Venice Arts Council News

beyond baroque

10 February, Sunday — 7:30
Philly-LA Jazz & Poetry with Heat Press: ELLIOTT LEVIN, ERIC PRIESTLEY, CHARLES BIVINS and works of the late WILL PERKINS
A night of poetry and jazz. ELLIOTT LEVIN, a Philly-based saxophonist and poet, has played with avant-gardists Cecil Taylor, Odean Pope, and members of the Sun Ra Arkestra. ERIC PRIESTLEY (Abracadabra) was a founding member of the Watts Writers Workshop and is author of Raw Dog (Holloway). CHARLES BIVINS (Music in Silence) is the subject of a short documentary, Savage Rose, by Linda Janakos. Texts of the late Philly performance poet WILL PERKINS (!Scat) will be read by editor C. Natale Peditto.

15 February, Friday — 7:30 PM
JAMES P. LENFESTEY, CHARLOTTE INNES, and JACKSON WHEELER
Founder of the Ojai Poetry Festival, JAMES P. LENFESTEY’s collections include A Cartload of Scrolls: 100 Poems in the Manner of T’ang Dynasty Poet Han-Shan (Holy Cow!). CHARLOTTE INNES’s poetry has appeared in The Best American Spiritual Writing 2006, The Hudson Review, The Sewanee Review and Speechless Magazine. She writes for The Los Angeles Times and The Nation. JACKSON WHEELER is author of Swimming Past Iceland, and is contributor to A Near Country: Poems of Loss with Glenna Luschei and David Oliveira; and What Needs to Be Said (SOLO Café #3).
16 February, Saturday — 7:30 PM
Spirit of Southern California Poetry Series: SUZANNE LUMMIS
Come celebrate as Beyond Baroque continues its series featuring the leading lights of SoCal poetry. SUZANNE LUMMIS is teacher, author, founder of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival, editor behind Speechless on the web, a Nearly Fatal Woman, and her books include Falling Short of Heaven (Pennywhistle), Idiosyncrasies: Poems and Spreading the Word (both Red Wind), and In Danger (Roundhouse). She was also co-editor of one of the great SoCal poetry anthologies, with Charles Webb, Grand Passion. “If L.A. has anything like a poetry ‘community’ these days, I think it is in large part owing to the presence of Suzanne Lummis—one of L.A.'s major poetic voices, a highly influential teacher, keeper of the dark flame of L.A. noir, and one of the leading graduates of the historically important Fresno poetry scene. May she thrive, and may L.A. poetry thrive with her.”—B.H. Fairchild. Tonight’s celebrants include MARY ARMSTRONG, LAUREL ANN BOGEN, LARRY COLKER, LIZ GONZALEZ, BILL MOHR, CATHIE SANDSTROM, CHARLES WEBB, CECLILIA WOLOCH, SUNG YI, and special guest poet and editor ROBERT MEZEY. With RECEPTION. Hosted by G. Murray Thomas and Amélie Frank.

22 February, Friday — 7:30 PM
ELLEN BASS and ELOISE KLEIN HEALY
ELLEN BASS’s poetry books include The Human Line (Copper Canyon) and Mules of Love (BOA Editions). Her poems have been published in The Atlantic Monthly, The Kenyon Review, American Poetry Review and other journals. ELOISE KLEIN HEALY's latest collection of poems is The Islands Project: Poems For Sappho. Her previous books include Building Some Changes (Beyond Baroque); A Packet Beating Like a Heart (Books Of A Feather); Ordinary Wisdom (Paradise/Red Hen); Artemis In Echo Park (Firebrand); and Passing (Red Hen). She is founding editor of ARKTOI BOOKS, an imprint of Red Hen Press.

