^____^

happy merry christmas everyone!!! there has officially been 37 minutes of christmasness now. woo!



in other news: 2008 is just around the corner now and i have a few shows i'm working on. i'm doing another show with Suite 100 Gallery in seattle. i did a fairytale themed show with them last year called Happily Ever After? and i'm bringing it back this april with Happily Every After?: Chapter 2.

but before that, i've got a show down in LA at Munky King in late february/early march named by the extremely talented and witty Luke Chueh - "Broken Art for Broken Hearts".

i'm really cutting it close as far as securing artists, but i'm really excited for both of these shows and am looking forward to working my butt off! yah!

hello, my name is simon...

so the other day i decided to open up illustrator for some reason and doodle a bit. i'm a self-proclaimed non-artist, so i've never considered myself artsy in any way other than as a curator. i am quite crafty though.
anyways, i opened up illustrator and started working on a rendering for possible costuming for Luke Chueh's Super Cute Art Girl militia (or SCAG for short). it's an ingenious idea he had to create a cute art-loving girl army of awesomeness to accompany him to art shows and events. amazing!

i worked on the renderings on my mac book and lazy me still hasn't gotten a proper mouse for it (yes, i'm going to get carpal tunnel) so it was a pain and took me an hour and a half, but i was really pleased with the results:



bubblegum colorway


i got super excited and spent the rest of the day dorking out in front of the computer and made a few more drawings. monica can make some things after all! yay!

pop the glock?

in a totally un-artsy-related post, my younger brother celebrated his 21st birthday a few weeks ago. he's a pretty cool kid, that one. he decided to go have a little airsoft gun battle in the hills of santa cruz to celebrate. i didn't participate unfortunately, but i did get to hold his glock and watch a whole bunch of grown and not-so-grown men and (3?) women run around in full camo and masks with ammo, grenades, and other cool fake junk strapped onto their bodies.
grown-up capture the flag...uh, with guns.

tomorrow i'm going to shoot rifles with my dad. ^_____^ should be pretty funny and pretty awesome!

vivisect playset IV

last night was the opening of Luke Chueh's "Vivisect Playset IV" at Gallery 1988 SF. the show looked wonderful and Luke and Greg "Crayola" Simkins were signing and sketching from when the doors opened at 7pm 'til they closed at 11.



the show featured artwork from 23 artists. it was a lovely variety of styles and experience all working in the common theme of animals as subjects portraying the human condition.








the line to meet Luke and Crayola got pretty crazy by the middle of the night and luke could barely find time to sneak outside for a cigarette.

[BEFORE: the line early in the evening]


[AFTER: mid-evening, people were crowding in to get a sketch]




later in the evening i was also able to head over to Shooting Gallery a few blocks away to see their opening for Anne Faith Nicholls solo show "Low Tide Collection".



i have never gotten the chance to see her work in person before and she did a wonderful job on this show with some really large detailed works and also an installation of a bed hanging from the ceiling - as illustrated in the title piece of the show.

the Usugrow/ Mike Giant show was still up in White Walls next door and i'm glad i got the chance to see that before it comes down week after next.

overall, it was a wonderful first night of artsy goodness in SF for me and i can't wait for more! ^__^

san francisco

my my my...it's been about two months since i last blogged. 0_o

here are some updates:
1. i relocated back to SF from portland about a week and a half ago.
2. i'm looking for an art-related job and keeping my fingers crossed!
3. i'm really excited to go to tons of art shows and start having some of my own soon.
4. even when it's "cold" or "rainy" in SF, it's not nearly as frigid or miserable as a portland winter. yipee!

and tomorrow is the opening of my friend luke chueh's art show at Gallery 1988 SF: Vivisect Playset 4!



and there is also an artist series Vivisect Playset toy set coming out too; with toy designs by Anthony Ausgang, Luke Chueh, Thomas Han, Peter Gronquist, Joe Ledbetter, Greg Simkins, Amanda Visell, and a collaboration between Greg Simkins & Joe Ledbetter. they won't be released tomorrow though.


here is the first of 3 pieces luke is creating for the show:


"Shit For Brains"

hurray!!!

