Visitors who want to get as much out of the David Ligare exhibit at the Crocker Art Museum as possible may want to approach the artist’s pieces with a notebook and possibly a Greco-Roman history book in hand.
It’s easy to float through the exhibit mesmerized by the 70-year-old Classicist’s beautiful symmetry, seascapes and elegance. His home on California’s Central Coast and his travels of the Mediterranean have inspired some of the most beautiful watercolors and oil paintings of the balance of water and land to depict life and death, chaos and calm, shadows and light, that you leave feeling serene. But that’s not all that Ligare wishes—of art lovers or of humans in general.
He sees his work as a “social project,” a push for the viewer to dig deeper into the Greco-Roman stories, landscapes, architecture and mythology from which he finds inspiration, and see how to apply this knowledge to modern life the way he offers modern narratives and twists.
Those serene images of white drapes flying above the Pacific? They are inspired by the alabaster Greek statues that have long lost their limbs and heads and of which only draped clothing remains.
{Penelope, 1980 | oil on canvas, 40 x 48 in.}
“It is often said that art should reflect our time, but it can reflect other times, and we can learn from history,” he explains. “When I began making narrative paintings I didn’t know anything about Classicism at all. I didn’t know these stories or myths, so I just started reading. It was just wonderful to do. It was so incredible to be completely submersed in these ideas that are so rich and so surprising.”
Ligare read the great philosophers of that ancient time and was amazed with the depth of knowledge they and others discovered, whether it was being able to measure the distance to places in the solar system or setting up a democracy.
“It’s the fact that somebody like Lucretius could understand that we are made up of atoms, and we’re talking about first century B.C. there,” he exclaims. “It’s just a crazy idea somebody would have without all the microscopes and modern technology. They were measuring the distance to the moon and the circumference of the Earth. And it wasn’t just ancient Greeks and Romans but other ancient societies like the Egyptians. They were inspired to think, and maybe that’s the key right there—inspiration. Any group of people, no matter what ethnicity or location, has the potential for doing really extraordinary things. It could be fifth century Athens or 15th century Florence,” but he notes that there was leadership that inspired thinking.
{Magna Fide, (The-Great-Belief), 2014 | oil on canvas, 60 x 80 in.}
Ligare doesn’t necessarily call himself a leader, but his belief that the central purpose of art is to inspire does then call on artists to lead in some way. He also specifically believes that the function of art and culture is to fulfill a social need, and viewers will realize that his art fulfills that need by depicting equality, the struggles of the homeless and the sick and the ideal that all things and beings can live harmoniously together.
“There’s a passion for knowledge we don’t really have right now and I would like to see that, to inspire people to want to learn, about everything,” Ligare says.
Education is how Ligare became an artist in Classicism in the first place.
“I thought it was important to begin exploring the origins of some of the ideas we were dealing with,” he says. “For instance, with homelessness, [it was important to me] to learn about what the Greeks felt about hospitality, or Romans, and what some of the underlying concepts were there and one of the concepts I’ve used most is ‘symmetria’—the idea of symmetry.”
Some of Ligare’s paintings at the exhibit depict this concept, which came from his research of Polykleitos and the harmonious integration of the disparate parts of the human body.
These paintings show the diversity of society and things in nature and how they fit together in a harmonious way.
{Mountain, 2013, oil on canvas, 60 x 90 in.}
“That is such an important ideal in modern society that I think it’s important to date back historically,” he says.
To discuss modern issues that society has seen over the last few decades, Ligare painted his perfectly symmetrical Vitruvian Man black, to coax people to talk about integrated as opposed to segregated society. The male body is harmoniously in proportion to the architectural structure behind it, which is harmoniously in proportion to the environment behind that.
Ligare says his concepts sometimes become very esoteric, but that’s where the fun is for him. His massive, attention-stealing painting Arete, for example, is a naked black man on a white horse, and caused many museum visitors to pause and stare.
The layers behind the painting bring much perspective. Arete in Greek has to do with the idea of excellence of the human spirit. The quote scrawled below the horse comes from a fifth century B.C. poem written about an athletic event, and Ligare wanted that athletic excellence idea to carry over to excellence in knowledge. His reason for using a black man also has to do with the two kinds of ceramic pots used in Ancient Greece, in which earlier pots were black figure vases, and the poet he references in the painting came from that period.
“For me, all of these paintings are so wrapped up in ideas and it’s difficult to boil them down to just a few words. But in that case I wanted it to be a man who had a great amount of integrity about him and carried himself as an excellent human,” he says.