23 February, Saturday – 7:30 PM
The Collected Poems of PHILIP WHALEN
Tonight features poets celebrating the release of The Collected Poems of Philip Whalen (Wesleyan), edited by MICHAEL ROTHENBERG. Poet PHILIP WHALEN was a key figure in the San Francisco Renaissance and the author of the collections Overtime: Selected Poems; Canoeing up Cabarga Creek: Buddhist Poems 1955-1986; Enough Said, 1974-1979; and Heavy Breathing: Poems 1967-1980. Whalen’s influence extends across beat culture to contemporary language poets and beyond. Guests and readers include DAVID MELTZER, CLARK COOLIDGE, TERRI CARRION, ARAM SAROYAN, LEWIS MACADAMS, PAUL VANGELISTI, PHOEBE OZUNA, NEELI CHERKOVSKI, and editor MICHAEL ROTHENBERG.

24 February, Sunday — 7 PM
BEYOND MUSIC and PROJECT ROOM Show: PARTY PEOPLE, TOBIAS JELINEK, SEA OTTER, GENEVA JACUZZI, JASON YATES and Special Guests
Join us for an evening of experimental audio-visual collaborative works. Improvisational sound artists, PARTY PEOPLE have recently performed at New Image Art and ArtShare LA. SEA OTTER creates sonic, visual solo laptop and video projection performance pieces. His work has been exhibited worldwide, most recently at The Lab 101 Gallery. His CDs include Swim Team (Vol. 1). TOBIAS JELINEK, co-owner of Young & Jelinek boutique/event space, has created film and video installations with curators from the Whitney and Guggenheim, choreographer Cori Olinghouse and filmmaker Bill Brand. Musician GENEVA JACUZZI (aka Geneva Garvin) has worked under the aliases Pregnant, Hot Pajamas, and Sex Carpet. She currently performs with Bubonic Plague. Visual artist JASON YATES creates work with Fast Friends Inc. He has collaborated with George Clinton and Ariel Pink.

In THE PROJECT ROOM: “One Chord Wonders”
A show focusing on ideas about collaboration at the intersection of art and music. The group show will feature work by Ariel Rosenburg, Keith Knittel, Jason Yates, Matthew Salata, David Aron, Toni Young, Megan Whitmarsh, Rich Gaccione and more.

28 February, Thursday — 7:30 PM
BEYOND MUSIC: THOMAS ANKERSMIT, MITCHELL BROWN, PHILL NIBLOCK, and TOM RECCHION
THOMAS ANKERSMIT (The Netherlands) works with saxophone, synthesizer and computer music independently and with other artists such as Tony Conrad, Borbetomagus and Alvin Lucier since 1998. MITCHELL BROWN employs electro-acoustics, interactives, psychoactives, and improvisation. Filmmaker and composer PHILL NIBLOCK makes thick, loud drones of music filled with microtones of instrumental timbres which generate many other tones in the performance space. TOM RECCHION, artist and composer in Southern California since the '70s, co-created the Los Angeles Free Music Society (LAFMS), and uses record manipulation, live tape loops, and free improvisation in his work. SPECIAL ADMISSION: $12.

29 February, Friday — 7:30 PM
SHARON DOUBIAGO and LENORE WEISS
SHARON DOUBIAGO is author of Hard Country (West End), South America Mi Hija (University of Pittsburgh), and the story collections, El Nino (Lost Roads), and The Book of Seeing With One’s Own Eyes (Graywolf). Her other titles include The Husband Arcane: The Arcane of O (Gorda Plate); Psyche Drives the Coast (Empty Bowl), Body and Soul (Cedar Hill), and Greatest Hits, 1976-2003 (Pudding House). Her Love on the Streets, Selected and New Poems is forthcoming from Pittsburgh. LENORE WEISS’s poetry has been published in Bridges: A Jewish Feminist Journal, Paterson Literary Review, and Exquisite Corpse. Her latest chapbook is Sh’ma Yis’rael (Hear, Oh Israel). Hosted by Richard Modiano and Carlye Archibeque.
--------------------------------------------
Venice Art Walls Open Presidents' Day!

The Venice Art Walls will be open for painting on Monday, February 18th, in observance of Presidents' Day. The Art Walls are open on all City of Los Angeles holidays. Come down and paint!

