“There are four elements in hip-hop, and the vision of the exhibit was to go ‘beyond the elements’ and embrace the multicultural roots that are a huge part of hip-hop,” he says.

Through airbrushed jackets, throwback posters, and VHS footage, those four elements—deejaying, emceeing, graffiti art, and breakdancing—mix together at the Liberty Station showcase, telling the story of rap’s local beginnings.

“These are my friends,” Lopez says. “I’ve always wanted to show the art.” It’s a short answer to a long question about inspiration and ideas, about what goes into putting something like this together.

As we continue through, he points out a face. “There’s Zodak,” he says, gesturing toward a framed, black-and-white Tribal ad featuring the legendary local graffiti artist holding a name plate. Highlighting his own work (he’s a graphic designer), Lopez motions to the cover of Aztec Tribe’s cassette single Diego Town. The artifacts are a dense tapestry, a timeline four decades long of rappers, breakdancers, DJs, and painters, spread across two rooms.

It would be easy to recognize the players if this were New York or LA, but rap stars aren’t traditionally plucked from around these parts. There’s talent, for sure; however, most of it has had little influence outside of SD. That’s to say that this is a self-contained history, based on a homegrown ecosystem held together by storytellers, smooth talkers, and colorful personalities.

There’s no defining sound or even a single approach. Aztec Tribe carved out a lane as Chicano rap pioneers in the early ’90s, while San Ysidro’s Legion Of Doom (LOD)—who are featured prominently throughout the exhibition—worked their tag-team, Run-D.M.C-like chemistry into a formula that repped South Bay.

And while the vocalists were manipulating rhymes, local dancers were adopting the movements and body contortions of hip-hop’s B-boy element: a choreographed set of ticks, spasms, and spins that, in our neck of the woods, was part West Coast pop lockin’, part East Coast footwork. They’re represented, too, in the exhibit.

A wall marked “80’s Breakdance Era” shows off hand-drawn flyers and pictures of teenagers frozen mid-routine, rocking on linoleum. Inside a glass square stands a July 2, 1984, copy of Newsweek magazine that reads “BREAKING” in bold, white letters. And resting near the top sits a black medallion from the Universal Zulu Nation, an international awareness group and official fraternity of hip-hop—a true mark of legitimacy. The pieces speak for themselves. The hometown B-boys were the real deal.

That’s how Lopez got his start: managing a group of breakers called the Floor Masters. “My mom’s house was kinda like the home base,” he says. They were unique on their block, but the culture reached beyond his ’hood. It wasn’t until he and his squad ventured past their side of town that any of them realized breakdancing was everywhere.

“We didn’t know that it was happening in other neighborhoods,” Lopez says. “So, when we would go and perform at Balboa Park or something and put out the hat to make money … then [we] had other crews coming and [trying] to battle.”

Just as hip-hop in NYC was a byproduct of its boroughs (even though it started in the Bronx), rap’s local vernacular differed depending on its enclave. Aztec Tribe was based in Spring Valley, while Mario and the Floor Masters grew up in Sherman Heights.

From the county’s eastern edge to its downtown hub, there’s an extensive history documented in Beyond The Elements. The exhibit captures our rich heritage, one that’s worth exploring. And, as a narrative, this isn’t a nostalgia exercise or a trip down memory lane. Instead, it’s a commemoration, a nod to the hometown trailblazers who helped mold local culture through sound, art, and dance with imagination and virtuosity. A powerful message as hip-hop celebrates its 50th anniversary.

As my visit winds down, Lopez and I are joined by Zard One, an original member of the Floor Masters. We’re seated in the gallery space across the hall, and I notice his fingertips are stained with paint. Thoughtful and soft-spoken, he’s an artist and lifelong friend of Mario’s.

The docents are making their rounds, turning off lights and securing items. It’s a signal that I’ve overstayed my welcome. But, before I head out, I ask them both what they hope visitors take with them.

Lopez is first to answer. “We have tours coming in from different schools that are interested. It’s [about] educating the kids,” he says.

Just like hip-hop, the exhibit serves as a generational legacy. Each one teach one, as they say.

“It’s for the youth,” Zard One adds.

The post The New Americans Museum Explores SD’s Rap Roots appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

The artist, a professor of visual arts at the University of San Diego, has spent much of his life immersed in those histories. Moved by the US Civil Rights Movement as a college student, Halaka developed “a deep-seated interest in justice and in human rights,” he says. He studied the history and politics of Palestine, eventually traveling there to interview and record individuals’ memories and stories. As a Fulbright scholar in 2011 and 2012, he spent nearly a year in Lebanon working with four generations of Palestinian refugees, an experience that deeply informed the pieces in his new exhibition at the Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA).

