Catalyst Los Angeles

Please Dress Up!!!!

2010-05-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was very busy for some Catalyst members. Jesse Trott, Grant Doolittle, and Judy Berberian came together to shoot the new Please Dress Up! collection. We are happy to announce that some of the photos are beginning to appear on www.pleasedressup.com

check some of them out now and check back later soon for some updates. This is just another great example of what can happen when we all work together on a fun project. Expect more to follow soon!!!

Thanks to Tressa Barwood for modeling, Beatrice Dejong of Hairroin Salon for doing the hair, and Morgan for doing the Makeup

ONE WEEK OF FIGURE DRAWING

2010-03-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

Have you heard about our weekly live figure drawing sessions? Every week we have a new model and a new theme; from the classical nude models to aerialists to b-boys to fashion and everything in between. It's so much fun we want everyone to have a chance to come and draw with us, so for one week only we'll be doing it every night.

Bring your pencils, charcoals, paints and paper. Hell, bring scissors and clay, needle and thread. You're the artist, we just provide the muse.

the deal:

Monday April 26th - Saturday May 1st

8pm to midnight

$5 suggested donation

Cash bar and live music during the week

Saturdays session will be followed by a special party with dj to be announced!

Come once, or twice, or how about every night?

I triple dog dare you.

for directions email: findyourself@catalystla.com

100 UNDER $100 Art Show, Dec. 19th.

2009-12-10T15:50:00.000-08:00

It's art show time again!!

It's always a crazy hub of activity here at Catalyst, and the first 10 days of December have already been a whirlwind. We're painting, planning, and preparing and it's all for our upcoming show, 100 UNDER $100. We have gathered 100 fantastic artists and begged and pleaded with them to part with their works for $100 or less. Catalyst is going to be so jam packed with great art, I might even have to make Natasha walk around in an oversize coat with oil paintings stitched to the lining. (Hmmm, not a bad idea..)

Here's the rundown:

We will be showcasing multi-media works of art including
paintings, photography, mixed media, sculptures, fashion, live music and video installations.

FASHION/JEWELRY BY:

Please Dress Up
Mena by M.Rose
Claire Heiber Designs
Delevo
Lu
Heidi Spring
Carson Marjamaa

Elysium Soap

LIVE MUSIC BY:

Beautiful Days
Lindsley Road
Juni Bucher
Tarah Marie

Deepak

Natasha Zhora

Dj sets by :
Tommy Baltimore
Connect...the...dots

This is a great opportunity to pick up some unique pieces for the holidays, hear some great music and see Catalyst covered head-to-toe in great art.

There is no entry fee, this is a free event!!!

*All art and bar sales are cash only, but there will be an ATM available on site.

For automated responder directions email: findyourself@catalystla.com

Basically, there is no reason not to come to this event. For a quick preview of some of the artists work you can go here:

http://www.artslant.com/la/events/show/84381-100-under-100?tab=EVENT

HOME SHOW

2009-11-13T16:22:00.000-08:00

Artwork by Brian Ostroff

All right, why are you guys so awesome? You showed up looking fantastic, bought some serious art, had a few (hundred) basil Gin Gimlets, and didn’t want to leave at our laughably early closing time of 11pm. The theme of the evening was HOME, and it was apparent that our guests just wanted to be at home with the Catalyst family. So,…. we kept the drinks flowing, the music bumping, and ‘how about some Brioche French toast before you head out to work this morning, going on only 2 hours of sleep?’ Why thank you very much, isn’t this just the best family ever?

In case you missed out on the evening let me give you a little recap that will probably do it absolutely no justice at all:

Artwork and installation by Josh Wallace and James Fernella

This being an art show and all, lets talk about the art first and foremost. Besides being ‘amaaaaaaazing’ there was something to capture everyone’s imagination. The graffiti collage installation by Josh Wallace and James Fernella brought our urban neighborhood indoors and made [me] feel ‘cool and hip’ just standing next to it, while Carson Marjamaa’s bittersweet pen and ink “How To” drawings gave our hearts a little squeeze. Jaques de Groot’s Love Bombs were downright homey in our current climate, and I for one can’t think of a better use for a WMD than as a canvas for art, peace, and love. Speaking of Love: Do yourself a favor right now and look up Liz Brizzi, a curators dream. She cannot keep a painting on the wall they sell out so fast; and each one is better than the next. Brian Ostroff’s brilliant and provoking pieces left us wanting to see at least 3 more walls adorned with his work, Rajiv Jain’s enormous charcoals were hauntingly beautiful, and Heidi Spring’s colorful abstracts danced across the walls with a seemingly playful grace.

Artwork by Rajiv Jain

Love Bombs by Jaques de Groot

As if that weren’t enough:

Tarah Marie, singer/songwriter and birthday girl extraordinaire got her sweet songs stuck in our heads for the rest of a happy eternity. She was so good that when she walked off the stage she booked a gig for the very next night!

Juni Bucher reminded us again how amazing her voice is, not to mention that her and Tommy get the cutest couple alive award. (They stole that award from me. I’m going to have to review the tapes….;-)

There is oh-so-much more…. and you’ll just have to make it out to the next one on December 19^th to see for yourself!

Thank you everyone for being a part of our Catalyst HOME show. Home is where the ‘art is ;-)

See you soon-M.Rose

Special thanks to Judy Berberian, for in addition to looking tres chic in her custom made studded leather wedges (built by Grant Doolittle: the other half of Please Dress Up) she organized, collected, hung and curated a hell of a show.

