The Fascinating Art On Show At The California State Bar Convention
The Fascinating Art On Show At The California State Bar Convention
by Maria Bustillos and Philo Hagen
Maria Bustillos: The 59th Annual Bench and Bar Art Exhibit, which is part of the annual convention of the California State Bar, took place last weekend in Exhibit Hall B of the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center. The artwork on exhibit was produced by California lawyers and judges, and anyone can wander in to see it. This is exactly the kind of thing that Philo cooks up for an afternoon outing, so off we went.
Philo Hagen: Anticipation of the show had me all a wonder. What exactly would the creative pursuits of artistic-minded lawyers and judges look like? What could we learn, if anything, about the inner workings of the legal mind of California as seen through this portal of creative ingenuity? We were on our way to Long Beach, and what did I know of Long Beach other than the Queen Mary is parked there, and that they turned all those off shore oil wells into pretty little sea islands, at least they seem pretty if you’re looking from the shore.
MB: It’s a pleasant little town, in many ways. But the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center is super-sterile and concrete-plated, monolithic even by convention-center standards. There was a sea breeze, though, and it was a beautiful afternoon, and we descended into the bowels of the Hyatt in a state of pleasurable anticipation. Plus, we intended to repair afterward to L’Opera, which is a really very good Italian restaurant on Pine Avenue. I already knew that because I am from Long Beach.
Given the habitual splendor in which lawyers seem to ply their trade, we’d been imagining a very grand display. Right?
PH: Once we’d wormed our way through all of exhibit booths and found the show, my first thought was that I was underwhelmed.
MB: It turned out to be the most modest-looking trade show I have seen almost ever, with pipe and drape booths throughout. The fanciest booth was a big Westlaw one (follow us on Twitter!) and even that was pretty low-key. Then the Art Exhibit turned out to be in two plain trade-show booths, hung on pegboard walls!! And it was totally harum-scarum, design-wise, with no attempts whatsoever at creating any kind of an arrangement for the viewer, let alone a pleasing one.
PH: And then I noticed the ribbons. Blue ribbons, red ribbons, there was a veritable plethora of award-winning works of art here, people, with honors given in categories ranging from oils and acrylics to sculpture and beyond.
MB: It was a most delightful little show. The most interesting thing about it, aside from the surprisingly unpretentious presentation, was the vast range of skill on display.
MB: Some of the works were for sale and others not. I thought this was by far the best deal on offer, a ceramic sculpture of Baphomet giving birth for just $300. It’s an accomplished work, full of occult sap and vim, with a lovely celadon glaze. The details, especially the teeth, are really beautifully carved. But my husband would have had such an apoplexy if I’d returned from my afternoon out with a $300 ceramic demon, so. If he is interested in seeking a wider audience, the sculptor would do well to visit La Luz de Jesus Gallery, I was thinking. They would maybe love this.
Baphomet, by the bye, is the quasi-Satanic figure that Aleister Crowley borrowed from the Knights Templar, describing him as “the Androgyne who is the hieroglyph of arcane perfection.” Baphomet also appears as The Devil in the Rider tarot deck, which is why he might look familiar.
PH: I found the pentagram carved into the top of his head disturbing, not so much in the sense that pentagrams are, like, disturbing, but that artist Robert Crook felt his piece needed one. I mean, we have horns, we’ve got dual genitalia, we’ve got the two-headed demonic baby.
MB: Well, the pentagram appears in all the 19th-c. renderings of this figure, so it’s, erm. Accurate.
MB: “Portrait of Larry” may not be the most proficient painting ever, but it makes you love Larry, and the painter. And Life.
PH: Agreed. Larry is what good things in life are all about. I wish I knew Larry. He was beautiful. Painted by Vivien Cienfuegos Ide of Fullerton.
MB: Then there was “Thinking Punk,” which really kind of looks better on the screen than in real life.
PH: True. I never really figured out if it was a punk who was thinking or if artist Azar Elihu of Los Angeles was doing some punk thinking.
