Art

Guitars at Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl Airport

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A cool new exhibit about guitars is underway at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)

Phoenix is home to the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery and right now passengers traveling through Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport are being treated to an exhibit featuring nine hand-crafted guitars, including both acoustic and electric style.

Exhibition highlights include Scott Walker’s hand-painted “patina” guitar (above), which has wood body that resembles oxidized metal. Also on display: an unusual 26-string harp-guitar by William Eaton and an electric mandolin by Joe Vallee, whose instruments are collected by prominent musicians like Steve Miller.

Visitors to the PHX Airport Museum exhibit will also find displays of the guitar-making process. Parts of a guitar are presented in an exploded view showing how a guitar is constructed. And the various stages of shaping the wood components of a guitar are explained.

Exploded view of an acoustic guitar, courtesy of the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery

Phoenix Airport Museum’s exhibition, Shaping Sound: The Art of Guitar Making, is on view in two display cases at Terminal 4, level 2 near ticketing through May 2020. 

The 30-year old Phoenix Airport Museum has more than 900 pieces in its collection. The museum presents exhibits featuring both items from the collection and from area artists in several galleries throughout the airport.

Fresh art at LAX

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There are four new art exhibitions at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Terminal 1. Three are the work of solo artists; one is a one group exhibition. 

Here’s a preview:

“Floragalora” by Pat Warner, and “Rhizomatic Variations”, by Marianne Sadowski, are in Terminal 1 near Gate 9.

“Floragalora” by Pat Warner.

Warner’s inspiration for this installation is the spectacular wildflower superbloom Los Angeles experienced this spring.

Rhizomatic Variations” by Marianne Sadowski. “Variation 4, 5, 7, 8” 2019.

“Rhizomatic Variations” by Marianne Sadowski features a series of 21 polymer plate variations and is “an homage to the simultaneous harmony and disorder which exists in the current landscape of Los Angeles.”


Hanaguruma” by Michiko Yao (top photo) and  “Passing Rose” by Michiko Yao (bottom photo). 

Michiko Yao’s “Hanaguruma”and “Passing Rose“ explore Asian and American stereotypes using symbolic materials. Both pieces make use of digitally manipulated imagery of artificial flowers and are on view to the public in Baggage Claim on the Arrivals Level.

Latitude 33° 56′” exhibit, curated by Bia Gayotto. Left to right: Fran Siegel, “Overland 17” 2014; Flora Kao “City of Angels” 2010; Peter Bo Rappmund “Topophilia” 2015; Stephen Berens “Battle of Chickamauga, September 19-20, 1863, Catoosa County and Walker County, Georgia and Love In, March 26, 1967, Elysian Fields, Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California” 2018.

And “Latitude 33° 56′”, by Gate 10, is a curated project with eight artists exploring mapping to translate an experience of a place.

The title refers to LAX’s latitude in degrees, minutes and seconds, and plays with notions of location and territorial representation.

The new exhibitions are presented in partnership with the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

(All photos by Panic Studio LA, courtesy of Los Angeles World Airports and City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.)

Travel Tidbits: Hawaii, Amtrak, Comic Book Art

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Travel Tidbits from airports and airlines near you

Southwest expands Hawaii flights from California

Southwest Airlines announced new nonstop flights from Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) to both Kona (KOA), on the island of Hawaii, and Lihue, Kauai (LIH) will begin flying in January 2020.

Once these flights begin, you’ll be able to fly to all four main Hawaiian Islands nonstop from SJC.

Southwest will start flights between SJC and Lihue four days per week (Mon/Wed/Fri/Sun) starting January 19, 2020. Flights to Kona will be three times a week (Tue/Thu/Sat) beginning January 21.

These new flights will be in addition to Southwest’s existing daily, nonstop flights between SJC and both Honolulu and Kahului (Maui), which began in May.

Take the Train – half off

You can’t take the train to Hawaii, but you can take it lots of other places – for half price.

Amtrak just kicked off its September Sale, offering 50% off tickets nationwide. The sale runs Friday, August 16 through Saturday, August 17, 2019 and covers travel anywhere between September 1 and September 30, 2019. Even better: no blackout dates.

