Two Years Later: an interview with Robert Vargas
By Saskia Vogel
Robert Vargas is gearing up for a solo show at Edgar Varela Fine Arts in April, but he has lost his muse. Miyoko, the octogenarian Japanese “High Priestess of Models,” is AWOL. She was the first figure model he ever drew, back at the LA...
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Viva Kiki of Montparnasse!
By Saskia Vogel
“Viva Bedlam” was the name of the show, and viva indeed. As photographer Rick Mendoza says, “I called it that because Bedlam didn’t go anywhere. We’re keeping it alive by doing what we do.” The Bedlam Mendoza speaks of is not so much the eponymous space, but the about...
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I Don’t Trust Galleries
A Discussion with Ann Erpino & Bruce Dean
by Saskia Vogel
After decades climbing the ladder as a gallery-less painter, Ann Erpino can finally exhale. Finding success in an unexpected niche—as the go-to artist for Cal Tech scientists who want the concepts of their DNA processing research and explorations of conscious translated into...
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The LA Times has a great photo gallery about Islands of LA, which I wrote about in a Citizen LA article…That Ari, so charming and fun. Ah, but when I spoke with him he wanted to keep his name secret for the project’s sake…I suppose he finally unveiled himself.
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Review: Vargas @ Gallery 626By Saskia VogelNot only is Robert Vargas creating new work that departs from the expressive figurative oeuvre that has gained him his loyal following in Downtown, but also the 626 has taken a side step from “the preservation of African-American fine art” by showcasing the emerging talent of this Lakota...
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Profile: Jesca Hoop
By Saskia Vogel
When singer/songwriter Jesca Hoop moved downtown nine months ago, she couldn’t stop thinking about the “great wealth juxtaposed with drastic poverty.” Or, as she writes in her song “City Bird:” “After the tower turned to a tomb, the underworld refugees all were refused by the banker. With nowhere to go,...
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Another grand piece in the Citizen. This one’s about street art of the “make you think” kind, the kind that’s invisible, sometimes, and often for the greater joy of the public…and all on a traffic island.Think Guerilla Gardening gets a land grant. Or Wordsworth leaves the Lake District for Yosemite and shakes hands with...
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Interview: Robert Vargas: Floored!
By Saskia Vogel
Robert Vargas drew his first nude 29 years ago when he was three. As his mother dashed from the shower to her room, Vargas captured her in crayon. Then as now, the female form was an inspiration. With commanding technical skill, an intimacy with his media and an exuberant,...
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The Alexandria: The Chelsea Hotel of the West?
By Saskia Vogel
Boom goes the market. Pop go affordable abodes. Ameriland developer Ruben Islas’ neighbors were priced out, seemingly overnight, in San Francisco’s Mission District after the dot com explosion. Islas is determined this will not happen in L.A. I’ll call him an entrepreneur with a heart...
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