“Our local deserts have a long history as sources of inspiration for artists,” reads the press release from Hudson|Linc, the curatorial group mounting the exhibition.  ” ‘From the Desert’ celebrates this history by bringing together a diverse array of artists who make conceptually strong work that uses the desert as inspiration and/or source material.”

In addition to Sterritt — whose “sculpture evokes desert topography,” according to the release — the following artists will also be including work in the show, which was curated by Steven Wolkoff:

“From the Desert” runs May 16 through July 31, 2013.

Opening reception Thursday, May 16, 5 – 8:30 p.m.

Coleen Sterritt piece in “Decomposition”

Coleen Sterritt, one of the artists featured in “Young Turks,” is showing a new sculpture as part of a group show at a Chinatown Gallery.

“Decomposition,” showing now through July 12, 2013, at Fellows of Contemporary Art on North Broadway, was curated by Constance Mallinson. Besides Sterritt, it includes work by Jonathon Hornedo, Doug Harvey, Marie Thibeault, Yvette Gellis, Nikko Mueller, Nancy Evans and Mallinson.

According to FOCA’s website: “The works vary in approach from abstract painting to figurative painting to sculpture, and engage debates ranging from how ‘contemporary’ can suggest political content and help shape perceptions on current issues, to nostalgia and its relationship to loss, and to the representation of decay and its connections to aesthetics.”

Sterritt’s piece involves the systematic destruction of a hollow-core door then reassembled in a different and dramatic shape. In “Young Turks,” Sterritt explains how her work at the time of shooting the documentary (1977-1981) would both entice and repel the viewer simultaneously, creating a conflicted emotional reaction. Her piece in “Decomposition” has a similar inviting/off-putting dichotomy: A door offers access to a new place, but deconstructing that door and fusing it back into an unnatural shape removes its function and forces the viewer to see it in a different, nonfunctional light.

“Decomposition” continues through July 12.

Richard Newton in “Get Under the Table – Don’t Look at the Windows,” a performance staged at the El Dorado Hotel in 1980.

Artist Richard Newton, who in “Young Turks” memorably takes viewers on the “first tour of the Museum of Contemporary Art” on Bunker Hill, will show a series of his short films on Thursday, May 16, 2013, at the Laguna Art Museum.

“Some Poets — Short Films from 1969–1987 by Richard Newton” will start at 7 p.m. at the museum located at 307 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach.

During the shooting of “Young Turks” in 1977-1981, filmmaker Stephen Seemayer and Newton lived downtown and collaborated on each other’s projects. (Seemayer is driving one of the cars in Newton’s film/performance “A Glancing Blow,” a portion of which is included in “Young Turks.”)

The Victor Clothing Building, 240 S. Broadway, was home to Richard Newton and several of the other “Young Turks” in the 1970s and ’80s.

Newton had a studio at the Victor Clothing Building for a few years, and later he had the top floor of a building at 8th and Spring streets. But apparently, after an unstable childhood, he has never really felt settled.

In the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot, journalist Rhea Mahbubani paints a touchingly intimate portrait of Newton, the performance artist/filmmaker/gadabout.

“Ultimately,” Mahbubani concludes, “Newton’s every venture is driven by a desire to communicate.”

Read Mahbubani’s article here.

“Terminal Bar,” photocollage by Stephen Seemayer and Pamela Wilson, 2013

Come to the east side of downtown for ArtWalk tonight (Thursday, May 9, 2013) and see two (count ‘em 2!) shows featuring work by “Young Turks” filmmakers Stephen Seemayer and Pamela Wilson.

“Transient L.A.,” limited edition softcover book by Pamela Wilson and Stephen Seemayer

At Angel City Brewery, the “In Your Face: How Artists Transformed L.A.’s Urban Landscape” exhibit includes photocollages by Wilson and Seemayer made from images of long lost haunts once frequented by the Turks. Each piece is a one-of-a-kind, framed and signed print featuring images of such lamented landmarks as the Atomic Café, Al’s Bar, Yee Mee Loo, Craby Joe’s and Torchy’s. There is also a limited edition softcover book of the whole collection which will be on sale tonight for $20.

November 27, 2011
“Please don’t beat me,” collage by Stephen Seemayer

At the nearby District Gallery, Seemayer’s latest is on display in a solo exhibit, “Signs of the Times.” The show includes 63 new artworks inspired by Occupy L.A. and a short new movie by Seemayer and Wilson of photos and video they took during the two-month protest on the lawn of City Hall.

STEPHEN SEEMAYER
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
April 25 – May 26
District Gallery 740 E. 3rd St.
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213)814-7164
Map

“Atomic Café” is one of the pieces by “Young Turks” filmmakers Stephen Seemayer and Pamela Wilson in the “In Your Face” exhibit.

In its latest issue, the L.A. Weekly writes about all that’s going on in the Arts District today, including the “In Your Face” exhibit at Angel City Brewery that includes work by “Young Turks” filmmakers Stephen Seemayer and Pamela Wilson.

Reporter Catherine Wagley credits the late Joel Bloom with giving the district its name, but, as anyone who has seen “Young Turks” can tell you, the district was attracting artists and musicians way before even Bloom showed up.