MB: And “Lickin’ Good,” a photograph by Scylla Stancliff Nagel of Valencia (NFS). Philo, how many pieces in this show featured dogs sticking their tongues out?
PH: Three, surprisingly. “Lickin’ Good” clearly was the best of the dogs with their tongues hanging out genre though.
MB: For such a competent draftsman as Martin Baker of Modesto, I wondered, why is the nose of this portrait kind of swimming across the guy’s face? With the title, “Milam” as a clue, we were able to figure out the reason, which is that this man’s nose really looks like that. Only it doesn’t say “Peace” and “Love” on the real face, it says “Aryan” and “Honor.” The subject’s name is Dion Milam, and he’s in jail for murder. Then he got into some more trouble when his brother-in-law tried to mail him some meth, apparently.
His other painting commemorates the 1998 lynching of James Byrd Jr. It is also a good painting, though bleak and troubling.
PH: And let’s not forget his Columbine portrait. Most curious here is Baker himself, recapturing all these horrific images. The “peace” and “love” additions reveal his use of art as a tool towards equanimity.
MB: I’m not sure about that. I saw it as more of an ironic statement? Gave me the willies, either way.
PH:: “Jasper, TX” captures the stillness of the aftermath of a terrible crime. I mean we have Byrd, a black man, who had his feet tied to the rear of a pick-up trick by three white men, who dragged him for two miles along a rural Texas road. Disembowelment, decapitation and a yellow police tape near the spray-painted word “HEAD,” presumably where his head was found, quietly disclosing there are real-life horrors like this.
PH: In Lucas Aardvark’s Obsolete Law Books Series, the artist has found a use for outdated printings that have been replaced by new technology, incorporating the vintage pages and bindings into his actual art, as seen here in “Helter Skelter.” Would you see him as a green artist, Maria?
MB: I would see him as a completely confusing artist.
PH: And “Mirage of the Caves” continues to haunt me. As much as I love shiny objects, I’m still not sure if I’m seeing a cave or a mirage or a face or what exactly. And not to be limited in her artistic mediums, this is by Scylla Stancliff Nagel as well. Nagel, hmmm. It’s so mysterious.
MB: No comment other than crikey, Philo. What the hell?
PH: Death seems to always be fashionable in art; why limit yourself to the here and now when you can take yourself back a couple thousand years — as does this piece by Dale Lasella of Altadena entitled “Pompeii.”
MB: I love this little figure. It’s only about ten inches long. It has the most interesting, curious surface that looks like a vitreous glaze, and also like the markings of a jungle cat from outer space. I’ve never seen a glaze quite like it, and couldn’t figure out how it was achieved. Explanations welcomed.
MB: Technically, I thought this still life was way the finest painting in the show, with the most articulation, depth and richness. The surface, too, is lovely, painterly. Is it a copy?? I didn’t recognize the image, but then I am a really poor art historian. If it isn’t a copy, even the composition is great because it is nearly impossible to make a still life non-clumsy. So well done, Jenny Fischer.
PH: Incredibly thoughtful and complex indeed, and from a fellow Angeleno no less. I love this, too.
PH: I think I’m in love with Theresa Muley of Dublin. First we have her “Early Morning Tequila” painting which just says it all, doesn’t it? Then we have her amazing “Portrait of My (Other) Self.” Were her works for sale? I think she’s onto something.
MB: She was the most prolific and the most eclectic artist in the show. I didn’t love all her work but this drawing is just spectacular. I guess technically it might not thrill an expert draftsman so much but wow, the subject. We could scarcely tear ourselves away. It’s a great comfort knowing that there are lawyers like this running around loose.
PH: Truly. If I needed an attorney, I’d hire Ms. Muley in a heartbeat.
Maria Bustillos (text) is the author of Dorkismo and Act Like A Gentleman, Think Like A Woman.
Philo Hagen (text and photos) is the overlord of Hooping.org and Night Owl Nation.