Elsie Dye Sims Reception Benefitting CoachArt

Elsie Dye Sims is hosting a special reception at TAG with 10% of all sales benefitting CoachArt.org
Saturday, June 25, 5-8pm

Coming Exhibition: SPIRITUAL LANGUAGE TAG Collaborates with Homeboy Industries

January 5 – January 23, 2016
curated by Fabian Debora, Art Director, Homeboy Industries
Rakeem Cunningham, Art Director, TAG Gallery
Alison Lowe Platt, Artist/Member, TAG Gallery

Reception:
Saturday, January 9, 5 – 8pm

Special Guest Lecture:
Art & Healing with Father Greg Boyle
Tuesday, January 12, 5 – 8pm
reserve tickets here ($15 suggested donation) SOLD OUT

Artist Panel Discussion:
Spiritual Language: From the Artists’ Perspective
Saturday, January 16, 2 – 4pm

TAG Gallery is collaborating with Homeboy Industries to present Spiritual Language, a group exhibition including special guests Fabian Debora, Alex Kizu, and Juan Carlos Munoz Hernandez.

Working in a variety of media, with a goal to speak to viewers from all walks of life, Spiritual Language is the physical translation of struggle, growth, hope, and healing, through artistic expression. Speaking directly to the core of what makes us human, this “language” is an intangible force that pushes past the boundaries of race, social class, cultural barriers, religion, and age. Unifying us through artistic communication, this exhibition provokes honest conversation evoking empathy, understanding, and emotional connectivity.

Presented along with several community art events, this exhibition seeks to unite and engage visitors by showcasing the healing power of art, giving recognition to the mission of Homeboy Industries. As the largest gang intervention program in the nation, Homeboy’s art initiative fosters a sense of hope and possibility for those impacted by a life of poverty and violence. This encouragement of creativity feeds not only the growth of artists, but also the development and cultivation of the spiritual language.

Proceeds from this partnership will directly benefit Homeboy Industries, helping contribute to their creative cause. Visitors to the exhibition can show support of Homeboy Industries through donation of art supplies and materials such as paint, canvas, brushes, etc. made directly at TAG Gallery.

Homeboy Industries
Homeboy Industries provides hope, training, and support to formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated men and women allowing them to redirect their lives and become contributing members of our community. Each year over 10,000 former gang members from across Los Angeles come through Homeboy Industries’ doors in an effort to make a positive change. They are welcomed into a community of mutual kinship, love, and a wide variety of services ranging from tattoo removal to anger management and parenting classes. Full-time employment is offered for more than 200 men and women at a time through an 18-month program that helps them re identify who they are in the world, offers job training so they can move on from Homeboy Industries and become contributing members of the community.

Fabian Debora
Born in El Paso, Texas and raised in Boyle Heights, California, Fabian Debora has been creating art since childhood. Beginning his art career in 1995 as a member of the East Los Angeles Streetscapers, Fabian was mentored by many Chicano graffiti artists and muralists, introducing him to creative expression in all forms. Over the years Fabian has created murals throughout East Los Angeles and continued to develop his style through work on canvas. He has been showcased in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States, including Santa Barbara, CA, Los Angeles, CA, and Kansas City, MO. Fabian is currently a substance abuse counselor and art mentor at Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles. Working in collaboration with OTIS College of Design as a liaison between community artists in Boyle Heights and students in the classroom, Fabian continues to use art as a vehicle to communicate, educate, and touch people throughout his journey. By conceptualizing and interpreting his personal experiences as well as the experiences of his community, Fabian believes that he too can effect change.

Father Greg Boyle
Homeboy Industries traces its roots back to 1988 when in an effort to address the escalating problems and unmet needs of gang-involved youth, Fr. Greg and many community members developed positive alternatives, including establishing an elementary school, a day care program and finding legitimate employment for young people. In 1992, as a response to the civil unrest in Los Angeles, Fr. Greg launched the first social enterprise business, Homeboy Bakery. The mission of Homeboy's model of social enterprises, to create an environment that provides training, work experience, and above all, the opportunity for rival gang members to work side by side. The success of the Bakery created the groundwork for additional social enterprise businesses. Today Homeboy Industries’ nonprofit economic development enterprises include Homeboy Bakery, Homeboy Silkscreen & Embroidery, Homeboy/Homegirl Merchandise, Homegirl Café & Catering, Homeboy Farmers Market, and Homeboy Diner at Los Angeles City Hall.

