Eight months ago I bought my first house and renovated it, which meant my art collection was packed up in boxes and bubble wrap not to be seen for another 5 months. In the mean time, staring at the boring white walls in my house was literally driving me up a wall. And the second the dust settled, before even moving in the furniture, I installed every piece of art I owned in the new space. The art transformed the whole house, what felt soulless and sterile before was now filled with the chatter of all the different works of art telling their individual stories.

That got me to thinking about how important art is in making a house a home, and how everyone should be able to collect it. That’s how the the CLICK TO COLLECT project was born. We wanted to give everyone a chance to collect our favorite artists and keep the prices to $500 or less…. Art Within Reach, if you will, ahem. Each week this month we will offer you 5-10 original hand-made works priced $500 or below through our CLICK TO COLLECT project. It’s our hope that by making these original works available at these prices, we’re helping our readers start or grow their very own collection that they will enjoy and treasure for years to come.

Our first artist to take part in CLICK TO COLLECT is Raul Gonzalez, whose work was first featured in our Beautiful/Decay: Future Perfect book. Learn more about Raul’s art see his collection of available work after the jump.

Raul Gonzalez, La Piedra (The Rock), 2011
9.5″ x 13.5″, Acrylic, Pen on coffee Stained

Raúl Gonzalez was born in El Paso, Texas and grew up going back and forth between El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, México. In 2011 Beautiful/Decay in collaboration with Canson awarded him a Wet Paint Grant.  In 2009 Gonzalez received an award from the Artadia Foundation for Art and Culture. He was voted Boston’s best visual artist for 2010 by readers of The Boston Phoenix. His work has been exhibited widely in the northeast including The Drawing Center in New York, the Aidekman Gallery at Tufts University in Medford, MA and The Mills Gallery at the Boston Center for the Arts in Boston, Ogunquit Museum of American Art as well as on the west coast at SCION Installation, San Francisco Art Institute  and Self-Help Graphics in Los Angeles. In 2010 he worked on his first large scale mural sponsored by the Boston Arts Commission installed in the neighborhood of East Boston. Gonzalez is committed to introducing youth to the visual arts and has taught in the education departments of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In 2011 Gonzalez collaborated with over 125 kids from all over the city of Boston to create a work titled “and their Families” for the Linde Family Wing of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gonzalez lives in Somerville, MA, with his wife Elaine Bay and their infant son Raúl, IV. He is represented by Carroll and Sons, Boston.

Raul Gonzalez,  La Campana (The Bell), 2011,
9.5″ x 13.5″ Acrylic, Pen on coffee stained

Raul Gonzalez, Chicken Finger, 2011
5”x7” in., Ink on coffeestained pulp paper

Raul Gonzalez, El Capitan de Las Americas, 2011
5” x 7”, Ink on coffee stained pulp paper *SOLD

Raul Gonzalez, Aguila (Trophy), 2011
5″ x 7″, ink on coffee stained paper

This week, The Shooting Gallery in San Francisco debuted “Ritual,” a solo exhibit by painter Charmaine Olivia. For “Ritual,” Olivia shrouds her signature female portraits with a veil of mysticism and magic, citing astrology, druidism, and the goddesses of ancient Greek mythology as inspirations. The beautifully haunting, almost spectral quality of Olivia’s female subjects is a result of her signature blend of realism and fantasy. While maintaining intensely realistic elements, many of the women are stripped down to their innermost layers, and further, into the paintings themselves, as translucent skin drips into bare bones, and tousled tresses fade into abstracted lines, revealing the grain of the wood surface beneath. “Ritual” presents these portraits as altars, flanked with offerings of flowers, candles, bones, and bottles, transforming the gallery into a place of worship, inviting us all to partake in a sacred ceremony to Olivia’s dreamy deities. View the show at The Shooting Gallery until February 4.

It’s not often that we post about deceased artists but a show about the imaginatvie and bizarre work of surrealist Remedios Varo merits a mention.

The first exhibition of Remedios Varo to ever take place in the western United States, Indelible Fables at Frey Norris illuminates the ever-imaginative and prescient world of this deceased surrealist artist. Spanish born Varo certainly died prematurely, by heart-attack in 1963, but in a short career she had acquired a cult-like following among friends in Mexico City, her adopted home. Many of these friends were involved in an informal investigation into esoteric religion and the teachings of George Ivanovich Gurdjieff and his student Peter Ouspensky. As part of this soteriological pursuit, with close friend, the celebrated English artist Leonora Carrington, Varo created some of the most inventive painted scenarios of any of the artists associated with surrealism. Varo would remain something of a marginalized, but popular figure in Latin American art right through the 1990′s, when a solo exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC elevated global awareness of her work and in part catalyzed an ever accelerating level of scholarship and market demand. View the show at Frey Norris from January 19th-February 25th.

Make sure to catch Kevin Cooley’s gorgeous show at Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles  up until February 11th of next month. Titled Take Refuge,  the exhibition features large scale photographs and videos evoking human struggles in the harsh and unforgiving, yet sublime, natural world. This body of work was created in disparate locations including the Arctic territory of Spitsbergen and the American West as well in more ordinary places such as New York City and Los Angeles. Referencing the Romantic movement in art and literature, the work attests to both the fear and longing nature inspires.

Tomorrow Beautiful/Decay will be taking part in L.A. Print: Edition 2, the second annual showcase of Los Angeles printmakers, dealers, galleries, and non-profits focusing on current trends in printmaking and publishing. Guests are invited to connect directly with artists, curators, printers, and dealers to learn more about the production and collection of
fine art prints and editions.

Presentations and artist talks throughout the day illuminate the creativity and process behind printmaking. With a variety of affordable prints available, it is perfect for those looking to build their own collection or to purchase special gifts for the holidays.

LACMA West
Level 5
Free and open to the public
For more information: pdc@lacma.org or 323 857-6558

Our good friends over at Guerrero gallery are having a group show filled to the rim with some of your favorite B/D featured artists such as Ben Venom (pictured above), Richard Coleman, Steve Powers, Ala Ebtakar,  B/D magazine cover artist Aaron Noble and many many other talented folks. Get full details for the opening on Saturday here!

To celebrate the city-wide  museum show Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945 – 1980, iconic west coast rapper Ice Cube takes a few moments to celebrate the life and work of legendary designers Charles and Ray Eames. Touring the home of Charles and Ray Eames, known as Case Study No. 8, Ice Cube explains how hip-hop mirrors the couple’s beautifully designed home as both make use of prefabricated pieces that fit together to form a whole. Who said rappers can’t like high end design? Watch the full video after the jump!

This Saturday Beautiful/Decay will be taking part in L.A. Print: Edition 2, the second annual showcase of Los Angeles printmakers, dealers, galleries, and non-profits focusing on current trends in printmaking and publishing. Guests are invited to connect directly with artists, curators, printers, and dealers to learn more about the production and collection of
fine art prints and editions.

Presentations and artist talks throughout the day illuminate the creativity and process behind printmaking. With a variety of affordable prints available, it is perfect for those looking to build their own collection or to purchase special gifts for the holidays.

LACMA West
Level 5
Free and open to the public
For more information: pdc@lacma.org or 323 857-6558