{Still Life with Cactus and Oranges, 2001 | oil on canvas, 40 x 48 in.}
Ligare’s latest pieces hang at the very beginning of the exhibit before entering the room, and focus on architecture. The artist—who used to teach drawing at architecture schools in Wales and at Notre Dame—also finds great inspiration from past and current architects, especially the New Urbanists.
“I use history to recreate a narrative into art that way they [New Urbanists] were trying to create a narrative into cities to bring back a sense of character that would make them more livable,” he says.
Ligare doesn’t limit himself within a painting to a certain time period or place, which adds yet another dimension to each piece.
“One of the things I really like doing with all this stuff is being flexible and fluid in time; being comfortable with moving from 18th century to 17th through the Renaissance to even beyond to cave paintings in the neolithic era, and not be fixed to contemporary ideas or contemporary culture,” he notes.
That fixation to what might be acceptable in a specific place or time frame is something Ligare continues to rebel. It’s almost epitomized in one of his pieces—Ligare painted a male diving into a sea to show the balance of opposing forces of order and chaos, something he says he’s put into his work for the last 35 years. The painting of the diver was influenced by a tomb in southern Italy, which he says was likely not belonging to a diver, but was a representation of a person moving from air to water and from life into death. The painting is based off a photograph of Ligare as well, diving into the Aegean Sea.
{Seascape, 2003 | oil on canvas, 60 x 90 in.}
Ligare said he couldn’t help but laugh and include a new angle to the diver story when he found out that the main painting on large billboards advertising his exhibit in Gdansk, Poland, was the nude male diver. However, when he mentioned this to the Crocker, they didn’t seem to agree with the use of the painting for public advertisement.
You can see the infamous diver and dozens of other equally intriguing, educational works from Ligare at the Crocker Art Museum through Sept. 20.
David Ligare, California Classicist is on display now through Sept. 20 at the Crocker Art museum, located at 216 O Street in Sacramento. You can find hours of operation, as well as purchase admission tickets, through Crockerartmuseum.org.
Every Wednesday night, The Ghost Town Rebellion meets in a backyard oasis off of 21st and C streets for what they like to call, “Decompression Chamber Wednesday.” It is a weekly ritual reserved for the band to practice songs, tell stories and bond over grilled foods and alcoholic drinks.
Those Wednesdays usually go down like this: The five members of the band huddle around a triangle table filled with Sol beers and an obscure tequila bottle. They steal cigarettes from one another in a chain-smoking frenzy, only breaking the cycle to readjust their stringed instruments or dress a hot dog with condiments. Sometimes, you will see guitarist/banjo player Justin Forcione show off his undeniably impressive ability to play the guitar with his front teeth.
These Wednesday indulgences, however, hold a deeper purpose than the above-mentioned. To The Ghost Town Rebellion, Wednesdays represent band bonding, jamming and perhaps what sets this band apart: storytelling. Aside from being tons of fun, these rocker dudes can also be considered really unorthodox educators. I would like to quote Kevin Hart when I describe what it’s like to listen to this band’s lyrics: “You gonna learn today!”
Shawn Peter, lead singer of the band, is a Downtown Sacramento Community Service Guide head and Historical Supervisor. He has been dedicated to Sacramento’s history since 2000, when he was recruited to develop a historic walking tour program for the region. He continues to be the head supervisor for what turned out to be a very successful program. Peter’s knowledge for all things Sacramento, whether ugly or prideful, worked as the seeds that helped his sound garden grow. The Ghost Town Rebellion tells Sac’s history though its songs thanks to Peter immersing himself in this city’s history and being inspired by it enough to incorporate it into his art.
“The band name itself is supposed to have a dirty feel,” says Peter, “It represents the ghosts of the area telling their stories. There’s a heavy emphasis on the Wild West, and the rebellion of Sacramento and its people. With that, it is also a true urban city which honors its wild and pioneering past on all levels of development.” Peter would find himself writing songs about the elements of Sacramento’s past that intrigued him most, which he then would share with the band. “They would love the concept. It’s just plain fun. I would pick an idea, place or person and the event surrounding the subject and we would turn it into a song.”
The band’s current EP, Ghost Town Rebellion: Volume 1, is a five-song historical chronicle of the city. “Poverty Ridge,” refers to the area around 21st and T, where Sacramento’s only hill is. The song tells of an incoming storm and floodwaters threatening the more impoverished part of town in the earlier days. “Poverty Ridge” documents the struggle of the poor running uphill to escape floods caused by rising levee waters.
