Esoteric Survey

  Peter Blake Gallery curates another  BLAKEHAUS  installation. This time it's at the Hunt House by Craig Ellwood and Jerrold Lomax. It's my first time being back inside since it's been restored. At one point it was on the verge of being demolished . It has since been purchased and restored  by architect Diane Bald and her husband Michael Budman. They were also able to get some of the original furnishing back. Those pieces have been temporarily moved off site for this exhibition. As described by the gallery: This iteration of BLAKEHAUS mines the aesthetics of modern architecture, West Coast minimalism, and historical modern design in a site-specific installation at The Hunt House in Malibu, CA. Eames chair that was deaccessioned from a Greek museum. It has a Hille label on the bottom. That's something you don't often see in the US. This nook looks like it was designed for this DeWain Valentine. The Hunt house really is the perfect setting for West Coast Minimalism ...

Paul Darrow and Friends at OBJCT This past weekend I visited  Modern for All in the Claremont area and paid a visit to their neighbor, OBJCT Art + Design.   David Shearer is the gallery owner and also happens to be the executive director of Claremont Heritage .  The current sales exhibition has  works by Claremont artist Paul Darrow, early furniture by Sam Maloof and a selection of ceramics. Some of the artists represented are Karl Benjamin, Harrison McIntosh, Paul Soldner, and Peter Voulkos.  All the pieces are from the Darrow family's personal collection.  Paul Darrow (1921-2019) was born in Pasadena and came to Claremont to study art at Claremont Graduate School after serving in WWII. In addition to being included in numerous gallery and museum exhibitions , he was a professor at Scripps College from 1954 to 1992.  This is the cabinet Paul used to store his paint and brushes. Sam Maloof built it for his own home in 1949, but later traded ...

Best Kept Secret: The Scripps College Ceramic Collection at  The American Museum of Ceramic Art   The Scripps Collection is legendary. It was almost singlehandedly complied by Fred Marer,  a math professor at Los Angeles City College. He amassed the collection with modest means, mostly through buying the pieces directly from the artists. The exhibition includes over 180 examples, and all are amazing. The exhibition only lasts 10 more days, so I encourage you to do whatever it takes to go see it. I've seen a lot of good pots, but this exhibition is legendary.   There is an enormous wall of 39 plates Michael Frimkess Paul Soldner - "Throwing Naked" - 1966 Fumio Tagasugi Jun Kaneko Peter Voulkos - One of many in the exhibition Stacked Voulkos Monster Voulkos Little Voulkos Bird Voulkos Walking Voulkos Jun Kaneko Robert Arneson Henry Takemoto Another great Takemoto One mor...