Entitled Listening to the Unheard/Drawing the Unseen: Meditations on Presence and Absence in Native Lands, the exhibition runs through February 18. Hung in stairwells and filling two galleries on OMA’s second floor, Halaka’s drawings—portraits of the people he interviewed, interpretations of the narratives they shared—are enormous, arresting, beautiful. And their meaning is undeniable.

It’d be easy to imagine the exhibition’s titular absence as emptiness, faint outlines, blank space. But Halaka’s work is the opposite. His drawings are densely layered, packed with stamped words (“RESIST” and “REMEMBER” among them) and tiny lines that coalesce into faces, hands, thorny vines. Approach too close, and they dissolve into visual snow.

“Absence and presence are essentially the two sides of a coin,” Halaka says. “When I engage with displaced individuals, there’s always this duality. They’re absent from the land, their homes; their history has been shattered. But all of that history is present within them. I try to visualize that by having two or more things exist at the same time.”

Some of Halaka’s most moving works superimpose portraits of Palestinian refugees over photographs of villages that were destroyed in Palestine in 1948—or vice versa, with the villages drawn over photos of the refugees. Faces, bodies, and buildings are rendered semi-transparent, ghostly. When underlaid beneath the portraits, the ruins appear as part of the refugees, giving texture to their skin.

A few pieces in the exhibition feature drawings of activists (including Lakota author Mary Brave Bird and Palestinian historian Hussein Lubani) on maps of the US and Palestine, visually melding people and their ancestral lands.

Other works, less layered but no less complex, are portraits and drawings made with a wood-burning tool. Thousands of scars form images on large panels of reddish oak, referencing “the cuts and burns that shaped [the refugees’] lives on a personal, communal, and national level,” Halaka explains.

I ask Halaka how he approaches the responsibility of translating others’ experiences for a wider audience. It’s a question that plagues me as a journalist, I admit to him.

He says that, in some ways, their story is his story—as the son of a Palestinian father and as an immigrant who came to the United States when he was 12, he shares many cultural touchpoints with the people whom he interviews, though he himself was not a refugee.

But even more critically, “I’m very, very aware of asking permission and of letting them guide my learning process,” he says. Behind each piece on the museum’s walls are hours of trust-and relationship-building with the refugees whose narratives he transforms into art. “I’m allowing their stories to shape me,” he adds. “I’m the empty cup waiting to receive knowledge so I can grow from that knowledge.”

Halaka hopes that, for museum visitors, viewing his art is merely the beginning of their own process of confronting the legacy of settler colonialism. “My drawings don’t tell the whole story,” he says. “They’re little stanzas of a much longer story.”

The post Oceanside Art Exhibition Amplifies the Voices of Displaced Palestinians appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

“The $105-million overhaul of MCASD, including the new Jacobs Hall, feels more connected to the topography. “It’s a delicate balance in capturing the art and architecture for each space,” says Bazzari of her approach. “Do I highlight the architecture and emphasize the artwork? Will the ocean views be the focal point, or how does the architecture connect with the landscape?”

Maha Bazzari

“I experience art within the space, sit with it, and then digest it.” That’s not the technical part, but it’s absolutely the starting point for Maha Bazzari, an architectural photographer who splits her time between San Diego and Palm Springs. The trained architectural designer and fine artist is an accidental photographer. She started by shooting her own work, then friends, and then global architecture firm Gensler came knocking.

Most recently, she was tapped by MCASD La Jolla to chronicle the quiet minimalism of the $105-million overhaul by Selldorf Architects. The photographer came often: mid-morning as the marine layer lifted. Golden hour. During a rainstorm. “I know every nook, in every light,” she says, perched on a concrete bench in the museum shop.

When she’s not traveling (Berlin, most recently) she frequents local architectural gems from the Salk Institute to Bell Pavilion. Her work has been featured in Dwell, WSJ Magazine and National Geographic. “Expressive images require an understanding of the artist’s concepts. And being selective.” Bazzari often collaborates with local artist Yomar Augusto, and there’s a fluency that develops between them. “To capture Yomar’s work is to follow the flow of lines and strong colors.”

“Bazzari maximized the rare stormy day to capture this dramatic image of architect Annabelle Selldorf and MCASD director Kathryn Kanjo. “With the use of strobe lighting and image bracketing I was able to uncover the rainy views, bring them to the foreground, and show the expansive lines of the architecture.”

Maha Bazzari

“Bazzari maximized the rare stormy day to capture this dramatic image of architect Annabelle Selldorf and MCASD director Kathryn Kanjo. “With the use of strobe lighting and image bracketing I was able to uncover the rainy views, bring them to the foreground, and show the expansive lines of the architecture.”

