A humorous sculpture stands on the sidewalk outside the Ron English POPaganda art exhibit in San Diego.
There’s a small but eye-popping exhibit a few blocks from most of the Comic-Con action that many art lovers should enjoy–particularly those who are fans of Ron English and his style of humorous, anti-corporate art.
I visited his POPaganda exhibit and captured a few photos to provide an idea of what you will see. This is the first US stop of his “Make America GRIN Again” tour. I wonder who is grinning? Personally, I found it a bit ironic that the effort to sell profuse merchandise seems to eclipse his few (but delightful) pieces of anti-consumerist art. But what do I know?
You can find this fun pop-up exhibit at 1037 J Street. It’s open Wednesday through Saturday 11:00am to 6:00pm. Ron English will be present and signing from 3:00pm to 5:00pm, Thursday through Saturday.
The Statue of Liberty is grinning like a skull during 2017 Comic-Con.Looks like a Hulkish, supersized Ronald McDonald with red stretchy pants. He must work out after taking in all those calories.It’s Sugar Diabetic Bear!Looks somewhat like Franken Berry. Uh, oh! This subversive exhibit is making me hungry for sugary cereal!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Someone’s artistic bicycle has a potted plant in its basket.
I captured these quick photos during a walk in North Park, along Adams Avenue between 30th Street and the I-805 bridge. Bits of art add flavor to life in the city.
Someone rests on a painted transformer box on Adams Avenue near 30th Street.A monkey on a utility box, crowned by a rummage sale notice.A dog sees a yummy doughnut!A cool lady seems to stand on the sidewalk.Looking down from the Adams Avenue bridge over Interstate 805.Abstract mural incorporates nearby utility boxes.An awesome Jimi Hendrix street mural near dumpster and motorcycle.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Local artist Suzka has created some colorful artwork that includes elements from San Diego Comic-Con, popular culture and comic books.
Check this out! There’s a bunch of cool, original San Diego Comic-Con artwork on display in an eatery not far from the convention center! Head a couple blocks up First Avenue and step inside Simon’s Cafe to see these colorful Comic-Con paintings!
The artist’s name is Suzka, and you can read her bio in one of my photos–click it to enlarge for easier reading.
This morning I had a lot of fun looking at this art inside the cafe while waiting for my breakfast burrito. (Which was pretty good, too!)
Biography of painter and writer Suzka. Some of her art celebrating San Diego Comic-Con can be seen inside Simon’s Cafe on First Avenue, a couple blocks north of Harbor Drive.Cool original San Diego Comic-Con art shows timeline of the international pop culture phenomenon.An enormous Superman seems to stand guard near a harbor.Dr. Fate is in a big hurry to save Inza from danger!Fun versions of Batman and Superman welcome everyone to Comic-Con!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
I’m starting to get excited about upcoming 2017 San Diego Comic-Con! It begins in less than two weeks!
Now that I’m beginning to think again about Comic-Con, I’ve been remembering some of the cool cosplay photos I’ve taken the past few years. Just for fun I’ve collected links to old blog posts that contain lots of cosplay photos!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera. This year I’m going to photograph lots more Comic-Con stuff! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Normal Heights is home to lots of creative street art and other cool sights!
Here come lots of photos of street art in Normal Heights. I captured these while walking east along the south side of Adams Avenue, from I-805 to 35th Street. Then I crossed the street and walked back west to the bridge that spans the freeway.
(Please note–I haven’t included some artwork along Adams Avenue that I’ve already blogged. Check the related links at the bottom of this post, or use the search box.)
Here we go!
A smiling face painted on a transformer box along Adams Avenue.Big lips.A big eyeball.An animated red fire extinguisher chases and douses a flame on the wall of All County Fire.A classic car and tire tracks painted on a utility box on the sidewalk in front of Tire Depot.A tropical island scene.A cool cat.A skull in sunglasses above palm trees and flowers.I think I’m quite ready for another adventure. Bilbo Baggins. (A favorite book!)Stenciled mandalas line the sidewalk not far from Pilgrimage of the Heart Yoga.A mosaic composed of many different tiles graces the front of some shops along Adams Avenue in Normal Heights.Marquee of old Adams Avenue Theater, which is now home to Discount Fabrics.Fabric art in windows of the old theater, where movie posters were once displayed.Colorful terrazzo design at entrance to old theater.Two faces watch people walking down the sidewalk.Colorful designs attract attention.A series of fun utility boxes.A snow-capped mountain peak on the side of a newspaper box.Real wrenches have been affixed to this utility box near an auto repair shop!On the other side is this nostalgic graphic showing some car culture history in Normal Heights.Colorful plant life painted in the city.One wall has a mural with a couple of surprises flying behind a bush: parrots!And behind another bush is this human form, sitting among small flowers!These smiling flowers want you to have fun at the Adams Avenue Recreation Center!Now I’ve crossed Adams Avenue at 35th and am heading back west on the north side. Check out the cool mural near the rooftop of Humphrey Appliance.This box has some really good artistry.A mysterious face on another side.Butterflies are flitting about the wall of Mariposa Ice Cream.Two fantastic female faces, by talented muralists Gloria Muriel and Amanda Lynn. You’ve seen the distinctive work of each artist elsewhere on this blog!A beautiful face in a tropical setting.A bright design has emerged from human imagination.I love this box! Check out the face that seems to peer from behind bricks.Eyes peer from one corner of the top.Another side.Many colorful stick figures around the planet Earth.Painted scene of a painted scene in Normal Heights.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of fun photos for you to share and enjoy!
