The year 2011 has come upon us, like a voracious hawk swooping down and sinking its razor sharp talons into the fluffy fur of some adorable, defenseless woodland creature, and we are f-ing stoked about it! Reason being, we at Industrial Squid have some serious plans to bring the dopeness into this here new year, and we’re just aching to get started.
But before I go on about all our future plans for global domination in the awesomeness market, I’d like to give those of you who missed our handy work in 2010 an opportunity to take a look back at our past hijinks.
On February 12th, we popped our curatorial cherry with The Devil Made Me Do It; in which 30 artists let us take a peek into the darker corners of their psyches. For a show with such a dark theme, it ended up being a ton of fun to put together. Friendships were formed, only a few people were maimed, and Industrial Squid got its first taste of awesome.
But a month later, the Squids were back in action with LA3010, where we asked local, national and international artists to take a guess at what the City of Angels would be like in another 1000 years. The result was an eclectic mix of paintings, collages, etchings and woodcuts that gave life to a world yet unknown. As an added bonus, only one person was maimed in the production of this show. (And he had it coming)
With two shows under our belt, Industrial Squid decided to let loose with the fun and the rainbows, so we threw a little art party we like to call i believe in unicorns. With 33 artists contributing, an actual Unicorn on the premises for the opening, and nothing but bright beams of sunshine coming out of everyone in attendance we dare say that more fun has ever been had. Ever. Anywhere.
It was on a mid-summer day that Industrial Squid unleashed the more devious side of the Sunday funny pages on the world. We asked some of the art world’s more twisted minds to remix the wholesome characters of famous comic strips and the show ended up being, in a word, scandalous. Enough so that it even got a mention in Juxtapoz magazine’s Showstoppers section.
As our grand finale for 2010 we hosted an homage to Horror, and it proved to be our biggest show yet with 43 different artists contributing from all over the globe. The art work ranged from the sickly disturbing to the sickly hilarious, but one thing was for sure, if you were a fan of either horror or good art you were losing your mother lovin’ mind.
Now as we leave 2010, with fond memories and minor concussions, it is time to get excited about what Industrial Squid is about to do to you in 2011. That’s right. I said to you. This year, we are scaling back the sizes of our shows, getting things a little more intimate and romantical, and opening up the boundaries so our favorite artists can express themselves in any damn way they please.
We are starting this January 21st, at the WWA gallery, with a nice little 5 person shows called SuperKickAss. A show that is sure to be an exercise in merrymaking, SuperKickAss features new works by Dee Chavez, David Chung, Edward Robin Coronel, Tracy Tomko and Jeni Yang. Each of these artists is an experienced explorer of the fantastic and we are peeing our collective pants to see what they’ve brought back from their latest expeditions.
After we’ve all settled down from the kickassery, we have Lilacs out of the Dead Ground set to open on April Fools’ Day, but with a line up including Casey Weldon, Paul Torres, Richard J Frost, Sinae Park, Lily Mae Martin and Dylan Sisson this show is absolutely no joke. These artists are all growing with diverse and inventive styles in what is becoming a more and more homogeneous and uninspired world, but they are breaking through and lending glimpses of beauty to anyone smart enough to pay attention.
Right on the heels of Lilacs we have All the Sordid Little Details, which will highlight the meticulous craftsmanship of six extremely detail oriented artists. With new works from David Ball, Dan Barry, William Buzzell, Ken Garduno, Jesse Hotchkiss, and Jacob Livengood this show will give everyone a nice, tasty little glimpse into the twin worlds of obsession and compulsion.
Also in store for later in 2011, are a couple of large group shows, one a collaboration with the fellas over at Color Ink Book and the other being a study of the modern portrait called About Face. Each of these shows is going to include a large, diverse line up of artists, highlighting some of the names you already know and love and also introducing you to some peeps you never heard of before. So prepare thyself. The year has begun. The Squids have their tentacles out and they are snatching yo people up.
Be well. Best wishes to all you bitches in the new year.
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