Maha Bazzari

“The size of the exhibit space dictates the photography style. For the smaller exhibitions, the art must be at the right scale to the architecture so they complement each other. For larger gallery spaces, I don’t want the art to get lost or capture too much information.” 

Maha Bazzari

“My love for the visual arts goes beyond a still image. I dabble in painting and explore different materials. This is a detail of Gravitational Attraction. I used acrylic paint, graphite, spray paint, and iron filings that were manipulated by the use of magnets to create this shape. Concept: The force of attraction is inescapable, especially the connections between people and their souls through interaction, sharing of ideas, stories, and experiences.”

Maha Bazzari

Macro-micro is a common theme throughout Bazzari’s photos, as shown with these two shots of a piece by San Diego artist Melissa Walters. Of All Things was a site-specific installation made of 2,600 paper tetrahedrons. “The amount of detail that went into this piece is mind-boggling,” Bazzari says. “I had to consider the physical space in relation to the theoretical Omniverse that contains it.”

Maha Bazzari

“I photographed this beautifully dramatic artwork for Yomar’s solo show at Point Loma Nazarene University. Although the mural was the main piece in the exhibition, the pieces came together through the narration of graphics throughout the gallery space.”

Maha Bazzari

For this mural, commissioned by San Diego Made Factory, Bazzari added scale with pedestrians and trolley tracks. “I wanted to underscore the urban setting of the East Village.”

Maha Bazzari

This abstract and colorful geometric calligraphy painting was commissioned for a residence in Mission Hills. “We wanted to highlight the colorful streaks and textures by enhancing the contrast, especially on the dark canvas.”

Maha Bazzari

This light fabrication is by Tecture in collaboration with Gensler San Diego. “I captured the curvilinear sculptural elements made from independent layers of milled extruded PVC with suspended lighting in between.”

Maha Bazzari

“This historic preservation of a mid-century modern house in San Diego [by architect Kristi Byers] is one of those projects that I photograph and admire all the work and consideration that went into it.”

Maha Bazzari

“We arrived before sunrise to make sure we captured the best light on the small chapel at Point Loma Nazarene University. It took us five hours to photograph the saturated colors, clean lines, and thoughtful materials.” The Lyle and Grace Prescott Memorial Prayer Chapel is a collaboration between architects Carrier Johnson and Tecture.

Maha Bazzari

On The Salk Institute by Louis Kahn: “I can spend all day capturing this monumental architecture with its details, observing the light moving across all the surfaces.”

Maha Bazzari

There are many approaches to shooting a door, especially this one designed and built by Tecture for a San Diego beachfront home. “It is a large pivot door with four operable windows, and a wheel operated gear system. So, we played around. Opening, closing and passing through it.”

Maha Bazzari

A symphony of concrete was required to show off the muscularity of this chair designed and fabricated by Tecture. “We connected this piece to its surroundings—the concrete chair to the concrete floor and walls. Aligning textures and materials was the goal.”

Maha Bazzari

The post Documenting the Quiet Minimalism of MCASD appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

Stacy Keck

Arte Accesible

Jessica Berlanga Taylor

As a girl walking to school just outside Mexico City, Jessica Berlanga Taylor passed iconic murals by David Alfaro Siquieros. As the new director of UC San Diego’s Stuart Collection, she wants to spark the same sense of awe she felt back then, experiencing world-class art in daily life.“Siquieros had a lot to say about public art and access,” says the binational Berlanga Taylor, formerly a contemporary art curator in Mexico City. “That was a big influence.”

Established in 1981, the Stuart Collection includes 22 site-specific pieces from artists as boldface as Robert Irwin, Niki de Saint Phalle, and Alexis Smith, scattered across the sprawling 1,200-acre campus. Under founding director Mary Beebe, the program scaled new heights with Do Ho Suh’s popular Fallen Star, a house seemingly teetering on the edge of a building.

Among Berlanga Taylor’s goals? Making the exceptional collection even more accessible—the next piece certainly is: KAHNOP • TO TELL A STORY, an 800-foot-long celebration of poetry, formally debuts this spring at the campus trolley stop. And while commissioning fresh works will be a thrilling part of the job, Berlanga Taylor can’t wait to hype the existing ones.

“I’m creating a public program around the art to activate through performances, music, poetry readings, and updating the interpretation of the pieces,” she says. “A lot of people on campus want to collaborate with Stuart Collection to enhance its presence and broaden its influence off campus.”

On the Horizon

This spring, KAHNOP • TO TELL A STORY by Ann Hamilton will be unveiled at The UC San Diego Central Campus Station.

