Santa Ana ArtWalk October 2015
I wasn't even gonna go. I was still laying in bed trying to recover from partying downtown the night before, then Alejandro calls me. He was recovering too, at Winston's new place in Irvine, electronic massage chair and everything. I asked him if he was going to artwalk tonight, he said he might, he just had his 5th cup of coffee. I took that as a yes. I get up and got ready...
Alejandro picks me up around 7:30 from my house on Broadway and we head north. Dowtown was already crowded. We drove around looking for parking but it was nearly impossible. Both parking structures had rows of cars lining the streets waiting for parking. There were art girls everywhere. I was starving, Alejo had coffee belly. We went to Jack in the Box.
Afterwards we found parking on the rooftop of the 4th Street parking structure and walked back to Broadway. We wanted to start our walk from West to East, because we knew we would never leave the East and end up missing all of the art on the West. I saw old friends i haven't seen in forever! First person to approach us was Stagolee VaughnDelp with a full bottle of coffee-flavored Patron. He led us to the Santora Basement where he played a live show at Avant Garden Gallery. My phone was chalk full of ish so all of my videos are short and sweet.
A few Artists at Avant Garden Gallery Were:
Greg Morissey
"Fall"
Acrylic
$85
This piece is Mixed Media, Highly textured, and caught my eye right away. I love abstract...
City of Light
Oil on Canvas
$600
We stayed there for about an hour and a half. Alejo was playing drums on a table, singing along with the band. I was just wandering around taking photos and videos of interesting items. We got done messing around there and went upstairs to the promenade outside. Huge crowds, people eating at restaurants, and we saw these dancers in the center of everything:
There were vendors everywhere selling Art, Clothing, and Jewelry. Reminded me of the Bazaars I saw in Iraq. Everything was available. We saw my friend Dino, who is a regular vendor on the promenade on Broadway, he was making a killing. We walked inside the Grand Central Art Center and bumped into Cheryl and Jack, they were checking out some sculptures.
There was a huge weeping "Statue Of Liberty" in the lobby, an awesome mural in the hallway, and a gift shop with nice items of jewelry. Grand Central is one of my favorite galleries to visit when I come downtown. They always have some "off-the-wall" stuff.
We left the scene, browsed a little more through the outside venders, and walked across the street to OCCCA Gallery. As soon as I walk in we were greeted by Annabella Pritchard. She gave me huge tips and connections that should help push along my art career. We saw people sitting and watching a Visual Art scene in the lobby. The back was full of sculptures and people watching a live performance of dancers.
Reliquary of Saint Anne
2015
Paper, Tissue Dress Patterns, Charcoal, Acrylic, Canvas
36x24
$1950
Models Everywhere, Alejo was hyperventilating, we paid $3 bucks for wine and left. Across the street is Gallery 211. Andrea Lee Harris Mcgee was having a solo show. The place was pretty packed. We said hi the gallery owners Yvonne and Jose and went inside.
Double Self Portrait 2015
Ceramic, Unsalted butter in Refrigerator.
"Holy Toast" 2015
Mixed Media
Lots of great stuff there! Alejandro had a nice conversation with Andrea about the inspiration for her show. She told us about the resilience and swag goats have and how goats are symbol for her life at this point. She was super swagged TF out.
We said our goodbyes and said goodbye to the West Side. We were headed East to GCS Gallery. We saw tents set up outside with DJ's spinning reggae and hip-hop. Clothing Vendors and crowds of artists I recognize from Long Beach and Costa Mesa were outside the shop. Inside was full of art-walkers, looking around for their favorite piece or buying Clothing. I said "Waddup" to Hector the owner and took a look around. These orange pieces caught my eye.
ARBE
"Moro 1" $150
"Moro 2" $150
"Valencia" $150
I Love Abstract...
After a while our vampire instincts started to kick in. We needed beer. We walked to Food 4 Less, got some brew, and headed to Top Acid Gallery. After a quick scan through the crowd we knew we would end our night here. The gods were lurking.
Will Eudave Greeted us first.
Another Ratsy!
Acrylic painting by Killer Couch!
The vibe was awesome. Everybody we knew was there. Our Vampire hunger was thoroughly quenched. I walked outside for some fresh air just as a two man band began to play. Good Timing.
The scene was Heaven on earth. I loved this Artwalk. Santa Ana went IN this month!! We left around 2-3 am and got some food at Alberto's on Grand. We went back to Alejandro's shop, Mekah Design, and decided to make an art piece for a random scavenger hunt we are going to start.
Thank You Santa Ana for a great start to October. Let's keep this energy going. Here is Alejandro's video account of his Artwalk Experience. Enjoy...
