Working Dogs in the Garden When I'm Working

Here's the thing about working dogs: They want to work but they don't want you to, unless you're working for them. Here's also the thing about the cats: They too could care less if you put the basil in the proper pot.

Black Rothko. The Chapel. David Novros

Christopher Knight, Art Critic for the Los Angeles Times, shared this talk delivered by the artist, David Novros, on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of the De Menil-commissioned Rothko Chapel in Houston, TX.

Painted Places and Patronage by David NovrosROTHKO CHAPEL, HOUSTON, TEXAS | FEB. 12, 2011

The Rothko Chapel is one of my favorite places to be silent and absorb contemplative emotive work. Dark. Pulsating. Powerful. Spiritual.

A second collection of paintings from this era sits at in the Rothko Room at the Tate Modern. Originally commissioned for New York's Four Seasons Restaurant, the paintings became overly dark and moody and Rothko withdrew from the commission and gave them to the Tate. The tale of this adventure fits nicely into Novros' discussion of place, patronage and the oft sterility of museum exhibition and purpose. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2002/dec/07/artsfeatures

In a year of death and loss some years ago, while at the opening of Art Basel, I turned a corner at Basel's Kunsthalle and encountered a black Rothko. Its effect on me was stunning and I sat in front of it and wrote a cathartic poem, releasing the guarded emotion of time passing.

Published in an anthology, Strangers To Us All, it is below.

Novros' talk concerns artistic vision, the importance of place intertwined with vision and the benefits of patronage and what that means. Whether the Chapel or the sad discussions presently concerning the Barnes Collection, the relationship between art, its creators and the public/private inspiration is intriguing.

That said, the powerful black Rothko's for me elicit response wherever.

AsianPacific Heritage Month

May, just passed, is Asian Pacific Heritage Month.

In Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs published a terrific cultural guide and calendar. Three of my downtown Los Angeles Chinatown images from FINDING CHINATOWN are in there.






Looking forward to my summer show at Craig Krull Gallery in Los Angeles (Bergamot Station, Santa Monica), opening on Saturday, 30 July.

Pacific Resonance

Martin Cox, my co-curator, and I and our terrific participating artists have created an excerpt of our presentation for our April MOPLA "Project LA, Part TWO" performance.



It will soon be on MOPLA's website. Of course, every image (and music) is copyrighted by the respective participating artist and the movie has a compilation copyright, ©Copyright Sara Jane Boyers & Martin Cox. Credits as follows:

PACIFIC RESONANCE, A MOPLA PRESENTATION
PRO'JEKT LA Part TWO
12 April 2011 Space 15TWENTY, Hollywood
Curated by Sara Jane Boyers & Martin Cox
Music Composed, Produced & Recorded by Michael Intriere
Photographic Artists:
Sara Jane Boyers
Martin Cox
Nicola Dill
Ann Mitchell
John Rosewall
Magnus Stark
Svjetlana Tepavcevic

We are thankful to everyone who came out that night and of course to the Month of Photography Los Angeles who believed in our more "conceptual" piece.

Sunset/747Wing House

The 747 Wing House is nearing completion and it's been a joy to be up there. Working with sunset glow and night impressions.









Tonight, up there with architectural photographer Douglas Hill. Cannot wait to see his shots! Here one or two of mine from tonight:

View from lower wing/studio roof.


Between the wings.

Pics From PACIFIC RESONANCE, MOPLA

It was a terrific night, something different for the LA photographic scene and MOPLA loved it. They want a short edit for their website. Lots of attendees during the two-hour loop of this 33 minute projection/performance.

We too were moved by viewing this on screen in this perfect little outdoor venue for between Michael Intriere's emotive cello performance and the very complex but often abstract imagery from all of our participating photographers, we (Martin Cox and I who co-curated) were delighted with the way all of this worked.

Thinking about where to next take it.

MOPLA: PRO'JEKT LA PART TWO: PACIFIC RESONANCE

Come join us Tuesday, 12 April between 7 & 10pm for an evening of meditative imagery and sound, the photographs alternating between manipulated abstraction and powerful intense focus into natural landscape and atmosphere. We love the concept of this quiet moment with Michael Intriere's emotive recorded cello composition, Seashore, playing along with our images, all being projected at Space 15Twenty, itself full of the reverberation of LA's dreams and surrounded by the lights and clatter (Amoeba Music!) of Hollywood.

PACIFIC RESONANCE is our show.
Exploring MOPLA's 2011 theme "Adaptations and Reverberations," Sara Jane Boyers and Martin Cox have curated a night of natural and composed abstraction, seen from a diverse set of photographic investigations by seven noted Los Angeles-based photographers observing light refraction, moisture, surface and depth, colour and light, permanence and impermanence, timelessness and elemental concerns, all relating conceptually to the landscape and emotion of Los Angeles itself.

Images will be projected in a public square, Hollywood's Space 15TWENTY, with a specially recorded musical component as part of MOPLA's annual projection series, Pro'jekt LA FROM 7 to 10pm - ADMISSION FREE with RSVP to ProjektLA2@monthofphotography.com

Musician Michael Intriere, (a stalwart of the Los Angeles avant-garde art and music scene since the late 1970s), has composed and recorded cello compositions; SEASHORE I and SEASHORE II, which will accompany the projected photography.

Exhibiting Photographers:
Sara Jane Boyers www.sarajaneboyersphoto.com
Martin Cox www.martincox.com
Nicola Dill www.nicoladill.com
Ann Mitchell www.ann-mitchell.com
John Rosewall http://www.johnrosewall.net
Magnus Stark www.magnusstark.com
Svjetlana Tepavcevic www.svjetlanat.com

MOPLA2012/PRO'JEKTLA PART TWO: PACIFIC RESONANCE: Tuesday, 12 April from 7 to 10, Space 15TWENTY, 1520 N. Cahuenga Boulevard, LA 90028 http://www.space15twenty.com/