Another song, this one particularly scandalous in nature, is “Murder on Grand Island.” This tune is about a crooked businessman, the county assessor to be exact, and the messed up ways he maintained a fat wallet. This real-life character would set up murders around town and methodically capitalize on them. He would find male landowners who had no next of kin, have them killed, and swoop in on their properties, among other assets; Sacramento drama, old school edition. The guy was eventually caught and as the song says, “… but the evidence was against them / And the town, they all, hanged them high! Hanged them high!” Here’s another weird fact I learned from this song: Sacramento practiced hanging all the way up until 1915. Ew!
The band’s songs are pure rock ‘n’ roll, with a dash of blues and a hint of Americana. Throughout the EP, the banjo somehow steals the show. To be completely honest, I never thought I would say that; but listening to the lyrics paired with the banjo in the blues context just worked so well. Peter has more of a straight-forward voice and is an audible lyricist. You can definitely hear his roots as an emo/punk rock musician.
There are decades of music experience among the five members of The Ghost Town Rebellion. Each of the guys are in at least one other band. Bassist Sean Navin says, “The band got together so seamlessly and almost effortlessly. When this particular lineup got together, we didn’t miss a beat and were playing shows within a matter of days.”
The mutual affection is also noteworthy in this group; imagine a band where everyone looks up to each other. The only negative event was in Reno a few months back, when Peter broke the hearts of his fellow bandmates by not helping them build a fort in their hotel room after a show.
“We moved the two queen-sized beds together so we could even sleep puppy-dog style after! We were ready to use the linen to build the sickest fort ever. Shawn ended up going downstairs and sleeping in the van,” says Forcione while eyeing Peter with disappointment. Other than the comical and disheartening fort incident of early 2015, the band is a true brotherhood of history and musical admiration.
Ghost Town Rebellion: Volume 1, is the first in a series of three being released in the coming months. The releases will continue to chronicle Sacramento history and channel the band’s rock roots into the effort.
“Musically, they’re gonna be different from each other, but the same lyrically,” says Peter about the other two EPs in the series.
Musically, the band has been developing a more bluesy and swampy sound that will be apparent with the use of more instruments like the slide guitar and the trumpet in the next releases. They will also mix up vocal varieties, with Justin Forcione and Darrell Hukill stepping in to front songs.
“The reason why we chose a three-part EP is because we want to stay excited and focused on sections of the music,” says Peter, “We will be telling more stories about the city and the West Coast. We have 160-plus years of inspiration!”
You can catch The Ghost Town Rebellion at the very fitting and historical Old Ironsides on Aug. 14, 2015, for their EP release. It’s Ladies Night, so all you queens get in for free! To make things even better, the first 100 people will get the EP for free. You can also check out The Ghost Town Rebellion at Theatre DeVille in Vacaville on Aug. 28 (with Lonely Kings and MDSO). Tickets are $8 and can be purchased at Devillevacaville.com.
What started out as a bunch of friends getting together in a small apartment listening to music and dancing all night has turned into one of the most important event production and party-throwing entities in the city: Requiem. “The apartment got too cramped, so we moved to a bigger venue,” Requiem’s Benjamin Leibold recently explained to Submerge. “Forty parties and two years later, we have some of the world’s best up-and-coming talent playing our stages and hundreds of people regularly coming out to our events. It’s really blown our minds.”
As if bringing cutting edge international DJs, producers and bands through town on the regular wasn’t enough, Requiem is also committed to the visual arts community in Sacramento. “We pay all of our artists first, before anything else. That includes custom art for every party, and a huge stage installation done by local art celeb Jose DiGregorio,” Leibold added. In the past two years, Requiem parties have hosted credible headliners like Brooklyn’s Bit Funk, Chicago’s Louis the Child, Los Angeles’ Mighty Mouse and tons of other out-of-towners who are always paired with talented local DJs like Shaun Slaughter, Adam Jay and Druskee, to name a few. Requiem has also had the honor of hosting official after parties for TBD Fest and TBD’s New Year’s Eve bash. “Last year, after TBD Fest, some of Empire of the Sun guys came and partied with us until the lights came on. A-Trak and all the Fool’s Gold crew spent their night with us after the TBD NYE event,” Leibold said. “To have this caliber of artists feel comfortable hanging with us, drinking, laughing, dancing right alongside the struggling Sacramento artist or student on the dancefloor, we can’t ask for anything more.”
To celebrate two years of Requiem, Leibold and his crew are doing what they do best: throwing a super rad party on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015, at Midtown BarFly (1119 21st Street, Sacramento). Headlining is the highly sought after multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and DJ extraordinaire Felix Bloxsom, known best as Plastic Plates, his disco/house music alias. Everyone from Adele, to Demi Lovato, to Katy Perry, to Mark Ronson have utilized Plastic Plates’ skills to collab on official remixes of their tracks, so you know he’s good, otherwise pop stars wouldn’t fuck with him.