-----------------------------------------------
Venice Art Walk - Plan Ahead

May 17-18, 2008

Venice Art Walk & Auctions is an annual celebration of art, architecture, music and fine cuisine benefiting Venice Family Clinic. If you’ve never experienced it, then you’re in for one of the great contemporary art events on the West Coast.

All proceeds benefit Venice Family Clinic, the largest free clinic in the country, providing free, quality health care to people in need.

Click here for information about 2008 Art Walk and here to view an archive of 2007 Art Walk information.

------------------------------------
Annual Venice Garden & Home Tour 2008

Saturday, May 3, 2008, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Annual Venice Architectural Tour 2008

Saturday, April 26, 2008, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
FOR MAJOR SPONSORS ONLY
---------------------------------------------

Powerhouse Theatre

3116 2nd Street Santa Monica, CA 90405
Phone: 310.396.3680 Fax: 310.360.3415

Robots Vs. Fake Robots

February 14 - March 15, 2008

By David Largman Murray
Directed by Emily Weisberg

It's the year 6000. Robots rule the world, and humans are despised second-class citizens. A young man named Joe abandons his human world in a quest to transform himself into a robot. A dark comedy that asks the question: What does it mean to be human? And what are you willing to sacrifice to fulfill your deepest desire?

Show Times:
Pay-What-You-Can Previews: Thur. Feb. 14 & Fri. Feb. 15, 8pm

Fridays, 8pm / Saturdays 8pm / Sundays 7pm
Special Late Night Performances: Saturdays- 2/23, 3/1, 3/8- 10:30 pm

General Admission: $20
Students/Seniors/Groups (8 or more): $15

Reservations: 310-396-3680 x3 or buy tickets online.

Featuring Steve Connell, Greg Crooks, Ida Darvish, Andy Fitzgerald, Taleia Gilliam, Daniel Vincent Gordh, Briana Louis, Elizabeth Maxwell, Xander Saide, Sarah Scott, Devin Sidell, Sarah Sido and Damien Wigfall
Produced by Christine Mantilla
-----------------------------------------------------

For immediate release
Contact: Gerry Fialka 310-306-7330 pfsuzy@aol.com

SPONTO GALLERY proudly presents JAZZ FUNK FEST on Saturday, Feb 16 at 7pm at SPONTO Gallery, 7 Dudley Ave, Venice, CA, 310-306-7330, free admission. In the tradition of the Venice West Cafe (the legendary Beat hang-out which is now known as Sponto Gallery), local Venice musicians will celebrate the rebellious liberation of tuneful creativity.

At 7pm, BLACK SHOE POLISH. Within the free collective BSP, words that should never be said collide with notes that should never be played. Fiery poetic painters Theresa Hulme and Rex Butters slap sense into words through multi-dimensional discourse. Gerry Fialka, Rex and 7 year old Miles Butters stir keyboards, demented music boxes, guitars, slide whistles, harmonicas, and bass whistle in a cauldron of creative chaos, creating ink stained improvisational interplay. Spoken Word and Free Improvisation as it was never meant to be, Black Shoe Polish reconvenes the Inconceivable.

At 8pm, FREDDY GINNS & ZEBRA PARTY provide original witty lyrics to their jazzy blues ala Mose Allison and Detroit funk keyboardist Lyman Woodard.

At 9pm Lyrical multi-instrumentalist ERIC AHLBERG'S JAZZ WORKSHOP recall the explorations of Public Enemy, The Art Ensemble of Chicago and John Coltrane with tasty world beat tangents.

