Ghettogloss Presents: Tightrope (the Fine Line Between Circus And Carnival)

LOS ANGELES - May 1, 2013 - PRLog -- About Ghettogloss and Ghettogloss Presents: Part gallery, part boutique, music-and-fashion friendly, and always up for anything, from the beginning, Ghettogloss has bucked trends, ignored conventions, and rarely met a boundary it didn't blur. Show Street Art and Skate Art in a gallery? Sure! Put on indie rock shows at a golf course? Why not. Life-drawing sessions with bikini models in gorilla masks at a dive bar? Obviously. Along the way, her co-conspirators have included Tommy Chong, Benicio del Toro,
Mark Mothersbaugh, Tony Alva, Mr. Brainwash, Shepard Fairey, Allee Willis, Eddie Ruscha, Roseanne Barr, Angelyne, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, etc.

Besides continuing to offer unique contemporary art retails to film, television, and commercial productions -- Fiora placed the Shepard Fairey and Mr. Brainwash pieces in the the Ashton Kutcher set of Two and Half Men along with thousands of edgy art originals in blockbuster feature films, tv and high-profile commercials -- the new Ghettogloss revives its boutique shop, offering vintage and locally-crafted gems by the vendors of its famous Silverlake Art Craft & Vintage Flea Market (http://silverlakeartcraftvintage.com/) -- founded by Ghettogloss in the parking lot of its original location, now held at the Micheltorena St. Elementary School and raising funds for LAUSD and the Micheltorena school on the Second Saturday of every month. And of course, the gallery is still the heart of the big top.

The inaugural gallery exhibition, TIGHTROPE, defies expectations in its own right. The title of the painting and print series is descriptive, as a certain three-ring theme recurs throughout the imagery -- but there’s a lot more to the story. The series of original pieces was produced exclusively for sale at Costco and will be sold online at costco.com. GG of course, far from being skeptical, jumped at the chance to bring new original artworks to a whole new audience, and the weirder the plan, the better. "Fiora Boes is a virtuoso. These latest works demonstrate her extraordinary versatility. I've been watching her career for many years. I am thrilled that she has resurfaced with her own work, thumbed her nose at convention, and chosen to exhibit at the venue on Costco.com--Greg Moors Costco.com art curator
But the real high-wire act is that this elaborate, romantic, edgy, vibrant work that combines the large format digital process (that the artist was known for spearheading into fine art over 20 years ago) combined with hand painted and silkscreen elements, all works are created by Fiora B, the GG founder herself.

TIGHTROPE will open to the public on June 15, 2013 with a Absinthe Popsicle and Kettle Korn reception from 8pm-11pm at the new Eagle Rock Ghettogloss. All of the work on display will be for sale. The exhibition will be on display for one month.

ABOUT THE ARTIST: “Ghettogloss was never supposed to be about me,” and Fiora means that. The whole enterprise was largely a reaction to her perception that the traditional gallery scene was slow to embrace the talented, radical outsiders she loved. Basically, GG was the kind of place she wanted to go, but it didn’t exist yet; and instead of waiting, she just did it herself. With a solid background in film and fashion to her credit before she ever went to art school (at the famously interdisciplinary Otis College), her instinct to put it all together in one place has since become the standard. Despite thinking of GG as one giant art project, and despite the satisfaction of seeing her wacky punk-rock experiment succeed beyond all expectations, something was missing. “Basically, I got sick of people I’ve known for years never even knowing I make art too. But it’s time now. This series means a lot to me, I’m proud of it, and I want it to be seen. I’ve been walking lines my whole life, now it’s time for it all to come together.” So what is the difference between the circus and the carnival? The circus has a plan.

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The neighborhood is inhabited by a wide variety of ethnic and socioeconomic groups and the creative class. Over the past decade the Eagle Rock and neighboring Highland Park have been experiencing gentrification, as young urban professionals have moved from nearby neighborhoods such as Los Feliz and Silver Lake.  A core of counter-culture writers, artists and filmmakers has existed in the town since the 1920s -- and it’s still happening.