Category: News

NEW EXCHANGE – Collaborative Works from Mtendere Mandowa ‘Teebs’ & Charles Munka

 

NEW EXCHANGE
Collaborative Works from Mtendere Mandowa ‘Teebs’ & Charles Munka

Opening reception Friday, June 29, 2012 7-10pm
please RSVP : newexchange@hvw8.com

June 29th – August 1st, 2012

HVW8 Art + Design Gallery
661 N. Spaulding Ave., Los Angeles, CA

New Exchange is part of an ongoing visual dialogue between Charles Munka and Mtendere Mandowa ‘Teebs’.

Charles Munka and Mtendere Mandowa ‘Teebs’ came in contact through the Los Angeles music scene.  A mutual admiration developed leading to a show in Kanazawa, Japan, this also being the first time they met in person.  After the success of the Japanese exhibition, the two regrouped again in Hong Kong, Munka’s current place of residency, for the Platform 78 exhibition. This return to Los Angeles continues the visual conversation between the two artists, creating a new series of works exclusive to the HVW8 Art + Design Gallery.

A true global artist, French raised, Hong Kong based Charles Munka’s work straddles genres. Post graffiti into collage, his multi-influenced culture clash style is complementary to his upbringing and current place of residence. Asian characters mixed with French text, references to computer games and city maps with Charles’ signature hand styles are completely new yet still familiar to his ‘urban’ roots.  Following in the heritage of Matisse’s cut and paste and Basquiat’s hand, Munka respects the past and transforms it into a worldly future.

Born in New York to Malawi and Barbados origins, Mtendere (pronounced “ten-de-ra”) (Chichewa for “Peace”) Mandowa, is an electronic musician and painter who bounced around the East Coast before finally planting his feet in the Southern California suburb of Chino Hills.  Already successful in music with Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder and ‘My Hollow Drum’ Collectives, Teebs’ painting is similar to his music production; collaging and illustrating images to create meditative and minimalist soundscapes on canvas.

 

Made possible through gracious support by adidas

Beverages courtesy of Red Bull

Last week to view Lisa Leone ‘Then’, pieces still available.

Lisa Leone
Fabel and Wiggles-1990 NYC, 1990
Pigment Print on Museo Silver Rag Paper
19 x 29 inches (48.25 x 73.65 cm)

 

Call 323 655 4898 or email Gallery info@hvw8.com for shipping.

 

Lisa Leone
South Bronx ‘Cars’ – South Bronx, 1984
Pigment Print on Museo Silver Rag Paper
13 x 19 inches (33 x 48.25 cm)
Edition of 20

Call 323 655 4898 or email Gallery info@hvw8.com for shipping.

 

Last week to view Lisa Leone ‘Then’. Pieces are available online, call or email the Gallery if  you have any questions on price or shipping.

 

 

Throwback Thursdays

Jen Stark and friends at Alvaro Ilizarbe’s Celestial Beings opening 2010.

Charles Munka working on his Double Knock Out installation 2010.

Noah Butkus at his HVW8 Gallery / Standard Installation, 2010.

Noah Mural

 

HVW8 Gallery crew – Mark, Wazy and Nikolai 2010

David Choe at Alvaro Ilizarbe’s HVW8 Opening 2010.

Lance Mountain at his Disaster Opening 2010.

Raif Adelberg behind HVW8 2010

Skypager / HVW8 Gallery Downtown LA Mural, 2010.

 

A few photos from 2010 from the HVW8 Art + Design Gallery.

Why Are Miami’s Best Artists Moving to Los Angeles?

photo Max SSLA

 

Why Are Miami’s Best Artists Moving to Los Angeles?

reposted from the Miami New Times.

In 2006, hundreds of Miami Beach sunbathers stared in awe as a bizarre procession paraded down the South Beach sand. Eighteen giant helium balloons — shaped like vampire rabbits, volcanoes, and eerily smiling black spheres — floated along while the Hialeah Senior High School marching band blasted a jazz tune.

It was a breakout Art Basel moment for a tag team that has since become one of Miami’s most hailed artistic collaborations: Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III, better known as FriendsWithYou. Since that fair, the team has repped the Magic City around the globe, from the High Line in New York City to Scope Art Fair’s featured platform.

No longer. The artists known for their line of plush and wooden toys, magical installations, bounce houses, and rainbow-hued environments are now taking their talents out West. And they’re not alone.

“We love Miami, but collectors here just don’t support our work,” Borkson says. “The truth is that most collectors who purchase our work are located elsewhere.”

Borkson says fellow local A-list artists Jen Stark — a New Times MasterMind Award winner in 2010 known for her paper cutouts — Alvaro Ilizarbe, Pres Rodriguez, and Raul Sanchez will also relocate to Los Angeles this summer. L.A. promises better access to collectors and more room to grow than Miami, he says.