------------------------------------------------------
SUZY WILLIAMS and HER SOLID SENDERS play LIVE SWING JAZZ and JUMP BLUES on every fourth Tuesday: Feb 26, March 25, April 22, May 27, June 24, July 22, Aug 26, Sept 23, Oct 28 & Nov 25 at TEMPLE BAR, 1026 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA, 90401, 310-393-6607, templebarlive.com, doors open at 8:00pm (two sets at 8:30 & 9:30 pm). Admission is $10. More info:310-306-7330 pfsuzy@aol.com Visit: http://www.puddingbench.com/suzy.htm Bring your dancing shoes for the hottest ticket in town. Jitterbug Janet gives free swing dance lessons at 8:15 & 9:15 every show.
------------------------------------------------------------
Greetings,
We have a great evening of satire and thoughtfulness planned
as a personal cure for Presidential Fever and Super Tuesday Madness!
Come & Join
Our Merry Literary Cabaret Show
at Warszawa Restaurant Attic
on Wednesday, Feb 13th from 7:30-9:45pm!
Just Added - Special Guest Performers - Will also include:
Writer Tad Daley perorates on the presidential process in a riff he calls "Dis-Enfranchised, Again"
Songwriter & Solo Traveler Fred Starner sings his original Hobo Blues for the occasion
Poet Theresa Hulme presents her lyrical thoughts on Other Precedents Altogether
Actor Taylor Nichols joins Heidi Swedberg as a sympathetic Angel trying to cope with "Laura Bush"
A VOICE IN THE WELL WORDPLAY PRODUCTION
ELV (310)489-0299
Door Donation $5.00
(No one turned Away)
- Light Refreshments also available upstairs By Donation -

-----------------------------------

Anna Baltzer Presents:

LIFE IN OCCUPIED PALESTINE: EYEWITNESS STORIES & PHOTOS

Sunday, February 17th ~ 10:15 - 11:45 AM Presentation

The Church In Ocean Park - 235 Hill Street, Santa Monica 90405 (NE corner 2nd & Hill)

Noon Potluck Lunch, DVD & Discussion

Book signing, DVD, ethnic arts & crafts for sale.

For information: Church office, 310-399-1631

www.annainthemiddleeast.com

Anna Baltzer, a Jewish American Columbia graduate, Fulbright scholar, granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, and volunteer with the International Women's Peace Service, is touring the United States with her acclaimed presentation and book describing her experiences documenting human rights abuses in the West Bank and supporting Palestinian-led nonviolent resistance to the Occupation

--------------------------

Brave New Films

Dear activists, colleagues, and friends,

Now is not the time for progressives to be silent. With Clinton and Obama battling each other we MUST start telling the story of McCain and his support for war.

We have been barraged with folks asking us to take action. And we have.

In less than a week, Jason, Leda, Philip and Lissette put together these two fantastic short videos. And we have a major BNF strategic campaign to reach hearts and minds.

Watch the videos: http://LessJobsMoreWars.com/?utm_source=rgemail

We need $100,000 immediately (like in the next week), so we can continue making these high impact videos, full-time, around the clock.

Can you chip in $50? We've got to start now. http://LessJobsMoreWars.com/donate.php?utm_source=rgemail

More wars: http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/28347?utm_source=rgemail
100 years in Iraq: http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/23346?utm_source=rgemail
The original Scarborough clip: http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/27089?utm_source=rgemail

----------------------------
Francisco Letelier Cuentos/Stories

February 4th thru March 2 2008
Reception February 16 7-10pm
Avenue 50 Studio Inc.
131 No. Avenue 50
Highland Park, CA 90042
323-258-1435
www.avenue50studio.com

--------------------------

Thursday, February 14th, at 7:30 PM
Panel discussion with Ray Boudreaux and Hank Jones,
former Black Panthers and now defendants in the San Francisco 8 case.
Moderated by Jim Lafferty and Mary Sutton

Pacific Design Center Branch of the Museum of Contemporary Art -
8687 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood 90069

Preceded at 7:00 PM
by a guided tour of the exhibition
Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas

Co-sponsors include:
The Center for the Study of Political Graphics, the National Lawyers Guild,
and the Southern California Library

----------------------------------------

An Evening with Huayucaltia
at Lima Peruvian Cuisine & Lounge
www.limacuisine.com

19540 Ventura Blvd.
Tarzana, CA 91356

February 16, 2008
Show at 7:00 p.m.
Dinner at 6:00 p.m.

Cover Charge $15
Info & Reservations 818 578-3902 or 818 758-3902

www.huayucaltia.com