As Executive Director of Homeboy Industries and an acknowledged expert on gangs and intervention approaches, Fr. Boyle is an internationally renowned speaker. He has given commencement addresses at numerous universities, as well as spoken at conferences for teachers, social workers, criminal justice workers and others about the importance of adult attention, guidance and unconditional love in preventing youth from joining gangs. Fr. Greg and several “homies” were featured speakers at the White House Conference on Youth in 2005 at the personal invitation of Mrs. George Bush. In 1998 he was a member of the 10-person California delegation to President Clinton’s Summit on Children in Philadelphia. Fr. Greg is also a consultant to youth service and governmental agencies, policy-makers and employers. Fr. Boyle serves as a member of the National Gang Center Advisory Board (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention). He is also a member of the Advisory Board for the Loyola Law School Center for Juvenile Law and Policy in Los Angeles. Previously, he held an appointment to the California Commission on Juvenile Justice, Crime and Delinquency Prevention.

Spotlight On: Elyse Wyman

Elyse Wyman, I'llGetForget, Encaustic, 24 x 18"

Veil of Fog

These Encaustic paintings are a visual (as well as visceral) response to the free verse poetry my mother expressed in the final years preceding her death from Alzheimer’s Disease. As she was in excellent physical condition, she survived (for better or worse) for many years after she started exhibiting signs of cognitive impairment. My mother and her sister were beautiful dancers and actresses in movie musicals as well as on stage. They were loving sisters who married best friends, built houses next door to each other, and raised their children in a lively communal atmosphere. My mother was very intelligent, well-spoken, outgoing and amazingly kind.

Elyse Wyman, Right to Almost, Encaustic mixed media, 8 x 8"

I believe my mother’s words and thoughts provide some insight into her struggle to communicate despite the unraveling of her brain. I continue to discover in them a wide range of feelings; anger, fear, humor, impatience, love and other emotions she could no longer express in a conventional manner. These paintings are a direct unfiltered response to each individual poem. I began by writing my mother’s poem on the blank surface of the canvas. I then applied layers of encaustic paint over the words, often scraping back into the layers to allow some of the poem to emerge. Sometimes the entire surface ended up covered with paint and only faint references to the written word are visible. 

Elyse Wyman, Pitcher In My Fate, Encaustic, 12 x 10"

This direct painted response was analogous to the way my mother was relating to the world at that time. The paintings are emotional responses to a difficult time in both our lives. They reflect elements of both the child and the mother and the reversal of roles as we grow older. The plaques and tangles of the disease were like layers of webs and veils obscuring her ability to think clearly. She referred to this as living in a “veil of fog.” She didn’t remember the immediate past, and had no concept of the future, and therefore seemed to exist entirely in the present. I tried to make my paintings reflect that. It was liberating to allow the paint to flow in an immediate response to her words, creating a direct dialogue with not only the poem, but with each painting in progress.

Elyse Wyman, Just to Listen, Encaustic, 24 x 18"

On June 19th 7-9pm, TAG is hosting a benefit for the Southern California Alzheimer’s Association Event “The Longest Day" at the gallery. There will be a poetry reading by Maray Ayres and Ann Ryerson Hall, and Ellen Woo PhD, Director of Neuropsychology and Co-Assistant Director for the Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Research at UCLA will discuss the poetry of Elyse's mother as it relates to the disease. Wine and cheese will be served.

RSVP: EWLongestDay@gmail.com
$20 donation at the door 

Visit Elyse's fundraising page for "The Longest Day" here.

Coming Exhibition: TAG Group Show 2015

January 6 - 24, 2015 

Reception: Saturday, Jan. 17, 5-8 pm

The group show features work of all 42 gallery artists.

For this show, TAG Gallery is supporting our local community by donating 25% of sales proceeds to the non-profit organization, Chrysalis. Chrysalis creates a pathway to self-sufficiency for homeless and low-income individuals by providing resources to find and retain employment. For more information on Chrysalis, visit http://www.changelives.org/. 

Click here for larger images of work in the show.

Coming Exhibition: All Member Group Show and Auction

January 7 - 25

Opening Reception and Live Silent Auction: Saturday, January 25, 2014, 5-8 p.m.

TAG Gallery is pleased to donate a portion of the group show proceeds to the Santa Monica - Malibu Education Foundation and will host an Opening Reception and live Silent Auction on January 25th from 5-8 pm to bidding customers.

Customers can purchase the $25 bidding ticket in advance by calling the gallery, 310-829-9556, or purchasing the ticket at the door for $40.

Here is a preview of the art in the exhibition: