The History of Battle Is Mere Putty in His Hands

FACES

“I’m doing this out of desperation,” says artist Rudy Mercado, who gave up painting six years ago and switched to creating temporary installations of battle scenes in clay. His latest diorama, “The Battle of Los Angeles, January 9, 1847,” opens Monday at Olvera Street’s Sepulveda House Gallery as part of the L.A. Festival’s Open Festival.

“Our schools aren’t doing an adequate job; people don’t know about history and I feel desperate for the kids,” said Mercado, 28. “I’m doing this because I feel it’s needed. But I feel like I’ve been forced into it, because as much as I love history, I do love art more.”

Mercado, who actually began making historical dioramas with his father and brother as a child, said he hopes to one day return to traditional painting, which he called “a much more selfish medium.” But for now, he said, he will use his creative talents to educate others.

The artist admitted that he has been challenged by some members of the art world who don’t consider his detailed dioramas art (this one will include more than 1,600 figures and animals modeled in 5/8-inch scale). But others apparently see it his way--he was included last year in the prestigious “Newcomers 1990” show at L.A. Municipal Art Gallery and in a group show at Security Pacific’s Gallery at the Plaza. In addition, he received a $5,000 1990 California Arts Council Fellowship which he used to fund “The Battle of Los Angeles.”

Mercado calls his works “living dioramas” because they progress in stages. “The Battle of Los Angeles,” for instance, will go through five stages, from the prelude to the battle, to the bloody aftermath.

The artist spends several months researching each battle before he begins molding his tiny figures. Then once a week during the installation, he repositions and remolds them to depict the battle’s historical progression. Because of the fragility of the clay, the figures actually appear fatigued as the battle wears on.

“In essence, I sacrifice the piece to tell the story,” said Mercado, who makes his figures faceless so as to focus on the “quantitative trauma” of war. “But I’m thrilled that as an artist, I can do something that is productive. I want my art to be something more than just enlightening for me .”

THE SCENE

“La Reina de Los Angeles/Queen of the Angels,” a permanent public artwork by L.A. artist Simon Toparovsky will be unveiled Saturday at Otis/Parsons Art Institute.

The large mixed-media wall piece uses religious and psychological archetypes and symbols to deal with concerns and myths common to different cultural groups. It is composed of metals, glass, tile, neon and paint.

Toparovsky is also showing a selection of his mixed-media constructions in Otis/Parsons’ North Gallery through Sept. 13.

“La Reina de Los Angeles” is installed above a garden space on Park View Street facing MacArthur Park, adjacent to the campus’ Wilshire Boulevard entrance and the Main Gallery.

Self-Help Graphic’s “Fire Show VII,” dubbed “a celebration with and for fire,” opens Friday with a 7-10 p.m. reception. Guests are encouraged to bring a gift for the fire, which will be lit during the ritual program.

Fifteen artists are participating in the East L.A. event, including Michael M. Amescua, Yolanda Gonzales, Gloria Longval, Richard Valdez and Rudy Calderon.

A silent auction to benefit artists Guy Williams and Mary Hicks, whose home and studio were destroyed in June’s Santa Barbara fire, will be held this weekend at Hilldale Avenue’s Margo Leavin Gallery.

Previews of works donated by the artists’ friends and colleagues will be held Friday and Saturday from 1-5 p.m., with a closing reception to be held next Sunday from 2-5 p.m. Tickets for the Sunday event are $25 per person.

More than 55 artists have contributed works, including John Baldessari, Larry Bell, Meg Cranston, Tony DeLap, Joe Goode, Marc Pally, Edward Ruscha, Alexis Smith and Jeffrey Vallance.

A memorial tribute to Ebria Feinblatt, founding curator of the L.A. County Museum of Art’s department of prints and drawings, will be held at the museum next Sunday at 2 p.m.

During Feinblatt’s 38 years at LACMA, the collection of art on paper grew from 200 undistinguished works to an internationally respected holding of more than 30,000 prints and drawings. She died July 6 at the age of 77.

