Tag Archives | Click Mort

2/2: Dan Barry – Passing Time at La Luz de Jesus Gallery


Dan Barry Passing Time

Showing with Pool y Marianela and Dan Barry
Exhibition: February 2-25
Reception: Fri. Feb. 2, 8-11 PM
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027
www.laluzdejesus.com

The artworks in Dan Barry’s Passing Time exhibition have been created in 2017. On one level they are a reflection of the fragility of human life, loss, transitions, and anxiety. And, on another, the series chronicles the artist’s daily personal response to the general climate of dread and chaos found in current world events. For those who choose to take the time to engage with these mixed media drawings, it is Barry’s hope that some of the works utter a delicate whisper, while others deal a more brutal blow.

As with the previous series of artworks, the creation of each art object, from beginning to end, is a purgative and meditative process for Barry. Creation begins with the collecting and gathering of antique frames, found paper and ephemera – close to home and on the artist’s trips abroad. Finding inspiration in these collected objects, images, and surfaces, Barry begins to combine them, creating layers of images, textural beauty, applying meticulous drawing techniques – thus building up a history of marks. The resulting art objects contain surreal visions and personal narratives. Although left intentionally ambiguous in narrative, it is the artist’s goal to provide the viewer with enough signifiers of meaning, and hopefully an emotional charge, thus allowing you to derive your own personal meanings.

Dan Barry, b .1971, Denmark, Wisconsin (currently living and working in Austin, Texas).

“For as long as I can remember I have been an explorer, a collector, an image maker, an artist and a storyteller with a self-revelatory urge. My artworks have always been a reflection, and ambiguous journal, of what is happening in my life, mind, and surroundings at any given time.

I grew up on a farm in a rural part of the American midwest. At a young age, I began digging in old dumps, exploring abandoned farmhouses, gathering and surrounding myself with found images and objects. After completing my chores, I spent a lot of my free time daydreaming, making art and environments. At the age of 15, I became an antique dealer. The money that I earned buying and selling antiques allowed me to attend a private high school and a small liberal arts college where I studied cultural anthropology and fine art. These formative experiences directly influence my love for worn, distressed and perfectly stained surfaces.

Using collected imagery, found objects, and meticulous drawing techniques, I create layers of images, textural beauty, and meaning set in a world of humor and at times fragile vulnerability. The creation of each art object, from beginning to end, is a purgative and meditative process. The resulting art objects contain surreal visions and personal narratives. Although often ambiguous, it is my intention to provide enough signifiers of meaning, and an emotional charge, allowing the viewer to derive their own personal meanings found within my art objects.”

 

Share

2/2: Click Mort 1954-2017 Posthumorous / Post Mort ’em


Click Mort 1954-2017
Posthumorous / Post Mort ’em

Showing with Pool y Marianela and Dan Barry
Exhibition: February 2-25
Reception: Fri. Feb. 2, 8-11 PM
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
4633 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027
www.laluzdejesus.com

Artist Christopher Doran, aka Click Mort, used to leave oddly shaped, altered toys on the shelves of stores in Los Feliz. He began purchasing ceramics off the internet, painstakingly “dismember” them then put them back together in what he called a “recapitiation”, turning the once cute figurines into a surreal, almost deranged mini-sculptures.

Click passed away last October. He was a native of Los Angeles, was a musician who played with The Cramps for a few months and later, The Loafin’ Hyenas but for most of his musical “career”, played solo, at home…

 

Click Mort was more than just an artist on our roster. He was a dear friend,” says Matt Kennedy, the gallery’s director. La Luz de Jesus also published Doran’s book, The World’s Best Loved Art Treasures. Director James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy), a collector of Doran’s work, wrote in the book’s introduction: “The thing that represents my soul best of all is an alligator’s body with a little nurse girl’s head on it. At least one person in the world — namely Click — finds that lovely. I know he does because he spent countless hours crafting it. – Matt Kennedy, Gallery director, La Luz de Jesus as quoted in Catherine Wagley’s article about Click for the LA Weekly

 

The artist born Christopher Doran had been working toward his final exhibition when he succumbed to illness in October, 2017. Posthumorous is a posthumous exhibition of ALL of his remaining sculptures, many of which have never before been seen. Click’s arthritis got the best of him towards the end, making it difficult for him to continue creating his art though he lived longer than expected by cleaning up from drug addiction. It was during his clean phase that he created most of his tiny masterpieces.

