Posts Tagged ‘video interview’

Kimberly Brooks had a great idea recently.  The local, Venice-based painter decided to look into the art that plays a role in our everyday lives and the people holding the cards behind it.  She looked beyond museum shows, beyond advertisements, and into the world of fashion that is so often considered less of an art form and more of a necessity.  The men and women working behind the scenes to make our world a touch more glamorous are artists who recognize that the necessity of fashion can be one of the more creative enterprises in our lives and it can be one that makes (or doesn’t make) the right impression.

In her latest series of paintings, called “The Stylist Project”, Kimberly Brooks scoured the world of stylists, costume designers, and Creative Directors to delve deeper into the minds of who exactly is dressing our most photographed celebrities and our most watched characters in TV and film.  She painted Vogue’s Creative Director Grace Coddington and Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant in their most comfortable settings (albeit in their most fabulous clothes).  She painted Elizabeth Stewart, a stylist for the New York Times Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar, with a gorgeous and colorful palette and she captured the nervy and frazzled essence that is Rachel Zoe.

We got a chance to sit down with Brooks to discuss just what went into “The Stylist Project” and the upcoming show at Taylor de Cordoba gallery in Culver City.  We learned very quickly that stylist is a pretty loose term to us amateurs, but in the business, a stylist can be anyone who fashions a photo shoot (often-times called a Creative Director) to someone who styles a celebrity for a red carpet event.  Brooks’ colors and masterful way with a paintbrush allows us into this inner sanctum of fashion via the world of art – it’s almost as if we know them just by looking at these paintings.

Check out our video interview and go say hi to your new friends (the stylists, of course) at the opening reception at Taylor de Cordoba gallery on Saturday evening (February 27).  The show runs through April 3, 2010.  For more information, please click here or call (310) 559-9156.

This past week, I saw four plays in two nights, all within a one mile radius of each other—a combined cast of ten, but at least twenty roles to fill—five-and-a-half hours in all (intermissions included), yet just two titles.  Stumped?

On one evening, I journeyed to the Freud Playhouse for UCLA Live’s newest production of Enda Walsh’s The Walworth Farce.  This prize-winning, Irish madhouse of a play, which has scored high praise from audiences in both Europe and the U.S., tests the ability of the viewer to keep up with its fast-paced, absurdist antics.  Under the direction of Mikel Murfi—who’s been with the show since its inception at The Druid Theatre Company in Galway, Ireland—the three main characters of the four-person play go about their daily routine amidst the cramped, London flat they call home.  Yet the daily routine of this trio (father and two grown sons) involves the obsessive reenactment of the exact events—beat-for-beat, line-for-line—of the day they last saw their long-lost wife/mother.  Traipsing around the three-room flat at lightning speed, swapping wigs, drag-dressing, imitating two characters at once (not to mention murdering a couple) are just some of the elements involved in this highly dysfunctional family’s farce.  It’s what happens when the characters are dropped, however, when the real roles are revealed, that the farce belies the true tragedy beneath the surface.

I traveled back to the Westwood area to the Geffen Playhouse for a preview of Equivocation.  Written by Bill Cain and directed by David Esbjornson, the play concerns itself with modern-tongued playwright William “Shag” Shakespeare, circa 1605-1606.  Shag and his band of “Globe-trotters” are commissioned by Sir Robert Cecil to write a play based on the events of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Shakespeare delves deeper into the “true” events of the plot and finds more damning information than he could ever perform on a stage, let alone in front of the King.  The question of the play, as well as the play within the play, becomes how to successfully equivocate, how to tell the truth in the face of grave danger, and still come out alive.  Check out our video interview with the cast and our special Equivocation ticket discount here.

The Walworth Farce ends this Sunday, November 15 and is playing at UCLA Live’s Freud Playhouse.  For more information, please call (310) 825-2101 or click here.

Equivocation is playing at the Geffen Playhouse through November 29, 2009.  For more information, please call (310) 208-5454 or click here.