A work on paper will be purchased for the museum’s collection in Feinblatt’s memory. Contributions can be made to the fund by calling (213) 857-6078.

The gallery shuffle continues this week when Marc Richards Gallery moves to new digs at 2114 Broadway, in the same building as Krygier/Landau Contemporary Art. While residing under one roof, the two galleries will remain independent but will occupy a common central gallery in alternating months. The opening reception for the space will be Thursday from 6-9 p.m.

OVERHEARD

“I’ve already sold a couple of pieces, and I hope to sell a couple more, but who knows? I mean, who’s got that kind of money? The amazing thing is, though, that people do, and they do buy them. But I don’t think I’ll ever buy a painting myself, I couldn’t imagine spending that kind of money. “--A young, emerging L.A.-based artist, talking about the success of his first gallery show.

DEBUTS

New York-based photographer Ellen Brooks has her first one-person show in Los Angeles at Santa Monica’s Dorothy Goldeen Gallery, Saturday through Oct. 6. Brooks takes found photographs of conventional subjects from advertising or picture postcards and alters the images by painting on them. She then re-photographs them through a screen, thus changing the original image.

Spanish-born artist Pedro Cano has his first Los Angeles show at Melrose Avenue’s Fiorella Urbinati Gallery, Saturday through Oct. 5. Cano, who lives and works in both Italy and New York, has exhibited widely in Europe, the Middle East and South America. The show features oils, watercolors and pastels dealing with the nature of light and color.

Recent CalArts graduates Erik Otsea and Jan Tumlir, who work under the collaborative name D.E.M. (Deus Ex Machina), have their first-ever gallery exhibition at Santa Monica’s Krygier/Landau Contemporary Art, Tuesday through Sept. 28. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a painting which was begun in 1988 and is worked on continuously, with one image replacing another. The piece is photographically documented whenever it appears to be “finished.”

Chicago-based artist Jeanne Dunning’s first L.A. solo show runs Saturday through Oct. 13 at Santa Monica’s Roy Boyd Gallery. Dunning’s recent work addresses people’s discomfort with the human body and some its functions.

Santa Fe, New Mexico-based painter Diane Marsh has her first Los Angeles exhibition at Santa Monica’s Tortue Gallery Saturday through Oct. 6. Marsh’s paintings depict emotions such as fear, sorrow and melancholy.

HAPPENING

Works by more than 70 L.A. artists including Lita Albuquerque, Tony Berlant, Joyce Treiman and De Wain Valentine will be up for grabs this weekend in a silent auction to benefit the C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles. The event will be held at Santa Monica’s Pence Gallery, and bidding closes next Sunday at 5 p.m.

A benefit reception for the “Big Green” initiative (Prop. 128) will be held Friday from 8-10 p.m. at Santa Monica’s Karl Bornstein Gallery. The event will be hosted by Actor Esai Morales and Assemblyman Tom Hayden will speak and show a 30-minute “Big Green” video.

“The Impressionists,” “Memories of Monet” and “Van Gogh,” three free films focusing on Impressionism, will be screened Saturday at the L.A. County Museum of Art, beginning at 3 p.m. Information: (213) 857-6139.

“Art for Public Places: Reevaluating Recent Decades and Directions for the 1990s,” a one-day forum through UCLA Extension, will be held Sept. 8 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. in Room 1178 of UCLA’s Franz Hall. The fee is $65. Information (213) 206-8503.

Documentary films by Mexican artists Rufino Tamayo, Frida Kahlo, Alberto Gironella and Cordelia Urueta will be screened next Sunday at 5 p.m. at Mixografia Workshop. Information: (213) 232-1158.

Artist David Hockney is among those being honored Friday during “Commitment to Live IV,” a star-studded gala at Wilshire Boulevard’s Wiltern Theatre to benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles. Other honorees are pop singer Madonna, U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman and actor Ian McKellen. A Roy Lichtenstein collage valued at more than $150,000 will be auctioned, and tickets to the event range from $100-$1,000.