How is it the middle of November already?!? There are a couple of great shows that are sneaking up on me this weekend. The first one I’ll highlight is down in Carpinteria at the Anderson Art Collective. I absolutely love the idea for this show (see details below). There is something about the rarity of collaborative works of art in the art world that makes me very excited. The pieces bring together different points of view, techniques, and media to create something entirely unique, which is exactly what this show is about.  And the results look amazing…

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Anderson Art Collective Presents The Exchange: Bridging the Gap between Northern and Southern California Art Practices.
Santa Barbara, CA – Anderson Art Collective announces its upcoming show The Exchange, a two-man show with individual and collaborative work by California artists Randy Noborikawa (Costa Mesa) and David Seiler (Oakland).

This highly anticipated show embodies an exchange of ideas on art, culture and ethnicity between two artists from diverse and uncommon backgrounds. On the leading edge of their respective art communities, the two artists bring a snapshot of Northern and Southern California art practices to the Collective. The show opens with an artists’ reception on November 20 from 6-8pm and continues through January 9, 2011.

Artist David Seiler brings a background of Bay Area Figurative influences, strong sense of draftsmanship and use of unconventional art media. In addition, Randy Noborikawa’s immersion in Orange County sub-culture, keen sense of composition and extensive use of neon, allow for the two artists to explore themes of ethnicity and cultural boundaries in unique and uncommon ways.

“Because of the physical distance separating the two artists, the collaborative works for this show were made while the artists visited each other in their respective studios, creating the large scale works for the show within an intense (at most) 72 hour period,” notes gallery co-curator Benjamin Anderson. “The result culminating in a visceral, process oriented journey and visual dialogue of two very different artists in one work of art.”

David Seiler lives and works in Oakland, CA where he is known for both his chaotic and turbulent mixed media art as well as his gallery ‘Victorian Rat’. Coming from an ethnically diverse upbringing in the Bay Area, Seiler’s work searches for cultural boundaries and uproots them by laying them bare in his bizarre and otherworldly sculptures, paintings and drawings.

Randy Noborikawa lives and works in Costa Mesa, CA and is gaining widespread recognition for his cutting edge contemporary art that eschews his extensive art training, immersion in Southern California culture and years as a venerated artist/designer for surf giant Quicksilver. Both artists are alumni of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and have been exchanging ideas on art for more than ten years.

Keeping with its continuing mission, the Anderson ART Collective will again donate a portion of sales to a non-profit organization. For this show, the Collective decided to bring it closer to home and has joined forces with the Carpinteria Skate Park Foundation. The Foundation has been working for over a year to bring a skateboard friendly facility to the City of Carpinteria. They are dedicated to seeing the completion of a city park prominently featuring a skate friendly environment that would facilitate the needs of active youth and their families.

Anderson ART Collective is located at 410 Palm Avenue, A2, in Carpinteria, CA on the beach just south of Santa Barbara and is open Fri, Sat and Sun from noon to 5pm or by appointment. The gallery has a roster of eleven contemporary artists and with an emphasis on quality and concept, is a platform to promote the arts, to protect the environment and to support human rights. Anderson Art Collective is one of 34 galleries that will premier at Red Dot Art Fair in Miami http://www.reddotfair.com in conjunction with Art Basel Miami Beach http://www.artbaselmiamibeach.com in December 2010. For more information go to http://www.andersonARTcollective.com or call 805.684.8783.

It’s time again for one of the most highly anticipated exhibits of the year.  The vastly talented and ambitious Anderson family in Carpinteria will be holding the opening reception for their newest combined show this Saturday. Since opening their own gallery at 410 Palm Avenue, A2, in Carpinteria, CA in the historic Henry Fish Seed Company building, they have been put up some really great shows and have produced some of  my favorite paintings of the last few years. They have been working equally hard at getting their work out there into the world and it seems as though this work is beginning to pay off (see below). Because of this hard work, these local artists are getting national, and even international recognition, so seeing their work in such a wonderful local space is a real treat.

Congratulations to the Andersons for their much deserved successes this year. I hope to see a huge crowd in Carpinteria Saturday night.

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ANDERSON {CUBED}

This new press release just landed in my inbox from the hard working Anderson family down in Carpinteria. You really have to give it to these guys for coming up with interesting and clever ideas. Complete with canvas, stencils, brushes and even glitter this new street art kit seems like a nice gift an young art-loving friend or family member.

I’ve posted the press release below. The opening reception is this Friday the 25th of September at 5pm. Make sure to stop by the Andersons’ beautiful gallery the next time you are in Carpinteria.