“A lot of our work is being collected out there,” Borkson says. “We are going to move to a place called Silver Lake near downtown with Jen and Alvaro and just rented a huge studio space near the L.A. MOCA downtown.”

Borkson says FWY’s new digs will be called “the Gem” and boast 4,600 square feet in a two-story building he says is the perfect playground for their plans. The move should concern anyone worried about Miami’s art scene — which already suffers from the perception that it’s a once-a-year affair revolving around Basel.

As much as FriendsWithYou supported and helped fuel the 305’s artistic explosion, his group had to follow the financial support West, Borkson explained.

“Our main goal is to keep our vision pure and not just about the money,” he says. “As much as we love Miami, the move is about being in a place where we can be part of a movement, where more money is invested in culture, and we will be more nurtured by people to continue making art that impacts others’ lives.”

Stark agrees that L.A. is a wide open market for Miami talent and says that she and Ilizarbe have already lined up exhibits in two separate galleries to kick off the upcoming season there.

“I think Miami does have some good support structure for some artists and [I] still love it here, but Los Angeles has a lot of opportunities to offer, and that’s why we decided to move there. This September I’ll be showing at the Martha Otero Gallery and Alvaro will be showing at the HVW8 Gallery,” Stark says. “It’s a great time to move there and try new things for the next couple of years.”

Our Voices – Photography benefit auction

HVW8 donated two pieces on the behalf of Raif Adelberg for the ‘Our Voices’ auction tonight.

Information below:

Please join International Top Photographers; Rankin, Guy Aroch, Alexi Lubomirski, Vincent Peters, David Mushegain, Craig Wetherby, among 25 others as well as fashion luminaries and Rose Charities Board Members Noot Seear and Mazdack Rassi, for an auction to benefit the youth of the Nez-Perce.

Tuesday, May 29th
7pm-10pm at
Milk Gallery
450 West 15th Street
New York

ROSE Charities US and A Milk Gallery Project organizes “Our Voices” a silent photo auction event to support an ongoing annual two-week workshop in photography and new media benefiting teenagers of the Lapwai, Idaho Reservation.

Here, the youth are trained by professional artists to use technology to express and celebrate their Native American Heritage. The exhibition includes recent work by some of the students as well as donated items from influential art and fashion photographers.

We recognize the importance of bringing these art practices to often dis-enfranchised youth and hope you will join us in giving them access to the tools that will enrich them in their creative journey.

And for us to continue to enjoy hearing their voices.

Hope to see you there!
ABOUT OUR VOICES & ROSE CHARITIES:

“Our Voices” is an annual two-week workshop that consists of two concurrent classes; photography instruction by Photographer Hunter Barnes and a digital video workshop with Artist and educator Jason Rosenstock. These workshops focus on the fundamentals of using technologies, solving creative problems, as well as the handling and presentation of work to insure that the students’ art is given the respect and care it deserves.

Lisa Leone Installation view and Catalog.

Part of Lisa Leone’s ‘Then’ Installation.
Lisa Leone ‘Then’ catalog.
Lisa Leone ‘Then’ catalog – inside.

Portion of the installtion view of Lisa Leone’s ‘Then’ opening tonight.

Also there will be signed copies of our first gallery exhibition catalog available tonight. Only 100 made. Each photo with text from Lisa Leone. Printed by Icon.

Available online with signed exhibition poster Monday. Please check back.

 

 

A Better L.A. Auction and Fundraiser

 

Tim Biskup and Nikki.

Alvaro Ilizarbe
HVW8’s Tyler Gibney and Wazy Idah.
HVW8’s Lisa Leone with Marisa Tomei
 

HVW8 Art + Design Gallery took part in last night’s ‘in the Art of the City’ a fundraiser for A Better LA.

Lisa Leone, Tim Biskup, Alvaro Illizarbe and Tyler Gibney all donated pieces through the HVW8 Gallery for auction, and were lucky to raise a fair amount for this great organization.

Here are some photos of the event.

 

Stories from Lisa Leone

A few words and photos from Lisa …. exhibition opens May 11th.

Nas – 1993. During the recording session of Nas’s first album “Illmatic”…considered by critics as one of the quintessential hip hop recordings and one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. VH1 licensed the photos for Nas: Behind the Music….they were told there were no photographers during the session, but they were wrong!

Slick Rick – 1992. At Riker’s Island. I went with Russell Simmons…as we were leaving Russell gave Rick $40 for the commissary, a second later Russell swiped back a twenty saying, “you don’t need that much”.


Pharcyde – 1995. On the set of Spike Jonze’s classic video “Drop”.

A Better LA – The Art Of The City – May 3rd

 

HVW8 Art + Design Gallery along with Gallery alumni Lisa Leone, Tim Biskup and Alvaro Ilizarbe take part in A Better LA’s In The Art In The City.

