Secret Still

If that title didn’t tip you off, Aaron Nagel (previously mentioned) is opening a show of new works at the Shooting Gallery in SF. You’ve seen a couple of them from his website, but for the most part these are all glimpsing the light of day for the first time on Saturday. That’s this Saturday, March 6th, from 7-11pm, when the show opens to what I’m assuming will be the usual attractive 20-30’s crowd of SF art lovers, and one guy from Oakland, carrying a skateboard and drinking homebrews out of his backpack. Yeah, I’ll be there. I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to glimpse Nagel’s masterpieces in person, even if glimpsing is all I can afford. If, unlike me, you can’t get to San Francisco with a simple train ride under several millions tons of salt water, there are plenty of images of the new show for your eyes to lust over, and even a visual visit to Nagel’s studio in Oakland (why didn’t I know that was only a few blocks from me?). Be there in person or be there in spirit, but there’s no excuse for you to not see these fine works.

Aaron Nagel: Marks
Aaron Nagel Studio Visit

If you’re looking for a way to kill the last few hours of the work day, or the first few hours of the non-work day (for those of you not in PST), then consider them dead and gone because Narwhal Projects has a giant preview of Gary Taxali’s new show, “The Taxali 300,” available for your viewing pleasure. That’s right, 300 paintings/drawings from the prolific and amazing Gary Taxali, the Canadian wonder. You can also buy them, but I don’t want to pressure you into something like that. You haven’t even had dinner yet. Get comfortable, relax, get out of those work clothes, and then maybe we’ll talk about buying some art.

Gary Taxali: The Taxali 300

I don’t even have the right words to describe how much of a kick in the feelings the new Doze Green paintings are. Do yourself a solid and check them all out, and if you’re in New York, see them in person. Maybe send me some pictures of them in giant size. Oh, and buy me a small Doze painting while you’re at it. It’s only my dream come true, so no big deal if you don’t get around to it.

Doze Green @ Jonathan Levine

Beau Basse from LeBasse Projects shot me a note to let you know about their upcoming show on September 12th, that’s next Saturday (don’t worry, I had to check a calendar, too). And there’s no way I’m going to be responsible for even one of you in the LA area missing this show due to my negligence. I care about you too much to see you sitting at home on a Saturday night when you could be in Culver City drinking some free wine and cramming your eyes full of glory. This show, or shows actually, is definitely a must see as it features new works from Edwin Ushiro (work pictured above) and Ryuichi Ogino. Ushiro’s work is gorgeous and lush and layered, and Ogino’s is beautiful in its graphic simplicity and playfulness. Both these dudes are better than you in so many ways that it’s kind of embarrassing. If you don’t die from smoke inhalation in the next week or so, make sure you’re in Culver City from 7-10pm for this opening. If you have some kind of medical emergency that night, which is the only acceptable excuse, the show will be up until October 3rd; plenty of time for you to get over there once your burns heal. My public service for the day is now completed.

*voting is now closed* For those of you that voted, thanks and keep watch for the randumb prize winner tomorrow. For the other 300 people who read the post and didn’t bother to vote: eat a syphilitic dick. Can’t even spare 30 seconds to vote. Cock-knockers.

At the beginning of April my friend Matt and I decided that it was high time we stopped being little girls and grew manly beards. Dudes that we are, we decided to make it interesting by turning the whole beard growing process into a competition, and so Beardoff 2009 was born. Both of us have suffered through the slow, itchy, and disgusting process of growing a beard for 30 long days, and now it’s time for the winner to be decided. That’s where you come in, internet. We need you to be our impartial judges, so one of us can throw their beard-mastery in the other’s face. The loser also has to buy the winner a big, manly, delicious steak, because we’re men and that’s what men eat.

To sweeten the pot, one random voter will be chosen to receive some sweet prizes in the form of a DEATHCAT!!! t-shirt that Matt designed, and probably some drawing from my sketch book. That’s as good as we can offer without corporate sponsorship. The real prize is knowing that you have helped one man make another man cry, and at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.

Leave your vote in the comments. Make sure to leave your e-mail so we can contact you about your fabulous prizes.