A unique work of urban art on a car wash in Normal Heights. It speaks to the struggles of combat veterans.
Painful. Hopeful.
Those two words might describe some artwork on the side of a car wash in Normal Heights. You can find this thought-provoking mural near the corner of 33rd Street and Adams Avenue.
A nearby plaque invites curious eyes. Thank you for your service, it reads.
The mural is the work of seven post-911 combat veterans. A project of Combat Arts San Diego, it helps to spread awareness about the therapeutic benefit of creating art. And it shows the unconditional love that is provided by service dogs.
Creating art helps us to sort through conflicting thoughts and emotions. Art is an outlet for pent up pain. Art connects people. Art stirs the heart. Art provides meaning. Art offers hope.
This mural was created by seven combat veterans working with Combat Arts San Diego. Art-making benefits those with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.Art over fear.A warrior. A jumble of emotions. Isolation. A true best friend. Hope.
UPDATE!
Wow! Shortly after posting this I received additional info concerning this great project and a group photograph of those responsible!
I learned:
“There are hidden things in the art piece. If you look hard enough you can see Army written and Navy and others… If you look at ART in the middle on the left you will see from the A…rmy attached to it. Then on the right towards the bottom you will see the N in friends…you will see Navy… In (the word) Isolation – the A..ir Force is on the A. Just below the O in Isolation you will see some letters D E S P..if you look close at the S you will see a U in the bottom of the S and then the MC on the other side of the S. Look close.”
I also learned that the San Diego Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution raised funds for the project from their National Society.
The following photo includes Elizabeth Washburn, the leader of Combat Arts, two Vets who worked on the mural, and a few smiling local members of the D.A.R.
Group picture with artists, Elizabeth Washburn, and San Diego Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution members. Photo provided by Kathleen Winchester.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Spiritual revelation is suggested by many eyes and mandalas in an Ocean Beach mural. This cool street art can be experienced in a quiet alley. The whole of this world can be glimpsed from any place where you stand.
Each life has an infinity of roads not taken. Robert Frost touched upon regret with his famous poem. But, you know, every road that is taken contains an abundance of life, if we choose to see.
Yesterday, during the Ocean Beach Street Fair, I ventured, by chance, through a seldom-visited alley. And discovered two amazing murals.
And then I moved on. Chances are I won’t go that way again.
Hope, flying saucers and flaming green hair, part of a second cool mural in the same alley.Guys load empty kegs during the Ocean Beach Street Fair. Day-to-day work, surrounded by wonder.Swirling, blooming beauty painted in a nook. A mermaid is perched above flowers.I see a lot of names. I assume these are the beautiful mural’s creators. I might never meet them, but their art has touched me.The human world contains many alleys. This one contains a glimpse of untrod flowers, and surprising life. We turn a corner right or left, and continue the journey.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Late this morning I went to the annual Ocean Beach Street Fair. As usual there was lots of live music, tons of yummy food, endless smiles, and a whole bunch of friendly artists creating amazing art.
Here is just a little of what I saw…
Someone tries their hand at creating with chalk during the Ocean Beach Street Fair. At the center, I Love Art.A large Artists’ Alley was full of life and energy.One artist was painting while people looked at her colorful canvases.This artist was just getting started. All art begins with an empty space that is full of infinite potential.Many different musical artists entertained the crowd at the OB Street Fair. This rollicking band could be heard at the Wonderland Stage.Meanwhile, another keg of beer is arriving in an alley by the Kilowatt Ocean Beach mural.Kids enjoyed a bounce house that featured comic book art.This bubble blower guy is an artist. Right? He creates shimmering joy.Another artist at the Ocean Beach Street Fair concentrates on her work.One guy in Artists’ Alley had a bunch of cool robot artwork for sale.Kids were learning how to make music, and were entertaining the crowd like rock ‘n roll superstars!Some surfers pass fun public art on Newport Avenue. They hear music coming from the main stage by the beach.These skateboarders hear it, too.A band pleases the OB crowd.Others were happy to just sit by the sand and gaze out at the beautiful ocean. The sun finally came out.A local photographer was showing off his art to those passing by.Members of the Ocean Beach community (or anyone at all) could paint a square of a new community mural.A number of colorful squares have already been painted!Love of life and love of art combine at the always wonderful Ocean Beach Street Fair!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of fun photos for you to share and enjoy!