Tickets are available here.

More about IN THE ART OF THE CITY –

On Thursday, May 3rd, 2012, join A BETTER LA at The Vibiana in Downtown Los Angeles for a spectacular evening celebrating the vibrant and diverse communities and individuals of Los Angeles at our 3rd annual fundraiser; IN THE ART OF THE CITY. With celebrity hosts and participants, including Pete Carroll, Jeffrey Deitch, Tim Leiweke, Sharon Stone, and Forest Whitaker, enjoy a night featuring the eclectic cuisine of some of LA’s most famed chefs, silent and live auctions showcasing artwork created by some of our city’s most esteemed artists, and music provided by LA’s hottest DJ’s. Please click here for more info or contact A Better LA at events@abetterla.org or call 213-412-3111

 

Lisa Leone ‘Then’, Opens May 11th, 2012

Fugees – ’94
Nas – ’93
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“THEN”
by Lisa Leone

Opening May 11th to June 10th, 2012.
rsvp: lisa_leone@hvw8.com

New photo exhibition documents hip-hop’s moments of truth.
Before hip-hop was an industry, it was a community.

THEN, a new solo show from photographer Lisa Leone, is a deeply personal portrayal of the last days of hip-hop’s innocence, of a culture caught between an intimate past and a global future.

Born in the Bronx and raised throughout New York City, Lisa Leone has been surrounded by hip-hop culture for virtually her entire life. By the late eighties, as a widely published photographer, she was in a unique position to capture a behind the-scenes perspective on the spirit of collaboration that fueled hip-hop’s early artistic triumphs. “To see a young Nas in the studio with Q-Tip, Premier and Large Professor was not only inspiring,” she reflects on one of the candid photos included in the show, “it is ‘the decisive moment’.”

THEN explores a series of such moments through the eyes of the young artists that would go on to become the hip-hop generation’s biggest stars: Snoop Dogg, Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige, Wyclef Jean, Run DMC, Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Rosie Perez, the Roots, Queen Latifah and many others.

But these are not mere portraits. Each image captures a unique interaction between an individual and their environment, and is supported with text drawn from new interviews with the subjects themselves.

“It was still fresh and we, the generation of that movement, still dictated what it was and meant to us and not the mass media. MTV wasn’t calling the shots. We were still telling them what the rules were.”
– Rosie Perez

“THEN is a testament to the natural eye and passion of a real New Yorker, presented now through the collected three decades of her work and experience.” – Eric Haze

“No one…can fail to be moved by Lisa Leone’s evocative portraits of Hip Hop legends captured in the midst of their young lives…set in those moody South Bronx scenes of abandonment that was their home.” – Henry Chalfant, producer of “Style Wars”

 

With Support from A.D.D.Martketing, Mumford Brewing Co., Museo Silver Rag,  ICON and Vantage Process.

 

Music by JEREMY SOLE (89.9 KCRW, Afro Funké, theLIFT)

HVW8 Art + Design Gallery,

661 N. Spaulding Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Inquiries: 323-655-4898 or Info@hvw8.com
www.hvw8.com

View full press release

Lisa Leone_Press_Release

Hawthorne Headhunters ‘Myriad of Now’ Out Now.

A long time coming! The Hawthorne Headhunters ‘Myriad of Now’ is now available.

Thanks to everyone who made this project possible.

Born at the HVW8 Gallery  Hawthorne Headhunters, then featuring Black Spade, Coultrain, Proh Mic and I, Ced was created from the infamous ‘Live At The BBQ’ podcast series. Five years later the full length LP ‘Myriad of Now’ (with the current line up of Black Spade and Coultrain) is complete and was licensed to Plug Research  for distribution.

The album features artwork from HVW8 (thanks to Wazy for appearing on the album cover).

Please support independent art and music.

 

Video – Free Thinkers Issue #2 Launch | HVW8 Gallery LA

From Lifetime Collective  –

This past Friday March 30th, 2012 we brought together LA based Lifetime Collective friends and family at HVW8 Gallery in Hollywood for a one night only event celebrating the release of our Free Thinkers Zine Issue #2! The night was amazing and fortunately we captured some really great footage of the whole experience!

The festivities kicked off with a print and photo show of select works form the zine followed by a live performance by The Mattson 2and DJ set by KCRW’s Jeremy Sole. The night was truly amazing with Lifetime Collective Artists and Free Thinker Zinecontributors bringing the experience to life. People from all over the city came together to make the night one for the books.

Big thank you to The Mattson 2, Jay Howell, Ray Potes, Jeremy Sole, Thee Oh Sees, HVW8, and American Rag!

And our good friend Joey Indrieri for the film and edit.

Enjoy the video!