Laguna Beach Tag

Laguna Beach is the most extensive of the art walks stretching from North Laguna Beach, through “downtown” to South Laguna (see map). Being a weeknight we only covered the north and select downtown galleries, as well as the Laguna Beach Art Museum (free admission the night of art walk). The art carries a higher price tag than the other art walks, but we enjoyed the free admission to the Laguna Beach Art Museum and free wine in the galleries. We recommend getting there early: the walk...

A small plot of grass is a fairy ring, a window box becomes an enchanted forest and the tough brambles of the urban rose growing up through a chain link fence guard a sleeping beauty of the fierce canine variety. For anyone who has grown up in an architecturally dense environment, whether it be the concrete containers and electrical wires of the city or the low and sprawling manicured grid of suburbia, the magic of nature is everywhere no matter how unlikely. “I can never...

The Fine Arts Buildings of Cal State Long Beach are located on the southernmost side of the sprawling 3 mile campus. These Mid-Century modern buildings, designed by architect Edward Killingsworth, are beautifully integrated with trees and the most incredible staghorn ferns hang from giant pots suspended from outdoor beams. Rectangular chunks of granite are tipped over in various places to form benches and the doors to the graduate student galleries are open wide revealing work that is interesting and well done. It is a beautiful...

The concepts of war and fashion are seemingly disparate but in Andriy Halashyn’s oil paintings at SALT Fine Art in Laguna Beach soldiers and fashion models seamlessly co-exist on one canvas. In the aptly named War and Fashion series Halashyn cleverly fuses the imagery of combat and vogue into a single scene. The two are merged so naturally the deceptively cheery paintings create tension as the viewer tries to reconcile how the two can exist together. And yet, they do. [caption id="attachment_3714" align="aligncenter" width="438" caption="Speed 35"][/caption] Living...

       Mike Stilkey, Untitled Installation of 4,400 books and paint   (photos by Alyssa Cordova )Artist Mike Stilkey, far rightSo-cal artist judges books by their covers     Good news!  In case you missed Costa Mesa’s )( Space Gallery’s inaugural exhibition, Reminiscent: Mike Stilkey, it has been reinstalled in the Hurley creative retail space in Laguna Beach just in time for their one year anniversary.                     Orange County active wear giant Hurley recently opened their new gallery in Costa Mesa, CA  to give art-thirsty Orange Countians refreshing monthly art shows curated by former Billy Shire...