Video Installation by Sara Ludy

2009-10-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

The artists have arrived

2009-10-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

October is a busy month for Catalyst and we are all really excited for the show. We are currently housing artists James Fernella and Josh Wallace from the show as they begin to build their installation for the 17th. There is a lot of action going on at the moment which will only accelerate as the days get closer. Everyone is excited for the show and all the art work and musical acts that we're presenting.

We will also be hosting Vyal , John and Contra to do some live art and present some of their beautiful screen prints.

Take a look at the these artists recent works: http://www.jamesfernella.com

http://sasquatch23.com/ www.yopeace.org www.vyalone.com

Mark your calendar-Home ART SHOW OCT 17

2009-10-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

This is an open invitation to come to an eclectic evening of various art forms showcasing painting, sculpture, installations, video art, and live music. It will most definitely be a memorable Catalyst event full of talent and creativity.

Some tracks I've been diggin lately.

2009-09-15T14:34:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! It's your pal Tommy Baltimore reporting.

I'm going to do my best to supply a track of the week to this wacky blog. I've been slacking a little so here's three to catch up with.

Enjoy!

Jamie T - Operation mp3

La Roux - I'm Not Your Toy (Data Remix) mp3

Adele - Hometown Glory High Contrast Rmx

Killer Kern weekend

2009-09-07T12:29:00.001-07:00

Occasionally the Catalyst family ventures out of our downtown warehouse bubble, and last weekend we all herded up to Lake Isabella for Tommy’s birthday celebration #32. I don’t think any of us really realized how much we needed to get out of the city until that first evening when we were perched high upon the rocks watching the shooting stars; the soft strumming of the guitar accompanying us. The only complaints I heard all weekend were tummy-aches from laughing too hard, or tummy aches from eating too much. Who eats Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi-Mahi With a Buerre Blanc sauce when they’re camping? We do, that’s who. It was our best Tommy’s Birthday Celebration ever. Catalyst has had so many ‘bests’ this year, I don’t know how next year can ever compare. It will though, because we came back refreshed and brimming with new ideas, events and goals for Catalyst! Thank you Grant and Uncle for letting us take over your cabin for the weekend. Thank you Tommy for being born and organizing the weekend. Thank you Tarah, Juni, Rick, and Matt for sharing your music with us, and thank you everyone for all the laughs! I’ll take those kinds of tears any day J (MR)

What happens when you transplant 4 musicians, 2 gourmet chefs, 2 painters, 1 writer, 3 fashion designers and a performance artist to a redneck cabin in the high desert? Well first you get this:

“No one leaves this place until they’ve eaten five pounds of beef.”

"We should all go to Bali. Lets take the band and do a tour"

"Oh absolutely. We're huge in Bali"

"Too huge. In fact, I don't even want to go to Bali anymore"

"On the count of seven lets all go to bed"

“1…2…3…4…5…6…7”

“Wow, I really didn’t think that was going to work”

“Of course it did. We’re a collective.”

“I see another party over there.”

“Are they partying as hard as us?”

“No one party’s as hard as Judy”

“Did you hit the bottom with your head!?”

“Hell yeah I did!”

“Yeehawwww!”

“I hate when people graffiti on rocks.”

“Well, the Indians and the cavemen did it.”

“Yes, but they weren’t just writing their names.”

“How do you know?”

“Oh, so you think someone’s name was Mr. Swirly Swirly Bundle of Corn?”

“When I was a kid I won a zucchini eating contest.”

“Were there any other contestants or was it just you?”

“That’s a good question, you know me well”

“2 bowls of zucchini, Personal best!”

“People keep cutting in front of me to use the bathroom”

“That’s so rude. Well maybe they don’t realize that you’re in line.”

“Well clearly the line starts over here. In my bed. In the next room. How can they not see that? What, am I invisible?”

Here are some of the upcoming events the Catalyst crew has on the horizon-

-Acoustic night/poetry reading

-October 17^th- HOME: an art opening with live bands and dj

-weekday morning yoga classes

-Boot Camp for models

Fashionable Life Drawings

2009-08-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

drawing by Judy Berberian
drawings by Venti Hristova
Charcoal drawing below by Rajiv Jain

For the past few classes Rajiv has done an amazing job of finding really unique models, with fun accessories and charisma. Last week we had beautiful Heather Hoxsey posing with Rajiv's bad ass motorcycle. She brought a WWI German General helmet and had a great look to match the ride. The soundtrack to our drawing was all punk and great rock and roll tunes. I think the whole set up was very inspiring to the artists. The outcome was all beautiful drawings by very talented artists who have become regulars on Thurs. nights 8pm-11pm.

It's happening at the Catalyst

2009-08-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

Some of our permanent collection by B. OSTRF

These are some of my favorite pieces of art!

Hi, I'm Judy and I recently moved to the incredible art warehouse known as the Catalyst. I share one of the studios here with my partner. Currently there are 10 artists who reside here, who all produce and display great works of art. We will be featuring and highlighting each artist and events taking place at the Catalyst.

This place is one of the most dynamic places I have ever lived in. At any given moment there is something going on. We have amazing art shows, awesome parties and on Thursday nights we have life drawing sessions with some pretty incredible models, not to mention all the talented people who attend. Hope to see you at one of our events.