Thomas Cambell - YEP Opening
Scene. Thats the word for it. The event was packed full of people representing every decade back to the 50s. The parking lot was a brown bagger’s beer garden with Fuck You Hero’s and Dogtown remainants leaning against every car. 50s Love Boat captain hats and rolled sleeves, 60s hippies, 70s derls, even 80s pop wannnabes sported every type of fashion imaginable. One of the best LA contridictions I saw was a girl wearing high heels who had big bumps on the tops of her feet from knee paddling. Sweet.
If it wasn’t for the saltwater footprints on the parking lot asphalt, the art enthusiast would be hard pressed to identify this show as surf art. Large areas of empty color shared the canvas with illustrations and text that managed to complement each other. Sculpture in the form of quaint houses, painted with his tale-tale line work and characters prompted multiple walk arounds. An intricate installation reflecting his work area gave you the impression he would be making live art at the show.
It was interesting to note that drawings and photos of waves were almost non existant compared to his Laguna show at The Surf Gallery. The odd doodle contained a curved liquid form, but the images and even references to the body of work produced by Sprout were absent. All that remains is his distinct ‘mark’ and handrawn typography. Cambell’s work is either out growing the log riding, in trim surf scene it helped define or dragging the scene along with it. Most likely, it’s the latter.
More from LA, including TONs of Malibu photos in the next day or two.
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July 17th, 2006 at 10:34 pm
Rob, you have a nice eye with the camera, gives a great feel for the event. I went to Barry McGee’s first show at Bergruen in SF years ago just after he finished school. He invited several young skater/taggers who looked totally bored. Funny to see them sitting around on the floor of SF’s highest end gallery with tattered clothing and skateboards. I was hoping one of them would pull out a can of paint!
July 18th, 2006 at 6:33 am
Thanks for the photos. T Moss’s stuff is killer.
July 18th, 2006 at 5:17 pm
You should go to the Andoland store opening this sat.
There is going to be art by Andy Davis and Tyler Warren, footage from Hyrdodynamica, the premier of One California Day (from the Single Fin Yellow guys) and music by the Growlers and Matteson 2.
Sat. July22 starts at 5ish
770 w. 17th street costa mesa call 949 631 5552 for more info
July 18th, 2006 at 8:57 pm
Thanks Clay. You should open up your blog to comments. I wanted to drop a note there the other day.
JP, sounds like fun, thanks for the info. The last one he had was good fun and great art.
July 19th, 2006 at 8:52 am
oh yeah, I think it’s blocked to non blogger.com members. I’ll take care of that.
July 20th, 2006 at 6:43 pm
Oh yeah, it’s not the store opening. It’s the summer party. Sorry ’bout that.