The San Diego Potter’s Guild in Spanish Village recently created this artistic tribute to the 1915 Panama-California Exposition and Balboa Park’s centennial.
A fun exhibit debuted today in Spanish Village’s large outdoor patio courtyard. It’s called Dance through the Decades of Art! Colorful works by local artists jut out of various planters, representing the history of art styles over the past century. It’s another creative offshoot resulting from Balboa Park’s centennial, which is being celebrated throughout this year! The cool exhibit lasts through November 25.
I walked about and took these photos…
Spanish Village in Balboa Park has a new Dance through the Decades of Art exhibit in their patio courtyard. It celebrates the evolution of art over the past hundred years. This bold piece represents the graffiti art style!I was allowed to photograph these works of art being created on Saturday (the day before the exhibit opened) in a hidden Spanish Village work area!This artwork represents the 1930s, when the Works Progress Administration provided artists with employment during the Great Depression.This work very loosely represents photorealism, a distinctly American genre of painting that originated in the late 1960s.This fun art in Spanish Village contains elements of steampunk, a sub-genre of science fiction that highlights 19th century Victorian and industrial themes.Visitors to Balboa Park look into a double kaleidoscope! This wildly colorful sculpture represents psychedelic art, which originated from 1960s counterculture.Here’s a photo I took after turning a dial of the kaleidoscope.I turned the dial again!These splashes of bold color are a tribute to Abstract expressionism, which originated in the late 1940s, the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence.Someone sits on a planter which contains artwork representing minimalism, a literalist movement that arose during the 1960s.This panel celebrates the Art Deco style with images of musical instruments popular during the Jazz Age.This creation for the outdoor exhibit represents Cubism, an early 20th century avant-garde movement, which revolutionized painting and other art forms.Dance through the Decades of Art enlivens Spanish Village! Painted pieces trace art’s history and development over the past 100 years.
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Super cool street art on side of building on University Avenue in Hillcrest.
A month or so ago I enjoyed a pleasant walk down University Avenue in Hillcrest, a neighborhood just north of downtown San Diego. I spotted a whole bunch of colorful artwork, which I’d like to now share. In no particular order:
I don’t know if this qualifies as street art, but I like this cool Jack in the Box sign.Exist1981 street art on a corner of University Avenue in Hillcrest, San Diego.Fun chalk art sign in front of Fiji Yogurt.Long blue hair becomes ocean surf. Artwork painted on California Coast Credit Union.A colorful image of wine and grapes seen during a walk through Hillcrest.Filter…Where good things happen!More cool street art in Hillcrest has a mythical, possibly Egyptian appearance.I was told by a worker at this thrift store that the rainbow-like mural is a work in progress.This large bold spray paint mural on University Avenue is signed by artists Fizix, Revolver, Eyemax 2015.This is the best photo I could get of a really long colorful mural along a rooftop. I see James Dean and Muttley!Live a great story. Sticker on a utility box.A school of fish on an electrical transformer box.A windtorn mountaintop meditation, face in hands.
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Public art on display in downtown San Diego’s dynamic Horton Plaza shopping mall.
I made a cool discovery today! I was walking through Horton Plaza, downtown’s extremely unique shopping mall and popular tourist destination, when I noticed that some art was being displayed on a lower level. A sign indicated that Horton Plaza is showcasing the work of local San Diego artists. Great idea! Here are some pics!
The San Diego artist Beau Carney was born and raised in Southern California. He works with a variety of mediums.Some very colorful painted work by Beau Carney.Public art and other unexpected discoveries add character to a very unique shopping mall.Westfield Horton Plaza supports local artists. For information on how to showcase your art, contact hortonplaza@westfield.comA few early evening visitors to Horton Plaza mall in downtown San Diego walk past cool artwork created by a local artist!One last photo of eye-catching panels by local San Diego artist Beau Carney!
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Grinning face of Tillie, symbol of Coney Island, on the back of a tour bus heading toward the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park.
An extraordinary exhibit recently opened at the San Diego Museum of Art. It’s called Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861-2008. Last Saturday, I enjoyed a very special tour, courtesy of my docent friend Catherine!