Also on the bill are Casino Gold, who just crushed it at THIS Midtown in July, and Vitamindevo, “A playa tested, SF party throwing DJ who’s on the rise,” according to Leibold. Ernie Fresh, Adam J, Tripz and Synclan (of Helicopter Showdown) will be making noise too. 18-plus to get in and dance, with 21-plus full bar. Pre-sales are just $10 at Requiemevents.queueapp.com, price goes up to $20 at the doors, which open at 10 p.m. Party goes all night till 3 a.m., and Leibold wants you to “Just come laugh and dance, and take your shirt off if you want to.” Facebook.com/requiemevents for more info.
Everyone loves a good day party. Sun is up, music is loud, drinks are flowing, life is good. The good folks at HOF (aka Hall of Fame) know this all too well and are planning their triumphant return to the party-throwing scene on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015, with “Gametime: The Infamous #HOFDAYPARTY.” Going down at the beautiful and well-shaded River Walk Park in West Sacramento, this all-day rager will run from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. and will feature well over 20 performances from DJs, bands, producers and rappers.
“It’s been two years since we’ve descended on the streets of the Capital City to rage in the name of a good time,” the HOF team recently wrote on Hofisbetter.com. “Quite honestly, we’ve missed your crazy asses,” they went on to say. “We miss the excitement that leads up to a HOF party. We miss seeing everyone get hyped when they park their cars, finish their personal-sized bottle of whiskey and walk through the gates of a HOF party. We miss cleaning up the aftermath of a HOF Party and seeing exactly how hard you guys went the night before. Finally, it’s time for us to relive those emotions all over again.”
Just some of the artists tapped to perform so far are Jurts, Soosh*e!, DJ Whores, DJ Oasis, Roman Austin, Zyah Belle, DJ Cos the Kid, Lunaverse, J. Sirus and so many more. There will be two stages, multiple watering holes for those of legal drinking age, a water hydration station (remember to bring your own refillable bottle) and you’re also encouraged to bring blankets, umbrellas, lawn chairs, etc. to chill out in the shade to help keep your body temperature low ‘cause chances are it’ll be a scorcher that day. Tickets are available now at Gametime.queueapp.com and start at just $15 for early birds (price will go up to $20 soon!) and run all the way up to $50 for a VIP pass which gets you three drink tickets, VIP entry, backstage access, exclusive viewing areas and other perks.
This event is open to all ages. River Walk Park is located at 651 2nd Street in West Sacramento. For more information, hit up HOF’s website or follow them on Twitter: @HOFisbetter. They’ll be dropping the final lineup, set times and juicy other details as it gets closer. Pro Tip: check out HOF’s promotional video below featuring the ultimate party dude himself, Kenny the Dancing Man. Trust us, it’s freaking gold.
In the mid-1990s, Chris Hardwick began his career as a DJ on the Los Angeles radio station, KROQ. In 1998, he began acting and making appearances in horror films like House of 1000 Corpses and Halloween 2. Since then, he has been in countless movies, television shows and web series. Hardwick made regular appearances on Chelsea Handler’s late night E! television show, Chelsea Lately, and he now hosts his own popular late-night show on Comedy Central called @Midnight. His hilarious comedy and nerdy boy persona make him a force to be reckoned with and absolutely entertaining to watch. And come Friday, Aug. 14, you will be able to see him in person as he delivers his comedic genius at the Crest Theatre, located at 1013 K Street. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $37.50 and can be purchased at Crest Theatre or online at Axs.com.
WIN A PAIR OF FREE TICKETS TO THIS SHOW! FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM TO LEARN MORE!!!
You’ve probably encountered someone like the character Creed Bratton from The Office. He’s that guy you don’t really know but you see every day. He seems innocuous from a distance, but there’s something about him that keeps you from getting too close. Then maybe one day you’re at the snack machine, pushing up against the glass because that Snickers bar you just purchased got stuck on the spiraling metal wire that holds the candy in place. Suddenly you hear an unfamiliar voice from a very familiar face. Perhaps he’s trying to make bizarrely humorous quip about your plight … or maybe he’s equating your struggle with the candy machine to society’s battle with the covert forces of the Illuminati. Whatever he said, for a moment, you were time twisted from your mundane life to some dark, twisted form of Narnia.
The man Creed Bratton is only slightly like the famous character he portrayed on one of the past decade’s most defining sitcoms. However, in many ways, he’s way more fascinating.
Bratton, a former student at Sacramento State, backpacked overseas for a few years before returning to California to start a band with Warren Entner called The 13th Floor. By 1967, the band changed its name to The Grass Roots and went on to record a few popular radio hits including “Let’s Live for Today.”
