A Brief Update on ARTSweek

California State University, Long Beach will see its second annual ARTSweek this semester. Theme: Connoisseur. Are you ready?

Art for Mid-week Wednesdays: Static and Statue

INTERPRETATIVE A new kind of sculpture-portrait.

For MFA student Matthew Segotta's Merlino work, this is an art that has more to do with its materials and the story to how it was made, which includes the main ingredient, Segotta's brother, Tim. "The Sculptor," as noted on the room plaque, or casually just "Scout," employed his younger bro for the casting of this untitled piece, and then a rich mix of materials: concrete, hydrocal, silicone, sisal, aluminum and steel.

The details are so specific to the subject—if you look closer at the right arm, you'll see human hair. But the unconventional presentation of this sculpture form is what stood out to me the most. The artist, who is on-hand during the entirety of his exhibition, will tell you about the process and the subject. The viewer, simply me, will tell you how soothing it is to finally walk into a room bare of wall art and stories locked into a perimeter of a few square dimensions. Statue work is normally seen erect, standing, but makes more of a statement here, where it's thrown and naked on the ground. This show makes more an impact with less and gives sculpture art some kind of new air of coolness. It works with the new tradition I've seen coming out of CSULB artists, like with Julia Haft-Candell, an MFA ceramics student who in spring transformed Merlino into a sculpture-cocoon, or BFA student Sean Flaherty, who adds himself into the end product of even his most sensual work. Space and identity are displayed and explored to dynamic exponents.

S.P. BALTAZAR A new character for Patrick Ballard gets its debut behind locked doors, and an overwhelming voice with an equally charged volume.

Another sculpture student who I find repeatedly "adding himself into the end products," is the unparalleled Patrick Ballard.

I stood there knocking, afraid I was missing the show. As soon as I stepped inside the FA3 building, the walls were throbbing from the noise outpouring one of its first-floor showrooms. Though, really, I was in a sequence of two shows in a row (see above) where the audience was challenged to restrain from and resist usual gallery expectations.

In a dramatic sense, it felt like God was speaking to me.

"S.P. Baltazar" is in the FA3 building through Saturday, 7 p.m. Matthew Segotta's work can be viewed through Thursday (12 p.m. to 5 p.m.) in the Merlino Gallery in the Gallery Courtyard.

Young, Talented, Open for Open Studios 2009

THE FRAMEWORK Ceramics MFA candidate Julia Haft-Candell left her studio doors open for curious visitors attending the weekend's Open Studios. Found: Materials, books for inspiration and gorgeous works in progress.

Alan Klein, publisher and president of Angeleno, writes in the current edition of his magazine on the topic of solid first impressions and how they are formed by mere surface appearance "criteria." If we want a further glimpse, he adds, and perhaps a more honest exploration to the person, "Just walk inside their home."

The annual FARt-organized extravaganza that is the Open Studios unfolds chapters in the very way Klein and countless others seek for definition. Question marks turn into exclamation points as the youthful, brainy and creative MFA art stars of Cal State Long Beach open wide the doors to their studios. New artists you'll find fixed in an air of newness, gathered most comfortably guarding the few paintings hanging on their very white walls. Other artists leave their spaces behind, set on "loud volumes," where visitors can freely walk in and experience a sweet and personal dose of absorption in full confidence.

Whether messy or organized, bookshelves or paint brushes, I found these artist studios in surplus of inspiration, where space belonged to visions and works in progress.


FUN ABUNDANCE Haft-Candell's stick things.



MADE WITH CLAY Bryan Allen Moore suspends a scuplted figure in his studios (top, left), shelves the parts (top, right). Space-mate Haft-Candell's bags (bottom), which I could not resist photographing. Muted colors everywhere. And all very pretty.


EAT ME! Kelly Nye, an MFA candidate in metals, and a working force behind the "GLAMFA 2009" exhibition show, shows off pretty pink buttocks, plastic pink cupcakes, and some gold. Where do we bite into first?