Contrary to what we all might think, political dramas and fabled truths didn’t start with George W. Bush.  Those in power have long controlled the versions of the truth that end up in our news reports or history books.  Back in the day, Shakespeare’s day to be precise, there was once a foiled plot against the established government, known as the Gunpowder Plot, in which the houses of Parliament would be blown up while King James and his largely Protestant cabinet were inside.  Brits now celebrate the day as Guy Fawkes Day because it was Guy Fawkes who was sent late at night on November 5, 1605 to light the fuse beneath the house of Parliament.  It was also he who was captured and killed on behalf of his team.  It seems that we can all relate to the events that followed…

King James told his emissary, Robert Cecil, to hire the best playwright around to tell the story of the Gunpowder Plot.  Shakespeare, who was currently rehearsing King Lear with his troupe, was approached and accepted the challenge of telling the world King James’ version of the truth.  As he and his troupe struggled with the difference between fact and fiction, they come to realize the real power of the establishment.  And so did playwright Bill Cain in his Equivocation opening this week at the Geffen Playhouse.

All about this storied event (in more ways than one), Equivocation touches on Shakespeare himself, his troupe, and his relationship with his daughter. We were recently lucky enough to sit down with the entire cast of the show.  Our video interview is chock full of the cast’s favorite scenes, how they feel about Guy Fawkes Day, and how they feel about yours truly…

We’re not the only lucky ones, though.  The Geffen Playhouse is offering Fine Arts LA readers an exclusive ticket offer!  In the interest of killing two birds with one stone (drinking wine, seeing the play) our readers can purchase tickets for $35 to see the play on one of the Geffen’s Wine Down Sundays – you get tickets to the show and a chance to enjoy complimentary wines beforehand.  Talk about enhancing your theatre-going experience!

The following Sundays are eligible for this sweet, wine-soaked deal: Nov 22, Nov 29, Dec 6, Dec 13, and Dec 20.  To enjoy this offer, call the Geffen box office and mention this code: FAE35 – enjoy!

Bill Cain’s Equivocation runs at the Geffen Playhouse from November 10 – December 20, 2009.  For more information, please click here or call (310) 208-5454.

They say it’s smart to have a niche: find what differentiates you from the pack and run with it.  That has been quite true for the owners of Fahey/Klein Gallery on La Brea Blvd.  Focusing entirely on the medium of photography has proven quite the challenge what with a new exhibit that must go up every five weeks, but as David Fahey, co-owner of the gallery mentioned, it’s been well worth it.  We recently sat down with Fahey to discuss Los Angeles’ art scene, photography, and wild times with Peter Beard.  How many other people can you name off the top of your head who can recount stories about Irving Penn, Alfred Stieglitz, Helmut Newton, and Herb Ritts?  We can name only one: David Fahey.

On now through December 5 at the gallery is an exhibition of nudes featuring two distinct artists: Ralph Gibson and Rasmus Mogensen.  A tried and true genre, according to Fahey, these artists really take their work to a new level of innovation.  Gibson’s architectural, piece-by-piece look at the female form implements shadows, light, towels, and stockings to find a host of new, intriguing shapes.  On the other hand, Mogensen’s larger-than-life photographs of nude women posing in nothing but high heels are reminiscent of Helmut Newton with a unique Mogensen touch.  Called “Perfectly Natural”, each photograph in the series has been altered in some minor way to create the artist’s idea of a perfect woman – look closely at them and you’ll see the Photoshop-ed discrepancies.

Having stayed in the same gallery space for twenty-three years, it’s safe to say the owners of Fahey/Klein Gallery know a thing or two about Los Angeles’ changing artistic landscape.  We took a seat and listened to the expert – check out our video to hear what he had to say.

Ralph Gibson and Rasmus Mogensen’s work will be up at Fahey/Klein Gallery through December 5, 2009.  For more information, please call (323) 934-2250 or click here.

