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Nepotism & Scatological Postmodernisms
Trouble is brewing in the realm of the postmodern art world, one of its stars could take a big fall, and with any luck his plummet may indicate the entire postmodernist school could soon topple. Chris Ofili, the artist famous for incorporating elephant dung into his portrait of the Virgin Mary, is at the center of the controversy, which an…
New Works: Blazing Palm Trees
I’m working on a new series of large oil paintings depicting the ubiquitous palm trees of Los Angeles, set on fire and blazing away against L.A.’s photochemical sunsets. The works allude to the intrinsic wildness of my city, where every year the surrounding hills are swept by fire, a phenomenon experienced by no other major metropolis on earth. It is…
A Studio is Born
Admirers and detractors of this blog may of late be wondering about the dearth of newly posted visuals and essays from me. Fear not intrepid readers, I suffer no lack of enthusiasm for writing about the political follies and foibles of the art world. So why the lack of posts? Has the muse left Vallen? Is he stuck in the…
An Odd, Groaning Civilization
“People are crushed under the wardrobe. Without lifting up the wardrobe it is impossible to deliver whole peoples from their endless and unbearable suffering. It is terrible that even one person should be crushed under such a weight: to want to breathe, and not be able to. The wardrobe rests on everybody, and everyone tries to lift up the wardrobe,…
Secret Service Visits Art Show
Axis of Evil, the Secret History of Sin, a group show at the Columbia College Chicago Glass Curtain Gallery, was visited by Secret Service agents who photographed artworks and asked the museum director for the names and phone numbers of all participating artists. The Columbia group exhibition is made up of submissions from 47 artists from 11 countries. The exhibit’s…
Upcoming Exhibit on Religion & Politics
I’m very excited to be curating an exhibition titled Don’t Talk About Religion or Politics. Scheduled to open in January 2006 at Avenue 50 Studio in Los Angeles, the show will present paintings by Sergio Hernandez, Gwyneth Leech, Poli Marichal, John Paul Thornton, and myself. I wrote the exhibit’s mission statement, which should give you a better idea of what…