We have had a loss in the arts community this week Jeb Milne (owner of Witzend) has passed. Everyone at LA Art Party sends our heartfelt prayers to Jeb’s family and friends. Jeb will be missed. I had the chance to perform at Witzend several times…Jeb created a beautiful and safe haven for local performers. RIP Jeb Milne!

There are several fun art parties taking place in Culver City….The galleries fiinally got wise and decided to wait till Saturday the 14th to re-open after their summer break. Yes there were just too many to hit last week. Saturday…at Bergamot, be sure to pop by our Pick of the Week….Copro….which is later. Get there early to stop into William Turner. Always a good art party here and cutting edge art too. 

It’s time for it’s annual “BLABSHOW 2013” group art exhibition. This will be the 8th BLAB exhibition with Copro Gallery curated by Monte Beauchamp.

The current 2013 group exhibition will feature art from the forthcoming BLAB WORLD 3. At this years event we’ll have copies of BLAB WORLD 2 available for BLAB artists to sign.

Artists included: Nicoletta Ceccoli, Camille Rose Garcia, Souther Salazar, Glenn Barr, John Brophy, Ryan Heshka, Yoko d’Holbachie, Travis Louie, Peter Ferguson, Andy Kehoe, Brian Despain, Tin, Chris Peters, Andrew Hem, Lola, Erik Mark Sandberg, Lou Beach, Jana Brike, Marc Burkhardt, Ana Bagayan, Owen Smith, XUE Wang, Matt Schommer, Tim O’Brien, Travis Lampe, Katja Tukiainen, Matt Dangler, Jeremy Lipking, Gerard Dubois, Shaun Berke, Edel Rodriguez, Bill Mayer, Chris Buzelli , Fred Stonehouse, CHema Skandal and more!

See image: Ana Bagayan, Red Giant, Oil on panel 12″ x 12″

Monte Beauchamp is an awarding-winning art director whose books have been featured in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The Onion, The Believer, Flaunt, Bizarre, Graphis, Print, and ForeWard magazine, among others. His titles include Krampus: The Devil of Christmas (Last Gasp), The Life and Times of R. Crumb (St. Martin’s Press), and Striking Images: Vintage Match Cover Art (Chronicle), New & Used BLAB! (Chronicle). He is currently working on a book for Simon & Schuster.

BLAB WORLD is a deluxe anthology of art, illustration, articles, profiles, found graphics, cartoons and sequential art collected by award-winning art director Monte Beauchamp.

See image: Camille Rose Garcia, “Conjuring Again” Watercolor, acrylic, mica paper

BLAB WORLD 2 features: The Hereafter” — a 50-page section of artists interpreting the afterlife! Contributors include Femke Heimstra, Kris Kuksi, Gary Baseman, Nicoletta Ceccoli, Martin Wittfooth, Gary Taxali, Yoko d’Holbachie, Ryan Heshka, Eric White, Owen Smith, Xiaoquing Ding, Lou Beach, Marc Burckhardt, Chet Zar, and many more!

In Gallery 2 is featured a solo exhibition: Ryan Heshka’s “Strange Powers lll” featuring 16 paintings from his forthcoming BLAB! trading card set. Expect slime-drool, death-stares, threatening tentacles, capitalist zombies & more! Ryan will be in attendance at the reception.

Ryan Heshka was born in Manitoba, Canada, and grew up in Winnipeg. Fueled by long prairie winters, he spent a lot of his childhood drawing, building cardboard cities and making super 8 films.

See image: Ryan Heshka, Factory Microscope Laboratory” 34″ x 20 ” on wood panel acrylic and mixed.

Early influences that persist to this day include antiquated comics and pulp magazines, natural history, graphic design and music, movies and animation. Formally trained in interior design, he is self-taught as an artist. His illustrations (represented by Kate Larkworthy) has appeared in Vanity Fair, Playboy, Wall Street Journal, Esquire, the New York Times, Smart Money, and on the cover and interiors of BLAB!

On View: Sept 14th – Nov 5th

THE EVENT takes place on Saturday, Septembe 14th

What: Art party
Where: Copro Gallery (T-5), Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave, Santa Monica
When:  8:00 pm – 11:30 pm
Phone: 310.829.2156
Website: http://www.copronason.com/