Invertigo Dance Theatre Offers Rewarding Interior Design

Posted on by Diversions LA

Always inventive, powerful, and intensely emotional, Invertigo Dance Theatre’s latest production, Interior Design, will be performed Saturday April 20th and Sunday April 21st at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City.  Using the vibrance of modern dance and the gift of extraordinary dancers and choreography, the production takes viewers on an interactive and deligthful journey through the relationship of a couple, as they move through moments of love, loss and transformation.  The work takes us into the world of Anna and Carlos, as they move into a new space together, where they are soon “navigating an ocean of boxes, waves of grief, tides of neighborhood drama, and the ultimate challenge in any relationship: assembling Ikea furniture.”

Artistic Director and Invertigo founder Laura Karlin choreographs in her exciting signature narrative style, as dancers
Hyosun Choi and Marco Palomino soar through an emotionally rich and kinetic narrative. The production features music by Diana Lynn Wallace and Eric Mason.

Since its inception in 2007, Invertigo Dance Theatre has presented original, dynamic, and emotional productions as well as programs that are commuinty centered and as joyous as they are interactive and inclusive.

Invertigo has created and performed more than 40 original choreographic works that invite viewers to dive deeply into the joy and wonder of dance. Along with its eclectic, mesmerizing performances Invertigo offers an inspiring community engagement program, Dancing Through Parkinson’s, which uses dance as the medium to connect and inspire those with Parkinson’s Disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Invertigo productions are always a pure pleasure to watch – this weekends’ shows will be the fourth production I’ve seen from this company. The talented group offers a vital mix of dance, contemporary music, imaginative costumes and set design sure to bring a fusion of movement and magic to those fortunate enough to view the latest production.

This weekend performances take place at The Kirk Douglas Theatre, located at 9820 Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA. Show times are Saturday, April 20 at 8pm and Sunday, April 21 at 5pm, and run 65 minutes without intermission.  Parking is free.

Both performances offer additional experiences: a VIP pre-show reception starts at 6 p.m. on Saturday with music, wine, hors d’oeuvres and a celebration of Invertigo’s past, present, and future productions; on Sunday,  from 3 to 4 p.m., a free workshop experience will be led by Karlin and composer Wallace, titled “A Neighborhood is an Orchestra.”  It will be followed by a meet and greet event.

Learn more about both performances and events, and purchase tickets, here.

And don’t miss the chance to view the art of dance in supple, sinuous, and superb form.

  • Genie Davis; images provided courtesy of Invertigo Dance Theatre

Frieze is Hot in LA

Posted on by Diversions LA

Frieze Art Week, Frieze art parties, Frieze art fair…yes, when LA Frieze’s up, it becomes a hot art party.  At this year’s Barker Hangar spectacular, there were some absolutely stunning works, some solidly commercial fare, some weird and wild pieces, and even a collection of works made from recycled materials – I applaud the effort, but for the cost, is a spray-painted mattress really something one would purchase?

But that’s a quibble. This is the place to discover fresh takes never seen before;  classics, like the marvelous Terry Allen installation, or the gorgeous, delicate, found-materials weaving of El Anatsui, and the grand spectacle of a certified,  high-end art scene.

Nancy Kay Turner has already written an earlier review published here that delves into her favorite pieces and a bit of Frieze history besides, so my approach is simply to show you works divided into the categories that I experienced them:

Wonderful and Why?

The titles of each section alone should serve to be a bit illuminating, and the visuals will likely tell you why images were placed in specific places. Beyond this somewhat silly but honestly fitting breakdown, the enormous fair — which featured more than 95 galleries — displayed a large number of textile and bead works, art made from found objects, fascinating pop art riffs, the aforementioned recycled material pieces, and some stand-out miniatures among its collections.

Wonderful!

From crazy-good mixed media miniatures displayed in two separate gallery booths…the hot violet creation with mini TV screens represented both wonderful and wow…

to the aforementioned wonder of El Anatsui…

to the ethereal lovliness of a work by Tomas Saraceno at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery…

to a lush gold mosaic and even lusher impressionist flowers and a moving take on personal lonliness…

…there was plenty of wonderful to go around.

A room solely devoted to Shepherd Fairey…

terrifying but beautiful apocalyptic images related to climate change by J. Homer French…

lush mixed media paintings, large scale sculptures, including both freestandng – some created from tiny fruit, some digital and wall art – well, this was all a visual feast.

Why?

So, you can paint bronze sculptures to look like Amazon boxes, but, why would you want to? Most people thought it was a joke, and the art was real boxes. If Art Basel had its banana, LA could have it’s Amazon deliveries.

Also, you can create a very cool sculpture made of old cds, but up close, unfortunately, they still look like cds, just in a sinuously lovely shape. And then there were the basketballs. Pretty sure they were real basketballs, possibly taken from my neighbor’s roof.

