R O C K P A P E R S C I S S O R, t h i s w e e k e n d !
R O C K P A P E R S C I S S O Rfeaturing Raymond Pettibon, Daniel Johnston, Ron English, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Lee Ranaldo & Gibby Haynes Curated by Jon Cournoyer ROBERT BERMAN GALLERY, February 28 - March 21, 2009 Opening Reception: Saturday, February 28th, 7-10pm with DJ Shepard Fairey RSVP to rsvp@robertbermangallery.com www.robertbermangallery.com www.rockpaperscissorshow.com THE EXHIBITIONRobert Berman Gallery is pleased to present the group exhibition Rock, Paper, Scissor on view February 28 – March 21, 2009. The show will feature noteworthy artists who freely use, base imagery on, thrive, and excel in both the mediums of visual art and music. The artists taking part in the show are Raymond Pettibon, Daniel Johnston, Ron English, Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers and Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth.This exhibition highlights these artists who in both the mediums of music and art have created a memorable and historical body of work and continue to do so. Born from outsider roots stemming from Los Angeles, New York and Texas, they blurred the boundaries of aural and visual expressions creating what would become a hallmark of material from the period of the 1980’s-1990’s, eventually being absorbed by both the mainstream public and art industries. It’s influences today are countless. On exhibit will be paintings, drawings, collages, conceptual pieces and installations as well as ephemera including lyric sheets by Raymond Pettibon that have rarely been exhibited. Also a large collection or rare and early Daniel Johnston works, many of which have never been publicly exhibited, will also be on view from the collection of Don Goede, co-author along with Tarssa Yazdan of the definitive book on the artist Hi, How Are You?. These works will be published in the next edition of this book as well. THE PERFORMANCE LIVE BENEFIT MUSIC PERFORMANCE for the SANTA MONICA MUSEUM OF ART Spend the afternoon with contemporary art legend Raymond Pettibon, pop-art phenomenon Ron English, and renowned bassist Mike Watt who along with their respective bands be present during an extraordinary afternoon of art and rock n’ roll to benefit the Santa Monica Museum of Art. This benefit concert is organized in conjunction with the art exhibition Rock, Paper, Scissor at the Robert Berman Gallery, February 28–March 21, 2009. Refreshments generously provided by Library Alehouse, Casa Noble Tequila, and Iron Horse Vineyards. Sunday, March 1 @ 2pm, Bergamot Station Arts Center $35.00 Purchase tickets at www.smmoa.org THE PRE-PARTY ROCK, PAPER, SCISSOR PRE-PARTY @ SPACELAND Friday, Feb 27th, 8pm Sneak Peak Performances by Lee Ranaldo, the NicheMakers, Ron English’s Electric Illuminati, Mike Watt+thesecondmen & Opening Hootenanny with Old War Shirt, M.S. Garvey’s Buspoems, Slings and Famous Bob Rokos Tickets at www.clubspaceland.com LA WEEKLY: LA Weekly Events: The Electric Lumminati Background of the artistsRaymond Pettibon is an icon of the artworld who sprang from the world of punk and illustration and whose work is now in the permanent collections of galleries and museums throughout the world and has exhibited at MOCA, SFMOMA, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, Regen Projects, David Zwirner and the Robert Berman Gallery among many more. His early artistic roots lie in music, specifically in the Los Angeles punk rock scene, both performing music himself as well as designing artwork for bands such as Black Flag, The Minutemen, and Sonic Youth among others. He has continually created music over the last twenty years under various band names and collaborated with the likes of Mike Watt, Firehose, and Unknown Instructors. Daniel Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. A pioneer of the Alternative music movement, Johnson was considered artistically ahead of his time and his output, story and fame has reached cult status. His songs have been covered by over 150 artists around the world including Tom Waits, Pearl Jam, Beck, The Twilight Sad, Sparklehorse, Wilco, Yo La Tengo, M.Ward, fiREHOSE, Bright Eyes, Teenage Fanclub, Built to Spill, Spiritualized, and The Flaming Lips. His artwork has gained international attention and gallery exhibitions as well and was included in the 2006 Whitney Biennial. Sonic Youth which includes members Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, and Lee Ranaldo, is a seminal American alternative rock group formed in New York City in 1981.In their early career, Sonic Youth were associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City, but have outlasted most associated bands. Part of the first wave of American post-punk groups, Sonic Youth carried out their interpretation of the punk rock ethos throughout the evolving American indie underground. Sonic Youth were often praised for “redefin[ing] what rock guitar could do” using a wide variety of unorthodox guitar tunings, and preparing guitars with objects like screwdrivers to alter the instruments’ timbre. Having earned a place all to themselves in music history as well as popular culture, members of the band have over the years also released books of poetry and prose, produced films and created visual art. Ron English is a New York-based painter known for his unique, contemporary pop sensability who has exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide for over twenty years. In addition to painting, Ron English is widely considered to be one of the seminal figures in the culture jamming movement, in which artists and activists subvert existing advertisements to encourage free thought. His commentary and art were featured in the hit movie “Supersize Me,” widening his audience beyond the boundaries of intrepid art seekers, and he has appeared on television in the US, Canada, Europe, and Japan. He is also the subject of an award-winning documentary, “POPaganda, the Art and Crimes of Ron English.” Ron also writes lyrics for music composition and has collaborated artistically and musically with Daniel Johnston and Jack Medicine in the Hyperjinx Tricycle project. Gibby Haynes is frontman for the Texan-born Butthole Surfers, one of the leading underground bands of the 1980’s who arguably became known more for their outrageous live performances than the music they released. The band, under the direction of the incredible performances of Haynes, survived j ust under the radar of the majority of the mainstream music world. The Butthole Surfers left an influential mark on the act of rock performance that included elements of psychedelia, theatre, film, dance and special effects and drew crowds from all backgrounds and movements. Along with music, Haynes is an established visual artist exhibiting in both New York and Texas as well as acting, appearing in several films such as Jim Jarmusch’sDead Man with Johnny Depp, whom in 1995 he along with the Red Hot Chili Pepper ’s Flea started the side band “P”. Guest DJ Shepard Fairey is a contemporary artist, graphic designer and DJ who emerged from the skateboarding scene and became known initially for his “Andre the Giant Has a Posse” sticker campaign. Perhaps his most established work to date, however, is his “HOPE” poster campaign depicting now President Barack Obama. The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, calls him one of today’s best known and most influential street artists. His work is included in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the National Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian Institute. The Robert Berman Gallery has been in business in Santa Monica, California since 1979. One of the first galleries to be located at Bergamot Station Arts Center, it has occupied two exhibition spaces there for the last thirteen years. Founder and owner Robert Berman was early on in exhibiting artists such as Keith Haring and Raymond Pettibon and has done historical and seminal exhibitions by such artists as William S. Burroughs and the historically significant Man Ray, the largest of its kind to ever be held in the United States. We recently held a retrospective for famed and late California artist Eric Orr, hosted a show of the most famous of the California graffiti artists entitled “Will Rise” (pics attached), and the first ever gallery exhibition of Alex Steinweiss, the 91 year old “Creator of the Album Cover” who in the 1930’s was the first to take the album cover from a cardboard sleeve to a work of art. “Rock Paper Scissor” will certainly be a tremendous addition to this list. For more information contact: Jon Cournoyer Robert Berman Gallery 2525 Michigan Avenue, Suite D5/C2 Santa Monica, Calif 90404 Tel: 310.315.1937 www.robertbermangallery.com joncournoyer@anet.net Highlights
 
 
 
 |