The Kennedy family is working hard to prevent suicide and brighten the world.
I was deeply moved yesterday. I met a family who is working for suicide prevention with beautiful art, walking and love. Their collective efforts were on display at the House of the Philippines lawn program in Balboa Park. (I posted photos of folk dancing at the event here.)
Elie Kennedy paints smooth rocks that she finds on a beach that her son Anthony loved. She paints those rocks on behalf of her son, who she lost to suicide in 2015. Her healing rocks radiate love. Money that she raises goes to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. She sometimes uses the hashtag #healingrocksforanthony.
The Kennedy family also raises funds for the foundation by participating in the San Diego Out of the Darkness Community Walk. You can walk, too. Such walks take place all around the United States. If you’d like, you can learn more or register for a walk here.
Positive energy flows from each member of this family. It all comes from the heart. Sin Kennedy presses leaves and creates a range of colorful artwork. Check out her Instagram page here.
Please learn more by clicking the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. With treatment and knowledge many lives can be saved. The organization also helps those afflicted with a loss, advocates for suicide prevention, and funds scientific research to prevent future suicides.
Every single life is precious.
A story about Elie’s son. Painful energy is now used to create something beautiful and positive.A sample of the beauty that is created.Sin Kennedy is also an artist.Art reminds us that much in life is good.
Double Talk by artist Richard Deacon, winner of the Turner Prize. Laminated wood and imitation leather. 1987.
Look at these photos! Enjoy a taste of some wonders that have materialized inside the San Diego Museum of Art!
My docent friend took me on a tour yesterday morning of the jaw-dropping exhibition Richard Deacon: What You See Is What You Get. The abstract artwork of this world-renowned British contemporary sculptor, winner of the Turner Prize, is being shown for the first time in a major American museum–right here at the San Diego Museum of Art!
I don’t know how to begin explaining the various pieces. I did plainly see that Richard Deacon takes joy in inventive creation, working diverse materials, seeing organic forms bubble and expand into life. Gazing at his often huge pieces, I felt myself tumbling through a space filled with living shapes, mythological symbols, dreamlike visions. His muscle-crafted marvels have been extracted from infinite possibility, bent into reality.
I don’t know what else to say. I’ve added a little more description in my photo captions. But words are insufficient. What you see is what you get!
It’s great news that this special exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art has been extended through Labor Day, September 04, 2017. Go feast your eyes!
Richard Deacon. What you see is what you get. To see it, head over to the San Diego Museum of Art!Eyes are met with an astonishing work of abstract art. Dancing in Front of My Eyes, 2006. Wood, aluminum.In places screws, glue, and the wood itself seem to be “unfinished” parts of a living whole. The fluid piece undulates from the hand of its inventive creator.An intangible tangle of shadow on the floor seems to be an important part of the sculpture. The artist calls himself a fabricator.An amazing creation, that seems to me like active muscles or tendons in a living body. Dead Leg, 2007. Steamed oak, stainless steel.The wood is artistically bent using steam and heat. During this process, Richard Deacon has about two minutes to permanently alter the wood’s shape.This looks to me like supple leather. A portion of Fish out of Water. Laminated hardboard, screws. 1986-87.Richard Deacon creates astonishing art using many different materials. These huge pieces are ceramic. They seem to have bubbled up from the Earth, or the artist’s mind.Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow C. Glazed ceramic. 2000.Housing 10, 2012. Marbling on folded STPI handmade paper, constructed with magnet button.Richard Deacon enjoys playful, suggestive language and has called this huge piece Double Talk. The viewer can decide what is meant.The abstract sculpture stretches and curves in an inviting way. It is both natural and larger than life.Falling on Deaf Ears, No. 1. Galvanized steel, canvas. 1984. My docent friend explained this represents the ship of Odysseus, as he sailed past the treacherous Sirens.Across this room soars Like a Bird. Laminated wood, 1984. Richard Deacon creates spacious wonders that tickle the mind and expand the spirit.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
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