International Pop Affair
led by Rafa Saavedra
LACE Listening Party, V.3
Curated by Josh Kun Doors open 6:30pm
Tickets: Gen $5/Members Free; call 323.957.1777

EL DOWNLOAD ES CULTURA

International Pop Affair is a sonic trip for the post-myspace generation from Tijuana to Sweden and beyond led by Rafa Saavedra,Tijuana's top word-sound guru...blogger, DJ, critic, twitter scribe, author of the fiction collections Lejos del Noise, Buten Smileys, and Esto No Es Una Salida.
He chronicles the global "snobground" on his blog http://crossfadernetwork.blogspot.com/

UP NEXT: June 3: Alejandro Cohen -- "The Paisley Underground"

LACE Listening Parties are interactive public conversations curated by Josh Kun are inspired by the current explosion of mp3 players, podcasts and other mobile media, that are used to score the soundtrack of everyday life. Each Party will feature special guest critics, musicians and curators who will share favorite recordings - from popular anthems to found sounds and new material - to serve as the impetus for this series of wide-ranging discussions about urban space and music. Party hosts will design her/his listening experience to shape how the music is encountered and to break down a traditional panel format.

Josh Kun (PhD, Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley) is an Associate Professor in the Annenberg School of Communication and affiliated faculty with the Program in American Studies and Ethnicity. Prior to joining the USC Annenberg school, Josh Kun was Associate Professor of English at the University of California, Riverside. He is the author of Audiotopia: Music, Race, and America (UC Press) which won a 2006 American Book Award. His articles on popular music, the pop cultures of the US-Mexico border, and the music of Los Angeles have appeared in numerous scholarly journals and anthologies. He is director of The Popular Music Project at USC Annenberg's The Norman Lear Center.

RECENT LPs with Karen Tongson and RJ Smith

Re: PRESENT ~ LACE ANNUAL BENEFIT ART AUCTION
A celebration of the moment
Representing three decades of excellence with a toast to the future!

It is with great pleasure that we invite you to join us for LACE’s Annual Benefit Art Auction on Thursday, May 22, 2008 to celebrate our 30th anniversary. With Ann Magnuson as our MC, Re:PRESENT will feature both silent and live auctions and special entertainment to link LACE’s historical foundations with the exciting new cultural production abounding in our city right now. This annual signature event offers patrons the opportunity to purchase 100+ original artworks by some of the most important established and emerging artists working today.

6:00pm: VIP Preview
7:00pm: Cocktails & Hors d’oeuvres, Silent Auction Begins
8:00pm: Live Auction
9:45pm: Silent Auction Closes by Lot

THE ARTISTS:
Vito Acconci, Eleanor Antin, Edgar Arceneaux, Kevin Appel, John Baldessari, Uta Barth, Sue de Beer, Joe Biel, Sanford Biggers, Tomory Dodge, Mari Eastman, Bart Exposito, Kim Fisher, Mark Flores, Francesca Gabbiani, Paul Gellman, Drew Heitzler, Jim Isermann, Alice Konitz, Sherrie Levine, Miranda Lichtenstein, Martin Margiela, Barry McGee, Michele O’Marah, Carter Mull, Renee Petropoulos, Danica Phelps, Yuval Pudik, Amanda Ross-Ho, Malgorzata Romanska, Christopher Russell, George Stoll, Joe Sola, Linda Vallejo, Robert Walker, James Welling, Goody-B Wiseman, Eve Wood, Christopher Wool, Bruce Yonemoto, Andrea Zittel/Smock Shop (list in formation)

TICKET DETAILS:
Presenters Circle: $1,000+
Silver Circle: $500 duo/$250 solo
LACE bundle: $500 (10 tickets in advance)
General: $50 advance/$75 door


NOTE: auction winners can apply $50 of her/his ticket price to the purchase!

To purchase tickets: call 323.957.1777
Proxy bidding available

View artworks online starting May 2
Gallery preview: May 2 – 21, Wed - Sun 12 - 6pm, Fri 12 - 9pm

Since 1978, LACE has had a simple mandate – to enrich the cultural landscape of Los Angeles and contribute to global culture. In the last thirty years LACE has commissioned and presented the works of over 5,000 artists and has worked with artistic pioneers such as Laurie Anderson, Chris Burden, Mike Kelley, Suzanne Lacy and Bruce and Norman Yonemoto. We have become a force in the community and remain committed to championing the role of the artist as an agent for positive change. All Re: PRESENT proceeds ensure that we continue to deliver a safe haven that allows for both emergent and established artists to push boundaries, expand the definition of contemporary art practices and inspire the public imagination.

AGAINST THE GRAIN
Curated by Christopher Russell

Curated by Los Angeles-based artist Christopher Russell, Against the Grain seeks inspiration from the seminal show, Against Nature: A Group Show of Work by Homosexual Men (1988), curated by Dennis Cooper and Richard Hawkins. In a politically and socially conservative era, Cooper and Hawkins responded to the AIDS epidemic with rich, decadent work, grappling with the subject’s inherent morbidity. Utilizing Against Nature as a point of departure, Russell has selected 12 local artists that seek a similar critical position in our social climate today -- Tom Allen, Brian Bress, Robert Fontenot, Wendell Gladstone, Julian Hoeber, Anna Sew Hoy, Brian Kennon, John Knuth, Ryan Taber, Ami Tallman, Kelly Sears and Cheyenne Weaver. Against the Grain is not a restaging of the prior show, instead Russell looks at the theme of decadence in a present day context.  In turn, the artists use visual and narrative devices in their paintings, sculpture and installations to assert the individual, idiosyncratic worlds they have created in response to the one we all inhabit.