If you happen to be in the Chico area, visit 1078 Gallery for new works by Jessica Eastburn.
For more info, visit: http://www.1078gallery.org/jessica-eastburn.html
Opening this weekend in Los Angeles at the Japanese American National Museum !
THIS SUNDAY: Firestone Walker Brewery at E7S for Silicon Valley Beerweek
For more information, visit http://www.svbeerweek.com/
This Friday - Jtown Art Walk
This Friday, July 8 from 7-10pm "Spirit of Shokunin" @ E7S
In tribute to our 8 years of art within the Japantown neighborhood and to the craftmanship of each artist, we present to you "Spirit of Shokunin"
“The Japanese word shokunin is defined by both Japanese and Japanese-English dictionaries as ‘craftsman’ or ‘artisan,’ but such a literal description does not fully express the deeper meaning. The Japanese apprentice is taught that shokunin means not only having technical skills, but also implies an attitude and social consciousness. … The shokunin has a social obligation to work his/her best for the general welfare of the people. This obligation is both spiritual and material, in that no matter what it is, the shokunin’s responsibility is to fulfill the requirement.” – Tasio Orate.
If you missed the opening last month, come out this Friday during the Jtown Art walk to see works from over 70 different artists!
Guerrero Gallery's new space in SF
We visited the new Guerrero Gallery space in San Francisco's dog patch neighborhood. It was great seeing the new space with beautiful works from Hilary Pecis.
Congrats to Guerrero Gallery and we look forward to many more shows!
E7S in Mexico City, Oaxaca and Havana, Cuba....
Here is a shortened version of our recent trip to Mexico City, Oaxaca and Havana, Cuba. It was an AMAZING trip where we were able to do SO much within the time we had. We got to see so much history, culture, arts, ate lots of delicious foods and met new friends.
Mexico City is like the New York to Mexico. There are so many districts that offer so much to do. We stayed in the downtown Central Area and either walked or used Uber to get around (so cheap!)
Carlos in front of a Diego Rivera mural within the Chapultepec Castle. …formerly an imperial palace and presidential residence. Today, the Castle houses the country’s National History Museum. There are a ton of original paintings, artifacts on view throughout the Castle.
Stained glass in Chapultepec Castle.
A view of the National Museum of Anthropology. So much history and artifacts!
Mural by Jorge Gonzalez Camarena inside Chapultepec Castle.
A view from the balcony of our hotel.
Palacio de Bellas Artes hosts exhibitions and theatrical performances and is the main venue of the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico.
Interior of the Palacio de Bellas Artes. There are epic murals on interior walls on the first and second floors by some of Mexico's greatest artists, including Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Rufino Tamayo
Teotihuacan, preserves the remains of one of the most important civilizations in Mesoamerica. We were amazed by the beautiful constructions and by the mystery kept within the wall of the Pyramid of the Sun, the Temple of Quetzalpapalotl, the Avenue of the Dead.
Here, we are on top of the Moon Temple….in the distance is the Pyramid of the Sun
Loved seeing the cute dogs hanging out enjoying the weather
Here we are at the top of the Pyramid of the Sun looking over to the Moon Temple
Ate at La Gruta, an amazing restaurant located within a cave (walking distance from Teotihuacan)
Alebrijes – from Oaxaca and made entirely by hand, sculptures made from copal wood and their ingenious shapes with amazing patterns and colors
I am a HUGE fan of Frida Kahlo. Arrived early at Casa Azul and was SO stoked to be the first one in line! For those of you who don’t know her…….you should look her up. Too much to explain in a sentence!
No words to explain how I felt being in the presence of her belongings. She is a huge inspiration in so many ways.
Frida’s pigments for her paintings and the mirror she used for her self-portraits.
After going to Casa Azul, went to the studio/house that Diego and Frida had designed by Juan O'Gorman.
Diego Rivera’s personal items in his studio and one of his pieces
So much amazing food in Mexico. Handmade tortilla tacos are the best!
Museo del Juguete is a dream for any toy collector!
Mexican-born Japanese collector Roberto Shimizu has amassed more than a million toys in his lifetime, and this museum showcases about 60,000 pieces, ranging from life-sized robots to tiny action figures. Shimizu himself designed many of the unique display cases from recycled objects.
