Wonderspaces

So I am going to keep this "short & sweet", one because I know most people don't like to read extensive text and two because the Wonderspaces museum itself is fairly small. I was able to visit this pop-up museum twice, the first time I photographed my experience and the second time I tried to observe from a spectators perspective aka not through my viewfinder. I heard about this museum through a friend and once I looked into it I felt like I was seeing that #pulseportal figure everywhere...idk if I should blame cookies or the law of attraction. Once I arrived to Wonderspaces for the first time my exact thoughts were, "why is this museum a big tent" but that would really just set the tone for the array of art stored away behind those doors. The lineup consists of sixteen unique pieces, some you may even recognize from a local festival or fair. However this exhibition is worth a trip to San Diego, only available for viewing until the end of August and you may purchase tickets here. These are some of the installations that I found intriguing. Don't forget to like and comment; ENJOY!

LINEUP 

Marciano Art Foundation

The Marciano Art Foundation is one of LA's newest contemporary art spaces with a collection of over 1,000 artworks from well known artists. For those who are not familiar with the name, the founders Maurice and Paul Marciano are the creators of the brand GUESS? which grew into a iconic lifestyle apparel offering the expansion of new retail concepts "Marciano" and "G by Guess". The brothers are originally from South France, upon their arrival to America grew their new found appeal to contemporary art through visits to galleries and auctions. In 2006 they started collecting work and by 2012 the brothers reached a point to where it seemed imperative to share their collection and love of art publicly. May 25, 2017 would mark the day of opening for the museum, located in the heart of Los Angeles off Wilshire Boulevard. Open to the public Thursday-Saturday admission to the Marciano Art Foundation is free of charge, however tickets must be reserved online in advance which can be done here. 

Untitled #549-E by Cindy Sherman 

Untitled #549-E by Cindy Sherman 

So I was lucky enough to get 2 tickets for the first Saturday after being sold out for weeks in advance. With the museum having a fashion background it only made sense that I invited my fashionable older brother, who is a fan of the arts as well as an artist himself. We met at the museum around 10:30 and began our tour. After a few steps we were granted this view (above), a mural piece by Cindy Sherman a photographer and film director who gained exposure through her abstract portraits. Honestly a lot of the art presented here kind of took me by surprise, mainly the pieces by Jim Shaw whose exhibit took up the whole first level. With an array of artists ranging from ceramics to canvas prints I am sure there is a form of art that will spark interest. I was able to capture some of my favorites along with some thought provoking pieces. I hope you enjoy the gallery below!

Desert X

So I find myself traveling down the I-10 freeway in route of the desert...right, not the most ideal location to start spring break. In fact most people don't travel this way unless it's for Coachella or the Cabazon outlets. However I was headed there with one of my best friends Jamil in search of art. The weather for sure made the trip a little easier to manage seeing as how it's the desert. Aside from the gusty winds, it was a smooth 78 degrees with big puffy clouds that would later offer a beautiful sunset. My perspective on the desert has now changed, oh and shoutout to Marshall's for coming in clutch with the last minute suitcase! (off topic, but you'll see why soon lol).

Desert X is a desert exhibition located on various sites around Coachella Valley. Each project is site-specific and well worth the commute to view each one. Due to time and such short notice, I was only able to view and photograph 3 of the 16 pieces Desert X has to offer. Possibly a little bias but I think I picked the top 3 to check out, haha. If you find some time to travel, I would definitely recommend this location; it is FREE of charge and offers a variety of art that will help tap in to your creative side. I hope you enjoy the pictures and maybe want to take a visit to Coachella Valley, the exhibition is open until April 30th!

MIRAGE by DOUG AITKEN

CURVES AND ZIG ZAGS by CLAUDIA COMTE

HALLOW EARTH by GLENN KAINO

The Broad

The Broad

The Broad is a contemporary art museum located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, positioned on the corner of 2nd & Grand. Since the opening on September 20, 2015 The Broad has welcomed millions of visitors traveling from all over to see the vast collection of postwar and contemporary art. General admission is free of charge, however booking a reservation is probably as hard as getting a shoe by Kanye West; the day tickets are available they sell out in minutes. Luckily there is a daily standby line in which you can check wait times posted on their twitter account (@TheBroadStandby). If you ever find yourself in the city with some free time seeking visual inspiration or maybe just want a few pictures for Instagram The Broad can fulfill your needs. Here are a few artists and some of their work on display now. 

JEFF KOONS

ROY LICHTENSTEIN

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT & KEITH HARING

GALLERY

City 2 City

For those who are reading, thank you for tuning in to Everything Positive first post. Our goal is to shed light on all artists and their style of art. As we see no limitation on what is to be considered art because it is a true form of self-expression. This post is focused on three artist who helped inspire the vision of Everything Positive through the art of photography in their cities. Every artist featured will share their inspiration as well as their advice to aspiring artists. 