Comic art at John Wayne Airport

Like comic books? Then you’ll love this comic book art.

Mixed Media Collage artist Fernando Del Rosario brings his “Real Heroes” collection of inspiring quotes and original composed art – made from comic books – to John Wayne Airport (JWA).

“My Real Heroes collection is meant to grab you, lose yourself within each piece and come out inspired, motivated, and creatively recharged,” said Del Rosario. “Every one of these comic book pages is from my collection as a kid. And this is my way of sharing my story and my inspiration with the public.”

Del Rosario’s artwork is on display in the JWA Community Focus Space from August 15 – September 17, 2019.

Fresh art at Los Angeles International Airport

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Heading to or through the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) or Terminal 6 at LAX?

Here’s some info about two now site-specific art installations to look for at Los Angeles International Airport, courtesy of the airport’s partnership with the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA),

“Forest, For the Trees” curated by Julie Kornblum

“Forest, For the Trees” is an installation featuring knitted, crocheted, woven and other fiber-based artworks made by more than 40 artists.

“This installation hopes to address the wonders and perils of the forest by creating an environment that is at once unique and fantastic,” said Los Angeles-based artist and project curator Julie Kornblum.

The installation is the newest iteration of Kornblum’s ongoing partnership with the Arroyo Arts Collective and Yarn Bombing Los Angeles. Artists independently created works in their own individual styles and techniques, from realistic woodland creatures made of felt, to stylized tree trunks and branches sprouting from used sweaters. 

Look for “Forest, For the Trees” at LAX in the Tom Bradley International Terminal, Customs Hallway, on the Arrivals Level through January 2020.  

The Unemployed” by Jody Zellen

“The Unemployed” is a site-specific installation by Jody Zellen that features a large-scale, interactive digital projection and four video monitors.

Using data culled from online sources that list unemployment rates for over 200 countries, Zellen depicts this numerical information as animated figures, creating an alternative way to visualize these statistics. 

Zellen created a software program that randomly cycles through the unemployment data of the different countries and, for each country, depicts an array of figures made of simple lines moving within a grid on the wall.

The piece is interactive: as passersby move through the space, their silhouettes are projected onto the wall and transformed into a presence consisting of the ambling figures.  

The installation is open to the public in Terminal 6 on the Departures Level through September 2019 and is also available via a free app.

All photos in this post by Panic Studio LA, courtesy of Los Angeles World Airports and City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

Fresh art at LAX

Art

Los Angeles International Airport has two new site-specific murals. Look for them in Terminal 7 and the connection between Terminals 7 and 8.

Renée Fox’s mural in collaboration with WriteGirl, “Songs of Freedom: Renée Fox + WriteGirl.” Photo by Panic Studio LA, courtesy LAWA + City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

Displayed in the corridor connecting Terminals 7 and 8, Renée Fox’s 200-foot-long intricate mural, titled “Songs of Freedom: Renée Fox + WriteGirl,” mixes delicate graphite drawings of different species of local and regional birds with poetry by young writers mentored by the nonprofit organization, WriteGirl.

This mural collaboration was curated by Elizabeta Betinski and is on view for ticketed guests through early February 2020. WriteGirl is a creative writing and mentoring association that promotes creativity and self-expression to empower girls. 

Tofer Chin’s mural “Intentions.” Photo: Panic Studio LA. courtesy LAWA  
and City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

In Terminal 7, Tofer Chin’s new mural, “Intentions,” greets departing airport guests at the United Airlines ticketing lobby. This mural will be there through September 2019.

Here’s some more background on Chin’s mural:

It features an abstract urban landscape of bold shapes and a spare paint palette of white, black and bright apricot. The shapes emulate shadows of buildings, and the glow of the apricot color is reminiscent of Los Angeles’ vivid sunsets. For Chin, who was born and raised in this city, the spirit of Los Angeles shifts at sunset as the metropolis’ iconic atmospheric light changes and becomes filled with deep oranges and pinks.