Who knows what goes on within an artist’s mind? Well now we’re getting closer to knowing… Cole Sternberg, a quickly emerging local artist, has given us some valuable insights. 

Recently, we had the pleasure of suffering heat stroke, er… touring Sternberg’s (hot) Downtown studio in which he’s preparing for an upcoming show at the American University Museum and for a month-long residency with e105 Gallery and Art Lab 21 in Germany in August.  With a recent show at Kinsey/Desforges in Culver City under his belt, we were very excited to see what he’s got coming up and here we’re giving you a sneak peek at the man and his work. 

Born in Richmond, Virginia, Sternberg has lived in LA for five years, which almost makes him able to say he’s “from” here.  Working with oils, watercolors, and spray paint, his works have an organized chaos to them that’s actually quite appealing.  Once a lawyer, Sternberg uses many topical issues as his inspiration for his upcoming museum show and he’s also influenced by such variant art icons as Claude Monet and Cy Twombly.  From issues with the U.N. to a look at how Twitter helped shape the voting conflict in Iran, Sternberg’s pieces explore some rather dark places in a comprehensive, creative manner.   Needless to say, he’s one to watch (and we don’t just mean in our video interview)!

Last week, I was asked to accompany a friend to an art gallery opening in Beverly Hills. Getting dressed, I decided to step it up and wear khakis (so rare for LA, right?) and a pressed button down shirt with a nice thin summer sweater on top. I felt just right as I approached David Streets’ gallery on Little Santa Monica. I turned, smiling, to enter the soiree and saw that nearly every man inside was dressed in black tie: my jaw dropped.

It is customary in these situations to run away as quickly as possible before being stoned for any sub-par attire, but unfortunately I was trapped.  My “friend” assured me that I was fine and that there were other underdressed folk who also hadn’t gotten the memo. At the first sight of another pair of khakis, I relaxed and remembered I’m in LA – he who has never been underdressed in LA can cast the first stone.  I was safe. 

David Streets is one of the most interesting people I have met since living in Los Angeles. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, he has a slight southern drawl that tends to calm you, allowing his eloquent vocabulary to flow smoothly. “When it comes to entertaining, black tie is the norm in the south,” he explained to me.

Returning to interview him the following week, I assumed he’d been in LA for years, especially considering the Oscar-esque crowd he drew. I was shocked to find that he has only lived here for three years. David began and built his career in New Orleans on Royal Street in the French Quarter over twenty years ago. He started as a director in a gallery and eventually worked his way up in the New Orleans art world to own a 22,000 square foot gallery space that represented 45 different artists. 

On August 28th, 2005 his world was turned upside down, along with hundreds of thousands of others, when Hurricane Katrina struck.  In something he could only describe as a scene from Armageddon, he found his gallery ravaged and stripped of all its artwork– even the toilets had been ripped from the floors. Ironically, his gallery’s neighborhood, the French Quarter, sat on a plateau in the center of the city and was untouched by the flood- instead it was destroyed by the animalistic behavior of looters and thieves.  

Struggling with the decision to leave New Orleans, he was approached by friend and sculptor Richard MacDonald about moving to Los Angeles to open a gallery for him. David hesitantly took the offer and moved to LA in December 2005 and he hasn’t left us yet..

He left Richard’s Gallery, among other ventures, to open his own gallery. He opened the doors to both of his new spaces last week. David Streets Gallery is composed of a contemporary art and photography space, as well as a traditional and conventional space with a truly diverse array of artwork. His gallery doesn’t feel empty like so many others in LA – there is a sense of hospitality in its character that makes you feel welcomed and appreciated.  

Overall, David has built an empire (though humbly he wouldn’t say so) of A-list clients and artists from around the world that all value his unique vision, praising the educational and exciting “experience” of art.  

Please check out the video interview to hear more about how he has secured his place in  LA’s art world.

- By Gray Malin