 

Share

Stunning La Luz Exhib Install w/ Click Mort + 3 Opens 2Nite!


A stunning summer art show featuring Click Mort, Edward Robin Coronel, Christopher Bales, and Aaron Rivera opens at La Luz de Jesus tonight July 3 and remains open through the month.

CLICK MORT

Christopher Bales

Edward Robin Coronel

Aaron Rivera

 

Share

7/3: Christopher Bales – Archetypal Memory at La Luz de Jesus Gallery


CHRISTOPHER BALES
Archetypal Memory
Showing with Click Mort, Aaron Rivera, Edward Robin Coronel

July 3 – August 2, 2015
Artist reception: Friday, July 3rd; 8-11PM

LA LUZ DE JESUS GALLERY
4633 Hollywood Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 666-7667
www.laluzdejesus.com

 

 

Garage sales, flea markets, antique stores, junk yards: these are places you might find me rummaging over display tables or inside water stained boxes looking for any object that asks me politely to take it home. I place my excavations on one of dozens of dusty shelves where they may sit for years waiting to be put to use.

My sculptures are created in a similar way. I start by collecting a pile of objects. The artwork defines itself as these seemingly unrelated items are constructed. Sometimes the concept is immediately clear, other times I have to wait for it to be finished to find the meaning. This subliminal way of working preserves the mystery and spontaneity in my art, managing to keep the process fresh.

My work represents oddities I have discovered stumbling around the attic of my subconscious, touching on universal icons that find their way to the surface. My hope is that the viewer will be disturbed, amused, intrigued, or at least curious about what I have created.- Christopher Bales


It seems cheap to pigeonhole assemblage artist Christopher Bales‘ work as merely steampunk: His aesthetic is older than that. Although he sometimes uses antique and vintage materials associated with the genre, such as metal cogs, the final product often looks more like an altar constructed from the rubble of a pre-Victorian cathedral. Bales, who has been assembling these intricate sculptures since 1989, said he sources “an enormous amount of objects”-like broken wooden boxes, dolls, clocks, picture frames, figurines-from his weekly visits to flea markets and thrift stores. When he starts a new piece, he says he doesn’t have a preconceived notion of what the end result will be, but following his intuition when layering cutouts of classic paintings over etchings with skulls and religious imagery creates enough detail for the viewer to stay engaged but not overwhelmed. -Shoka, Sacramento Bee

Share

7/3: Aaron Rivera – Leisure at La Luz de Jesus Gallery


AARON RIVERA
Leisure
showing with Click Mort, Christopher Bales, Edward Robin Coronel 

July 3 – August 2, 2015
Artist reception: Friday, July 3rd; 8-11PM

LA LUZ DE JESUS GALLERY
4633 Hollywood Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 666-7667

www.laluzdejesus.com

 

There is nothing quite like the energy of a July 4th weekend spent with friends who know how to have fun. Aaron Rivera‘s works are a celebration of friendship in the context of the riotous color and excitement of a long, hot summer. Indulging in a love for bright colors, bold shapes, and a variety of patterns, these works seek to create a sense of nostalgia for a time when summer held endless possibilities. Rivera’s works are snapshots of intimate relationships, small adventures, and quiet moments. They seek to remind us of experiences that reinforce bonds, create memories of summer, and of the debauchery of youth we carry with us throughout life.

Aaron Rivera is mixed-media artist who has been working in illustration, small-scale paintings, and murals since his teens. More recent work includes the fabrication of puppets for stop motion films by Henry Selick and Charlie Kaufman. He has commissioned work for the UBC Mural Company of Chicago and, LA Metro. He has also done illustrations for the web series Cost of Living and Croissant Man. Aaron has shown work in the Discarded to Divine Charity Art Show at the De Young Museum, and participated in events at Los Angeles Municipal Art Galleries, and La Luz de Jesus Gallery where he currently has work on display. He holds a BA in Industrial Arts from San Francisco State University, and currently resides in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles with his partner Dave and their fat cat.

