Ray at Night: Agitprop/4 walls/Art Produce/The Rubber Rose

On Park Blvd

Guillaume Cherel - Big G - as he calls himself, left this morning. I took him to the Greyhound Station downtown San Diego. He went to L.A., the town he does not like (Kerouac did not like it either).


Big G at the entrance of Zuri Waters and Chris Warr's show

Saturday night Kyle, Guillaume and I went to Ray at Night (I did not want Guillaume to miss it!), we are meeting Kevin Freitas there. As we are driving in North Park, we see Hank Gross and Richard ChauDavis walking in the street and they decide to take us to Cafe One Three on Park Blvd to see Hank's brightly colored, twisted (and expensive, wow!) paintings and then we head back to Ray area, to Agitprop gallery where we meet Kevin. The title of the show "If I can't see you can't be you" (which still puzzles me) is taped on the green wall at the entrance. The small gallery - which looks forever unfinished - is filled with artworks from Zuri Waters and Chris Warr (I did not find a website of Chris' work), "the fruits of our almost two year collaboration and friendship come to harvest in this tightly packed exploration of personal yet symbiotic ideas".


Zuri Waters and Chris Warr's sculptures/installations

It is a funny mess (I would say "joyeux bordel" in French), I can feel a lot of energy. A lot of different materials are used to make all the sculptures and installations. A few paintings and some drawings are on display too. There are no labels and the pieces from both artists are mixed so if one is not really familiar with the work, it is difficult to tell what belongs to who... I talk briefly to Zuri and introduced him to Kyle and to Crazy Guillaume.


From left to right: David White, the director of Agitprop, Chris Warr, artist, Guillaume Cherel, cyber-beat poet and writer, Kevin Freitas, inspired writer of one of my favorite blogs on Earth, Zuri Waters, artist and saxophone wizard, The man with the Hat (I don't know who he is!), and Kyle Forbes (with the light color shirt), my extraordinary partner.

I decide to take a group photo for Big Guillaume's Libeblog - and for mine! I wish I were in this group photo, mais c'est la vie!


The (very) small Zuri's drawing I like is the one next to my hand

There is a small drawing glued on a piece of wood by Zuri that I really like and I ask him what the text means. He says with a smile "You don't want to know!". I would like to buy it. I am really thinking that any little effort to buy some art could help the community, especially after I read Kevin's article about the closing of Rubber Rose Gallery. Sad news.
I feel responsible, as everybody should. If no one buys art, the galleries like Rubber Rose cannot keep up. But at the same time I cannot spend a lot of money!
"We did not think about selling anything in the show you know..."
"You mean you do not want to sell or you just did not think about it?"
"We could sell but we did not think about it."
"How much would you sell the drawing, the one I don't understand?"
"I don't know, is $20 ok?"
"$20 does not seem enough to me!"
"$50 then."
"OK!"

Then we leave to go to 4 Walls where we see Les LeVeque: Unsung Algorithms and Musicals. A sharp contrast with what we saw before, using the latest technology. The first room with the 3 screens is almost difficult to stay in because the images vibrate so much. I am thinking one could get an epileptic attack watching this long enough! I cannot tell what the images are about. At the same time the presentation is extremely elegant and clean.


the images revealed...or... may be I should not have done that

One interesting thing is that when I get home I see the picture I took from the screens and suddenly I can see what it is (click on the image to see it bigger)!


"Buttoned Up", new work by Dina Rubiolo at Art Produce


Grand Cheyenne and Kevin Freitas

We go to Art Produce before it closes. There we see "Buttoned Up", new work by Dina Rubiolo, a nostalgic look at a close past through the use of tons of slides attached to each other to form 2 large curtains which can be seen from the inside or the outside of the gallery. And little lighted boxes are displayed on the wall, each of them proposing an image made of 2 superposed slides. We meet the artist briefly, but I do not understand why she did this. I think this is a very clever use of vintage material but what does it tell me about the artist's vision of the world she lives in now and here? May be I missed something.

Guillaume talks about Jack Kerouac and the beatniks to Richards Gleaves whom I am very happy (and, yes, impressed) to meet for the first time.