Jessica York

Stacy Keck

Crafting Design

Jessica York

When it comes to the Mingei, executive director Jessica York understands the assignment. Replacing her longtime mentor Rob Sidner means she knows every inch of the museum. Literally. She helped plan its transformative and award-winning renovation by San Diego architect Jennifer Luce.

“I focus on human creativity as well as craft traditions that are really a source of cultural identity and pride,” says York. “Mingei has the potential to become an even more meaningful resource for our region.”

Exhibit A: The museum’s third annual San Diego Design Week showcases in-demand local artisans, designers, and architects—called Inspiration Inspiración, running Sept. 21 to 25—but the binational programming has garnered notice globally. San Diego and Tijuana have been designated a World Design Capital for 2024, the first dual-city destination for the festival.“The Mingei played a role in the bid to achieve that,” says York. “As a museum of folk art, craft and design, we saw an opportunity to carry the banner for design in a new way.”Coming sooner: Piñatas: The High Art of Celebration opens October 28. The exhibit, organized by guest curator Emily Zaiden, features contemporary artists and at least one-megawatt commission from the San Diego-Tijuana region. It’s sure to be a bash.

Save the Date

Piñatas: The High Art of Celebration by curator Emily Zaiden features work from a variety of piñata artists, including Diana Benavidez who hails from the SD-Tijuana region. October 28-April 30, 2023.

Women Shaping Art

Stacy Keck

Family Engagement

Elizabeth Yang-Hellewell

Elizabeth Yang-Hellewell arrived with a not-so- secret advantage as the CEO and executive director of The New Children’s Museum. “My wife and I have a 5-year-old and an almost 2-year-old,” she says. “I am the audience.”

Her former gig at MCASD didn’t exactly allow full-contact museum-going. “It’s high-touch here,” says Yang-Hellewell of the NCM, which sees up to 1,000 visitors a day during summer. “There’s nothing better than seeing people play in, on, and around contemporary art. I’ve worked in contemporary art spaces almost my whole career, and that level of engagement is what you want.”

Fearing sensory overload? Fret not. A new installation from artist Michelle Montjoy gives kids and parents Breathing Room. Think soothing colors and hanging hand-knitted textiles that undulate serenely in a relaxed breathing cycle.

“It’s a quiet space,” explains Yang-Hellewell. “Neurodivergent children can experience our installations in a different way. I really want to explore accessibility and how we can serve our communities better.” She adds that some younger NCM employees even remember visiting as kids growing up in San Diego. “People develop core creative memories at the New Children’s Museum.”

On the Horizon

This month, the museum unveils phase two of Breathing Room, a sensory-friendly space to pause in an otherwise highly active environment. Oceanside artist Michelle Montjoy has been knitting pods for children and families to cocoon.

Lauren Lockhart

Stacy Keck

Peering at the Past

Lauren Lockhart

For a mellow seaside town, La Jolla features mightily on San Diego’s art scene. “It’s so impressive the impact this small community has had,” says Lauren Lockhart, the new executive director of the La Jolla Historical Society. “We are truly a hub of arts and culture.” Since her arrival, LJHS continues to emerge from the shadows of the Museum of Contemporary Art next door.

Noteworthy modern architecture, cutting-edge scientific research via a Salk Institute collaboration, and cosmopolitan theater and visual arts are all packed into their 1904 seaside cottage. Voices from the Rez, running through September 4, explores the work of ten Native American artists living on San Diego reservations.

For Lockhart, the potential subject matter feels endless.“We always start with a thread that is drawn from our history here,” says Lockhart, a UC San Diego grad. “But it’s important to us that they be interdisciplinary so we can engage lots of different experts and community members.”

Case in point: The Smallest Show on Earth running through January. Curated by Scott Paulson from the UC San Diego Library, the exhibition taps into the current vogue for paper craft with a deep-dive look at antique toy paper theaters.“

I love that our program is really diverse and art is often a vehicle we use to translate history,” says Lockhart. “We’re working with local artists who are reinventing and exploring this several-hundred-year- old form. We’re going to have theaters talking about the contributions of African-Americans and Latinos to La Jolla’s history.”It’s history with a twist: The more you peer into the past, the more you learn about San Diego today.

Save the Date

The Smallest Show on Earth: Paper Theaters Explored, celebrates the history and recent innovations in this playful and engaging art form. Sept. 23 – Jan. 22.

Sacred Canyons & Rare Trees: Torrey Pines – San Diego’s Symbol of Preservation, traces the history of this unique resource from its earliest inhabitants to present-day climate challenges. Feb. 10 – May 28.