IN A PICASSO JAZZ Developing illustration MFA artist, Robert Pokorny left a few large canvases in his very spotless studio space. All focus turned to his wildly beastly-beauty works, which always show his amazing talent for color and hand-drawing.


SUBTLE WIRING New to the MFA painting scene is the author of this series, Elisa Salcedo. In the Open Studios catalog she explains her current works focusing "on ideas of self-destruction and dystopia."


PATTERN RUSH A nice view of Julie Williams's (MFA status unknown) studio space, while printmaking students show their own pattern works and working spaces (below).


FARt is selling the chronicled catalog of this year's near 30 Open Studios MFA participants, at Blurb.com. Also in the book, forward and introduction essays written by, respectively, FARt secretary and fibers MFA student Jennifer Reinfsneider, and professor-head to the sculpture program, Bryan Crockett.

Going Where the Fringe Isn’t Extreme

GREAT EXPECTATIONS Brian Eno visits CSULB on Sept. 20.

Music genius Brian Eno will visit our school on Sunday, Sept. 20 for an intimate evening of discussion at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center (CPAC), and tickets are set aside for the special student price of $25. (The general admission price is $100.) Student tickets go on sale at CPAC's Atherton box office on Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 11 a.m.

One of the center's managers pointed out that there is a limited number of tickets, though students will find their seats in a premium spot in the 1,000-seat auditorium.

Brian Eno's career spans in countless directions, having worked in a multiple of genres since his beginning with Roxy Music, then with interesting stints in carrying the producer hat to bands like U2, Talking Heads and Coldplay. He's most popular for creating instrumental, ambient music. And, while many go unaware about this tidbit fact, he also engineered the little tune we hear on our PCs when Windows starts up. Viola!

Brian Eno's art will show at the University Art Museum (UAM) through December for "77 Million Paintings." The exhibition opens on Sat., Sept. 12.

If this all sounds very foreign to you, simply don't turn away. Instead, try something new and watch your horizons expand.

Brian Eno visits the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center at Cal State Long Beach on Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. for "An Evening with Brian Eno." Tickets at student prices will go on sale Tuesday, Sept. 1 at 11 a.m. For more information, call the CPAC ticket office, 562-985-7000, or visit online at http://www.carpenterarts.org/.

[Source of photo.]

Must: Open Studios 2009 Announced!

WORKS IN PROGRESS: At the beginning of a new school year at Cal State Long Beach, MFA artists open up their work spaces.


[Open Studios]


My favorite event of all arts events at Cal State Long Beach: Open Studios. My first plunge into the art-making sphere last year was entirely property of Open Studios. I met a friendly count of MFA artists, sometimes at work inside their campus studios or hanging out with other campus MFA friends. It's a scene. CSULB studios become breathing, stunning spaces exhibited in meticulous order, regardless of the paint-stained floors or hosed-hammered walls. The must-attend art event of the entire school year: MFA Open Studios 2009.


I'll see you throughout the CSULB Fine Arts Buildings, exploring MFA studios on Sunday, Sept. 6, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Alongside the Open Studios, GLAMFA.

An Update from the Arts Commissioner

INSIGHTS: A feather-textured dress made of cardboard-like material debuts at the student gallery show, "Annual Foundation Show." Photo by Barbara Navarro.

Dear ARTicles readers,

Thank you for bookmarking my blog and for being a loyal audience. I know many others at school have also taken notice of my efforts. A few weeks ago my commissioner peers awarded me with a shimmering plaque that read, "Commissioner of the Year." It was the best way to end my first year participating with the student government. A hundred thousand thank yous!

It takes a lot of planning and a lot of work in being commissioner. Though it remains top priority to organize events for the school so that our artists and their works are seen for the beauty and thought they fashion our world and our CSULB community.

The eartliest mission in capturing the artistic spirit at school came with the week-long itinerary of music, dance, visual arts and theatre for ArtsWeek, capping it off with a warm finale at the University Art Museum for the second annual Leaders Night. In late January, to open the spring semester, I curated an art show "Downtown" where the Long Beach community could also sample the great productions coming out of CSULB's creative side. That was a sparkly night at downtown Long Beach's Goods Gallery. I hope you were there!