Though he got his start in music, it was acting that Bratton actively tried to pursue while he was in college.
“I was always planning to be an actor,” says Bratton, who studied drama while at Sacramento State. “Music was just something I did. I didn’t know until I went to school that everyone didn’t know how to play music. I just thought everybody does this, you know?”
At a young age, Bratton (born William Charles Schneider, later changed to Chuck Ertmoed when his mother remarried) had an ear for music. He first took to the trumpet before picking up the guitar.
“My grandparents had a country-western band called The Happy Timers,” he remembers. “When I was a little kid, I’d sit down and watch them play. I used to go down to Long Beach from the mountains and be with them for two months in the summer … I’d listen to stuff on the radio and just figure it out by ear.”
By 17, he was working professionally as a musician, but after he left The Grass Roots in 1969, his artistic career hit a bit of a snag, or as he put it in our interview, “35 years of thinking I’m not going to get anything going.”
Over that time, though, he never gave up. He spent his time “working, writing, going to class,” he says until, eventually, he once again struck pop culture gold.
“Now I have my second wind as it were, and I’m off doing these shows again,” Bratton says, gearing up for a California tour that will bring him back to Sacramento. “I’m having a great time.” Submerge had the pleasure of speaking with Bratton about his surprising and remarkable career as an actor and musician.
It’s amazing what the music scene in the late ‘60s meant to American culture, and it still has an effect today. What was it like for you living through that time as a musician?
At the time, it was very innocent. The pot wasn’t anywhere near what it is today. It was very mild. We experimented with stuff. For musicians at that time, it wasn’t looked down upon. You were doing what you were supposed to do. You were going to the other side of the veil, finding little chestnuts and bringing them back and writing them down and playing them for people. That was the deal. Some people didn’t come back. I was one of the lucky ones who … What were we talking about?
Badda boom! Drum roll!
It was the ‘60s. It was the best bite of the apple. There was no AIDS. It was free love and pot and everyone was fucking each other and painting flowers on their faces. It was pretty cool. And then it got weird in the ‘70s, but from ‘66 to the early part of the ‘70s, it was just fantastic.
I saw a quote on IMDb that was attributed to you where you said how you did a lot of acid, but never had a flashback.
Exactly! I paid good money for that acid. I deserve a flashback [laughs]. That’s just a joke, though. I would be scared to death if I had one those! I don’t even need that. All I have to do is be locked in a room where they’re smoking that pot from nowadays, and I’ll be crawling the walls [laughs]. I think Louis C.K. says it best, the best way to do drugs is not do them for a while, because when you do them it’s really amazing.
I know, I’m waiting until I retire so I can smoke a joint one more time …
When I’m doing acting and trying to memorize lines, I just can’t do it. It messes with my memory too much. It’s nice to do when you’re on vacation and you’re hanging out with somebody on the beach. That would be great. When it comes to work and stuff, it just interferes.
I know a lot of people know you from The Office, so I wanted to ask you a couple of questions about that. I thought it was really cool that you pitched your character to the show’s creators.
I actually shot an audition tape. I recently found that audition tape, actually. I thought I had lost it. I was working on Bernie Mac, I met Ken Kwapis [director for both The Bernie Mac Show and The Office] and we became friends on the show. When I heard about The Office, I contacted him. He said that they were already cast, but he’d try. He talked to Greg Daniels and said I was a very interesting guy and a musician, and they put me in the background. I left Bernie Mac to take a shot at doing this. I was just starting to get lines on Bernie Mac, but my gut said do this [The Office]. Within one week, I knew there was so many talented people that I had to do something. I wrote an hour’s worth of stuff, like what would happen if someone had stayed on drugs and stuff and ended up at a paper company and created this character. I went to my buddy Joe Moore, who was an A.D. on Bernie Mac, and with his help, I adlibbed a bunch of stuff and picked the best out of what we did and gave it to Ken Kwapis, who was still directing on the first season, and Greg Daniels. The second season came in, and in the first or second week, they threw a script on my desk and said, well, everyone thinks you’re really funny, so here you go. It was a 6-and-a-half-page scene with Steve Carrell, and I was like, “Oh my God, this is it!” It was scary. After it aired, I came in on a Friday, and we aired on Thursday, I saw Rainn Wilson and John Krasinski and they gave me a big bro hug and said I’d knocked it out of the park. That meant so much to me. The next thing you know, I became a series regular. I tell actors all the time, if you’ve got strengths or weaknesses, use them. Make a video and use that as your audition.
The character became such a cult figure, too.
It was amazing how people loved that character, that crazy guy. People still get disturbed when I’m talking to them, and they’re like, “You’re not that Creed guy,” and I’m like, no! It’s close to how I talk and stuff, but still not me, obviously.
I think part of it is that everyone knows someone like that in their lives, that peripheral character who you don’t know much about, but he says that weird thing that you can’t believe just came out of his mouth.
[Laughter] Well the writers took that thing … I would just laugh at the table reads seeing some of the stuff they came up with for me. They did a lot with a little with that guy.
It’s been a couple years now since The Office ended. How has it been winding down from that?
Oh man, I missed it. I remember after the hiatus period, like three months or so, I found myself one morning driving in my car and I was starting to head back to the studio where we shot. I was like a homing pigeon, you know? I’ve done some independent movies, like Band of Robbers, which turned out really well and it will be playing film festivals. I also did Grace and Frankie for Netflix and recorded some new stuff. And of course I’ll be coming to Sacramento. That starts off my California tour. … I want to give a big shout out to Duane Heglie, can you put that in there? He’s my buddy from college and high school. We went to Sac State together.
Your most recent album came out in 2011. Are you working on new material?
I have six solos and four with The Grass Roots. I think about the time I hit a dozen, I’ll make one that really clicks. But right now I’m working on a pilot called Feather Peak that we’re trying to get greenlit. I play a character who lives up in the mountains. He’s a caregiver, but he writes music too, so I’ve been writing songs for the show, and they’re really good! I’ve been doing three or four of them in the show now. They’re all brand new. I’m going to be recording them pretty soon in Los Angeles.
A character who lives in the mountains who plays music, that sounds pretty close to home.
He’s a caregiver who has this ability to realize that when people are dying they hold on to things that keep them from passing on to the other side in a tranquil way. He’s able to facilitate this. … It’s kind of like Northern Exposure meets Touched by an Angel meets the Creed character [laughs], which is kind of an interesting concept if you think about it.
Duane, if you’re out there, this one’s for you. Join Duane and surely many others when Creed Bratton plays live at Harlow’s in Sacramento on Aug. 11, 2015. Ngaio Bealum will take the stage to open the show. Tickets are $15 in advance and can be purchased through Harlows.com.
**This interview first appeared in print in issue #193 (August 3 – 17, 2015).
As the Sacramento summer heats up so does THIS Midtown! A Second Saturday block party series with music, art, beer, food and local vendors, THIS Midtown is returning on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015, for the second-to-last show of the series. The lineup of live talent for this one is seriously incredible and we all should be thanking the organizers for throwing a party like this that is free to attend! Headlining will be Oakland-based indie-pop band Trails and Ways, whose new album Pathology came out recently on Barsuk Records. Regional groovers Sunmonks are also on the bill, so if you missed their set at Concerts In the Park recently, you can catch them at THIS. San Francisco rock outfit Tiaras, which features ex-members of Sacramento’s beloved garage rock band Ganglians, will also be on hand jamming out and Young Aundee will spin a DJ set. The party kicks off at 4 p.m. and runs until 9:30 p.m. Once things on the block wrap up, the after-party will be cracking off inside LowBrau with DJs Shaun Slaughter, Adam Jay and special guests playing nu-disco, tropical, house and funk tunes. THIS Midtown takes place on the MARRS Building Block on 20th Street in between J and K streets. Learn more at Facebook.com/thismidtown.
A bizarre creature slithers alongside the brick wall of the Oak Park Brewery. Somewhere between pufferfish and kraken, its alien form elicits menace and wonder in equal measure. From a porthole-like opening in its side peers a glowering skeletal countenance, locked in a permanently frozen cackle, delighted to have entered our poorly defended world.
A curious hybrid erupts from the doorway of the Colony on Stockton Boulevard, a kind of bio mechanical sparrow bedecked in sea-dragon’s garb. Peer into the cavernous eyes in the midst of its ornate head and ask yourself, “Is it living? Or is it clockwork?” From what world do such things come, manufactured but intricately organic, natural but forever altered as if under the hand of a 24th century jeweler? In a word, the answer is S.V. Williams.
A Sacramento native resettled in recent years after spending some time in the Northwest, Stephen V. Williams (styled S.V.) has gotten some high visibility of late in the downtown art scene. Several of his works have helped it to expand quite literally, bursting from the confinement of the canvas onto several prominent locations around town. These murals are a specialty of Williams’, whose early background lies in graffiti and other public artforms. Recently, we caught up with the artist at his home and studio to chat about the origin of his work, his Sacramento roots and the challenges of working with an audience.