Museo del Juguete’s rooftop is full of murals from a vast range of artists.
The very rooftop, which was inaccessible, was painted from a good friend of ours.
Rooftop views looking down and finding more art
We found our friend ROA’s mural located in the parking lot of the toy store.
Last night places to eat that were open 24 hours was amazing. This place, Tacos de Suadero, seriously had the best tacos!
Night walking in central Mexico City
Oaxaca is a state in southern Mexico known for its indigenous cultures. Its capital city of the same name is noted for colonial buildings often made of green volcanic stone. Not far from Mexico City as we took a one hour flight…
The Museo Texil de Oaxaca showcases Oaxaca's traditional textile crafts
We took a 2-3 hour roadtrip to visit some ruins and archeological sites….along the way, found a beautiful church (photo doesn’t do it justice), met some locals and saw TONS of cactus! If you don’t already know, I LOVE cactus and succulents!
Mitla is the 2nd most important archeological site in Oaxaca. Mitla was once an important Zapotec religious and ceremonial center. We saw a series of structures and patios adorned with ancient cut-stone mosaics, created by fitting together thousands of polished cut stones….which was believed to date back to the last two or three centuries before the arrival of the Spanish.
One of the distinguishing features at Mitla is the reoccurrence of 14 geometric designs that are represented in the stone carvings throughout the complex. You’ll be amazed at the intricacy and detail of the carvings, especially those found in the palace building.
"Hierve el Agua" translates to “the water boils”, and the natural mineral springs that are found here take their name from the bubbling of the warm water as it flows up from the earth through the springs and releases oxygen into the turquoise cliff-top pools.
What appears to be a massive waterfalls frozen to the side of the mountain are actually natural mineral formations that have built up over thousands of years as a result of the mineral-laden water spilling over the edge of the cliff and trickling down the rocky mountain side.
Photo on the left is from a higher peak looking down to what we hiked to (photo below)
In the photo below, you can see how large this formation is by looking at the small 2 people at the base (look hard…)
Another view of "Hierve el Agua"
Monte Alban, meaning “White Mountain,” is an ancient Zapotec capital and archaeological site with a spectacular mountain top location overlooking the valleys of Oaxaca.
Visited some artists who do traditional wood blocking artwork.
The best way we ended our trip in Oaxaca was experiencing one of their parades. I’ve only seen these in movies so I was extremely excited to be in the midst of this! The music, dancing, vibrant colors and overall excitement was an experience to remember! Took lots of videos….
Templo de Santo Domingo De Guzman is a BEAUTIFUL church.
Interior of Templo de Santo Domingo De Guzman
I bought some amazing traditional blouses and dresses from Mexico City and Oaxaca. Some were machine stitched and some were hand stitched. Absolutely LOVE Mexico’s textiles!
Going to Cuba has been something I wanted to do for over 15 years now. Many people think the passage is totally open for the US but reality is, it isn’t. You still have to book through a certified tour group.
We decided to bypass this and just go through Mexico. We like to take our own adventures and not have a tour company plan a tight schedule. Instead, we found a local tour guy who gave us a private view of Havana at our own leisure.
Across from the Plaza de la Revolucion. Memorial for Jose Marti and Che Guevara
Plaza de Revolucion. This square is notable as being where many political rallies take place and Fidel Castro and other political figures address Cubans.
Fusterlandia, the studio, residence and wild kingdom of Jose Rodriguez Fuster. The neighborhood has changed a lot since Fuster came into town over 30 years ago. Inspired by his visit to Europe, had came back to Cuba with plenty of ideas. Roofs, walls, doorways and benches, stretching for blocks around his studio, are adorned with his brightly colored sculptures and mosaics. More than 80 neighbors have allowed Fuster to use their homes as his canvas.
Parque Almendares is also known as the “lungs of the city” for Havana. A beautiful forest in the middle of the city filled with trees draped with vines that look like walls.
Cuban music is romantic and spiritual. There was plenty of it during our stay and we love every moment of it!
Aside from being a tourist attraction, it was so exciting to see so many classic cars in Havana. I was able to embrace that part of my soul that came from a different era.
We rode these little Cuba taxis that were lot of fun. Basically a moped/scooter within one of those theme park rides.
