artist profile: josé nuñez

Untitled is an exciting premiere collaboration for bedding with our friends at San Francisco’s Creativity Explored, a nonprofit visual arts center where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit and sell art.

Studio artist José Nuñez was born in 1945 in
El Salvador, moved to California in 1996, and began creating art at the studio in the late 90s.

His beloved homeland inspires much of his work by way of nature—both flora and fauna. Also, figures and faces made with few strokes sit atop extremely long legs and are often separated by color tipped flowers.

Hints and washes of color are added to punctuate and accent the strength and delicacy of his line.

Six handmade screens—one for each color—translate the original untitled ink and pencil piece from art canvas to cotton bedding.

To spend one minute with José Nuñez in the Creativity Explored studio, go here.

artist profile: melvin geisenhofer

A dynamic collaboration with our friends at San Francisco’s Creativity Explored, a nonprofit visual arts center where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit and sell art.

True to his expressive use of color and repetition, Creativity Explored artist Melvin Geisenhofer abstracts a whimsical woodland in tonal greens, heathered blues, taupe and tarp green using a shaded dyeing technique to achieve a sense of depth.

Born in 1941, Melvin has been a regular at the studio since 1985. In his early years at the studio, his works had more recognizable faces often with wide, toothy grins.

More recently Geisenhofer tends to abstract and obliterate the faces with layer upon layer of marks in a thick network—he’s also been painting on larger canvases resulting in looser, less constrained pieces.

one of a finds: XL cinema journal

With the film industry of India’s move to digital vinyl billboards, sadly, the talents of an almost extinct community of Bollywood artists—known for their kitschy, glamorous movie posters and sets—is no longer in high demand.

Once required to produce up to 20 posters a day, this special initiative provides the artists not only a new source of income, but also the opportunity for a slower pace focused on their skills and passion for painting.

In an effort to keep their art alive, each XL cinema journal is made of special white pH neutral handmade paper, reclaimed from cotton rag, and is bound by a canvas cover which is hand-painted and signed by these original masters.

One of a Finds original works are offered one time only as a limited edition for collectors and enthusiasts—the fluorescent lips/eyes painting has a fall 2011 release of 200.

Note: this one of a find will be available mid-October.

artist profile: pablo calderon

Born in El Salvador in 1952, Pablo Calderon came to San Francisco with most of his family when he was in his late thirties.

In 2002, he started creating art at Creativity Explored—a nonprofit visual arts center where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit and sell art.

What we love about Calderon’s work is that he paints on a very large scale, uses saturated hues, broad strokes, and his subjects are usually single or repeating faces or animals.

Calderon alters his color palette and the surfaces he paints on—canvas, wood, paper, glass—but the wide eyed, curly-haired subjects consistently look very much alike; he refers to them as ‘munecas’, Spanish for dolls.

His artwork is well collected and though Calderon speaks only limited Spanish, he is happy and enthusiastic to show and explain his work to potential patrons.

To spend one minute with Pablo Calderon in the Creativity Explored studio, go here.

the feitelson fellowship, 2011

What: The Feitelson Arts Fellowship, 2011
When: May 19 thru July 3, 2011
Where: The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, LAMAG
Featuring: Artists early in their career—including CB2 team member, Nuttaphol Ma

photo by: Clinton Steeds The Lorser Feitelson and Helen Lundeberg Feitelson Arts Fellowship is awarded through the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery Associates, LAMAGA, a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization that supports the Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall Park.

Conceived by the Feitelsons, seminal Los Angeles Modernist painters, and their friends, as a way to give encouragement to artists early in their careers by offering financial grants; it is issued in conjunction with the City of Los Angeles, C.O.L.A., Individual Artist Fellowships to twelve exemplary mid-career international artists.

Congratulations and good luck to all participating artists.

…for the 2011 Feitelson Arts Fellowship, multi-disciplinary artist—and CB2 Santa Monica team member—Nuttaphol Ma combined references to Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change is Gonna Come’ with a performance where he, Ma, set sail with a boat over his head on May Day from Badwater Basin to the trailhead of Mt. Whitney.
…the approximately 130-mile personal odyssey meditates on the ebbs and flows of our existence, the power and the abuse of power subjected upon the powerless, the dreams of leaving and the dreams of roots.  Ma’s installation distills the performance to a two channel video projected onto sewn fabric walls. 
…to learn more about the installation, check out Ma’s website or experience it by visiting the gallery.
…thanks to julio, CB2 sample handler, for the heads up on this one.