My current status is simple and probably very similar to yours: I'm taking a break for the summer. My passion for the arts (and for my first: journalism) keeps strong, anyway, and I'm already working on ideas for "The New."

What do you think? Barbara Navarro: Arts Commission... A second term?

Have a great summer, and I'll see you all in the fall!

Hearts and arts,

b. bnavarr2@csulb.edu

Best in Class: At Insights 2009

A glimpse to an annual affair that brings together our school's finest art students, the current "Insights" exhibit at the University Art Museum. These are fine-tuned projects that faculty and UAM directors, a.k.a. the jury of the show, can look at with confidence and say, "We get it." And most noteworthy to mention is this year's addition of typography-related products, as experienced through Chris Ballard's curvaceous book on Frank Gehry L.A. gems.

My photos begin with another Ballard (Chris's brother), a university sculpture student who I worked with for the "Downtown" show. Part of the charm in Patrick's work relies on an unspoken communication that almost screams. Whenever I see that block laced with an imaginary static I really just want to dive into it. And Patrick would be fine with that, really. But has anybody tried it?? In the pictures following, I have captured a few of my other favorite pieces showing at "Insights." Rachel Malin's works are odd and they always get my imagination working on little stories of impossible mystery. What Julia Haft-Candell has works in the same way for me, except, in general, I consider Julia's tangled pieces so pretty. Feline and sophisticated with an echoed languor, the scariest way I'd describe what I see in Julia's work. To elaborate what I've drawn out from her sculptures: speckled straps and blushed-up rags. (And more and more. We can all fixate. Now.) The last two artists here (White and Flaherty) worked with capturing the X-rated, a subjet matter I usually turn away from. But not this time when I was, undeniably, left turn on.

Congratulations to all "Insights" artists and to those who were awarded scholarship for their entries! I'm looking forward to more, more, and more!

Patrick Ballard

Rachel Malin

Julia Haft-Candell

James H. White, III

Sean C. Flaherty

"Insights" is a must-see exhibition reflecting the best of our university's artists in various mediums (paint, film, sculpture, typography, photography, fibers etc.). The University Art Museum at Cal State Long Beach closes the show on Sunday, May 31st.

My heart's racketing flywheel is stuttering:
Downtown! Downtown!

Cal State Long Beach artists are presenting works in photography, sculpture, paintings, mixed media and video art on Saturday in downtown’s cargo container art space, the Goods Gallery. All CSULB students are invited to attend for free. There’ll be cool local music by Dietra Kruschev and a cool cupcake party. Come celebrate "Downtown!" DTO9.

Your arts commissioner,
Barbara Navarro

Behind the Scenes with Barbara: Making the Ad Art for ARTSweek and Leaders Night

It’s great when you find an art director/designer/illustrator group all-in-one situation to work on a project — which happened with creating this year's invitation (image above) to the ASI Student Leader Night.

I walked into the ASI Communications office (where 99% of the student government orders its project materials, everything from name tags to 30-foot banners) three weeks before the bash, which would take place at the close of ARTSweek, on Thursday, Nov. 20. And I came in with oozes of newspaper articles, books with marked photos and all the written details to what would belong on the inside of the invitation.

My vision for the invitation's look came from Pop master Andy Warhol's Mick Jagger pastel and acetate collaged silkscreen foil posters, and his Liz Taylor pastel prints (I love!). But when I met with one of the illustrators at ASI Comm., Patrick, he had his own ideas and created a landscape of the University Art Museum à la color-by-numbers — he made the museum into the star. After, another designer stepped in and added color. The results? Pssss... Look above!


After researching the designer's inspiration for the Leaders Night invitation, which was to transform the UAM into a star and create a color-by-numbers landscape, I became a fan.