We go now to The Rubber Rose, the one which is about to close - this is their last show: "Remember when having a mohawk meant something", new work by Spenser Little. The gallery is packed with people and artwork. Too much stuff I guess but I love the work. Wired, philosophical, sexual, dark, light. Some pieces are animated, some are not. Words and images intertwined. I would like to buy something, the pieces I like are too expensive for me, but after a second tour of the show, I see a little piece above a door I really like right away. It has 2 faces, and, in between, one can read "Don't Fake". I decide to buy it.
I do not have any pictures because I forgot to take some.

I am happy to know that in a month or so, I will bring back to my house (which is almost already full!) two small pieces of art I will have the pleasure to see every day!

But I am sad that The Rubber Rose is closing.

Guillaume Cherel on the Road - back to San Diego

French writer Guillaume Cherel was back from Mexico City last Sunday. He is spending the week with us in San Diego before to go back to Los Angeles. Then he will go to New Orleans and New York, the end of his 3 months trip "on the road again", 5o years after Jack Kerouac. His book about his trip should be published next year in France.


Guillaume Cherel's notebooks



Nice week, nice evenings, lot of wine, margaritas and good food. And of course endless conversations about Guillaume's trip, his impressions of the United States and Mexico. He showed us his little notebooks with super heroes on the cover.



We took him to the "wall" which separates the U.S and Mexico in Tijuana Estuary - border field state park. The border patrol was there: helicopters hovering above the area, cars, trucks. vigils are on the hills, standing for hours. From where we park, it takes 15 mn walking to go to the wall. It is a road but one cannot drive on it. It is reserved for the border patrol. It is a strange walk, we were watched, that's for sure. We went to the wall, made of rusted corrugated metal. It is not impressive, neither thick nor tall, but it is there and it is a very strange and disturbing sight.
The empty U.S. side with the state park contrasts with Tijuana's side where the houses touch the wall: Tijuana is right there.


Guillaume with Milo and Harper

Guillaume brought back from Mexico brightly colored Luchadors' masks and toys Luchadors for the kids, I love them! I took some pictures and I want to do a painting or may be a series, we'll see.

Tomorrow Kyle takes Guillaume sailing all day on his friend's boat, it is a cool race to Coronado's Islands, in Mexico, just a few hours South - and back.

Please Touch

\
"Consider This", exhibition at LACMA. 2006
(photo Lori Lipsman)

As I read "Art as Combustion: Robert Smithson's "Spiral Jetty" Under Pressure - Part 1 and Part 2" by Kevin Freitas, I realize that one amazing thing about Smithson's "Spiral Jetty" is that one can actually WALK on it. Not only touch it but walk on it.

Yesterday I was reading "I'm just sayin'" by Edwin Decker, about the exhibition "Innnocence is Questionable", which was on display for a few months at the California Center for the Arts this year. He talks about how he stepped on Jean Lowe's carpet in the middle of the room and was immediately spotted by the guard.

The same thing happened to me when I visited the exhibition the day of the opening. There was a lot of people and every two minutes someone was stepping on that carpet and each time the guard was saying something, making the person feel very uncomfortable. "Argghh! I just stepped on art!".

The paintings on the wall and everything usually present in an exhibition must not be touched. Everything tells the people who come: this is precious, fragile. It creates a distance which bothers me. The sacralization bothers me. Going to see an exhibition with my children should always be a pleasure, but I am always worried that they will touch something they are, of course, not supposed to touch.

I remember going in August 2006 to "Consider This" at LACMA, stimulating exhibition designed by Barbara Kruger. What an interesting experience it was to be able to participate, to write, to touch...

I was very excited to have a personal show at the San Diego Art Institute. But when my paintings and digital pieces were there on the walls, I thought they were somehow disconnected from the public. I have to think very hard about what is next, about what will be the next solo show at the San Diego Art Institute. I certainly would like more participation from the public (grown ups and children). I certainly would like that people could touch the pieces and why not walk on a piece if there is one on the floor. And why not making art on the spot, working as the people walk around. I think I would like that. I have to find a way.