Share

7/3: Click Mort Delirium Tremens at La Luz de Jesus


CLICK MORT
Delirium Tremens
showing with Edward Robin Coronel, Christopher Bales, Aaron Rivera

July 3 – August 2, 2015
Artist reception: Friday, July 3rd; 8-11PM

LA LUZ DE JESUS GALLERY
4633 Hollywood Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 666-7667
www.laluzdejesus.com

The Jitters. Hallucinations and nightmares, occasionally punctuated by some pleasant dream. Sleep tight, my darlings.

Click Mort‘s work centers on indiscreet modifications to existing porcelain figurines. Each piece is a unique consolidation of two or more previously unrelated figures, with extensive cutting, sculpting, sanding, and painting being required to unify them into a new, seamless whole. The result is kitsch resurrected in a still vaguely familiar but somewhat less cozy form.

Mr. Mort’s formal training consists of a single high school ceramics class, where the tendency of his pieces to explode when fired eventually led to him being banned from the kiln. He has since opted to work only with pre-fired materials.

His recapitated figures have been shown at La Luz de Jesus in Los Angeles and Webb Gallery in Waxahachie, Texas. A book of Mr. Mort’s work, The World’s Best Loved Art Treasures, was published by La Luz de Jesus Press in October of 2014. It is available at Wacko as well as a number of reputable booksellers.

Share

7/3: Edward Robin Coronel – Fuzzy/Furry at La Luz de Jesus


EDWARD ROBIN CORONEL
Fuzzy/Furry
Showing with Click Mort, Christopher Bales, Aaron Rivera

July 3 – August 2, 2015
Artist reception: Friday, July 3rd; 8-11PM

LA LUZ DE JESUS GALLERY
4633 Hollywood Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 666-7667
www.laluzdejesus.com

Edward Robin Coronel is best known for his anthropomorphic characters that are whimsical, awkward, and melancholic. These characters explore Coronel’s curious world, dreams, and fuzzy memories with hope and curiosity

Edward Robin Coronel’s endearing work is not just cute, but is also rather heartfelt and touching. Harkening back to Coronel’s childhood of hand drawn characters, the works from this self taught artist bring us back to a more innocent time and serve as a breath of fresh air in an arts scene too often concerned with sexuality and occasional violence.- Hi-Fructose

Share

Click Mort Best Love Art Treasures Signing!


The World’s Best Loved Art Treasures
Book Release & Signing Party for Click Mort


 

Wednesday, October 8, 7-9pm
La Luz de Jesus Gallery
Soap Plant / Wacko
4633 Hollywood Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90027
www.laluzdejesus.com


Elephant, rhino, and crocodile-headed birds. Dog and cat-headed adolescents. Domestic bliss embodied by rabbit-headed parents and a baby carrot, taking her first steps. Such is the whimsical oeuvre of artist Click Mort, whose remixed nostalgia figurines have made their way into the collections of Mark Ryden, Long Gone John, and director James Gunn, who supplied the foreword to The World’s Best Loved Art Treasures by Click Mort. This tiny, hardbound collection features 88 full-color pages of sculptures that may have once adorned your mother’s mantle piece, but have been transformed into true surrealist masterpieces via scalpel and epoxy. Pick up a copy of Click’s first book and goad him into regaling you with tales of his history as a musician (with The Cramps), stories about his favorite art forgers, and maybe even an anecdote or two about what inspired the art in these pages. Click will be signing alone, but some very special guests have promised to turn up and congratulate him. There will be ample opportunity for Q&A throughout the book signing with the author.

“I hope you enjoy what you see in this book. please look closely at the photos. If you do, thy will make you laugh. If you look closer, they will make you feel. And if you look closer still, they will break your heart.” – from the foreword by James Gunn

The World’s Best Loved Art Treasures
by Click Mort
6.25″ x 6.25″ Hardcover
88 pages, full color
2014 La Luz de Jesus Press / Last Gasp Books
$18.95

“Click Mort creates ‘recapitated figures’ using the parts of different, pre-existing ceramic figurines to create quirky new hybrid statues. Often imbued with narrative humor, the seamless figures also hold a sense of nostalgia as most of the figures source parts from past eras. ” – Hi-Fructose Magazine

Reserve your signed copy today!
Contact the book store for purchase information.
(323)663-0122 or sales@soapplant.com.

Share

Website by Mancha