The exhibit features a collection of more than a hundred objects that depict 150 years of Coney Island’s amusement parks, boardwalk, beach and people. It includes paintings, photographs, videos, carnival posters, sideshow banners, carved wooden carousel horses, and a wide range of colorful, unique artifacts.
From its early days as a peaceful beach getaway for wealthy New Yorkers, to the rise and fall of amusement parks, years of decay, political wrangling, then modern renewal, Coney Island has been interpreted by artists through the years in a variety of surprising ways. Some artists portray an innocent playland for common people. Others, something more complex, and less innocent.
Most of the exhibit’s artwork centers on Coney Island’s legendary amusement parks. Many images resemble exuberant scenes from a carnival or circus. They’re full of energy, laughter, humanity, wonder–but often base, superficial, disturbing, despairing. Many painting are dark, almost gaudy with a crowded press of people seeking pleasure. A symbol adopted by Coney Island–the unnatural, exaggerated grin of Tillie–seems to be a taunting reminder that the purchased thrills are artificial. The grin is strangely maniacal and mindless, one part Joker, one part Cheshire Cat.
Fantastic imagery abounds in the exhibit, which is sure to delight many kids. They’ll see huge cyclops heads, videos of romping midgets, a banner promising a sideshow freak with inhuman tentacles. The adults will see images of lust, insatiability, scattered litter, dripping blood.
I suppose we humans like to be both excited and terrified.
One Impressionist painting by the important American artist William Merritt Chase shows a landscape of sunlight and natural, unspoiled beauty; the egg tempera painted canvases of Reginald Marsh are dark, crammed with unabated appetite, bold kinetic energy and human expression; photographs by Arthur Fellig (Weegee) show people crowded onto the beach like fleshy, happy sardines.
Personally, as I took my amazing tour, I saw life’s wonderful jumble and a sample of our world’s endless variety. All the emotions, the complexity–but mostly I recognized the sunlit memories of ordinary good-natured neighbors heading to the beach and boardwalk, and some exciting, brief amusements, on a sunny weekend day.
This isn’t a typical art museum exhibit. It’s more like taking an instant journey to a place you already know. A Coney Island in your mind. And your vivid experiences in the San Diego Museum of Art will make the journey seem very real.
Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861-2008, has come to San Diego from the Wadsworth Athenium Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut. This special exhibition continues through October 13, 2015.
Here are just a few things that you’ll see…
Reginald Marsh, Wooden Horses, 1936, Tempera on board. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.Pip and Flip, Twins from Yucatan with World Circus Side Show, Coney Island, 1929, Photographic reproduction. Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia Collection.Jeanie, Living Half Girl, 1940, Sideshow banner. Collection of Ken Harck.Mort Künstler, Coney Island, 1953, Gouache on paper. Collection of the artist.Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth, the Great Coney Island Water Carnival poster. Thrilling and daring feats of every description!Arnold Mesches, Anomie 1991: Winged Victory, 1991, Acrylic on canvas. San Diego Museum of Art.Joseph Stella, Battle of Lights, Coney Island, Mardi Gras, 1913, Oil on canvas. Yale University Art Gallery.
The San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park is simply jammed with fantastic, provocative Coney Island art. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So go see it!
Coney Island, Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861–2008, at the San Diego Museum of Art.
Photographer and model next to One Pointed Attention, 2014, by artist Kelsey Brookes, on a wall in La Jolla.
Here are some photos of cool art seen while walking about the streets of La Jolla. More specifically, the Village of La Jolla–the central business and cultural district which is the heart of this wonderful community.
La Jolla is an affluent part of San Diego, so there seem to be art galleries wherever one roams. But there are also many eye-catching street murals and works of urban art.
This collection of photos is far from comprehensive. These are just photos taken during several semi-random walks around The Village (including today). That’s the way this blog usually operates!
