Had fun in LA. with Bob Zoell and Devin Flynn and many pals at our art show. Roger Gastman and his friends at SCION INSTALLATION LA in Culver City were great to work with and nice people. The show is up at 3521 Helms Ave. No sign. Go in. Up for three weeks, so scoot. It looks neat. Devin’s animated films are being projected in multiple in the back of the space and his big bounding drawings of cartoon mayhem and mutation lead visitors into the center of the gallery where co-plinths elevate one really big painted cardboard sculpture of an LA gang dude and a companion little bitty gangster who stars in Devin’s cartoon series “Ya’ll So Stupid”. There is a lot of my work in the show that came by way of Billy Shire and PCC. I drew a big chalk drawing on a black wall 35 x 12 feet or so–a free association frenzy, which will be painted over at show’s end. Forever. Check it out if you are in the neighborhood..
OK. There are only two BOB ZOELL paintings in the show. Yet, BOB ZOELL’s paintings are really powerful. They are subtly cartoony formalist masterpieces that can teach you what art in space means if you will hang around them for a few minutes. Go see these things before they disappear from sight. Stare at the giant yellow and black one for thirty seconds and your eyeballs will be popping out of your head– a wonderful experience.
BOB ZOELL has been one of my favorite artists since I was in high school and saw his work in Esquire and EARTH. He was a famous illustrator who was doing stranger and stranger and beautifully designed illustrations built from the conventions of 1930s animation. I have known him since the eighties and consider him some kind of genius. Please go to bobzoell.com and check out his work. He has not revealed everything there is to know about BOB, there, but it is a cool tippy-toe into the iceberg size output of BOB ZOELL. When you get there, don’t forget to contemplate what the picture of the locomotive means. It means he built a functioning locomotive or two from scratch. OUT OF METAL. Even hot rodders might balk at such a daunting program. If you are an ANGELINO you have probably inhabited his tiled subway station. LA should give him a medal. GO BOB GO! GO DEV GO!! GO ROGER GO!!! YOU GO GIRL!!!!