Nate Frizzell preview...

LBP artist Nate Frizzell recently sold a recent series of paintings in the UK with bo.lee gallery, and is working on what we expect to be a breakout series of work for his solo exhibition this October. In an early preview we can see he is starting to feature some fully rendered backgrounds and adding some cohesive elements to the series.

I have seen more, but this all until we get closer. Keep an eye out for Nate's work in NY this November as well.

Yoskay Yamamoto on CNN

What vinyl sculpture does the CNN reporter on iReport need to get this year? Yoskay Yamamoto's Bronze Koibito of course...

David Flores new work...

Dave Flores just opened up his show with us, but just returned from a trip to Hong Kong where he made just a little impression with Block 28 and Disney at the Times Mall. He also is working on some crazy looking apparel and watches with Chouette.

Take a peek.



And check out some of his new work including a great series of painted vintage photos.

David Flores x Esquire Hong Kong

David Flores just cut himself some crazy Hong Kong licensing deals. Check the covers of several HK magazines including the new Esquire for his now ubiquitous style...or see his new work in the gallery tomorrow...

Tomorrow Night @ LeBasse Projects

LeBasse Projects is proud to announce, ‘A Distorted Lens,’ a two-artist exhibition featuring gallery artists David Flores and Lisa Alisa. Both artists have worked with the gallery since the first group show hosted by director Beau Basse in 2005. Coming full circle, the artists are each presenting new bodies of work to open the summer season at LeBasse Projects’ new gallery.

LeBasse Projects
‘A Distorted Lens’
New work from David Flores and Lisa Alisa
Artist reception: Saturday, July 18th, 7 to 10pm

In his first Los Angeles show since 2006, Flores delivers all new artwork that embodies his unique interpretation of pop iconography. In addition to his paintings he has embellished dozens of vintage fashion, music and news magazine spreads with his vision of the world around him. Flores’ stained-glass window style creates a warped view of the pop icons he simultaneously idolizes and mocks.

Lisa Alisa is clearly influeced by Japanese artists like Hayao Miyazaki and Takashi Murakami, but her work tends to have much more bite. Generally featuring thinly veiled self-portraits, her paintings are what she refers to as ‘new feminist’ artwork. While bloody and violent, the paintings are a metaphor for both the brutality of life and the desire for change within the artist herself. There’s a thick vein of dark, surreal humor running through the images

The pair both paint in the ’superflat’ style, but have clearly found their own voices in making their individual commentary on society. Alisa is openly shouting her feminist views while Flores’ work is subtly, but undeniably masculine. Together Alisa and Flores reflect both sides of the dynamic that distinguishes between men and women.

The Kids are Alright @ Black Maria Gallery

Black Maria Gallery opens “The Kids are Alright”, an emerging artist showcase series this weekend. “The Kids are Alright” is a five city showcase tour of 25 young artists that have either recently graduated or are still attending art school. The Series was designed to give young artists an opportunity to develop their talents while receiving direction and feedback from a curator and several different galleries.

The Tour is curated by me to create a platform for young artists to gain experience working with galleries in order to properly prepare them for future success as professional artists.

For the show at Black Maria artists were asked to work exclusively in black and white.

The Kids Are Alright
July 18th through August 8th, 2009
Opening Reception: Saturday, 18th of July, 7:00 - 10:30pm

Artists join the program from Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, London and hail from some of the top art schools in the world including Otis, Art Center, Sheridan Institute, RISD and Parsons.

Participating artists will have new work at each of the five gallery exhibitions. This Tour will premiere at T and P Fine Art (Philadelphia, PA) and make its way to Subtext (San Diego, CA), Black Maria (Los Angeles, CA), Show and Tell Gallery (Toronto, Canada) making its final stop at London Miles Gallery (London, UK).

“The Kids are Alright” will remain open through Saturday, August 8th, 2009.

Alexandros Vasmoulakis dominates the Athens skyline...

Greek artist Alexandros Vasmoulakis, showing with LBP in 2010, just finished another large scale mural in Athens. No guerilla work here, as the project was commissioned for greek, film director Nikos Perakis.

Perakis is shooting a docu-fiction film which shows the life and the difficulties of young artists today. Vasmoulakis plays himself in the film while working on the mural.

Alexandros tells us:

"...according to the script, this mural is a commission from a big company and the boss is not satisfied at all with my work so a hard conflict between him and me rises. Iit was not too bad to play there, i dare say it was funny..."

While the mural is a commission, the content was left to Alexandros and he was strongly influenced from the wide riots that had taken place in athens in December 2008.

We are looking forward to his show with us, his first in LA and first solo in the US, next year.

Tessar Lo on Erratic Phenomena

Tessar Lo recently moved back to Toronto but has certainly kept up his evolution as an artist. Our friend Amanda recently covered Lo's change in direction quite eloquently on her blog Erratic Phenomena.

An excerpt:

"In his latest body of work, Tessar is reaching for a looser aesthetic, trying to see with a child's eye and a naive heart. One could say he's trying to get lost as an artist – to break loose from the habits and preconceptions of the past and find a new path around which to construct his dreamlike themes of transformation and desire. This exploration involves an element of improvisation, which is inherently risky in an art movement wedded to the idea of the unique "brand" or "style," though it is accepted and even lauded at the higher end of the contemporary art market."

Read the rest here:

Opening Reception: David Flores and Lisa Alisa

We are looking forward to opening a new show this weekend with a pair of our old favorites, David Flores and Lisa Alisa...


“A Distorted Lens”
New work from David Flores and Lisa Alisa

July 18th – August 8th
Artist reception: Saturday, July 18th, 7-10pm

Los Angeles, CA – LeBasse Projects is proud to announce, A Distorted Lens, a two-artist exhibition featuring gallery artists David Flores and Lisa Alisa. Both artists have worked with the gallery since the first group show hosted by director Beau Basse in 2005. Coming full circle, the artists are each presenting new bodies of work to open the summer season at LeBasse Projects’ new gallery.

While each artist works in a very “Superflat” style they each have very different cultural influences. In his first Los Angeles show since 2006, Flores delivers all new artwork that embodies his unique interpretation of pop iconography. In addition to his paintings he has embellished dozens of vintage fashion, music and news magazine spreads with his vision of the world around him. Flores’ stained-glass window style creates a warped view of the pop icons he simultaneously idolizes and mocks.

Lisa Alisa also follows the superflat style laid out by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, although her work tends to have much more obvious bite. Generally featuring thinly veiled self-portraits, her paintings are what she refers to as “new feminist” artwork. While bloody and violent, the paintings are a metaphor for both the brutality of life and the desire for change within the artist herself. There's a thick vein of dark, surreal humor running through the images

The pair both paint in the “superflat” style, but have clearly found their own voices in making their individual commentary on society. Alisa is openly shouting her feminist views while Flores’ work is subtly, but undeniably masculine. Together Alisa and Flores reflect both sides of the sexual dynamic that rages between men and women.

For more info email: contact@lebasseprojects.com

LBP at the Japanese American National Museum

Several LeBasse Projects artists are taking part in the Kokeshi show this weekend at the Japanese American National Museum. Tessar Lo, Edwin Ushiro and Yoskay Yamamoto all have custom Kokeshi dolls in the show.

Join us at the museum tomorrow. More details here.




Japanese American National Museum
369 East First Street
Los Angeles California 90012