The third annual Artworks for the Cure benefit exhibition and auction will take place next weekend from October 11-13 in the historic Barker’s Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport. More than 150 artists will be featured this year in one of Los Angeles’ more celebrated contributions to the world of contemporary culture: street art and murals.
With scads of celebrity contrib utors and up-and-coming artists, local residents Dick and Elsa Gary organized the event to showcase not just art, but “exciting art.”
“In L.A., you could go to a charity event every week of the year,” Elsa said. “We wanted to make this something that people are really excited to attend. So it’s a very nontraditional show, with a lot of young up-and-coming artare really excited to attend. So it’s ists. It will be fun.”
“Fun” includes the art of Malibu’s CANTSTOPGOODBOY and Nathan Sawaya, a former law yer who decided he was more interested in sculpting with Legos than arguing cases. His Art of the Brick will be on display.
Well-known photographer and ex-CIA agent Hank O’Neal shoots street art. For this exhibition, he has blown up scenes to massive scale. Guests will then be invited to tag the work themselves with Sharpies.
This year’s event benefits Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for their pediatric cancer research center. The event grows from strong roots.
In 1975, Epic Records music executive Tony Martell’s son was diagnosed with leukemia. The teenager asked his father to try and do something about it, so that “no one else would have to experi ence” what he was going through. Martell launched the T.J. Martell Foundation with the goal of rais ing enough funds for research to find a cure.
His son didn’t survive the disease, but the T.J. Martell Foundation has raised more than $250 million since then, all of it earmarked for cancer, leukemia and AIDS research.
Martell’s deep roots in the music industry allowed him to tap passion ate and motivated volunteers, and artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington were first on board to help raise funds at Buddy Rich’s New York nightclub. From there, the organization has grown every year.
Today the foundation’s reach is broad across the country, and it’s effective—several of its research center recipients were recognized in the 2013 Top Ranked Hospitals for Cancer report in the U.S. News and World Report.
In addition to the local Malibu artists mentioned, ground-break ing artists like Shepard Fairey, Minjae Lee and Mister Cartoon will also be shown.
“This is a pretty eclectic show,” Sean Barth, West Coast director of strategic development for the Martell Foundation, said. “We have maybe 150 artists participat ing and lots of different styles of painting, sculpture, mixed media and photos. Sometimes the art is created right there for the event.”
Along with the works of prominent rock photographers like Danny Clinch, visual art cre ated by musicians will be offered. Yoko Ono, Julian Lennon and Tom Waits have all donated pieces. Some artists not usually known for painting and drawing also donated: Brandon Boyd of the rock band Incubus, Dave Matthews, Malibu’s Grace Slick, John Mellancamp and Leonard Cohen have all offered their works for the exhibition.
But this year’s exhibit will also feature a heavy focus on one of L.A.’s greater—and controversial —contributions to contemporary art: street murals. Perhaps bowing to the inevitable, the Los Angeles City Council recently voted to lift a ban on public wall murals, invit ing artists to continue a tradition established more than 40 years ago of enlivening public walls with street scenes.
One of the artists featured at the Artworks for a Cure exhibit is Chor Boogie, a California artist whose massive, intensely colorful, spray-painted murals and canvass es have decorated walls around the world. He calls them “mod ern hieroglyphics” and counts among his influences artists from Caravaggio to Salvador Dali.
“Street art is slowly gaining acceptance as being a legitimate art form, but it takes time,” Chor Boogie said. “There’s an emotion al landscape to street art that can be very romantic.”
The three-day event will fea ture different tones and activities. Tickets purchased for Friday’s events are available at a discount to Malibu Times readers and are good for Sunday’s activities as well.
“Sure, it’s for a great cause,” Elsa Gary said. “But this will be a great time also.
Artworks for the Cure is open to the public. Tickets may be purchased online at: www.2013artworks.org or by call ing 310.449.7627.
