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.

TAG Interviews Cynthia Alexander

ATTITUDE is Cynthia Alexander's current show at TAG on view through December 19th.

Cynthia Alexander, Attitude Adjustment, Mixed media on paper, 36.25 x 28.25"

We asked her a few questions.

Have you always lived in Southern California?
No - I didn’t come to Southern CA until I married an Angeleno in 1988.

Where did you grow up? Do you feel that your early environment had an influence on your artistic development?
I grew up in Connecticut, in a New York suburb. From an early age, I was exposed to the great art institutions in New York City - one of my earliest memories is of a visit to the Egyptian wing of the Met. I was enthralled by the quiet mystery of it all, and continued to be drawn to the art of the Middle East and Asia. Later on, travel in those parts of the world deepened that interest and appreciation.

When did you first realize you were an artist (or have the courage to identify yourself as an artist)?
Two different questions! I think I first realized I was an artist in my teens; the courage to identify myself as an artist came much, much later, in the last 10 years or so.

Have any of your travels influenced the direction your art work has taken? If so, in what way?
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to travel extensively in Asia, including places such as Iran and Afghanistan which are no longer easily accessible to travelers. These experiences - and in particular, exposure to the art and architecture of Islamic cultures - have affected me deeply as an artist. Unlike the Western artistic traditions, where there is a great emphasis on realism, the Islamic and Eastern traditions emphasize form and color first and foremost. This inspires me.

What were the unique challenges for you in undertaking this series?
I am first and foremost a figurative artist, with a fascination with the human body - as landscape, as abstract form, as conveyer of emotion. In this series, I challenged myself to be less literal and more abstract, more playful and personal. Early on, I decide to call the series ATTITUDE, as a constant reminder to myself of what I was going for.

Cynthia Alexander, Diva, Mixed media on paper, 34.75 x 50.25"

Do you work from life, or some other point of reference?

I typically work with models or from photographs. In this show, I worked with one model exclusively over a period of months, which was a great experience. Besides having an extremely long thin body, she is smart and feisty and has a great sense of humor - a killer combination for producing this series!

Have you learned any new techniques this year? 
In working on this series, I wanted to avoid the urge to over-explain myself on the page and keep things loose. To support that process, I used collage as a jumping off point for each image, “repurposing” old work as a ground for the new pieces. The serendipity of this technique challenged me to work outside the box and embrace the unexpected. Plus it was fun!

Cynthia Alexander, Changed My Mind, Mixed media on paper, 36.25 x 28.25"

How do you know when a work is finished?
One of the great, enduring questions in art-making! In this series, I worked on multiple pieces simultaneously, and kept them all visible to me as a I worked. I went back to most over and over again, sometimes just for minor tweaks and sometimes for major transformations, up to the last day I could take them to the framer. I’m not sure that any piece is ever really finished; at a certain point, though, I’m satisfied that I’ve done all I can do.

How do you like people to view your work—from across the room, or close up?
For this series, definitely close up. I want the viewer to engage with my process - see the torn paper, the layering, the erasures, the gesso white-outs. I want to invite the viewer to discover something unexpected with a closer look.

What would you like your viewers to take away from their encounter with your artwork?
I hope that each viewer takes away something different - that I have left enough ambiguity in each piece for the viewer to engage personally and find something new. This doesn’t have to be something big - just something they didn’t know before they walked into the gallery. I intended the women in this show to be strong, sassy and unapologetic; I hope that viewers get that too.

What is it like getting ready for an exhibition - are there any special considerations that you have to deal with?
Perhaps because I also have literary background, titling my shows and the pieces in them is always important to me. I had a great time coming up with titles for this show. Titles like “Are You Kidding Me?” and “Are You Finished Yet?” allowed me to access the inner bratty teenager that lurks inside us all.

Cynthia Alexander, Are You Kidding Me?, Mixed media on paper, 36.25 x 28.25"

What is the biggest challenge that you face as an artist?
Keeping it loose. Taking myself seriously.

Where do you see your journey as an artist going from here?
Doing this show was really a watershed moment for me - a significant move off the path of my past work, and the beginning of a larger exploration of new techniques and materials, subject matter, and my own habits and attitudes as a woman and an artist. I’m looking forward to getting back to work.

Cynthia will be joining Linda Sue Price and Elsie Dye Sims in an Artists' Talk moderated by gallery director Rakeem Cunningham today, 1pm at TAG.

Art Story: It's Not All About You

Linda Sue Price, It's Not All About You, Neon, 20 x 20 x 10"

Linda Sue Price’s current exhibit at TAG features phrases as in ‘Change is the Only Constant.’ The inspiration for the show came from a memorial celebrating the life of a fellow neon artist—Kunio Ohashi. One of the attendees shared a story about their friend and neighbor. Kunio was soft spoken with a wry sense of humor. They had dogs and were neglectful about picking up after their dogs. One day Kunio knocks on their front door. When they answered he handed them a piece of origami. When it was opened, the message inside said, ’Too much shit.’ Everyone in the audience laughed. It was so Kunio. Price thought about doing a piece in his honor with the saying, Kunio says Too Much Shit but decided it would take too much to explain but it did lead her to explore other words of wisdom.

See this and other works by Linda at TAG through December 19th.

Artists' Reception: Saturday, December 5, 5-8pm

Artist Talk: Saturday, December 12th, 1 p.m.

Read an interview with Linda on We Choose Art