Classic religious imagery floats above entrance to Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church in La Jolla.A funny walrus and frightened fish along the roof of a shop on Pearl Street.Trashcan street art depicts Native American, whose headdress contains feathers spelling place names.Urban art on a La Jolla trashcan shows a boldly colorful Southwestern scene, with mountains and cacti.A female face painted on a La Jolla garbage container.Another similar face, composed of different hues.This eye-boggling street mural on Fay Avenue is Sexy Cash, 2015, by Mark Bradford.Most street numbers on city buildings are plain and boring. Not 910 Prospect Street!Unusual human sculpture sits near the sidewalk outside La Jolla’s Madison Gallery.Another strange figure squats nearby.This cool horse outside a Madison Gallery window was created with large pieces of junk and old machine parts.A close-up photo of the imaginative horse sculpture.On Prospect Street, a long narrow mysterious mural and a single underwater eye. Whale, 2014, Nina Katchadourian.Some interesting metal artwork above a store entrance depicts a sailboat and palm trees.It’s Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham! This fun art is outside the Legends Gallery in La Jolla, the town where popular children’s book author Theodor Geisel lived.A canvas out on public display in front of the Contemporary Fine Art Gallery in the central business area sometimes called Village of La Jolla.Someone walking down Herschel Avenue said she hated this giant mural! It’s Blah, Blah, Blah, 2015, by Mel Bochner. Perhaps it gave her the blahs.I personally like this mural of a darkly glowing tall ship. It’s titled “at Sea” and was created in 2012 by Ann Hamilton.A cool fish dangles in front of the Herringbone Restaurant.Large, unusual metal sculptures in front of the Tasende Gallery in La Jolla.Hummingbird artwork on a bench near a sidewalk, and a rose.Hammering Man by Jonathan Borofsky at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego’s location in La Jolla. I believe years ago this motorized sculpture stood near America Plaza downtown.I don’t know what this egg-like object is. If you do, please leave a comment… UPDATE! According to local author Corey Lynn Fayman, the artist is Andy Goldsworthy. I’ve learned this piece is titled West Coast Cairn. Goldsworthy has two other stone eggs in the United States, in Des Moines, Iowa, and Purchase, New York.
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The Loading Dock is a large public mural painted by Linda Churchill of Muralizing. It’s located on the west side of the Ace Hardware building in Hillcrest.
Check out this public art! You can find it a few steps south of University Avenue on 10th Avenue, in Hillcrest. The large mural enlivens the Ace Hardware store building and is a cool sight for those passing by. It was painted by local artist Linda Churchill, whose work can be seen around San Diego. According to one article I found on the internet, “The Loading Dock” received an Orchid Award from the San Diego Architectural Foundation.
The Loading Dock, dedicated 1998 to the Community of Hillcrest by Joe Jeter, Bruce Reeves, Hillcrest Ace Hardware. Building our community one home at a time. Linda Churchill, muralist.The cool, nostalgic trompe l’oeil painting depicts an old-fashioned hardware store loading dock, complete with realistic Ace Stores delivery truck.This image of yesteryear appears to include some modern hardware store products, including shiny new garbage cans and a nice big barbecue grill.Two helpful Ace Hardware employees seem to have emerged from the past to welcome neighbors and shoppers who walk down the sidewalk in art-filled Hillcrest.
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Fintan Magee, famous Australian street artist, painted the “Hunger” mural in San Diego’s East Village.
Some cool, thought-provoking street art was painted on the west wall of the old Jerome’s warehouse about half a year ago. It’s part of the Sea Walls Project, a collaboration with PangeaSeed to provide a view of the tuna industry (which used to be very important in San Diego decades ago). Titled “Hunger”, the huge street mural is by world-famous street artist Fintan Magee, who is often described as Australia’s Banksy!
As you might recall, the south side of this old East Village building contains the MOOPA ArtWall.
A tuna fisherman’s hand and his bound, bloody catch emerge from a pile of fish.An uprooted tree is weirdly suspended behind a real tree growing from a San Diego sidewalk.Fisherman in yellow slicker seems to release a seagull from a tangle of fishing line.
The other day I walked down 11th Avenue through East Village. For a few moments I paused to again enjoy The Power of Collective Thought urban art tile mosaic. I took a few photos of individual tiles hand-painted by creative San Diego neighbors. Many caught my eye…
Robert and his mom hold hands beneath trees.I large open eye gazes at people passing down the sidewalk.Another eye on a fiery, dazzling art tile.A sun painted on a tinted sky.Smiling sun and blue moon fused into one.Cool cat dances under a crescent moon.A dinosaur among dots.Ghostly figures rise like swirls of color.Cool painted tile in The Power of Collective Thought.A blue peacock and two fruit trees.A fun dragonfly with human-like face.Female head with curly hair and yellow flowers.A kimono and umbrella.Two people connect on a purple tile.A mysterious monster rises from the deep!A colorful abstract design.A sailboat and shell in San Diego.A smiling face peers back at you!
Local artists put the finishing touches on the 20 foot long 1915 Centennial Mural in Balboa Park.
My Sunday walk around Balboa Park took me through the Spanish Village Art Center. Not only were local artists painting live Flamenco dancers, but they were completing a fantastic 20 foot mural celebrating Balboa Park’s centennial. (Today I was also introduced by a couple of super friendly people, including a resident artist, to the history of Spanish Village. I will blog about that shortly, after a little additional research…and when I have the time!)
I hope you enjoy my photographs of this awesome mural. Titled “1915 Balboa Park”, it’s an imaginative composite of historical images painted by eleven talented artists. Each image occupies a 2 by 6 foot panel, and depicts locations from the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, and people in early 20th century dress.
Spanish Village is home to some of San Diego’s very finest artists. Wherever you turn, you’ll find painters, potters, sculptors, photographers, glassblowers, you name it! It’s fun to just stroll through the colorful courtyard and visit the charming studios. If you want to purchase fine artwork for yourself or as a gift, this is an excellent place to go!
This weekend the public could watch as artists painted a historical mural in Spanish Village.Spanish Village is like San Diego sunlight passed through a prism, with rainbow splashes everywhere.Bios of artists Carol Foster, Joan Boyer, Joan Nies, Laurie Carlock, Don Knapp, Michelle Gonzalez, Sonia Rumzi, Linda Lepeirs, Lucy Wang, Edward Juarez, Dot Renshaw.Ladies in period dresses occupy the left part of the cool mural.Now we’re working our photographic way to the right, along the base of the Cabrillo Bridge. A hundred years ago there was an artificial lake beneath the bridge! (Where Highway 163 is today.)Two different styles (one with bright colors, the other with shades of gray) are fused together to depict the California Building with its iconic bell tower.There were many lush gardens around Balboa Park a hundred years ago, planted specifically for the Panama-California Exposition.An artist studies the right end of the 20 foot long mural. That golden tree looks like it could be transplanted right into Spanish Village!
Guitar music propels Flamenco dancers in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village.
This afternoon I enjoyed watching some amazing Flamenco dancing. Balboa Park’s colorful Spanish Village, the home to many artist studios, hosted the special event. As beautifully dressed lady Flamenco dancers performed for the public, local artists at easels painted away!
Flamenco dancing is fiery, stately and proud. Each dance and dancer glowed with unabashed human emotion. The audience learned a little about the nature of this Spanish folk dance, but I was so mesmerized I failed to jot down many notes. I remember that one dance was said to represent defiant joy, another a representation of pure, carefree womanhood.
The public was invited to watch local San Diego artists painting a performance by the La Paloma Flamenco Dance Company.Crowd shouts and claps as the whirling ladies move their limbs and tap feet with graceful, fluid, joyful abandon.The energetic Spanish folk dancing causes colorful fabric to fly and twirl like a gauzy dream.A range of powerful human emotion is transmitted to the audience during each fantastic Flamenco dance.A carefully watching artist has made a few sketches during the performance in Spanish Village.I don’t know how an artist can begin to capture the dynamism and detail of the colorful, kinetic dance!A local artist from Spanish Village in Balboa Park streaks color across a canvas. A skilled hand and eye produces the same bold living essence expressed by the dance.
Cool San Diego Sights! 