Usually, if you want to check out edgy, urban, underground art you have to hop in the car and drive the 100 miles down to LA. All that is about to change, however, when Andi Garcia opens her own gallery in the back half of the French Press on State Street. Andi has been a favorite of mine since the moment I met her and is one of the hardest working art lovers in town. She has put together wonderful shows all over town and showcases exactly the kind of art that I try to highlight on this blog. So this gallery opening is some of the best news that I’ve reported in a long time. Her gallery will be called the Andi Garcia Art Gallery, or Ag2 (that’s “AG Squared”) and you can expect to see the work of young, emerging artists on the walls.

I’ve posted the details Andi sent me below. The space is slated to open tomorrow April 10th with a grand opening to follow in a few months, so if you are in the area make sure to stop in to get a coffee and check out this exciting new space.

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Ag2 Gallery is assuming the show space  as of April 10 , 2010 of which  Arcobaleno  has been occupying  for a couple years. I will be featuring  the hottest in Contemporary , Abstract and Pop Surreal art, along with what I call Urban Fine Art . We will bring  the best from the various American and European  formats to a new art mecca that SB is destined to be .

Also showcased with be  a collection section  of emerging artists  from the 805 of all ages .

A percentage of all art sales from Ag2 will go to a youth art scholarship I started last year for my birthday

There are a few previously scheduled openings  for May and June so I will let those shows play through before I have a grand opening some time  on or before Sept 2nd . However,  I will assume curating full time starting with a show in July.

This has been a collaborative effort 100% .  I could not do this without the love and support of  the artists  and  all of you .
Even the logo was done by an artist I was a fan of and then became very good friends with .
The design itself was a concept of many .Thank you !

For better updates check out :
http://artifaqz.blogspot.com/

Please feel free to spread the word and see each and every 1st Thursday  at Ag2 Gallery @ French Press

Andi Garcia
Curator /Art Representation
Ag2 Gallery @ French Press, Santa Barbara
andig2@gmail.com * 805.637.2521

On the 4th of July in Santa Barbara’s endangered Funk Zone a new and very unique gallery space  celebrated its opening day. The place is called Fishnet and can be found at 46 Helena St., just half a block from State and Cabrillo streets. This is one of my single favorite streets in all of Santa Barbara and is truly one of the best examples of what makes the Funk Zone a special place that should be preserved and nurtured.

The Fishnet store focuses on street and subculture artists, and I was very excited by the wide variety of work that is of high quality and would appeal to much of the art-loving public. The works on sale include paintings, photography, drawings, multimedia work, jewelry, ceramics, and custom clothes…and maybe some more things that I’m forgetting.

The store will be run on a volunteer basis by many of the artists who have work on display. This means that you might just wander into the store and catch an artist creating something beautiful right before your very eyes.

The celebration on the 4th  was definitely a happening place, with a large BBQ, DJs, a fashion show, and fire performers. It was its own mini street festival.

Fishnet is an interesting and, I believe, admirable experiment. Many of the artists showing work there have previously been mentioned in this blog. To learn more about the Fishnet Retail Theatre and Gallery check out their website here. Or better still, make a special trip down to Helena Street to check it out in person.

Below is a list of artists with work up currently. When possible I’ve included a link to their relevant website.

Isabella Kelly-Ramirez
Frank Critchlow
Beth Amine
Ethan Turpin
Jenessa Nye
Jett Green
Jason Roessler
Soriya Blalock
Molly Hahn
David Cooley
Wallace & Jill
Lisa Brown
Jimmy Bell
Nils Hammerbeck
James Van Arsdale
Kimberly Hahn
Mark Goerner
Brennan Grace
Karen Lucket
Pali X Szilvassy
Laura Wereb
Anaya Cullen
Ashley Brown
Clay Bodine
Laura Inks
Corinna Schmidt
Ashley Olive
Nikki Brown
Danial Ochoa

Fire Story by Bari Ramoy

On June 13th the annual Assemblage Art Show opened at the Art From Scrap Gallery at 302 East Cota Street in downtown Santa Barbara. The show features many local artists using items found at the Art From Scrap Rescue Store. This year’s challenge to the artists was to incorporate circles into their pieces. The show ends with one of my favorite local art events of the year, the artist reception and silent auction of the work. The money raised from the auction acts as a fundraiser for Art From Scrap’s many projects, including their Green Schools environmental education program. The auction lasts until the reception festivities on July 25th when the final bidding occurs.

An added twist to this year’s auction will be the ability to silently bid on the art via Twitter.  Twitter users can either send a direct message or a reply to Art From Scrap regarding their bid on a particular item, and will be sent their bid number in return, which they will use throughout the show’s duration. The Art From Scrap Twitter profile can be found at www.twitter.com/artfromscrap.

I look forward to a bit of absurdity as people walk around with their faces stuck in their iPhones, bidding away.

You can find more information on the Art From Scrap website by clicking here.

Images of all the artworks up for auction can be found here.