Monday, December 29, 2014

The Disasters of War at Blackstone Gallery, Los Angeles



Blackstone Gallery patron Don Goldberg has an amazing album of photos here from the installation  and performances from the show, click here:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/dongoldberg/sets/72157649975019822/

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Trouble: the Disasters of War at Blackstone Gallery


Multi-media collaborative painting and sculpture installation and performance by Alex Schaefer & Steven Thomas Higgins


A visceral response to US government sanctioned torture and our culture of endless money for endless war and the toll of this on our children and our sanity

Blackstone Gallery
http://blackstonegalleryla.com/
Los Angeles, CA
December 20th 2014

Video Production by Homay Productions www.homayproductions.com

Monday, December 8, 2014

The da Vinci Fires in downtown Los Angeles

It's getting all William Turner in L.A. these days. Or is it Ed Ruscha? I can't tell anymore

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Alex Schaefer-John Kilduff Plein Air Cityscape Collaboration on eBay

Alex Schaefer-John Kilduff Plein Air Cityscape Collaboration (9th and Broadway, Los Angeles)
Oil, Acrylic and Pastel on Wood
48"x 48"
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alex-Schaefer-John-Kilduff-Plein-Air-Cityscape-Collaboration-Large-48-034-x48-034-/361129537632
Click Here to jump to the sale on eBay


This was painted entirely on location (en plein air) on the corner of 9th and Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles, California. Alex started the painting, John Kilduff finished it. Signed by both on the back. Alex Schaefer is best known for his burning banks series. And John Kilduff is best known for his cable access TV show "Let's Paint TV".

This is their first attempt at collaborating on a painting and it's a collectors dream because you are getting two artists in one painting; a playful and completely modern take on an old practice!

painting outdoors in the city is Street Art

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alex-Schaefer-John-Kilduff-Plein-Air-Cityscape-Collaboration-Large-48-034-x48-034-/361129537632
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alex-Schaefer-John-Kilduff-Plein-Air-Cityscape-Collaboration-Large-48-034-x48-034-/361129537632
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alex-Schaefer-John-Kilduff-Plein-Air-Cityscape-Collaboration-Large-48-034-x48-034-/361129537632
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alex-Schaefer-John-Kilduff-Plein-Air-Cityscape-Collaboration-Large-48-034-x48-034-/361129537632
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alex-Schaefer-John-Kilduff-Plein-Air-Cityscape-Collaboration-Large-48-034-x48-034-/361129537632

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alex-Schaefer-John-Kilduff-Plein-Air-Cityscape-Collaboration-Large-48-034-x48-034-/361129537632


Saturday, November 15, 2014

Paintings from the Streetscapes LA show at Blackstone Gallery

Wow it was a lot of paintings this month, good to remind myself that I'm being productive.  It's easy to forget after a couple days and feel like a lazy bum again! ahhaha  In all, the artists involved created 100 new, fresh paintings of the City of Angels from nearly every corner of the Central City   If anyone is interested in purchasing a piece, contact the gallery or send me a message.  Works are small, affordable, and easy to ship.  And check out the Blackstone Gallery website for the latest shows and artwork available for purchase: http://blackstonegalleryla.com/


