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Recently added Secret Still Thousandaire Player’s Club Member Forever, Yuta Onoda (previously mentioned), hit me with the knowledge of a new piece (pictured above) that he’ll be showing at Subtext Gallery come Friday night. The show is a group effort titled The Kids Are Alright featuring work from emerging artists, and curated by the always bakery-fresh Beau Basse of LeBasse Projects. All of the work in the show is seriously top notch, and priced to move even in the tough economic times, so you might want to think about stealing a few more car stereos this month to buy some art. The show opens tomorrow, May 1st, with a reception from 6-10pm at Subtext HQ in San Diego. Anyone in the area want to hook a brother up with some opening photos, I’ll post ‘em up here real nice like. For all four of you to see.

The Kids Are Alright @ Subtext

Thought I’d throw together a little mix for you guys. I don’t have to explain my reasons, just enjoy it.

Download the mix here.

Track List:

1. Simon and Garfunkel - The Only Living Boy in New York
2. Paco de Lucia - La Nina de Puerta Oscura
3. Fridge - Cut Up Piano and Xylophone
4. Animal Collective - Banshee Beat
5. Some Song From Katamari
6. Radiohead - Talk Show Host
7. Zombies - Tell Her No
8. Mountain Goats - No Children
9. Polyphonic Spree - Reach for the Sun
10. Wolf Parade - You Are a Runner and I Am My Father’s Son
11. Smashing Pumpkins - Today
12. Toadies - So Help Me Jesus
13. Some Other Track from Katamari
14. Daedelus - Scaling Snowdon
15. UNKLE - Rabbit in Your Headlights (Massive Attack Remix)
16. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Just Like Honey
17. Some Yves Montand Song

Best place to listen to this CD: Driving somewhere with the windows down on a Sunny Saturday afternoon.

The Z issue of Beautiful Decay magazine is set to drop this month, and, like any good art milestone, the folks at B/D are having an exhibition to celebrate. The show will feature 26 artists that have been highlighted throughout the magazine’s 10 years in publication. It’s an impressive list of participants, made even more so by the fact that B/D was there to promote the artists before they were known to be impressive. If you’re in the LA area on Saturday, February 1st, hustle your ass over to Melrose Ave and help one of the longstanding icons of the underground art movement celebrate this happy occasion. This shit is like the diamond anniversary for artmags. 20 bucks says Amir cries. Hell, I would bawl like a baby.

Beautiful Decay

Big ups to Secret Still hermano Rey Ortega for dropping some knowledge on me about the new group show that he’s a part of. Without his e-mail I never would’ve seen the works of Shen Plum, who definitely perked up my gray Monday morning. The only reason I didn’t analyze her work for a full hour was because there were burritos calling from the next room. No one can resist that siren song. But then I came back and re-enjoyed everything I could get my eyes on in her portfolio. Her work is soft, playful, and colorful in all the right places. It puts me in mind of being trapped in a vortex of pillows and electro-folk acid jams. If you’re in the neighborhood of Canada then you can stop by Show and Tell Gallery to see Rey and Shen, along with a handful of other young art monsters, in their current show titled Gifted.

Shen Plum

I’ll be in LA this weekend, so I was looking through the landslide of art shows opening down there for my ocular pleasure. Aside from the Jeff Soto show at the Riverside Art Museum, which is one of the main reasons I’m going down there, there are a few others that I need to get my eyes into. I had originally planned to go to the Elbowtoe/Armsrock show at Thinkspace Gallery, but those dudes turned me down for an interview I was hired to do, because they said the magazine was too commercial. Eat a dick, bros, you’re doing street art in a fucking gallery. On top of that letdown, there is an amazing show in New York that I will also have to miss out on - Anathema at Last Rites Gallery. The show is a duet featuring new works from Shawn Barber and Vincent Castiglia. You could call it HorrorErotica. Barber has taken his work to an incredible new level with this series, and he was really nice to me that one time I was in his studio, so he gets the win. Castiglia has always impressed me with his skill, and he too steps it up by producing a series of paintings using his own blood as the medium. I just can’t drive to New York as easily, guys. Lo siento. Anybody in NYC that wants to send me photos from that show, I’ll post ‘em up quick-like.Thankfully, Cerasoli:LeBasse is gonna save my poor, disappointed retinas with two new shows on Friday night. They’ll be host to a solo show featuring new works from the master of mermaids, Evan B. Harris, and also a group show featuring works from a stellar roster of artists that is too numerous to mention. I’m gonna have to break a couple of traffic laws to make it down there in time, but it will definitely be worth the high-speed chase.