A full week of arts-related events for ARTSweek passed, then Thursday night finally strolled in for the ASI Student Leader Night, an event created by the previous arts commissioner, Melissa Tanney. A group of about 50 devoured yummy minis from Bouchees Bistro and Silver Ballon cupcakes created especially for this event by Frosted Cupcakey. Apple Computers and the Photo Club entertained guests with taking Polaroid and other Pop-inspired photos in the UAM's Reading Room. Then, we toured the galleries with the direction of the UAM museum director, Chris Scoates, as he ellaborated on Andy Warhol's life as an artist and his art pieces found in "Warhol: 15 min/24 fps."

Let Andy Warhol inspire you, too. "Warhol: 15 min/24 fps" will be at Cal State Long Beach's UAM through Dec. 14.

Chris Scoates on YouTube: 'Now at the UAM'

If you're curious of what the University Art Museum Director Chris Scoates has to say about the three current exhibits showing at the UAM, watch this YouTube video:

On the Arts Beat: 400 Words about ARTSweek

Making the ARTS on campus visible
Published in Tuesday's edition of the Daily Forty-Niner

Poll Results: Warhol Thoughts

Earlier this month I asked what Warhol muse(s) you’d most likely want to be and also what artist you would like to see the University Art Museum pull from its permanent collection for a show, à la Andy Warhol. The poll questions revolved around the UAM, because, after all, it's had an impressive month — from debuting “Warhol: 15 min/24 fps,” to receiving a grant from the Getty Center to collaborate with the Long Beach Museum of Art on a show on video art. If you’ve been M.I.A., look through my archives for more details. For now, here are this month’s poll questions and results:

If you could be one of Andy Warhol's darlings, who would you be?
57% voted Elizabeth Taylor
28% voted Edie Sedgwick
14% voted Campbell Soup, Lou Reed, the Wicked Witch of the West or Mick Jagger

Andy Warhol was known to ask his friends for their suggestions on what he might paint next. Make a suggestion to the UAM on what other major artist from its permanent collection should show next.
50% voted David Hockney
33% voted Roy Lichtenstein
16% voted Graciela Iturbide

Blurb of the Night

Met L.A. artist Maya Schindler tonight, and I wish I could've taken pictures of Andy Warhol's silver ballons. Naked women were at the museum. "Performance action," they call it. Tattoo, then glue.



ARTSweek Event : MUSEUM I Nov. 13 I “Warhol; 15 min / 24 fps” “Maya Schindler: Present Progressive” “Un-figuring the Body” I University Art Museum I 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Public Reception I Free

This is what's happening at Cal State Long Beach this week. It's the Week of the Arts, or simply ARTSweek! Hooray!

Photo Blurb: A "Splattered" Scene

...IN THE DESIGN BUILDING

These little masterpieces can be found in the Design Building's hallway. They were created for Matias Ocana's Industrial Design - Materials and Tools (Design 151) class.

Election Notebook: Hour-by-Hour Snapshots

Today is Election Day. And instead of hurrying to vote or even opening the newspaper to read whatever new controversy might’ve landed a 60-point headline, I plopped down for a nonsense breakfast at about 10 to 10. No radio. No TV. But, yes, toasty hash browns and creamy scrambled eggs interlaced with slices of garlic and onion, with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, and the clear sky allowing the intoxicating sun to shine through — I do remember thinking what beautiful day this had already started off to be!

11:07 a.m. I am somewhere racing down the 405, blasting some wild rock music, loud and for long, by Long Beach’s own, Cold War Kids. I can’t ignore the fact the band performed at the DNC, or Democratic National Convention, earlier this year.



12:16 p.m. On Facebook via mobile. All status updates look alike.

• Camilo Cruz has donated his status to remind everyone to vote for Barack Obama today. Donate your status: http://causes.com/election/25848890?m=ad1fd51b.
• Emily Sander has donated their status to remind everyone to vote for Obama & NO on Prop 8 today. Donate your status: http://causes.com/election/6213546?m=4455e771.

Cruz is an MFA student. Sander, a theater student who recently starred in the student showcased "Whose ISM is It Anyway?"