Also a why for me, given the well-heeled crowd attending the fair, was there an intermittant sprinkle of social commentary that wasn’t quite pointed enough to ruffle any feathers or raise any eyebrows or consciousness?

Then there were the rose quartz sculptures. I love rose quartz. I love sculpture. But, why?

And finally, even though it was a cool walk-through, why was there a very expensive Swiss watchmaker creating their watches in a large corner of the fair? Yes, the craftsmanship was artful. Yes, it was fascinating to watch an engraver at work. But it rang a loud bell of excess …

…that contrasted quite a bit with some very spiritual and lovely gongs in one near by booth, and those aforementioned bits of commentary-related art.

All in all, Frieze is a more than worthy contender in the ever-growing LA art fair sweepstakes. So next year,  put on your best faux fur so you won’t literally freeze in the blasts of air conditioning throughout Barker Hangar, and enjoy the hot art scene. Doubtlessly there will be plenty of wonderful, some werid, and also some of those “why’s.” We will have to wait and see.

  • Genie Davis, photos – Genie Davis 

LA Art Fair Sparkles and Shines

Posted on by Diversions LA

As always, the LA Art Show served up a tasty treat of art in a wide variety of mediums. There were informative talks, passionate performance, themes of climate change, a heady dose of trippy AI, splashes of neon, cool cats, and a charitable beneficiary, this year the American Heart Association, especially appropriate given the event’s opening night was on Valentine’s Day.

More than 120 galleries offered commercial art, fine art, experimental art, and some dashes of comic relief; opening night attendees glittered and lined up for Pink’s Hot Dogs, creme brulee, and champagne,  Robert Vargas live painted his “World House” on a massive, mural-sized canvas;  and street art vibes, laser cut metal work, and a manga-decorated portable tea house were all present and art-accounted-for.

DIVERSEartLA, comprising the 7 non-commercial art institutions exhibiting, offered the most excitement with a focus on cilmate change, immigration, faux mythologies, and the use of a drawing machine. AI was all around, lush and evocative and fascinating, but also, ultimately, still bringing up that giant question mark as to its impact. We have come to accept the horrors and complexities and hopes entwined in the confrontation of climate change, but have we yet to acclimate to another vast sea change in our lifetime, brought by artificial intelligence?

Let’s take a look at some of what we saw.

 

 

Andy Moses shimmered with motion at Melissa Morgan Palm art, far, left, while pink neon vibrated color, and a truly terrific, sculptural cat and dog duo pranced.

 

From golden hills to a dimensional portico leading to the sea to the pink morning water glow on resting surfers painted by Gay Summer Rick, landscapes were hardly stereotypical. Adjoining Rick’s work at bG Gallery are Linda Smith’s whimsical ceramic cats; below, bG dominated on the sweet non-edible Valentine’s treat art – far right, from Tom Pergola.

 

Emily Madigan’s magical jeweled beasts were at StartUp Curatorial; J.T. Burke also dazzled,  with his jeweled succulent image, right.

Copo Gallery fascinated with images from the apocalyptic to the whimsical.

The cool of metal abstracts meets the vibrant pop of floral color…

Kim Bareu is all bright whimsey at Gallery X2; but some neon cannabis noodles could be whimsical, too; ditto the work of Mr. Brainwash.

Quintessentially LA – the Pink Panther, the freeway dream of Dalila Vonden Stemmen at MRG Fine Art; a surreal and somehow super LA landscape and home.

Multiples…

 

 

 

 

The magic of MOAH performance artists Kaye Freeman and Amy Kaps, aka Hibiscus TV artists. More from Guillermo Bert; the immersive sculptural and film AI of “Be Water” from Chilean DIVERSEartLA exhibitor AAL Museum’s artist, Antuan.

From Antuan’s changing AI landscape, to AI assisted tapestery and sculptures far right, and below left two images, ”

 

The machines made me do it…

Above left, “Fake Memories of a True Past” curated by Moises Schiaffino; middle “Bridging Emotional and Digital Landscapes” allows viewers to interact with AI through a type-in word conversion, creating images above. My word was “child,” creation rendered in far left corner.  Image far right: sculptural indications of climate change and flooding from Osceola Refetoff and MOAH, more images from his photographic and film series below.

Above, also Refetoff,  infrared photography at Melissa Morgan Gallery.

Entirely new profiles, in paint and in sculpture.

Quintessential American seascape, left; gorgeous blooms from Paris in the middle; a performance artist becomes the subject of an artist’s detailed sketch.

 

The fabulous oil image of a house afire matches well with political-context neon, and Guillermo Bert’s laser cut sculptures of immigrant workers.

A cosmic eye, very large Zen heads, and a brilliantly vibrant urban scene converge.

Gumby says hi, a classic nymph does a pop-up.

J & J Art presents a buccolic and beautiful chicken romance while Jacobo Eid’s fascinating small plastic figures dance at a Madrid gallery booth.