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New Art Kit makes artists out of EVERYONE.

Ever fancied yourself an Artist? Now is your time to shine. Brothers and accomplished contemporary artists Benjamin Anderson and Sean Anderson have collaborated to create the first ever d-i-y “Street ART Kit”. Now this is no blank canvas. They give you all the tools and more to create a true masterpiece of urban art.

M-E-Y-K {made to – express – your – kinetics} is a creative platform empowering individuals to find their own creativity. {Kinetics – your energy or movement}. “It is our belief that through encouragement and guidance anyone can create a masterpiece…” claim the Anderson Brothers.

M-E-Y-K, born a year ago as a simple concept on the 405 hwy in traffic has been through the rigors of design to ensure that the idea of enabling all individuals to become artists and to be proud enough of their creation to hang it in their own home, has become a reality. A year later the brothers are releasing the all-inclusive “Street Art Kit”. A choice of 3 custom canvases, paintbrushes, paint, glitter, pens, and 15 stencils (sexy skulls, crowns, filigree and zebras to name a few) are certain to bring the Artist out in you. If you are looking for a more personal flare M-E-Y-K also offers custom stencils from their website store.

‘Because of the nature of street art and it’s many layered compositions, we felt a kit oriented toward urban art would allow for self-proclaimed ‘non-artists’ to create something that has no boundaries or limits’ states co-founder Benjamin Anderson

M-E-Y-K’s Street ART Kit will be released on Friday 25^th September at the Anderson ART Collective. With their father, veteran fine artist Ron Anderson, the trio opened Anderson ART Collective, a contemporary gallery located in the historic Henry Fish Seed Company in Carpinteria, CA [http://www.andersonARTcollective.com]. The show involves not only respected artists but also doctors, lawyers, teachers, students and other self-proclaimed ‘non-artists’ in an attempt to dispel the notion that if you’re not left handed you’re not an artist.

The show M-E-Y-K opens on Friday 25^th September at the Anderson ART Collective, 410 Palm Avenue, Carpinteria, with a celebratory launch party from 5:00pm onwards. The brothers are committed to giving back and are donating 5% of sales to children becoming involved in positive art projects. “Our aim is to provide these children a canvas and tools with which to create positive street art that gets kids OFF of the street and into a creative and safe environment.,” said Sean Anderson.

The kits can be purchased online through M-E-Y-K.com and through the Anderson ART Collective beginning the 25^th September. For more information and inquiries please contact the gallery at 805 684 8783 or drop a line to info@m-e-y-k.com.

It’s been a while since I reported back after attending any of the exhibits that I’ve tried to publicize on this blog. Today, I’d like to fix that.

To begin with, I couple of weeks ago I headed down to Carpinteria to check out the Anderson Collective Art show. The exhibit was housed in one unit of a beautifully remodeled old Henry Fish Seed Company. Apparently, there was a new kind of Lima bean developed there and up until recently these beans were the chief agricultural product of the area. Who knew? Anyway, I was happy to see that the exhibit was very well attended. The space was beautifully utilized and gave ample space to each artist’s varied output of work.  While the brothers, Benjamin and Sean, worked the crowd, Ron was hard at work gluing together the odds and ends that attendees were asked to bring in. The first of four of these collaborative pieces was on display that night and was a wonderfully, chaotically beautiful thing. Each of the four collaborative pieces is being auctioned off and the proceeds will be used to help victims of the Jesusita Fire.

The generous nature of this family makes them hard not to like, but if you needed more convincing their art only adds to the appeal. This family is obviously brimming with talent.  In particular, Ben’s epic “7 girls”, which I first saw at the Rumble Art Fair, reaffirmed it’s position as one of my favorite paintings in recent history. The young Sean and Ben have also obviously benefited from the wisdom and experience of their elders. Their motivation, organization,  and ambition  make it easy to believe that successful art careers (however they choose to define that success) is just a matter of time.

The show runs through June 14th, as does the silent auction for the four collaborative pieces. The gallery, located at 410 Palm Ave, in Carpinteria,  is open three days a week, Friday/Saturday/Sunday from 1pm to 6pm or by appointment.

The second show I wanted to mention was the juried show at Westmont College’s Reynolds Gallery, but that will have to wait for another post. So stay tuned…

Lastly, I discovered earlier this week that the Santa Barbara Museum of Art has a new blog. It currently only has one post, so it remains to be seen how often it will be updated. But for those of you who keep up with what goes on at the museum, it is worth keeping an eye on. You can find the blog by clicking here.