Earthquake 5.4 today

map USGS

I was in the garage, painting. It lasted less than 20 seconds. I don't remember something as strong since we arrived in San Diego in 2004.

Comic Con 2008 / San Diego

I took some pictures today at Comic Con 2008. It was the last day, it was really crowded and there were a lot of heroes - and super heroes - everywhere!

Art as Authority ... or ... Following Jack Kerouac

Ah! This is great! While Guillaume Cherel was smoking a Churchill on the roof of a house in Coyoacan in Mexico (we received a text-message today!), Kevin Freitas was posting something really nice on his excellent blog, Art as Authority, titled "Ahh ces Francais..." where he talks about the very good evening we had together at the house with Guillaume!
Things can be simple and good.
Guillaume, bon voyage! Kevin, merci de ton amitie!

Guillaume Cherel On the Road - In Mexico

This is the "On the road" I have, bought in Fort Collins, Colorado, about 10 years ago, at "Old Corner Book Shop, Used and Rare books", 216 Linden Street. I still have the store's bookmark in the book.

A little text-message from Guillaume Cherel on the cell phone today: he is in Monterrey, Santa Catarina Valley. Not in Mexico City yet! Liz is wondering when he will be there, Jorge is waiting for him in Coyoacan!

Randy Pausch Last Lecture

Professor Randy Pausch died today of cancer, he was 48 years old. He gave his last lecture at the Carnegie Mellon University September 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. Randy Pausch says: "I am dying soon, and I am choosing to have fun today, tomorrow and every other day I have left".
I would like to share this inspiring lecture with you.

Guillaume Cherel on the road - San Diego day 3

Guillaume and Geronimo -
Centro Cultural de la Raza, Balboa Park

Wednesday morning. We have breakfast on the deck. The beginning of another beautiful day in California. We take some pictures. I take the boys to their summer camp at the zoo, then I take Kyle to his work (his car died almost 10 days ago and I am driving around a lot, but that's OK!). Meanwhile Guillaume is writing on his blog in the quietness of the morning in the house.

Then it is time to take him to his Greyhound bus to go to Mexico City. Before we left the house Kyle called and tell Guillaume to take a Churchill for the road, which Guillaume very much appreciates! Guillaume says he likes San Diego and he may stop a few days on his way back to Los Angeles. He is very welcome to do so. We like his company.

I come back home and starts writing for the blog (finding the time is actually sometimes difficult and things I want to talk about are piling up!). I also send via email the photos I took of Guillaume to the newspaper Liberation in France. Guillaume left me their address before to leave.

Then, shortly after, Guillaume calls me from the Greyhound Station saying that the bus he is supposed to take does not leave before 6:00 pm! So I decide to go back downtown to take him back home.

My friend Elisabeth calls when we get back and I invite her for lunch. She arrives a few minutes later: we are neighbors. Last night, after coming back from Old Town I went with Guillaume to Elisabeth's to talk with her about Guillaume's trip to Mexico. She is originally from Mexico and she knows a lot of people there so I thought it could be nice for Guillaume to have some connections in a town he never went to before. Elisabeth almost immediately thought about a good friend of hers and called him! It was very late there but he was awake. The conversation was very animated and Elisabeth were laughing a lot. Then she told us Guillaume is invited to go to Jorge's in Coyoacán, which is the very town where Frida Kahlo was born and lived most of her life. Very pretty town, not too far from Downtown Mexico City, lucky Guillaume!

I make a tomato salad with the beautiful tomatoes my neighbour Craig brought us yesterday from his garden, some fresh basil, feta cheese, calamata olives and olive oil. We also have avocados and red grapes. The three of us eat lunch on the sunny and breezy deck. It is true, it always feels like vacation here.

Then it is the time to go pick-up the kids at the zoo. They call Guillaume Guillo. They don't want to speak French, which makes interesting conversations: us speaking French, them understanding everything but answering in English.



Because we are in Balboa Park, I stop at the Centro Cultural de la Raza. We see a group of people outside, in the shade of a big tree. Walking stick decorated with feathers are leaning against the tree.