Al’s Bar, on the ground floor of the American Hotel, opened in 1980 as a punk rock haven and pool hall for artists and the truck drivers and others who worked in the industrial buildings in the area. The American Hotel, at the corner of Traction and Hewitt, had been in business since at least the 1920s, but in the ’70s, the proprietors started renting rooms (bathrooms down the hall) to struggling artists as studios and living spaces. (Wilson, then a student at Otis Art Institute, moved into two rooms on the fourth floor in the summer of 1980.)

“Young Turks” was filmed all around downtown L.A. starting in 1977, and when Seemayer’s original rough-cut was shown at the Downtown Drive-In in June 1981, then-Herald Examiner art critic Christopher Knight wrote:

Those who are familiar with the downtown scene know that the Young Turks are a thing of the past, supplanted by the quickly evolving activity of the area. … And the gentrification of the area will only accelerate. “I give it another four or five years,” Seemayer concedes. Like the now-legendary scene that revolved around the Ferus Gallery and Barney’s Beanery in the ’60s, what the film depicts is already gone. The movie is a period piece, with a faintly romantic nostalgia [about it.]

That was 32 years ago. It seems the downtown “arts district,” whether it’s one specific neighborhood or the entire downtown area, has gone — and will continue to go — through cycles of discovery and development.

“In Your Face: How Artists Transformed L.A.’s Urban Landscape” continues through June 9.

You can read the full L.A. Weekly article here.

About the “In Your Face” exhibit now showing at the Angel City Brewery, Sherman writes: “This exhibition is for anyone interested in finding out more about the rich history of the artists who made the arts district the thriving, creative environment it is today.”

“Al’s Bar” photocollage by Pamela Wilson and Stephen Seemayer, 2013 (detail)

“In Your Face,” sponsored by the District Gallery, is a collection of works by Carlton Davis, Ed Glendenning, Irving Greines, and “Young Turks” filmmakers Stephen Seemayer and Pamela Wilson. The “three movements,” as Sherman calls them, each document an aspect of Downtown history from the Art Dock to Al’s Bar.

Sherman goes on to discuss Seemayer’s solo exhibit at the District Gallery, “Signs of the Times,” which continues through May 26. It is a group of pieces inspired by Occupy L.A.

Read Sherman’s full article here.

“Young Turks” filmmakers Stephen Seemayer, left, and Pamela Wilson with their son and associate producer, Zach Seemayer.

Don Gewelke — with his daughter Lisa and friend Phil — came from New York for the screening.

“Young Turks” screened at the United Film Festival Los Angeles on Monday night (April 29, 2013), and a good time was had by all. Several lucky members of the audience tweeted to win “Young Turks” T-shirts and Party Boys CDs.

Filmmakers Pamela Wilson and Stephen Seemayer followed the screening with a lively and revealing question-and-answer led by festival host Sal Rodriguez. They talked about living downtown in the 1970s and ’80s.

Rodriguez commented on Seemayer’s inclusion of several homeless people as counterpoint to the interviews with downtown artists that make up the bulk of the documentary.

Tony discusses life on the streets of downtown L.A.

Rodriguez was struck by the intimacy and frankness Seemayer was able to evoke from Tony, Schlitz and the others, who all lived in the alleys and vacant lots surrounding the Young Turks’ studios. Seemayer explained his decision to include them in the fabric of the film: “These guys were all around our lofts and studios, and we got to know them. If you think about it, the only difference between us and them was a couple of months rent.”

After Rodriguez commented that “Young Turks” is a remarkable, educational document of a vital art scene and era not widely acknowledged by a lot of cultural institutions, Wilson talked about plans for the future of “Young Turks,” saying the next step is to get it released on DVD and into the film collections of museums and universities.

“Young Turks” is the featured selection screening tonight (Monday, April 29, 2013) at the United Film Festival Los Angeles. The event starts at 9:30 p.m. at the Los Feliz Theatre.

Two short films — “Cold Living— Spirit Vine” and “Into Noise” — will screen before “Young Turks,” and there will be a Q&A with filmmakers Stephen Seemayer, Pamela Wilson and Zach Seemayer after the film, which John Rabe of KPCC’s “Off-Ramp” has called ”a delightful and refreshing documentary about … artist friends and the life they lived in downtown L.A. circa 1980.”

Tickets cost $10 and are still available here.

“Young Turks” filmmaker Stephen Seemayer takes over the District Gallery (right around the block from where Al’s Bar once reigned) starting this Thursday (April 25, 2013). Seemayer will show 63 new artworks inspired by Occupy L.A.

During October and November 2011, Seemayer and his “Young Turks” collaborator, Pamela Wilson, spent time nearly every day documenting the occupiers camped out around L.A.’s City Hall. The protestors were not only showing solidarity with Occupy Wall Street in New York, they were also demanding fairness and compassion for working class Americans, a shift in values and a closing of the rift between the wealthiest in our society and the 99%.

Seemayer’s energetic collages incorporate the slogans and signage that got the occupiers’ messages across, along with photographs of life on the lawn, graphic stencils of raised fists and other revolutionary symbolism, and front pages of the L.A. Times during that tumultuous two months.

“Signs of the Times” opens at the District Gallery on Thursday, April 25, and runs through May 26. The gallery is open Tuesday – Sunday, 1-6 p.m.

ARTIST’S RECEPTION ON FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 7-10 P.M.