Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation

The 30th Anniversary Celebration of Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation held at the The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (700 Prospect St. La Jolla, 92037) Sat., Feb 9, 7 pm & 9:15 pm Sun Feb.10 am- 5pm & 7pm, Thurs. Feb 14, 7:15, Feb 22,23 and Mar.1,2,8,15,22,30 at 7:00 pm features the most popular and award winning short animations from the festival's influential history. See early works of Disney Pixar Director Ralph Eggleston and over 10 Academy Award Winning or Nominated short animations. More info: Josef Liebhardt 858.459.8707

 Mellow Manor Productions, Inc. was founded by Craig ‘Spike’ Decker and Mike Gribble, popularly known as “Spike & Mike®.” Mellow Manor is named after the famed Victorian house in Riverside where Spike, Mike and many others lived in a communal setting. This was an ‘Animal House‘ before National Lampoon made theirs famous. Although Mike Gribble passed away in August of 1994, Spike continues to produce touring theatrical festivals of animated short film collections with the highest standards of artistic and subversive excellence.

When you go to this festival, you go to see a set of films hand chosen by Spike and Mike  They have followers that go every year to see who they cherry picked for our enjoyment. This year is a mini retrospective of he best of the best. 

Since it was my first year, I was happy to see the lively crowd who there to play with the giant balloon balls before and during the intermission. They were there to have a giggle and to be amazed by the progress made with technology in this field. On certain nights there are interviews with the makers and the viewing goes on until the end of March so you are in time to see this year's showing.

I have chosen three of my favorite animations from the two hours of film we viewed. I thought these would give you a taste of what to expect. They span 35 years.

Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase 1992, Guard Dog 2004,
Bambi meets Godzilla1969

Palm Springs Arts Fair plus The Galen and Imago

Palm Springs Art Fair at the Palm Springs Convention Center (277 N Avenida Caballeros, Palm Springs CA 92262) from Feb 14 -17.

Plus a bit about The Galen (new satellite of the Palm Springs Museum of Art) in Palm Desert and Imago Gallery

What a treat to see the new Palm Spring Art Fair now run by the Hampton Expo Group who also show at Houston, Aspen and of course the Hamptons. They were assisted in PS by Susan Myrland from San Diego who handled  out reach.

This new fair in it's second year is heads above the older ones that I visited in yesteryear. Very large booths, good lighting and a large quantity of blue chip art makes the difference. This fair is attended by the wealthy and art loving community of Palm Springs and benefits from a large tourist population that is escaping colder climes.

Mel Ramos the featured artist of this year's fair gave a charming interview and mentioned that last year's honoree was Judy Chicago, the feminist artist. Ramos is about the furthest thing away from that with his some say, "exploitative" views of lovely ladies.  He would say these are appropriated images and this second hand use gives him some distance from the exploitative label.   

Mel Ramos

Mel Ramos first super hero painting, Batman. He is still painting this in a series he calls The Lost Painting as he can't find the originals.

Mel Ramos, Key Hole light boxes at Imago Gallery, Palm Desert

Installation view of Mel Ramos at PS Art Fair

Mel Ramos

Mel Ramos inspired cookie, retitled Shattered Dreams when it failed to arrive at the fair in one piece .

  

Jim Dine at Jonathan Novak Gallery, NY. This and the following  "Heart" Dine which was priced at $130,000 which seems very reasonable for a master work. I found out from the dealer it is because these are recent works straight from the artist's studio. He has not raised his prices but you will have to pay lots more for those from the 1960's and 70"s. Dine is still working but for how long?

Chuck Close Tapestry at Melissa Morgan Gallery Palm Dessert. A very large impressive work and a good reason to check out this gallery

Kenneth Noland stunning bullseye from Yares Art Project , Santa Fe Mx

Jeffery Laudenslager Kinitic Sculpture and Morgan Erwin paintings at Sergott Contemporary, Rancho Santa Fe.

Michellle Kurtis Cole glass works at Sergott Contemporary, Rancho Santa Fe

Installation view at Sergott Contemporary

Morgan Ervin's Marilyn composition using JFK coins and even some of the medicine that killed the star. at Sergott Contemporary

James Verbicky at Madison Gallery La Jolla

Charlotte Jackson Gallery, Santa Fe

Chul Hyun Ahn at  C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore, Md

Devorah Sperber, Bentley Gallery, Phoenix, Az

Eric Fostermann Eckert Gallery NY.. I include this image as my husband Darwin commented that it reminded him of a very early Duchamp ready made photo of clothes on a line drying in the breeze.

