Concrete Walls Projects

Concrete Walls (CW) founded in 2003 is an artist-run-curatorial project that focuses on building community by facilitating collaborations, educational projects, and group exhibitions throughout Southern California. For over a decade CW has worked with over 200 artists with the goal of creating pathways of communication with LA residents. Directed by founder/artist Devon Tsuno, CW is also informed by long time collaborators like artists Janice Gomez, Rochelle Botello, Fatima Hoang, Derric Eady, Macha Suzuki and Christine Nguyen. Functioning as a support system for emerging artists and students CW provides documentation, space, institutional support and the most relevant and needed resources (both material and human) by collaborating with LA's diverse creative community. Originally located on Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles CW began as an
artist-run-space, Concrete Walls Gallery (2003-2008). Today, Concrete Walls Projects functions as a mobile project organizing exhibitions and education projects at non-profits, community centers, colleges and artist-run-galleries in the greater Los Angeles area.

Members: Devon Tsuno

Website:http://cargocollective.com/concretewallsprojects

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FAR Bazaar Project

DEAR JONATHAN GOLD

Description: Dear Jonathan Gold, is an art installation transforming the former printmaking lab of Cerritos College Art Department into a sit down Venezuelan arepa restaurant (Arepa Where I Am) and bicycle cart vegan taco stand (100 Tacos). Five artists: Pablo Estrada, Juliana Lujan, Phil Nisco, Kristofferson San Pablo and Mick Weldon contribute individually and collaboratively to create the smells, tastes, spaces, and music that Los Angeles Times food critic Jonathan Gold says, “In a lot of ways . . .is starting to take the place in culture that rock and roll took 30 years ago.” Concrete Walls Projects, founded in a Los Angeles boba café by artist Devon Tsuno in 2003, is an artist-run-curatorial project that focuses on building community by facilitating collaborations, educational projects, and group exhibitions throughout Southern California.

Lunch: 12 – 3pm
Dinner: 6 – 9pm

Reservations: Eventbrite Tickets Walk-in: First come, First serve

Location: FA63/C

Participating Artists: Pablo Estrada, Juliana Lujan, Phil Nisco, Kristofferson San Pablo and Mick Weldon

Pablo Estrada is a photographer living and working in South Central Los Angeles. His photographs and zines publish the spaces, food, and labor force in and around taquerias in South Central Los Angeles. Challenging the space between work and art Estrada’s analog photography is a visual and physical constriction of forces to approach tasks of labor, creatively and productively. Estrada is an MA candidate at California State University Northridge where he also received a BFA in photography in 2015.

Arepa Where I Am is an initiative by artist Juliana Lujan that aims to connect people through the experience of sharing a meal. The meal, arepas, usually cooked in front of the guests, is prepared entirely by hands and consumed hand-held. Juliana offers the arepas as a gesture for connection. The interactions that follow around the table and the bond created by eating the arepas together are the expected outcome. Juliana Lujan is a Venezuelan artist based in Los Angeles. She received her MFA in Photo and Media from CalArts and her Bachelors in Modern Languages from the University of the Andes, Venezuela. In her practice she proposes aspects of the everyday life as fantastical to bring into question the politics and language of the status quo.

Phil Nisco is an art director, filmmaker, artist, DJ, and restaurateur. His past restaurants including The Crosby, The Grilled Cheese Spot and The North Left were a cross section of food, music and art. Nisco’s art has been exhibited at Slow Culture, and Printed Matter’s LA Art Bookfair. He frequently collaborates with other musicians, and creative collectives like Vacancy Projects and Gaslamp Killer.

Kristofferson San Pablo's work, inspired by diverse sources such as humor, politics, history, underground music, and working-class artistic expression often examines class and gender issues as well as issues of normality, criminality and perversion. San Pablo received his MFA from Art Center College of Design in 2010 & has exhibited internationally in Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo & Taiwan and is also the co-founder of Vacancy Projects, a design studio specializing in artist made goods, collaborations & curatorial projects. He currently lives & works in Los Angeles, CA.

100 Tacos is a Los Angeles based bicycle-powered vegan taco stand by Mick Weldon. This project is a peaceful protest, multi-disciplinary, Simpsons joke, and an attempt to build community through food, art and cycling. Elements of alternative transportation, sustainable dining practices, and community socialization all come together “once in a while” as street food magic. Each occurrence is moderately different, but the constant themes include: 100% plant-based ingredients, soyrizo kits, beautiful bicycles, hand painted signs and hand-pressed non-GMO corn tortillas.

ABOUT THE CURATOR:

Devon Tsuno is an artist, curator and educator. He founded Concrete Walls Projects in 2003 and served as Gallery Director of Cypress College Gallery from 2009 – 2011. Other recent curatorial projects include exhibitions at PØST, Angels Gate Cultural Center, Jaus, First Street Gallery Art Center, and outreach riso publications in partnership with LAUSD and Summercamp’s Projectproject. As an artist his abstract paintings, socially engaged projects, artist books and print installations focus on the LA watershed, water use, and native vs. non-native vegetation. Tsuno is a 2017 Santa Fe  Art Institute Water Rights Artist-In-Residence, is the 2016 SPArt Community Grantee and was awarded a 2014 California Community Foundation Fellowship for Visual Art. Tsuno’s long-term interest in bodies of water in the LA area has been central to his work with the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Big City Forum, Theodore Payne Foundation, the grantLOVE Project, and Occidental College. Tsuno has exhibited at the Hammer Museum Venice Beach Biennial, Current: LA Water Public Art Biennial, U.S. Embassy in New Zealand, Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, and Roppongi 605 in Tokyo. His solo exhibition, Reclaimed Water was identified in Art LTD
as a Critic’s Picks: 2014 Top 10 exhibitions in LA and his exhibition Watershed curated by Aandrea Stang was reviewed in Artillery Magazine and Notes on Looking. Tsuno received an MFA from Claremont Graduate University in 2005 and a BFA from California State University Long Beach in 2003. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Art and Design at California State University, Dominguez Hills.