I have been through a LOT of quakes in my life. This one lasted a little longer, but from here in south central it was not as sharp, it did not have a “roar” to it that the ones you are closest to have.

So we went to a friend of a friend’s house to see the OvationTV documentary Jeff Koons: Beyond Heaven. Well, long story short, the DirectTV package he had didn’t include the channel (or we were not doing something right in a half-hour of troubleshooting).

When we got back home I had a few emails from friends and acquaintances saying nice things about my appearance in the film - they all had the package! The funniest comment of all was someone noting the similarities in style and substance between Jeff Koons with Mister Rogers. I guess that makes Eli Broad Lady Fairchild…

In my day job as an art critic I was interviewed for a documentary that premieres Sunday night JULY 27 at 7 PM and repeated at 10 PM. World Premiere of the Ovation TV original documentary Jeff Koons: Beyond Heaven.

As part of its month-long programming event,“American Revolutionaries,” saluting American artists who have changed the world through their art, Ovation TV is featuring an exclusive, original documentary exploring the life and work of fine artist and true American Revolutionary Jeff Koons. This in-depth documentary reviews his years of celebrated, and sometimes controversial creations, provides a rare and personal tour of his studio and looks at his most recent museum installation in at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.

In addition to interviews with Mr. Koons, the documentary also includes interviews with:
Gary Tinterow, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Francesco Bonami, MOCA, Chicago
Michael Govan, Director LACMA
Mat Gleason, author and art critic
R.C. Baker, Village Voice
Amy Cappallazzo, Deputy Chairman, Christie’s

Ovation TV is available on DirecTV (channel 274), Dish Network (channel 157) and on cable and telco systems in major markets across the country.

I think the kids next door moved. I don’t know for sure. They have been telling me about their new house, a house in Norwalk with a pool, they go there on occasion to swim but always come back here saying the kitchen there is not finished or something lame and vague.

There are like 7 or 8 of them and they have older sisters too, one is pregnant the other is the mom of one of the kids or maybe of two of them, but aunts and uncles that are the same ages as the brothers and sisters of the older kids - who are like 11-ish - the ones that know english and talk to me, that I have been hiring to do yardwork now for a couple of months, the ones that have become damn good negotiators.

We got back today and their yard was empty and the door was closed - with 8 kids running around all day that door was never closed, but it was a silent, empty yard at dusk today. The last time I saw them, Saturday, they had painted one of the little one’s face white and ran over here yelling “Mateo, Mateo, tu hija!” … like “look, her face is painted white, she must be your daughter.” They were laughing hysterically. They stayed close to their yard and were kind of growing up in a vacuum. They are dirt poor, I think there were a few days that the kids made more pulling weeds and raking leaves at my place than mom, dad and sister made working wherever the hell they worked. I took a picture of two of they younger ones - they shared the family’s one pair of rollerskates:

They would play all day in that one lousy, oversized pair of skates and have more fun than kids with a hundred video games to choose from.

So I knew them for a year and we were out of town for three days and I think they are gone. I would like to think maybe they learned something from the gringo. How to squeeze an extra buck out of “The Man,” to be nice to dogs, that In-N-Out is better than McDonalds even if it costs more, to do math better when there is money involved, to use coffee grounds in the garden. To not hit your sister. I don’t know. Who the fuck knows if they were listening or caring or following too deeply. I am going to miss them and I am NOT going to jump up in the morning to do yardwork…

So I have been forcing myself to go to galleries and look at art seeing as i am a professional art critic, but I had been giving my eyeballs a break for a while and, frankly, the shit out there is weak.

Now the economy is getting wigged out. I have been planning to open an art gallery for some time, but the conditions must be absolutely perfect. I have ran galleries downtown, and that is not going to cut it anymore. Everyone comes once, they buy a little something and they never come again. I could get my rent and construction subsidized by the City of LA (and you could too if you look around) if I opened a gallery in Chinatown, but - I go to these places on Saturdays not really to look at art but to look at people and it is underwhelming - the art world has never been bigger and yet the foot traffic seems to absolutely dry up.

So while I look at for-lease signs, I come back a week later and there are other for-lease signs. Some of the gallery neighborhoods here in SoCal saw some greedy people hold their buildings out for more money and now… well now there is nobody moving in or calling. I haven’t really been out of touch with things - I was filmed as the critical voice for two television documentaries about big name artists. Those debuting in a few months will give me a big boost - ego-wise I guess, they don’t exactly make a guy rich.

So if you mention that the economy is going bad, you get the same reaction from people in galleries: Oh yeah, bad for everyone but me. But I listen to them when they are on the phone, I look at the papers on the desks - things sound and look nasty out there. Collection agencies, galleries begging other people to share booths at art fairs … and yet there are sales, red dots, Bentleys at the front doors … someone pointed out that just as many people were invested in oil as real estate … I don’t know if that is true, but someone is still buying art.

And as of today someone was looking at it again.

Wow - I had an idea for an art show and posted it on my blog. 40 days later the show is hung - Over 70 artists are in the show.

Here is the press release for the show, the opening reception is Saturday, July 12 from 7 - 10 PM.

L I N K -to- P R E S S - R E L E A S E

The show started out as a necessity to fill the gallery over the summer. Artist Michael Hornyak had participated in our Autumn Juried show and the prize for that exhibit was winning a solo show at the i-5 gallery. Well, I explained that the foot traffic can be notoriously low for that sort of thing in alternative spaces Downtown and that a big group show to accompany his solo show might be in his best interests of people seeing his exhibit. He wisely agreed.

So I was hit with this inspiration for the $2 Bill show when I found this stack of $2 bills I had gotten at my bank a year or so ago. I posted the parameters for the show in my blog and a lot of people responded. A few artists turned their bills back in to me and just said they could not produce an artwork for the deadline. A few other people owe me $2, by the way. But we hung both shows - Hornyak’s and Jefferson’s - this afternoon and they looks great.