I ask the woman inside the centro cultural if there was something going on today and she tells me that they will have a special ceremony at 5:00 with the group of people standing outside. They are part of a march starting in Alaska and finishing in Panama, which happens every 4 years since 1992! The purpose of the march, "Las Jornadas de Paz y Dignidad", is to bring peace between all the native tribes on the way. It was created in response to the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America. No one walks the whole trip: it is a relay. People from different tribes join along the way, other people leave, there are always a group marching... So, amazingly, the group is in San Diego today, just at the time we are at the Centro Cultural! Guillaume go talk to the group while I am watching the kids. Then I joined them. The group is on its way to Tijuana. Then they are going to Mexico City but they will get there days after Guillaume.
This march is a beautiful thing and I am touched and honored to talk to them.

Unfortunately we cannot stay for the ceremony because it is too close to the time Guillaume has to take his bus...



We have time to make a quick stop at the place nearby: The World Beat Center. There is nothing going on this afternoon but I want to show Guillaume the large murals they have inside. Maybe when Guillaume comes back we could come one night when they have a reggae concert here.

Then we head downtown and this time (I guess) Guillaume leaves San Diego to Mexico City via Texas (it was less expensive to do that for him than to go via Tijuana).

I told Guillaume I would like to show him more of my work when he comes back to San Diego. He said he would like to have a portrait of him "Guieu's style". I would love to do that but I need to take more pictures of him!

Yesterday, when we were walking, I asked him how writers remember things they see and hear. He talked about Kerouac who had a phenomenal capacity to remember small details, and Jim Harrison who, when he met Guillaume for the second time, asked him questions about family members Guillaume talked about months before, may be years. The capacity to remember is also the attention one is able to give to people and things.

Guillaume's post in Libeblog about San Diego (In French of course!) illustrated with my photos!

Guillaume Cherel on the Road - San Diego day 1 and 2

Guillaume in Pacific Beach

Monday afternoon arrived French writer Guillaume Cherel on his way to Mexico City. I picked him up downtown on Broadway, at the Greyhound Station. I could not miss him: he was the only one on the side walk smoking a cigar at 2:oo pm! He is a friend of Ivan Sigg and in fact we have a lot of people we know and friends in common in Paris. He is doing Kerouac's road 50 years after, writes everyday in a blog for the French newspaper Liberation, and is re-writing "On the road" which should be published next year. He started his trip in New York and will end it there, in the middle of September.

He is very tall, very tan, has crazy hair and a striking blue look, talks a lot (more than me if it is possible!), likes to laugh, and of course, likes to talk about his beloved authors: Kerouac, London, Bukowski, Fante, Miller... He travels very light (just a few items and almost no money), writes from time to time in a small notebook with super heroes on the cover, likes to login on the computer to check his e-mail and to post on his Libe blog or on his Myspace page. He is a techno-beatnik!

He liked the house right away: the deck, the canyon...

We had a great time Monday night with a couple of american-French friends, talking about Guillaume's trip, Los Angeles, Hemingway, Jack London, Tarentino, art, Paris, Bruxelles, wine (we drunk a lot of wine too) and eating Kyle's good dinner on the deck, as we were warmed by the fireplace. After the dinner Guillaume and Kyle enjoyed a good cigar.


at "Be Curious" on Pacific Beach

Yesterday, while the boys were at their camp, I spent some time with Guillaume, taking him to Pacific Beach. We had a coffee at "Be Curious" where he wrote a postcard to his daughter. We walked along the Ocean and along the bay, talking about relationships, traveling alone, making choices. Some people say he is lucky to do what he does, but it has nothing to do with luck, it is a choice.


Oversized Pink Afro!


I know Kevin will not like this picture!


At Joe's Crab Shack

I took some pictures of Guillaume to send to the newspaper Liberation . We ate a salad at Joe's Crab Shack.


At Seminal Project, "Cocked!"





Then we went to Little Italy where we visited "Cocked!" at Seminal Projects and I took some more pictures. I left him in India Street and I went pick-up the boys.



Then we all met in Old Town where we had dinner.