San Diego

San Diego

What inspired you? 

Well I think everybody has had a natural interest or curiosity in cool cameras to a certain extent. I decided before my 18th birthday that I wanted to finally invest in a professional style camera, one with a "barrel" lens as I used to like calling it. I ended up getting the Sony NEX-5n as a gift from my parents and I started off using it pretty casually the first year or so. I bought an instructional book from Barnes & Noble specific to my camera and read a number of pages which basically allowed me to teach myself how to use it and when to apply certain settings. In the summer of 2013 I went to Maui on a family vacation and that's when I started realizing that I was developing a legitimate talent for creating photographs. Around this same time I started paying more attention to Instagram and got more involved with sharing photos and getting a closer look at other people's styles and the perspectives they offered. If I had to name 3 people that inspired me when I was starting out I would have to mention @benbabusis, @13thwitness, and @starvingphotographer. 

What advice do you have for aspiring artists?

Find your own creative style and do it better than anybody else. Don't let the expenses of equipment or traveling ever hold you back from putting in work. Photography is very much like life itself and it requires patience, persistence, and passion in order to succeed in greatness.

Gallery by Brandon Van Zanten

 
Los Angeles

Los Angeles

What inspired you? 

My uncle and a few of my friends inspired me to take on this artistic side of myself that I never knew I had. Growing up, basketball was my art, my way of living that's what I knew I was really good at it so I stuck to it. I honestly didn't feel like I was good at anything else that could make me good money other than a 9 to 5. My uncle would always shoot at our family gatherings, he's just so good and his knowledge for photography is mind blowing; and his work proves it. We've always had a really good relationship, but photography for sure brought us closer. We critique each other's work, we go on shoots together, he gives me pointers and teaches me any and everything I need to know. With him having 3 cameras I knew there was an opportunity for one to maybe be passed on. After I saw my friend Beezy's landscape picture on instagram I don't remember what it was, but it was one of those pictures where you're like ok... it's my time lol. Soon after that I asked my uncle if I could use one of his cameras and maybe a week after asking there was a camera bag, inside there was a Nikon D80 with a 50mm prime at 1.8, 18-55 sigma lens and a 75-300mm tamron lens. Pretty cool for a beginner, but I did not have a clue what all this firepower meant. So I went to shoot for the first time at the beach, the pictures were ok but I wasn't all that impressed. I went on a few more outings and it just wasn't clicking, so I set my camera down for a while; I want to say for a little less than a year. Until my friend Mo got one, and I think at this point I was like ok my friends can do this so can I, plus he was progressing so fast that it made me want to catch up. I slowly started hitting the streets more, I was living in LA at the time so there was no excuse. I didn't ask my uncle for help because I wanted to learn on my own. Eventually we all got really good, to where websites and calendars were being made, and people wanting to pay for shoots! I always go back to my pictures and my friends also just to see the progression, and to think that I thought all I was going to be good at was basketball, turns out I'm an artist as well and I'm pretty good at what I do. And I thank my friends and family for the support, without them I'd still be lost. 

What advice do you have for aspiring artists?

Don't let people give you the impression that you can't be an artist, because at the end of the day everybody is an artist. There's an art to everything you just have to find the one you're good at, it's always closer than you think. You have to try, you have to want it, you have to believe that you can do anything. It's mental, being strong is an art, not a lot of people can deal with things the way you can. I'm 22 and 2016 was not my year at all. But giving up is an art too, I couldn't find "giving up" no where in my presence, you have to push through because the pictures are still coming, I can still provide a vibe that will impact you for the moment if not your life. Believe me, YOU can do it!!

Gallery by Jamil Brown

 
San Francisco

San Francisco

What inspired you? 

I was originally inspired to start taking photos when I got my first iPhone. It was so cool to be able to document and take photos of everything so easily just on the go. I always loved traveling and exploring so the combination of that and the iPhone eventually grew into taking photography a little more seriously and figuring out how I could tell stories with my photographs. 

What advice do you have for aspiring artists?

The only advice I have for aspiring artists is to just always embrace yourself and what feels right to YOU because I think that's what is most important when you're trying to truly create organic content of any medium. It's your art and sometimes you create it to share with others and other times you don't, but the common denominator is, is that you're creating it. It doesn't matter if it's music, photography, painting, drawing, graphic design or anything! If you're always true to yourself and your work you will continue to grow in the right direction. Embrace yourself, embrace the struggle and most importantly embrace the process.

Gallery by Michael Casatico

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