La Bodeguita de Medio…..Stopped by to visit the bar where Ernest Hemingway would buy his mojitos.
Plaza de la Catedral is one of the 5 main squares in Old Havana
Visited the house of Che Guevara
El Cristo de La Havana
Inside the Museo de la Revolucion….looking up into the dome.
Cuban pride is everywhere :)
When you walk the city, you get to meet and talk to beautiful locals such as Melba and her son Rafael.
Also while walking around, we found mural created by El Mac.
Timing was everything since the clouds were aligned.
More cars and old buildings of Havana.
There is so much character to these old buildings that live within the city. One of the main reasons we wanted to do this trip as soon as we could was because we wanted to SEE Cuba before it “changes”
Eventually the doors for Americans to travel to Cuba will be wide open….with that includes corporations.
How will this change Cuba? I’m sure the next time we visit, there will be a Starbucks or a McDonalds planted there.
The one thing about my trip to Cuba was that we really enjoyed being “off the radar” from internet, phones, texting, social media, tv, commercials…
As we walked the neighborhoods, you actually saw kids playing and people hanging out enjoying the scenery and talking with friends/family. Not connected to their phones or computers.
A nice man who runs a small bookstore in the neighborhood
Yellow on yellow
The Malecon is a broad roadway and seawall which stretches for 8 km along the coast in Havana. Here is a daytime view and below is while watching the sunset
Playa Santa Maria…. Super clear and warm waters of Cuba. This beach was heaven!
SAVE THE DATE....
Commissioned piece for Mother's Day!
A client sent us a photo (left) and said she wanted a painting of this with a different background as a Mothers Day gift. Final painting (right) by resident artist Ivan Gonzalez @itg3000 Thank you for creating something so quickly last minute in time for the holiday! What a unique gift for someone special!
#artforgifts #artcollector #commissionartwork #mothersdaygift #ivangonzalez #E7S
SAVE THE DATE: Opening @ ARTiK Art and Architecture
"Self-Portrait", by Artist-in-Residence Chad Hasegawa at the De Young Museum
We went to visit Chad at his opening last Friday evening at the De Young Museum. This was kind of a opening and closing reception to the artist-in-residence project Chad worked on on-site. The Museum had given visitors the opportunity to work directly with Chad on a large collaborative painting, working with the same brushes and paints he typically uses, and learning his technique of applying paint onto a canvas with oversized brushes.
For more info, please visit: http://deyoung.famsf.org/calendar/self-portrait-artist-residence-chad-hasegawa
"Beats, Rhymes and Life" opened last Friday!
"Beats, Rhymes and Life" new works by Will Moran opened last Friday....
It was a evening full of friends, family and art enthusiasts coming to support Will and all the hard work he's been putting in these last six months.
A special "thank you" to Will Moran for bringing phenomenal work, Jaybiz for spinning records and West Wing food truck for providing such delicious eats!
If you missed the show, there is still time to check it out. Come visit the show and check out what new zines, merch and prints we have in our shop!
The exhibit is on view until May 20th.
Our hours are Wednesday-Friday 12-6pm, Saturday 12-4pm and by appointment.
Cheers,
E7S
"Back to School with Peter" this Saturday....
SAVE THE DATE: "Beats, Rhymes and Life" new works by Will Moran
Opening reception will feature:
West Wing food truck
Music by DJ Jaybiz
______________________________________________
"William Moran is a fine artist and muralist from San Jose, CA. He is an artist that believes liberation and freedom can be found through the practice of self-expression. It is through observation and reflection that allows an artist to openly explore their subject matter through the spiritual, social, and political lenses. Through these lenses new spaces of expression can be found and focused upon. As a public artist William recognizes that the community is essential for the arts to survive and flourish. Within his works an open invitation for collaboration and dialogue is always integrated.
As an instructor and art educator Moran has taught his craft to people of all ages. He has conducted workshops at elementary schools and community centers all around the United States. With each unique setting he has made sure to teach the importance of how art can impact personal and social change within a community.