sparks: ignite what's next PDX

dave choe and saber were in town last week for the portland stop of their "Ignite What's Next" tour. it was probably the most eventful 5 days of my short life. we went out for a lapdance or three and saber even bought me a rootbeer float. it was awesome.

i wasn't working the day they were leaving for seattle, so i got to play assistant and body guard up there too. ^__^

here are some photos from the live painting they did at Rotture and the next day at weiden + kennedy.




dave & saber live painting at rotture.



yay for tree-man.



saber signing the piece.



secret piece downstairs.



happy fun times.



saber, dave, and my friend kevin.



starting out weiden + kennedy piece.



pt. 2



finished weiden + kennedy piece.

"a long way home" videos

here are some videos from my friend erik's solo show at shooting gallery.
i'm in them for 2.5 seconds, so keep an eye out for me! ^___^

upcoming show @ Backspace Gallery

so a few months ago, i was up in seattle installing "Happily Ever After?" a group show i had at suite 100 gallery. it was tons o' fun and while i was there, i got to check out a bunch of artshows and even a BFA show at cornish.

seattle has a lot of talent and even though it's just two hours north, the style and tastes of the artists seems very different from that of portland.
i recently was offered the opportunity to curate a show at Backspace Gallery, so i thought, why not bring some of what i saw down to portland? oh, hurray!



i'm really excited for this show. four young artists, four very different styles, three of them doing live painting performances the night of the opening, and one sweet opening party!

if you are in portland, please come by!

Backspace Gallery
115 nw 5th avenue
portland, or 97209

artists' reception: september 6 @ 6pm - 12am
show runs through end of the month.

soso show photos!

oh my! sorry i didn't get to put together some photos from the show before, but here they are.

this was my first time doing a show outside of a proper gallery space, but the turnout was still lovely and we even sold a few pieces, yay!
it was great to see everyone out and having a good time. dj Zita spun some "phat beatz" (two of my favorite words!) and there were drinks and tiny cupcakes too!

soso did a live painting performance outside the space opening night and despite the wind, it went very well. she didn't know what she was going to paint at first, but then the night before, she had a vision of owls. nice!

thanks so much to angela and micheal for the photos!

here are the photos:

[setting up the show]


[snow owl - SOLD]


[background work on the canvas]


[night falls quickly in portland, doesn't it?]




[the artist as a vandal =P]


[white roses - SOLD]


[aftermath - charcoal on paper - $125]


[after the death - charcoal on paper - $90]




[eye of the beholder - charcoal on paper - $85]


[looking back - charcoal on paper - $100]




there are still pieces available from the show. if you are interested or need more information, feel free to email me at monicahwchoy@gmail[dot]com!

i had a lot of help on this show and i couldn't have done without it!
yay rock n' rose (jeff & sheila)!
yay soso!
yay micheal!
yay zita!
yay angela!
yay that angry lady upstairs who told us to turn down the phat beatz!
yay everyone who came to the opening!

soso @ rock n' rose

artist's reception: 6-9pm
live painting by Soso @ 7pm
after-party @ Rontom's

this is the first show i've curated since "happily ever after?" in seattle and i'm glad to come back from my two-month sabbatical with this solo show of all-new works from seattle artist Soso.

i've known Soso for almost a year now, but this is the first time i've shown her artwork and i'm really excited for the opening this friday!
the venue is a first for me as well; Rock N' Rose is a vintage/indie clothing boutique that just opened up on e. burnside a few months ago and this marks the first time they're participating in the first friday art walk.

Soso is going to be doing some live painting at the opening and there will be drinks, music, and lots of wonderful new artwork from her, so if you're in the area, please stop by and meet the artist! oh, and say hi to me too!

there is also going to be an after-party at Rontom's (a lounge right next door) after the show, which is also a lovely/chill/fantabulous space!

"a long way home" opening!

huzzah! so this past saturday was the opening for my friend erik otto's solo show at Shooting Gallery. it was super packed at the opening, there were people there from opening to close and the bouncers had a heck of a time kicking people out.
a lot of lovely people came out and everyone had a good time.

i played photographer again and took pics opening night, here are some of them: