Floatin' on 'dem Paste Fumes

Consider yourselves the fortunate few, Intrepidiños: we're at Ground Zero of a god-damned, bona-fide artistic revolution.  In the last five years, LA has transformed into the street art capital of the United States.  The reasons behind this are debatable; I theorize that the combination of  our decentralized population, attuned to ending our nights as early as 1:30 AM, and police force with far better things to worry about, affords these vampiric, guerilla Warhols ample quiet time -- and plenty of space -- to assemble their tableaux.

And yes, the Dark Knight of Bristol himself graced our streets with his presence this year, but it's important to recognize our homegrown heroes, in which we have an embarassment of riches.  Recently-opened gallery New Puppy LA highlights this city's finest talent in their new exhibition, Sniffin' Glue 2011: on display you'll find the anarchic flair of ABCNT, the timeless Eastern elegance of Cryptik, Eddie Colla's mid-apocalyptic urban landscapes, and (my personal favorite) Nomadé's legions of paint-blooded Romans that could crush Gerard Butler's army of fancyboys in their sleep.

On April 16th, the exhibition opens to the public -- the same day as MOCA's Art in the Streets retrospective.  I'll be there, mingling with the families and tourists, but I won't see you there.  No, you'll be at New Puppy, where the real art is.  And you'll buy something, like I did: this gritty masterpiece, entitled "The Fall of the Los Angeles Empire."  I'll assume that title's ironic, because as far as I'm concerned we're on the cutting edge.

___________________________________

• WHAT: LA's finest new voices at Sniffin' Glue 2011
  
• WHERE: New Puppy LA @ 2808 Elm St, LA 90065
• WHEN: Official launch on April 16th, 7 PM - 2 AM
•  $$$: FREE

A 21st Century Artist's Salon

The first time I ever went to a CoLAB, I thought to myself: "Wow, this feels like a modern version of those salons from the 1800's." And then I had to go home and look up "salon" on Wikipedia to make sure I wasn't completely full of shit. Sure enough -- "a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to increase their knowledge of a field through conversation." In which case, CoLAB counts as a salon on steroids.

On the second Tuesday of every month, painter/sculptor/explosion enthusiast/all-around badass Kevin Flint and his cohorts hold a gathering at the Dystopian Studios compound inside the old Pabst Brewery, where adventurous souls from all different worlds -- film, art, music, gaming, tech, fashion, literature, science, business -- get together to exchange ideas, network, and most importantly, collaborate, forever building a better mousetrap thanks to each other's expertise. (All while drinking a fair amount of the host's fine boxed wine selection.)

It makes for a fascinating, knowledge-sponging kind of night -- last time I was there, I met a guy working on a book about the cultural history of divorce, another who builds automatic weapons that shoot Airsoft pellets, and a gobsmackingly attractive female news anchor from Cartagena who had probably seen more decapitated bodies than anyone I've ever met personally (and who, in a weird coincidence, was a big fan of a horror movie I wrote a few years ago.) Just goes to show you never know who you're going to cross paths with at something like this. Get thee to the Brewery tomorrow night, the world needs better mouse-traps.

___________________________________

• WHAT: A night of brainstorming bacchanalia at the CoLAB
• WHERE: Dystopian Studios -- 670 Moulton Ave #9 LA CA 90031 
• WHEN: Tuesday March 8th, 7:30 PM -- 11:30 PM
• $$$: $5 -- for more information, go here