Buy An Art Piece And Preserve A Living Piece Of L.A. History

Up until the 1980's a multitude of artists like Charles White, Otis College of Art and Design students, and June Wayne would flock to the Los Angeles paper store McManus & Morgan. Today the store is 101 years old, and some of these artists still buy their paper here, but the younger generations of Angeleno artists are largely un-aware of this steel rooted institution of artisanship and dedication. Even fewer have ever heard of Gary Wolin the lone paper expert and unsung L.A. art historian behind the counter, nor do they know of his struggle to keep his once hollowed doors open. My readers have seen the short documentary Ink & Paper that tells the story of Gary and the neighboring letterpress shop, but a surge of new artists have come to L.A. and are still moving in to take advantage of the ever-expanding art and entertainment industries here. Well I am a young artist in Los Angeles, and I care about history. I care about quality local businesses too so I am going to put my money and art into the very place that cared enough to stick around all these years and offer what no corporate store could: knowledge, expertise, and unparalleled assortments of unique paper. God bless it, I think other young artists will care too once they hear about it!

... So LET THE ART SALE FUNDRAISER FOR MCMANUS & MORGAN BEGIN!

Buy one of my prints at McManus & Morgan and I will split the profits with the store. (the money I take in from the sale will most likely go towards buying paper from Gary anyway) We are asking $900 per print which is comparable to the price that Self Help Graphics and Arts is selling the same print for.

Now - Aug 31 2014, $900 for a limited edition 26" x 20" screen print by artist John Tallacksen and Self Help Graphics & Art, Four prints only #'s 41, 39, 37, 35 out of an edition of 50 all signed and numbered with a Self Help chop in lower left corner.

My work is about honoring the people and places in the communities of Pico Union and MacArthur Park in central Los Angeles. The scene in Serenata En El Callejón 12th and Alvarado was a real life moment not far from McManus and Morgan where my girlfriend and I saw a man serenading a woman in an alley with a small Mariachi band. It's moments like these, and places like McManus & Morgan, that expose the heart of our community. Please watch the short documentary in the comments section of this post and you'll see a small fraction of why I treasure Gary Wolin and his paper store so much. This limited edition that we are selling has enjoyed some amazing exposure. Having been created in collaboration with Master Printer Jose Alpuche in Self Help Graphics & Art's Professional Printmaking Studio, and then archived in institutions like the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Mexican Fine Art Center Museum in Chicago, I wanted to use this edition's provenance to encourage my friend Gary and help off-set some of his overhead costs even if for a short time. I consider McManus & Morgan to be one of the most important arts institutions in Los Angeles. Watch the film below and consider purchasing an expression of the community that Gary and I share.
Self Help Graphics & Art values prints from this edition at $900 each. We are selling four prints from the same edition at the same price being careful not to under-cut such a prestigious organization. To purchase, leave a comment below, call me at (213)290-6777, or visit Gary at McManus & Morgan 2506 W 7th St. Los Angeles, CA 90057 9AM to 5PM Mon - Fri and 10AM to 2PM Sat.
We hope you join us in this unique celebration of community and the arts.

Two Major Announcements

First-

For the last week I have been working on a screen print serigraph edition as an artist in residence with Master Printer Joe Apuche at the historic Self Help Graphics in East Los Angeles (Boyle Heights). This has been a tremendous honor to print in such a hallowed place with the great Joe Apuche. Some of my favorite artists ie Gronk, John Valadez, El Mac, Sonia Romero, Fabian Debora and others have held the same residency here. Like the artists who have gone before me, the result will be a color serigraph edition that will be collected by institutions like the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the National Museum of Mexican Art among other museums archives and collections. If you follow my facebook art page John Tallacksen Studio you can follow the progress and view pictures taken while working in the studio. More details to come.

Second-

John Tallacksen Editions are open to subscribers! You can receive one of my original prints every month either by mail or by local will-call pick up. Prints from the serigraph edition mentioned above will be sent to subscribers one of these months in the near future. The first 10 subscribers will pay only $50/print even if they renew their subscription later. Once the 10th customer has been paid for their account, the monthly cost will go up for the the 11th and so on. This is your chance to own multiple original works, some of which will be collected in museums around the U.S., for the same amount of money you would spend on one painting in the average selling gallery. Go to JohnTallacksen.com/shop to order now. There are 3 month, 6 month, and 12 month options available. 

Two Latest Prints Just Posted

7th and Carondelet 

Corner Of Pico And Union

  Prints from both editions were just now posted in my online shop. Only one print of 7th And Carondelet will be sold in my shop; the rest of the edition of 15 are for sale on consignment at McManus & Morgan in Los Angeles. (see address below)

McManus & Morgan Fine Artist Paper

2506 W. 7th St (corner of 7th and Carondelet)

Los Angeles, CA 90057

Making A New Linocut Edition: Corner Of Pico and Union

Right now I am about to sign and number my second linocut edition Corner Of Pico And Union, and I couldn't be more happy with it. Master Printmaker Noel Hernandez at Self Help Graphics in L.A. is collaborating with me on the printing process. Of course I drew and carved the linocut on my own.
I can't recommend printing at Self Help Graphics enough. They have a long legendary track record in developing Latino artists in the L.A. area. 

Study for the final print

Above is a study I did on location in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pico Union for the print. I later auctioned this small sketch off in my online auctions.

Noel applying the ink to the block I carved.

inked and on the press

The edition is now complete and drying on the rack

Shot of a final Artist Proof of this edition by Leo Jimenez

Le Mer de Pianos: The Oldest Piano Shop In Paris

  On this blog I have written about the oldest letterpress and paper store in Los Angeles, but now I hope to introduce you to the oldest piano repair shop in Paris, France. The film is called Le Mer de Pianos (The Sea of Pianos) by Tom Wrigglesworth and Mathieu Cuvelier.