Thick paint is always a draw – abstract, flower petals, and the classic richness of a wooly lamb.

Dimensional illusions delight – far right, the paper “stained glass” of Lorraine Bubar.

Feiran Wang’s Mutated Chicken brought big smiles; as did stooping inside the portable tea house of Tokyo’s Manga Art Heritage collaborators (far right, and below left).

To the right – Building Bridges Art Exchange in Santa Monica more or less encapsulated 2024 – aren’t we all the dog in the yellow booties, sticking our heads through a hole in the wall, despite meeting the resistance of our plastic safety cones? (Worn for our own good, of course.)

Glass art sparkled.

The natural world becomes slightly surreal…

Naim June Paik at Scott & Jae, a lustrous garden; mysteriously glowing abstracts.

A fresh take on naive art style and collage, left; live drumming draws a crowd, right.

Fabrik Projects Gallery’s The Soul of the City included a wide range of photographic talent, including a terrific piece from Maureen Haldeman, below.

That’s LA, for you. And that’s the LA Art Show 2024 edition. The city’s oldest art fair and still my homegrown favorite. AI’ght?

  • Genie Davis; photos by Genie Davis

Design This For Some Holiday Cheer

Posted on by Diversions LA

If you’re looking for something a bit more mellow than spiked egg nog for the holidays – or to chill with on a bright New Year’s night, THC Design may have just what you’re looking for.  As a premium cannabis cultivator, THC Design offers estate grown, single-sourced flower for a wide variety of brands. Environmentally aware, the company utilizes advanced cultivation practices and techniques to achieve self-sustainable operation and renewable energy resources. Using integrated pest management, water reclamation techniques, LED lighting, and renewable energy, THC Design’s goal is to be the first company to be carbon-neutral and climate positive in the indoor cannabis industry.

Of course, the products themselves are just as carefully curated as the growing process and the company’s environmental awareness. Committed to the science behind cannabis, THC Design is working to identify the roles of not only THC and CBD but  the dozens of other therapeutic compounds in cannabis, developing plants that provide a premium product and can more accurately treat disease and ailments. Shifting away from THC percentages to a more balanced and intuitive view of the ways different cannabis chemotypes affect different people, the company is committed to helping people thrive – not just mellow out.

Among the company’s offered cannibis products are indica strains, recommended for relaxation, pain management, inflammation, and anxiety relief. The effects are relaxing and sedative, and include signature strains such as the Garlic Cocktail, a cross of GMO and Mimosa strains offering “earthy notes of clove, anise and orange-tangerine-citrus finish.”

The company cites this strain as “perfect…for pain relief and inflmmation without the typical sedative qualities of most indica-dominant strains” for a relaxing but not sleep-inducing chill experience. Another signature cultivator is Confidential OG, an Indica cross of LA Confidential x OG Bubba Kush. With δ-Limonene, β-Caryophyllene, and Linalool as its dominant terpenes. Citrus notes meet classic Kush dankess and a potency level of 30-36% THC, making it an excellent choice to alleviate symptoms of anxiety, depression, inflammation, and acute pain.

Our sampler tried both pre-roll and flower from the Sativa strains, considered excellent for symptoms of depression, stress, fatigue, loss of appetite, and pain relief and well as enhancing creativity. The strain sampled was Crescendo, smooth and mellow, mentally activating rather than intoxicating. Providing a bright lemony finish with an earthy, spicy pine taste befitting the holiday season, the strain offers a THC level of between 30-35%. Among the other Sativa strains availabe are Orange Creamsicle, Gelatti Cake, and Lime Slurps.

Prefer a mix of sativa and indica effects? Hybrid cannabis products include strains such as Purple Punch and Wedding Cake. Hybrids are often able to promote feelings of contentment and happiness for relaxation and contentment; and, one of the more beneficial hybrid strain effects is an increase in creativity.

 

With over 150 different strains in their genetic library, THC Design truly provides high quality flower available as pre-rolls, eighth jars, and buds. The company is the proud recipient of two High Times Cannabis Cups, and voted Best Pre Roll in California by Weedmaps and LA Weekly, also winning multiple Farmers Cup awards. They have a menu of five permanent strains, and regularly rotate through limited edition drops as well.

Overall assessment: THC Design offers beautifully packaged, carefully cultivated cannabis and provides recommendations for strains based on user needs. The company offers products locally through a range of distributors in the SoCal area, including Greenwolf in Los Feliz, New Age Care Center in South Los Angeles, Sweet Flower in the Arts District, and Dr. Greenthumb in Lincoln Heights among other locations. Their products are also available through many delivery services from Long Beach to West LA to Central California and Sacramento. Delivery was fast, efficient, and friendly to our location in the South Bay.

Happy Holidays – and mellow ones, too.

  • Genie Davis; images provided by THC Design