Friday, September 19, 2014

links to my story of protest art so far

Originally published 2012

I'm taking over an old post so I can add a "recap" post that I can link to so folks get a timeline of my more "political" work: I never intended to be a political artist. I like plein air landscape painting and nudes and cityscapes. I always say that in an ideal world there would be no political art because we would have good government and peace, but we are so far from that. Starting in 2003, reading alternative news sources online, I started to see a different future than the one being painted in mainstream media outlets; there were reporters out there who were predicting the economic state we are in but they were called "fringe" news and conspiracy crackpots by the mainstream news readers we were supposed to be carefully listening to. Everything that has happened was already spelled out in articles and analysis I was reading years before. The subject of this global crashing economy I find compelling and I feel outraged and shocked; as an artist this eventually comes out into the world. The earliest political statement I could see was in 2004 I started a series of paintings of tract homes that were springing up along the freeways and coming over the tops of hills. I don't have any links on my blog because I started that in 2006, but I did find a couple recently that were unfinished and I've painted foreclosure signs on their lawns: http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2011/09/house-for-sale.html and you can see some of them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alex-schaefer-art/5165776735/in/set-72157601014971125 In 2009 an obvious political turn came in my work with a drawing of a parody ad for Chase Bank with a group of kids at the beach drinking Cabernet Beer Bongs http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2009/08/chase-freedom.html http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2014/09/party-like-its-1999.html http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2011/12/chase-freedom.html I started making drawings of money: http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2009/09/money.html I made a wood block print of a dollar bill: http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2009/09/printing-moneyhtml http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2014/09/money-at-hive.html in 2010 I started a series of "fuck the 80's paintings: http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2014/09/fuck-eighties.html http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2011/06/fuck-80s.html http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2014/09/fuck-80s.html http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2012/06/fuck-80s-bummer-games.html Then the gulf oil spill happened http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2010/05/happy-treea-and-oil-spills.html http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2014/09/teton-idyll.html At the end of 2010 I painted my first riot scene: http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2014/09/riot.html In 2011 I started the first of a burning building series for a show at the Hive, this is a painting of the B of A building downtown: http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2011/01/lovers-and-haters.html In July of 2011 I made my first protest video at the Federal Reserve building: http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2014/09/lets-protest.html Later that month I made my first plein air burning bank http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2011/07/chase.html. The second one I did got me the visit from the cops on the street and then detectives at my house 3 weeks later and the rest is art history, I've been a 'terrorist' ever since: http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2011/07/chase-bank-painting-en-plein-air-and.html I was on the Keiser Report over the painting on "The Art of Burning Banks": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaRVJj3JLmE September 17th was the day Occupy New York broke out and in LA it was called the Day of Rage so I went out that day to paint the Federal Reserve burning: http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2011/09/day-of-rage.html October 1st Occupy LA broke out: http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2014/09/occupy-los-angeles.html Max Keiser tapes a show in Los Angeles, "the Guernica of Financial War": http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2012/05/keiser-report-guernica-of-financial-war.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2havcDPMbA In July 2012 I did a chalk protest at Chase Bank in downtown LA and got 12 hours in jail for vandalism http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2012/07/chalk-protest-with-alex-schaefer.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKUHw5YLY4g I made another appearance on the Keiser Report, "I did more time than any Bankster": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZtuyK8ZcXI Then I gave Wells Fargo the same treatment: http://alexanderschaefer.blogspot.com/2012/09/alex-schaefer-chalks-wells-fargo.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so9Fzn5W5cs

Thursday, September 18, 2014

house for sale


Originally published 9/27/11

I'm sewing up loose ends on this one and adding a 'for sale' sign. There might be more additions, and there's always the chance of fire breaking out, but at the moment I think less says more. I'm sure there's meaning in the history of this painting. I started a series of these tract homes in 2004 when very few people were foreseeing that we'd end up where we are now, so I think it's appropriate to find these unfinished works, in the middle of an economic meltdown caused in large part by bad business practices in mortgages and housing, and paint 'for sale' signs on the lawn. Bank owned. Forclosure. Here's a close-up shot.

occupy Los Angeles



Originally published 10/2/11

Yesterday was the start of Occupy Los Angeles, a protest in sympathy with Occupy Wall Street in New York. It was peaceful and I was blown away by the attendance which was well over 1500 people! I was by this morning dropping off supplies for a friend who was camping and there was a huge hard core group there still! wow. I plan to keep visiting, maybe even camp myself? It could be a Hive gallery excursion! I am still blown away. I have more videos and photos so I will keep updating this post. In the meantime here are some photos and a short video uploaded from my phone.


lets protest!


money is the root of all evill. originally published 7/1/11

lovers and haters


lovers and haters

Original post January 29, 2011

I'm in a group show themed "lovers and haters" at the Hive gallery opening February. So this is my entry. I found a picturesque spot downtown and started with a life drawing in my sketchbook. I took that home and started a painting very expressionistically in acrylic. I moved the painting closer to the line drawing and then painted on it back at location for better color. It might have been fun to do bigger, but for the group show I'm probably already pushing the size limit... oil on canvas, 24 by 18

riot


12/23/10 originally published

I did this painting cooped inside during the recent rains we've had in LA. My studio is under a tent outside so when it rains, it really limits my painting options! Recently online I saw some images of rioting in Europe that moved me to paint them. I want to do it bigger but I was working in my tiny apartment so I did this 12 by 24 'study' or whatever it is, first stab at it. I think the bigger the better for this one! I scratched in the bank logo because frankly aren't they the cause of these riots? call it the blowback from their illegal activities. It's funny, put the logo there and it almost makes it look like an advertisement!

teton idyll


originally published 7/10

Coming back from the amazing beauty of Wyoming, I was inspired to revisit this painting and try to recover from the previous disaster. I did most of this on Painting the Town yesterday but the show wasn't able to stream live, I think they'll post the replay of the show soon... This is a painting of a sliver of paradise, an arcadian idyll, hope for recovery. oil on canvas, 24 by 36

happy trees and oil spills


originally published 5/29/10

I paid homage and poked fun at my first fascination with painting, Bob Ross! The show starts slow, then some music kicks in which is a little loud and the painting progressing nicely, the music stops at the 38 minute mark and we get some serious painting in, but then at 47 minutes all hell breaks loose and a volcano goes off, there's a major oil spill, and a Starbucks moves in to spoil the arcadian idyll of Bob Ross's beautiful place! you can fast forward to any point in the video!video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player