In August, 1810 Gallery will showcase Williams’ latest works in a more intimate setting with a series called Relics—an apt description of the forms visitors will be introduced to there. Through the shadows and twilight glow of a changed Earth wander magnificent and bizarre creatures, recognizable, perhaps, but having undergone a sea change. Come for yourself, and prepare to get acquainted.
{Tree Ferry}
When did you start painting?
I want to say my first painting was in, like, 1999 … It was with spray paint, and, I don’t know if you’ve seen that movie Man Bites Dog, but I did a portrait of the main character in spray paint. At that time, I was so involved in graffiti art and drawing letters, that I was kind of against branching out into conventional painting. I would say that I really started to consider this a full-time occupation around 2007. I had a show in Portland, and I just had a random assortment of my paintings with me, and this gallery owner in Portland wanted to give me a solo show. At the time, they weren’t very cohesive as a body of work. I had that show, sold some paintings, and got some amazing responses, so after that I told myself, “I’ve got to stop working at this pizza shop and eating pizza all the time and just paint.”
I took some community college classes for art—mostly gesture drawings to get structure and balance down. But I’ve just been doing my own thing, since I started drawing and painting. I haven’t really felt the need to go to art school. I just keep going, developing my own style, doing what I want to do.
{Oak Park Brewery mural}
Is there more a feeling of pressure when you’re doing mural work in public?
When doing a mural I always want to get a basic image down immediately, because when you’re out in public like that, people will see you doing the first part of a work, and though as the artist you know what the final result will look like, they’ll be like, “What are you doing?!” [laughs]. That actually happened to us over at the Oak Park Brewery. We painted the entire wall black first, and were laying down the background when these people came by. We were like, “Hi, how are you doing?” And they replied with something along the lines of, “Well we were doing great until we saw this.” It was in a stage where there were no concrete images laid out yet. So I always try to work fast. Still, I’d say that murals are my favorite work to do.
Contained paintings are great too, because I can isolate myself, hang out with my painting, have beers with my painting. But I just love being outside, and even if there’s a weird reaction from people, I still like getting reactions from people. Even if someone calls it stupid, I’m like, “Thanks for actually noticing it,” you know? Some people will just walk by and look at it and nonchalantly look away, and it’s like, “Do you not know there’s something being created here?”
In what kind of world do your paintings exist?
I guess you could say it’s a little futurist. The way my figures look is what has happened to life on Earth: deformations. It’s kind of dark to think about, but I imagine something similar to animals in the sea that have been around so much trash and debris that their bodies grow around a certain thing because it just got stuck onto them. I kind of see them as a new breed of animal that have survived something. They’re kind of mechanical, too.
{Turtle}
There’s a large focus on animal forms in your work. Have you always been drawn to this subject?
I’ve always been fascinated with all different types of animals, especially birds and fish. The piece I’m working on now is a stag. I grew up camping a lot with my dad, so I’d see a lot of animals. I’d never hunt or anything, though. What I do to them on the canvas—I feel like I age them, put them in an alternate universe where nature is bound to the animal but there are also mechanical elements, like scales or feathers that resemble metal plating or armor.
But they’re not completely like machines—there also seems to be a warm feeling in these works.
Yeah, especially with the light that I try to add in. A lot of the time I tend to paint really dark, so the light colors really give the painting a warm, soulful feeling. And there’s usually some kind of relationship with the painting and another creature, like moths floating around them in the background. I don’t paint people often. I just find animals, and the mystery about them, to be far more interesting.
{Ridiculous}
What were your earliest visual influences?
Definitely comic books. I was very into drawing comic books. What pretty much got me to start drawing was, I would just kind of emulate different characters and create my own. And I would always kind of piece things together. How my current drawings come about is, there are tons of different pieces of things but the general structure of it is obviously a certain animal or a certain insect. I usually start off with a rough sketch, sometimes just of a particular feature—the scales, for instance. But as far as comics, I was always into the darker stuff, like Todd McFarlane’s Spawn; there have been a lot of horror and sci-fi influences.
I also hear that you did tattoo work for a while?
I apprenticed for like a few months. One thing—you’re in the shop all day, waiting for people to come to you. I know a lot of tattoo artists, a lot of my friends are tattoo artists, and they make good money doing it, but I would have had to switch around my style a little bit, change things up, make my work a little more traditional looking. I didn’t really want to take the time to relearn my art from the beginning. It’s definitely a skill I appreciate. But mostly now I’m into painting, illustrations, and I’m starting to get into some clothing stuff too. In fact, I have a screen press I’m working on right now, so I’m going to start making some shirts. Throughout the duration of the show, I’ll try to get some of those in the gallery, as it will be up for a month.