Gregory Nowell at Lisa Sette Gallery Scottsdale, Az. This does not look like much in this photo but it is a image of a room and in the middle is a video and every few minutes a man walks into the painting and changed the image in the middle. The images then moves, like a flickering Frank Stella changing colors

Jill Levine, George Gallery Laguna Beach, CA a very complex sculptural  piece with bright colors

Marc Sijan Peter Marcelle Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY. Life size really compellingly ugly nude sculptures

One of my favorite set of works are these by Mark Whalen  Merry Karnowsky Gallery, LA These were covered in resin and super shiny surfaces

Nick Georgiou, Etherton Gallery Tuscon Az, Robin Lipman is a proud new owner of one these works

Peter Blake Gallery, LA

Mary Giles at Duane Reed Gallery, St. Louis, Mo. A very complex textured  work

I have added in this image of a video of small animals inside their nest surrounded by still shoots. This piece always had a crowd looking at it. The image was not that different than what you might find on Animal Planet, but it seemed to please lots of folks. I think this is a good sign for what the DNA of Creativity team, Urban Succession,  will be presenting at the Oceanside Museum of Art.

Amy Galpin, Amy Britt, and Alexander Jarman from the San Diego Museum of Art at the PS Fair Opening

John and Mary Ann Eger, and Joyce Gattas at the PS Fair Opening

A little mutton dressed as lamp at the Art Fair opening

A little lamb undressed at The Galen show on appropriated images in art Beg Borrow and Steal.

Helene Galen was honored as the Patron of the Year on the first night of the fair and we went to visit The Galen, which is an adjunct building to the Palm Springs Museum of Art. Helene Galen started the drive to have this resource in Palm Desert with a $1 million donation.  But we were very underwhelmed with the gallery. It is  small, divided into even smaller cubbies each with a patron's name (not a bad idea) but a lowered ceiling above each with lights and vents is the first thing you see. This is a case of too much architecture (and not very good architecture) and too little art. For $6 million I feel they could have made more changes to this existing building and made it spectacular. 

Half of the space is taken up with offices and the supposed Annette Block Education center but a Saturday afternoon in February and there was absolutely nothing going on in rooms that looked quite sterile. Where were the kids taking classes and getting messy and making a noise? That is how I remember Saturday afternoon art classes. 

They could take a leaf out of the book of the Imago Gallery and paint the whole thing dark and then great light would make it very dramatic. These white spaces in the desert can be very glaring.

Helene Galen being honored as Patron of the year at the PS Art Fair

Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden

Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden

Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden, David McGary

Not the Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden, but another appropriated piece from the show Beg Barrow and Steal

 We rounded off the visit with a trip to Imago which is a better space than most museums. Michelle Kurtis Cole was with me and she was in seventh heaven. Both the PS Museum and Imago show stellar glass sculpture.

Rachel Lee Hovnanian Installation with video at Imago

Rachel Lee Hovnanian Installation with video at Imago

Rachel Lee Hovnanian Installation with video at Palm Spring Art Fair. This was a working cafe but the windows were videos of landscapes

closer view of video installation as a cafe diner

Chihuily still fabulous at Imago

William Morris still fabulous at Imago

James Hubbell and Ellen Salk at OMA

In Search Of Shadows: James Hubbell Sculpture with a reception: Sunday Feb 3 at 5pm shows until June 2 and Synesthesia: Manifestations Of Energy, Paintings by Ellen Salk and sound by Christopher Adler at the Oceanside Museum of Art (704 Pier View Way, Oceanside, 92054) More info: Danielle Susalla Deery 760.435.3721

James Hubbell is a regional treasure and has given so much to our arts community with his dedication to arts education across the border through the Ilan Lael Foundation.  His 1997 retrospective exhibition at OMA was followed in 2003 by a show of his and watercolor paintings from 1988-2004. I did not see the first two but have seen a few of his works in random shows. This brilliant show of sculptures is so well chosen and displayed that I believe it established him for all time as an artist of great merit. I discovered in my talk with the director and curator of the show Daniel Foster and Daniella Susalla Derry, that it was Hubbell’s idea to focus on the shadows of the mainly metal works on display and this brings the entire show to life and ties it together. The is a bus trip to Hubbell Compound in Santa Ysabel on Sat May 11 from 9 to 5.

This was my first experience of the paintings of Ellen Salk and yes, there is a relationship to the famous Salk family. The works are tied closely to a sound performance. I understand at the very popular opening this was hard to hear, but when I went I was able to see how the sound traveled a math similar to the work which progresses from a tightly controlled and shrouded core to a riot of line and form. There is a  panel discussion with Ellen Salk, Christopher Adler and Sally Yard on April 13 from 2-3:30.