The post 4 Women Shaping San Diego’s Art Scene appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

Equipped with 11 different souvenir locations, including the ZAGAT-rated ZooStore, you can find animal-specific gifts for your loved ones, especially including (but not limited to) primates, pandas, reptiles, koalas, elephants, and polar bears.

MoPA

The Museum of Photographic Arts provides photography enthusiasts with a wide variety of books and DVDs from their favorite artists as well as fun photography-themed apparel and accessories, including vintage Polaroid pillows.

Lux Art Institute

As well as displaying its own exclusive merchandise, the Lux store collaborates with local artists and artisans to provide unique treasures ranging from handmade to mass-produced, a few dollars to a few hundred dollars, all keeping within the spirit of the museum experience and local artistry.

MCASD

The Museum of Contemporary Art’s X-Store features a great selection of books on a variety of contemporary artistic mediums and culture. Additionally the X-Store sells home and office supplies, children’s items, and MCASD accessories.

California Surf Museum

This Oceanside surf Mecca carries a variety of ocean art, vintage posters, and books, as well as surf apparel and accessories.

Reuben H. Fleet Science Center

The North Star Science Store provides endless fun and educational gift ideas for both kids and adults. IMAX films, glow-in-the-dark trinkets, and astronaut ice cream are featured in the wide variety of science-related products and activities available at the store.

Birch Aquarium

The gift shop offers extended opportunities for sea life education and fun with a selection of books, jewelry, stuffed animals, and more, including their featured book What Color Would You Be to Hide in the Sea?

Library Shop

This quaint boutique inside the new Central Library downtown offers a bevy of cute gift ideas like stationery by Rifle Paper Co., arts and crafts projects for kids, baby onsies, calendars, and more.

San Diego Central Library

copyright: John Durant

The California Surf Museum in Oceanside

The post The ‘Art’ of Giving appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

Please Be Seated

The post Please Be Seated appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

San Diego Fall Arts Preview

San Diego Fall Arts Preview

San Diego Fall Arts Preview

San Diego Fall Arts Preview

San Diego Fall Arts Preview

The post San Diego Fall Arts Preview appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

Luxury Therapy

Picasa

1. Capsule Collection

This month, La Jolla’s Madison Gallery welcomes London-based artist Mauro Perucchetti and his exhibition, The Power of Love. The artist creates lighthearted works with a hint of social commentary. Example: Luxury Therapy (pictured) is a composition of resin pills encapsulating Swarovski crystals. August 24–September 24, 1020 Prospect Street

Old Town Theatre

2. Sondheim in the House

If the name “Stephen Sondheim” hasn’t been on your lips since he wrote the lyrics for West Side Story in 1957, get with it. His Tony Award-winning musical Into the Woods, which debuted here at the Old Globe in 1986, will be adapted for the big screen in 2014 starring Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep. Meantime, his 1970 musical Company, about single 35-year-old Bobby who can’t commit, was one of the first musicals to deal with adult relationships and is playing at Cygnet’s Old Town Theatre now through August 18. Get to know Sondheim again. You’ll be in good company. cygnettheatre.com

Girl on the Go! Night Spa

3.Night Spa

What working woman has time for a mani-pedi on a weekday? And who wants to get waxed during lunch? Girl on the Go! Night Spa (830 25th Street, Golden Hill) came up with the genius idea to stay open until 10 p.m. on weekdays and 6 p.m. on the weekends. It offers organic skincare, waxing, massage, acupuncture, manicures, pedicures, and airbrush tanning. It’s a beauty of an idea.

4. Home Brewers, Pitcher This!

Ballast Point and the Padres are holding their second annual home brew contest, with entries due at the Home Brew Mart in Linda Vista by August 3. (Be sure to read the rules—no sours! No 8 percent ABV, either.) The winning brew will be produced and sold at Ballast Point locations, and its maker will get to throw the first pitch at the Padres–Pirates game August 19. padres.com/homebrew

Fitwall

5. Wall Workouts

With all the boot camp, barre, and boxing workouts out there, it’s easy to be skeptical about a new fitness trend. But Josh Weinstein, CEO of the new La Jolla gym Fitwall, isn’t worried. “We offer strength, flexibility, and cardio,” he says. “Where else can you get all three in 40 minutes?” The workout is done vertically on a wall, using more balance and muscle than exercises done on the floor. The gym’s 15 walls are equipped with iPads, giving you instant feedback on how hard you’re working. Weinstein plans to expand to Del Mar, Hillcrest, and other neighborhoods; then beyond to L.A., NYC, Boulder, and Portland. Be the first to climb aboard. 7710 Fay Avenue —Claire Trageser

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