BLOG — GALLERY

Our London friend, Rich Simmons has come stateside for his gallery show at the Soho Contemporary Art. If you are in the area you should go. No, if you are in the area you HAVE TO GO. If you've been following Rich on Facebook then you've gotten a glimpse of what he's created for this show and you know it's going to be awesome to see in person. And if you see Rich there and take a picture with him while wearing a HMNIM tee, post with #HMNIM and #ARTISTHECURE and one lucky winner with get a surprise gift from us just for supporting the Arts.

This we pulled from the Soho website:

On September 18th, Soho Contemporary Art will introduce Rich Simmons, a rising star on the international art scene. Coming off of three very successful solo shows in the United Kingdom, Rich Simmons is bringing his latest works to the Bowery for his first American show. The artist takes recognizable imagery from pop culture, such as super-heroes and projects his opinions and sense of humor on these familiar and well-known images. His message is one that everyone can relate to, love yourself. Connecting his work to his charity, Art is the Cure, he wants to raise awareness that creativity is a way to release emotions, both positive and negative. With his creativity, his unique commentary and passion for his cause, Rich Simmons is rising to fame because the public are connecting with his art and agreeing with his message.

RSVP: info@sohocontemporaryart.com

One of the most talented people on the planet is about to have an art show. We are taking about the one and only Greg Simkins AKA "Craola". May 17th at the Merry Kranowsky Gallery  in Los Angles. Why are we talking about something that's not going to happen for another 2 months? Because we don't want to hear any excuses, you need to start making your plans, book your flights, reserve your hotels..now!  You are going to look back 20 years from now and kick yourself for not seeing this in person. It would be like having the opportunity to see Salvador Dali or Norman Rockwell's art in person and not going, only to live the rest of your life in regret of what could have been, and what you could have seen with your own eyes. Maybe you need to be reminded of the talent of Greg Simkins....

We've made our point, we will see you all on May 17th.

Last night, London saw the opening of the latest Lazarides annual art show, this time aptly titled "Brutal."  It took place in an abandoned bank building on The Strand.  First recorded in 1002 as "la Stranda," meaning "shore," The Strand runs along what used to be the north bank of the Thames River, before the construction of the Victoria embankment. It now delineates the southernmost edge of the Covent Garden district, and is in no way pertinent to this blog post, or the art contained herein, other than the fact that it is the name of the street upon which the show took place.  Also, my wife almost tripped crossing the road and her friend dropped her phone, but the screen was okay.  Let's move on, shall we? 

Lazarides is the gallery at the cutting edge of the intersection where fine art meets street art, and this show is no different.  Walking into the venue, you feel like you're entering a zombie apocalypse, or a rave from the early '90s.  Decaying walls, exposed concrete, darkness, and loud music.  We arrived early and were met with performance artists beating the walls with metal pipes and baseball bats.  A crowd gathered and watched as they eyed the audience members and launched into a macabre contortion act.  

We wandered the dark ground floor halls of the forgotten financial institution, and around every corner we encountered work from some of the world's foremost artists.

Conor Harrington.

Antony Micallef. 

Miaz Brothers.

Pete Hawkins.

And other works from Know Hope, Estevan Oriol (photographer for the blink-182 untitled album and director of the "Down" video), Todd James, Katrin Fridricks, Faile, and on and on and on.  Paintings, sculpture, wall projections, installations, video art, and photography.  

There was even a cafe in the back serving soup.

We spent the night hanging out with artist and collaborator Rich Simmons, and here's a photo of us awkwardly standing next to one another.

Here's another photo from the night, of me standing next to my wife in front of work by the Miaz Brothers.  She's the one standing on the right.

As we were leaving, the event was in full swing, and as we approached the exit, I got to meet Antony Micallef.  We spoke for a few minutes about art and and the importance of honesty in expression, and I'm happy to report that the dude is friendly, smart, and very down to earth. It's awesome when you meet one of your heroes and he turns out to be a great human.

Brutal runs through the 27th.  You can book tickets online.  Steel yourself and enjoy.

This is part of our extremely late San Diego Comic Con coverage. We saw people dressed up as zombies and superheroes, just like every other year, so not a lot to report there. What we do want to talk about is Amanda Visell. You need to get onboard the Visell train. And it's not one of those slow-moving commuter trains. We're talking the high speed 400mph ones, more like a rocket. Her rocket is taking off and you don't want to be left behind, standing in a post-apocalyptic artist wasteland wishing you got on board, but you didn't and now you have to fight off roving gangs of mutants all because you thought you knew what real art was. Now sit down, buckle up, and take your eyes on a ride to Where Eagles Dare.

Amanda, on the left and the very talented Michelle Valigura to the right. 

We talk about Mike Mitchell all the time. Is it because he's a talented artist? a ruggedly handsome man? or does he pay us in freshly baked scones? We may never know, but we do know that Mike is curating SPACE!, an art show this friday at Gallery 1988 this Friday.

See, didn't we say he was rugged? A beard, a beer, a flannel. He is the very definition of rugged.

Not a day goes by that someone doesn't confuse the amazing and beautiful Richard Simmons with the artist Rich Simmons. The similarities don't just end with the name, it's the attitude, the wardrobe, the talent. If it weren't for the hair they could be identical twins.

To help you figure this out, we will be talking about the Rich Simmons on the left. Rich is a very talented and very social-minded artist, with his Art is the Cure movement that was set up to promote the use of creative therapy and inspire people to find the strength to find a cure in art.

Rich has a gallery show called the Inner Outsider coming up on June 14th at the Intimate Gallery in London. The show runs from the 14th to July 13th, Where you can see amazing pieces like the ones in this video:

You'll be hearing and seeing more from our friend, Rich Simmons, not Richard Simmons, very soon at HMNIM.