2:32 p.m. Meeting #2. This time at the University Art Museum, where I met with Nadia, the public relations assistant, for our plans to (as she put it) “take over the world.” More on that soon! *Mega-wink.* We were tucked away in the cozy Reading Room, plotting away some magical Warhol soiree, when suddenly politics and art slipped into our conversation. An undergraduate art history student, Nadia pointed out the somewhat overload amount of art shows galleries accumulated during campaign season. A lot of Obama art and a lot more subversive political art, she noted.

3:47 p.m. Immersed in the remote land simply labeled Dance Center on Cal State Long Beach maps, I encounter a flyer, “ArtsVote … Arts Positions of the 2008 Prsidential Candidates.”

Click to enlarge. LEFT Found. Evidence that dance students are interested in the campaign and each candidate's view on the arts. RIGHT Details, according to ArtsVote.

4:52 p.m. CSULB is only an image in my rear mirror now. Still in wonderment about that political video art I encountered at the galleries yesterday, I drive away wondering how Masters of Fine Art sculpture artist McLean Fahnestock is celebrating Election Day. She did mention a treat for gallery guests wearing an "I Voted" sticker. Ben & Jerry's and Starbucks are doing something like that, too. I am headed home to vote.

6:13 p.m. I am in my hometown, San Pedro. I've waited 15 minutes in a short line of about 20, finally reaching the check-in table where I present my California driver's license, sign by my name, receive a ballot, am directed to a poll station, look for the President's name, punch, turn around, deposit ballot, receive sticker. I Voted.

Photos, a la Fahnestock.
7:22 p.m. Chinese take-out, steamy. TV with Katie Couric, steamy.

8:09 p.m. Game over. Barack Obama will become the 44th president of the United States of America. Offical release by the Wall Street Journal:

Nov. 4, 2008

Barack Obama won a historic race for the White House, defeating John McCain to become the first African-American president. Obama carried Democratic strongholds such as California and New York, but also won key battlegrounds such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida.

With the victory, the 47-year-old senator will become the nation's 44th president, riding a tide of voter discontent with the economy, the war in Iraq and eight years of Republican control.

Obama's party was poised to expand its majorities in both the House and Senate, setting the stage for Democrats to push an ambitious agenda from health care to financial regulation.

What are your reflections on today's results?

Pre-Election Notebook: Fahnestock's Video Art

NO WALLFLOWER McLean Fahnestock, MFA sculpture student, exercises her political views through her video art. Politics and celebrity shape powerful characters we all get to know, but politicians hold all the power, Fahnestock says.

It's come down to less than 24 hours before Election Day. History will be made either way -- the possibility exists for the first black president or the first woman vice president to enter office.

Whatever the scenario, Masters of Fine Arts sculpture student McLean Fahnestock is watching carefully, so carefully she often records politicians or those stalwart political TV analysts in the act.

In the Gatov gallery, she's got Hilary Clinton in a "Today Show" interview from 1998 -- the day after the Lewinski scandal broke. Part of Fahnestock's interests include documenting politicians who mesh "private and public parts" of their lives before the media. A better example rings louder in the Merlino gallery, occupied by another one of her videos, "The Great Debate." "God. God. God. God." repeat two men. This is an example of how God, being that private thing, gets delivered in such a public manner.


THE "GOD" VIDEO "God. God. God. God. God." Currently in the Merlino Gallery, Fahnestock's 45-second video projection called "The Great Debate." The video shows two conservative news analysts, George Will and Cal Thomas. The great debate? It's about teaching creationism and evolution, noted Fahnestock.

"I am watching performance," notes the part-time video artist. "It's a facade, all in the face, a schedule in looking like people."

Like how democratic nominee Barack Obama announced he'd be spending time with his children for Halloween?, I probe. Actually, Farhnestock responds, more like John McCain's making-up of fictional characters, like "Joe the Plumber," attempting to grasp the middle-class archtype.

Farhnestock is excited about the election, and so am I. And as the school's arts commissioner, I'm more curious of which candidates have more interest in supporting the arts and funding for artists, a lot of like what I do.

Click here to read what LA Times has to say about the presidential candidates and their individual support towards the arts.

Do you vote according to who has greater support for the arts?