This just in from Joe Shea up in Portland. Thanks for sending this along, Joe.

Two red dots!

For anyone who has followed this blog over the past few weeks, I think I made it pretty clear that I was very excited about the show “Thrice” put on by Larry Mills, Tanner Goldbeck, and Joe Shea at the AFS Gallery.  And the show was no disappointment. What was slightly disappointing was the less than expected turn out for the show. I expected the place to be packed with these artists’ many friends and fans. And while there was a steady crowd there, it was not the standing room only event I had hoped it would be. I talked to Holly Mackay at Art From Scrap yesterday when I went back to the show for a second look, and she explained that Fiesta kept some people away but that many people showed up late so they kept the show going for an extra hour. Apparently I  left just before many arrived. And the people that came brought their check books since there are now quite a few red dots next to works that had sold.

Part of J Shea's "Silent Night"

The work in the show was of the high quality that is usual for each of  the artists, but there were also some nice surprises that re-emphasized the importance of seeing the work in person. For instance, I had previously seen many of Larry Mills’ photographs on his website. However, for the show these photos were mounted on wood panels and cleverly sanded around the edges, rounding the corners of the wood and wearing away the edges of the photos, giving the photos a worn and weathered look that echoes the themes of many of his photos.

There were also many great works there from J. Shea. His iconic wood box framed sculptures continue to surprise me with their wit and depth of character as in the wonderful “King of Kings” , but I was most surprised to find that my favorite of all of his pieces was a painting entitled “Silent Night”. The painting allowed Shea to present his characters in a specific setting, suggesting a plot, and giving an additional narrative complexity.

Another great example of the importance of seeing works in person came in the form of Tanner Goldbeck’s “Citizen No. One – Pale Rider”. This image was another that I was familiar with from the internet, but that representation does no justice to the actual work itself.  There is some kind of magic that comes with brush strokes and oil paints that digital creations cannot reproduce, and this painting is full of it.  The paint amplifies the frenetic action that is typical of Tanner’s work, imbuing it with all-important gravitas.

Tanner in front of "Citizen No. One". Photo by Larry Mills.

There is a lot to enjoy in this show. If you were one of the people who missed the opening, it will be up until September 12th so you have another month to catch it. Head over to Art From Scrap and check it  out for yourself, because you never know when you’ll see a show like this in town again.

If you have been to  the Santa Barbara Bowl you have probably seen Larry Mills, camera in hand, capturing some of the visual highlights of the show. Mills is the house photographer for the Bowl, as well as SoHo, so he’s got quite the portfolio of concert photographs, many of which can be seen here. Mills is also an accomplished fine art photographer, with a long history of exhibits in town as well as LA and recently Portland, OR.

My very own Larry Mills photo.

My first encounter with Mills’ photos was at a show in Muddy Waters a few years ago.  The majority of the shots had been taken at a billboard graveyard outside Vegas. The images did an wonderful job of capturing the epic strangeness that is Las Vegas.  Looking at these photos you got a sense of how this strangeness has evolved over the years, and these remnants were evidence both of a glorious past that seems worthy of nostalgia and an inability to age gracefully; like a withered old lounge singer whose act hasn’t changed since the Rat Pack were regulars at the Sands.

In many of Mills’ photos there is a deep affection for the beauty of bazaar Americana; elements of a blue-collar fringe culture and extreme  rural remoteness. There is also a focus on the passage of time, entropy, and decay but always from the point of view that these a processes are natural and often have beautiful results.

Mills will be joining Tanner Goldbeck and J. Shea9 in the “Thrice” show at AFS Gallery on August 8th. He has a  website and blog to check out to get an idea of what you might see in the show.  I’ve also pasted his bio below for your reading enjoyment.

Born and raised in California’s agricultural, Central Valley, Larry Mills, now a resident of Santa Barbara, is a mostly self-taught photographer using his camera as a tool for artistic expression and a means for putting beans on the table. In the early 1990’s, while studying Graphic Design at S.B.C.C., he made the personal discovery of photography. So taken by it in fact, after only two semesters of training in the medium, he chose to forfeit the rest of his formal education to free-up more time and energy for the sole purpose of learning-by-doing. Since that decision, photography has played a roll in his life on an almost daily basis. Larry, has used his gained knowledge to obtain working positions in professional imaging labs, execute editorial assignments for numerous print and online publications, exhibit in solo and group art exhibits, and photograph live music for the Santa Barbara Bowl, where he has been the house photographer for nearly a decade.

Late last week, whilst innocently exploring the interwebs I came upon a flier which instantly caused me to jump out of my seat and litter the air with profane words of excitement.

For those of you who have followed this blog, you may well remember my sporadic ranting lamentations about how so many of my favorite Santa Barbara artists are forced to emigrate to find enough people who will support their art. The reality is that the majority of the people who spend money on art in Santa Barbara have very traditional tastes, so to make a living many of our edgier, progressive, political and urban artists leave town for greener pastures elsewhere. That is, in part, what makes this upcoming show so special and exciting.

On August 8th at the AFS Gallery at 302 E. Cota Street in Santa Barbara, three of my favorite contemporary artist with Santa Barbara connections will be having a show in town for the first time since two of them left for the reasons mentioned above. J. Shea 9, Tanner Goldbeck (a.k.a Racecar 13), and Larry Mills are all accomplished, and talented artists with their own unique style.

When I saw the flier I immediately sent off an email to J. Shea (a good friend to this blog) to get details on the show’s development and the history these three have together. Throughout this week I’ll be posting his response as well as giving a brief profile of each artist and their work.

So stay tuned this week for further details.