{Untitled, left | Gentle Beast and His Starling, right}
What have been your most rewarding experiences as an artist?
I do a lot of murals and group shows in L.A., and I also do a lot of music festivals. There’s this one big one, Lightning in a Bottle—that’s probably the best time I’ve had as an artist. There is like 60 live painters there, and it’s cool because there’s this big auction at the end and so the whole time you’re there you have the potential to make money. They set up artists all around the festival, and they try to keep them around each other so there’s not some artist who’s way out in the parking lot. But on the last day, they bring all the panels into one area, and so they just like surround this space full of art, and it’s like an art walk. There was also this collaborative piece I worked on with a friend in Coachella that was huge, and somebody bought that. I actually hit up TBD about that, because it would be awesome to have something like that. The music at these events is definitely a big part of my process. When I’m listening to good music, I paint so much better. I was at a Concert in the Park not too long ago—I was set to be painting out there—and I couldn’t get into the music at all, and I could not paint at all.
What’s your go-to painting music?
I listen to a lot of Mogwai, Sigur Ros, things that are a little tripped out. I really enjoy listening to instrumental music, and I can become engulfed in the piece I’m working on. Especially for like a new series of paintings, if there’s a new album, I’ll just constantly listen to that, and I find that a whole series of my paintings will be cohesive with that album.
{Reddit mural}
How would you describe the local arts scene?
The artistic community is awesome. It’s growing so much and there seems to be more people and businesses that are willing to showcase murals and other public works of art. I feel like Sacramento is a little bit behind in that sense, because when people hire you for murals, it has to be tied in with the business some way. Like, if I draw one of my creatures it has to be holding a cheeseburger in its hand, or wearing Nike shoes. If you give an artist full creative freedom, then there’s just going to be that much more unique work around town. But just having artwork out in public all the time is going to inspire people, drive artists to push themselves.
To learn more about S.V. Williams and get a glimpse of his latest work, you can visit his Instagram page at Instagram.com/svwilliamsart. You can check out the opening reception for his exhibit Relics at 1810 Gallery (located in the WAL, 1810 12th Street, Sacramento) on Aug. 7, 2015, from 6 to 10 p.m. Check out Facebook.com/1810gallery for more info and upcoming shows.
Actress, writer and solo performer Katie Rubin first premiered her one-woman comedic show Insides OUT! back in 2006 and she went on to perform the show at over 100 events and venues across the country. She’s since become a favorite in the local theater scene, especially at Capital Stage, where she has entertained audiences with her hilarious performances in The North Plan, In the Next Room, and Hunter Gatherers, as well as with her other solo shows My Spiritual Death, Amazing and Sage, and Why I Died: A Comedy. Rubin returns to Cap Stage on Saturday, Aug. 8 and Sunday, Aug. 9 for two nights only with Insides OUT!, “an emotionally charged and hilarious journey toward self-integration and peace of mind,” according to Capstage.org. Saturday’s show starts at 8 p.m. and Sunday’s at 7 p.m. Insides OUT! is intended for adult audiences. Capital Stage is located at 2215 J Street, Sacramento. Keep updated with Rubin by following her on Twitter: @KatieTheRubin
What isn’t Jane Lynch? She’s an actress, singer, playwright and author. We should probably add comedian to that list too because she is naturally hilarious. The winner of an Emmy and Golden Globe for her portrayal of the character Sue Sylvester on the popular Fox show Glee, Lynch also has memorable big screen appearances in such comedy greats as Best in Show and The 40-Year-Old Virgin under her belt. On New Year’s Eve, Lynch debuted her new cabaret show See Jane Sing in Park City, Utah and now she’s taking it on the road with a stop planned in Davis at Mondavi Center’s Jackson Hall on Saturday, August 8. In this musical with a twist, you’ll see Jane like you’ve never seen her before with a live band and all. “Expect musical comedy and a not-too-serious, but totally heartfelt, exploration of American standards and show tunes,” says Mondaviarts.org, which is exactly where you should go to buy tickets to this show as soon as possible before it sells out. Lynch will be joined on stage by Kate Flannery (AKA Meredith from NBC’s The Office) as well as the Tony Guerrero Quintet. General admission tickets prices range from $25 to $58, with discounts available for UC Davis students as well as children.
As the Sacramento summer heats up so does THIS Midtown! A Second Saturday block party series with music, art, beer, food and local vendors, THIS Midtown is returning on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015, for the second-to-last show of the series. The lineup of live talent for this one is seriously incredible and we all should be thanking the organizers for throwing a party like this that is free to attend! Headlining will be Oakland-based indie-pop band Trails and Ways, whose new album Pathology came out recently on Barsuk Records. Regional groovers 