Portraits are an opportunity for Moran to capture the essence and spirit of a person’s individuality. By mimicking their expressions, emotions, and nuances, he finds a way to pay homage to these lives, acknowledging their impact to the world around us. By painting portraits of Jazz and Hip Hop musicians he takes these personas and makes them larger-than-life. Immortalizing their visages and sounds through paint and passion. Emulating the soundtrack that’s channeled through the canvas and the pulse of the speakers.
With this first solo show Moran hopes this gathering creates a platform for collaboration that goes beyond the gallery walls. With these pieces he hopes to inspire the human spirit found in still life sermons, and extend the hand of connectedness in each and every inspired mind. This is what being an artist means to him. Connection."
-By Danny Le
2016 Art T-shirt Design Contest
New limited editions coming to E7S!
New zines, books, sticker and button packs and other merch available at our shop. Works by Abraham Menor, Pacolli and many more to come.
Come by to pick up some limited edition pieces to add to your collection!
KFJC Record Swap returns! Save the date: Saturday, April 2 (10am-5pm)
KFJC 89.7fm is partnering for a second time with Empire Seven Studios (E7S), to bring this free and all ages event to San Jose. The event will feature local shops and avid record collecting vendors. Guest DJs will spin favorites from their personal collections while shoppers browse. In addition to music there will be refreshments and food.
KFJC began the tradition of the Record Swap in the 80’s. We are excited for to present the 2016 Spring KFJC Record Swap at E7S. Once again, we approached this swap with curators’ ears, seeking local vendors and DJs with a variety of styles and merchandise.
Local vendors will be selling music of all styles in various formats. Local vendors will have one of a kind music memorabilia, cds, cassettes, records, clothing, and accessories for sale. E7S will be showcasing artwork from various artists.
We have curated a handful of DJs from the area to play favorites from their record collections. The schedule is as follows:
10-11am: DJ BELLA
11am-12pm: EDDOUXXL
12-1pm: DISCOSMAS
1-2:pm: AKRO1
2-3pm: TURBO SONIDERO
3-4pm: DAVID MA
4-5pm: B-RICH
A complete list of vendors will be updated and available at www.kfjc.org/swap
Opening of Space 236 in SF
We are happy for our friends Barry and Nancy who opened up their concept gallery located in SF's Tenderloin District. Curated by Design Rehab. They opened up with new works by Erik Otto and Chris Stokes. Looking forward to many more new exhibits!
For more info, please visit www.space236sf.com
E7S and Ben Henderson was hired by Pace Gallery to paint the exterior of a old Tesla warehouse in Menlo Park, CA. For these last couple months, the team had been working in between the rainy weather to paint the exterior building, map out a color schemed floor and create various signage.
This empty warehouse and transformed into a magical space for TeamLab, the Japanese art collective recognized for challenging and expanding the digital art making practice. Pace Art + Technology is presenting Living Digital Space and Future Parks. The large-scale installation invites participants of all ages to immerse themselves in the multi-room environments spanning 20,000 square feet and showcasing twenty digital works. Viewers are encouraged to partake in this digital playground for all ages and experience the pioneering concepts and visually morphing beauty of the dynamic works. Inherently interactive, the exhibition is a powerful testament to the advancement of and growing interest in digital art, as well as its unique ability to nurture creativity and curiosity through technology.
Saturday night art openings in SF and Oakland
Last Saturday night, we drove up to Oakland to support our very own Jessica Eastburn's solo show opening at Totally Rad Gallery. Jessica's work portrays contemporary digital overload by illustrating layers of pop culture iconography that's created within a collage of patterns and shapes. In a world of“drag and drop” digital technology, everything is hand drawn and painted by Jessica. Most people cannot believe her work is not digitally produced!
While we were visiting Jessica, there was the opening of a new space called Somewhere Else Gallery, opened by a mutual friend HellaBreezy (and her friend Mexakitsch). The show was "Midnight Love" with artwork by El Oms. Werewolf cholo art....pretty cool stuff!
In between there was a vintage shop, a DJ playing records and some bomb ass home made tacos!
Next we headed over to SF to visit our buddies having a show at Luggage Store Gallery.
"Gentrifried" with new works by Spencer Keeton Cunningham, Erlin Geffrard, Daisy Ortiz, Daylin Ra, Jaque Fragua, Don't Fret, Robin Birdd
This was a fun show with a serious underlying message on gentrification in San Francisco.
