively receive and participate in Fox’s work.

The thrill of the shiny new exhibitions could have potentially detracted from Nothing Else Left, Adriana Salazar’s work in the main gallery, but patrons were far from deterred. The three artists produced such different pieces that each gallery provided a completely unique experience. As the attendance monitor I am happy to report that there was a constant and steady flow of patrons throughout all three exhibitions for the duration of the evening.

So, if you missed the jaw-dropping event that was last Saturday, I bet you’re writhing in regret after this epic ballad of events. Well, calm your troubled mind and rest easy; these exhibitions are open to the public FREE OF CHARGE, Tuesday through Sunday. But riddle me this art connoisseurs, are you hungry for the whole enchilada? Do you want to be amidst the excitement and energy that was experienced during opening night? Then cast yourself into in the eye of the artistic storm and be sure to join us each first Saturday of the month during the Santa Ana Art Walk. Eamonn Fox and Beatriz Cortez will be onsite during the walk for the next two months to meet you and discuss their works. I too will be there, and although I am not Cortez, I will make sure you are welcomed and your presence is accounted for. This is the GCAC intern, over and out.