Precision. Clarity of line. Mood. All of these elements stand out in the portrait work of artist, Shizu Saldamando.  The intense dedication to detail and focused execution of personalities in the moment give each subject a de-objectified identity.  Even with this respect to individuality in her work there is a deep sense of the collective consciousness. Or rather, a subset of the collective.  Outwardly her subjects share a specific aesthetic.  However, emotionally they tap into something universal.

(Image: Shizu Saldamando, Maria Daniela y su Sonido Lasser Concert, Azusa CA, graphite on wood, 3×5 feet.)

A certain angst or penetrating inquisitiveness is often paired with the satisfaction found in social revelry.  The party.  If nothing else, at least we can sing, dance and get a little tipsy.  Shizu Saldamando often inhabits her own work whether through self-portraits, a series titled “Looking at Art” or her process – taking photographs while hanging out with friends and using them as a template. It’s as if the moments of life that she encounters linger on in the morning after and become timeless in her work.

(Image: Shizu Saldamando, Gerardo Posing, oil and glitter on plywood, 36 x 36 inches.)

One could argue that there is a certain ultimate dissatisfaction in the party based on the expressions of her subjects.  Or an ultimate lonely reality each individual faces simply by being isolated within one human body.  However, although they are not pictured here, Saldamando does have work that speaks to the sweet delicacy and gentleness of friendship, family and community.  It is her relentless favoring of portraits that reveal masks of discontent that ultimately push viewers to realize something interesting is going on in a certain niche of Los Angeles culture.  Something that they are either totally involved in or know absolutely nothing about.

(Images: Shizu Saldamando, Candice and a Forty, colored pencil on paper, 30 x 20 inches and Sandy and Siouxie, glitter, colored pencil on paper, 30 x 20 inches.)

Shizu Saldamando was born and raised in San Francisco’s Mission district and received her B.A. from UCLA’s School of Arts and Architecture in 2000 and her MFA degree from California Institute of the Arts in 2005. She was an Art Omi resident artist in 2002 and has exhibited work in both painting and experimental media exhibitions at museums and galleries across the country.  Shizu has lived and worked in Los Angeles for over 10 years.

(Images: Shizu Saldamando, Paño Arte: Robert Smith [left] and LaCindy [right], ball point pen on cotton handkerchief, 16 x 16 inches each.)

View more work.

(Images: Shizu Saldamando, Soni, Looking at Art, Blue ball point pen on canvas, 24 x 48 inches and photograph of Shizu Saldamando.)

On February 12th and 13th, 2009 curator Rashida Bumbray of NYC’s, The Kitchen, and artists Rashaad Newsome and Kalup Linzy, will be premiering new work that continues to explore the possibilities and intersection between video, performance and music. Newsome’s latest work, Shade Compositions, is a live performance featuring a chorus of more than twenty black women. Influenced by improvisatory orchestral music and live video-mixing, Newsome divides his performers into groups akin to instrumental sections as they enact his choreographed sound score made up of repeated sequences of culturally specific or stereotypical gestures, movements, and vocalizations. Newsome simultaneously records, loops, edits, and remixes in real-time the audio and video documentation of the performers using a hacked Nintendo® Wii™ game controller. The resulting layers of real and projected imagery investigate assumptions and constructions of identity in mainstream media and popular culture.

(Images: Kalup Linzy, courtesy of the artist. Shade Compositions, courtesy of Rashaad Newsome.)

Kalup Linzy is known for his absurdly humorous drag-performance-based videos in which he repurposes the narrative style of daytime television soaps in order to explore complicated relationships between race, class, gender, sexuality, and popular culture. For these evenings he will debut, Comedy, Tragedy, Sketches of Me, a new solo theatrical work exploring related themes, in which he plays piano, sings, and is accompanied by video projections that feature his ever-expanding cast of riotous characters.

To purchase tickets click here or call the Box Office: 212-255-5793 ext. 11!

(Image: Lisa Marie Thalhammer, Michelle Obama, 2009, oil on canvas, 86 inches x 67 inches.)

Like they say: Behind every good man, is a fantastic woman. In this case, beside. Nuff said.

This work was part of the MANIFEST HOPE: DC Art Exhibit held on Inauguration weekend 2009 in Washington, DC.

Brothers Russell, Danny and Joseph Simmons, founders of the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, and Derrick Adams, Curatorial Director of Rush Arts Gallery, are at it again. The Gold Rush Awards, another star studded celebration of the arts is on tap for Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 in New York City.  Over the last decade the organizations Art for Life East Hampton and Palm Beach benefits have raised millions of dollars to benefit underserved youth arts programming.

(Images: Gold Rush logo artwork and Rush Arts students at 5 Pointz in Queens, NY)

Through ticket sales and a silent art auction proceeds from this event will continue to support the Rush Philanthropic Foundation’s belief “…in the vital importance of lifelong exposure to the arts, nurtured in early childhood, and anchored in sustained, creative experiences throughout one’s life.”  In 2008 the InsideOut Rush Teens Curatorial Projects program paired teens with legendary graffiti artist Meres in an in-depth look at the world of curation.  The program focused on exhibition planning, artist/curator collaboration and fieldwork at urban art locations such as 5 Pointz, New York’s largest outdoor Aerosol Art exhibition space (curated by Meres).

The first annual Gold Rush Awards will honor three trailblazers in the arts that represent entertainment arts, youth arts and the fine arts: Beverly Bond, DJ and Founder of Black Girls Rock!; Sonja Okun, Founder and Executive Director of Exalt Youth Program; and, Franklin Sirmans, Curator, Writer and Lecturer. Other participants in the event include: music by DJ Cassidy; a live performance by Talib Kweli; Event Co-Chair Chris Chambers of The Chamber Group; Naomi Beckwith of the Studio Museum in Harlem; and, Vanessa Riding of Gagosian Gallery, NYC.

For more information visit: www.rushartsgallery.org.

Located on the corner of Bryant Street and 24th Street in the Mission District of San Francisco, California, Galeria de la Raza, an interdisciplinary Chicano/Latino space for art, thought & activism, has always been at the center of art as a tool for social justice, community building and celebration. Founded in 1970 by local artists active in El Movimiento (the Chicano civil rights movement), Galería is a non-profit, community-based Latino arts organization recognized as one of the Bay Area’s oldest, most well-respected art institutions.

Their next exhibition, Strange Hope: An ephemeral exhibition celebrating new beginnings & creative economies, once again deals with the most pressing issues at hand not only locally, but globally – the economy.  The project includes 40 artists who were invited to produce 8.5″ x 8.5″ works on paper. On opening night a one time on-site lottery will take place which seeks to embrace the community’s cultural affluence and welcome the advent of creative economies.

Strange Hope is on view from February 6 – April 2, 2009.

View a 2008 Galeria de la Raza Mural project by Feb ’09 FEATURED ARTIST Shizu Saldamando.