Art

Airport news from San Diego and Anchorage, Alaska

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Courtesy San Diego International Aiport

Monsters at San Diego International Airport

The newest group to land a five-month artist residency at San Diego International Airport (SAN) is Beck+Col.

The Los Angeles-based duo creates performances that explore alternate universes populated by colorful and playful monsters.

During their residency at SAN, lumpy, musical monsters will be visiting the airport and interacting and engaging with passengers with exaggerated gestures and operatic vocalizations.

It could be fun. Or scary.

San Diego International Airport has been hosting artists-in-residence since 2016. The first group to move in was a circus.

REAL ID at Anchorage International Airport

In what seems like a super-helpful, no brainer, Alaska’s Department of Motor Vehicles has created a way for citizens to get the new REAL ID driver’s license at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC).

This saves a time-consuming separate trip to the DMV offices.

Starting October 1, 2020, only REAL ID driver’s licenses will be accepted by the TSA at airport checkpoints. So here’s hoping airport DMV desks pop up at other airports too.

Super-real sculptures at Florida’s Airports

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Miami-Dade County will be hosting Super Bowl LIV in February 2020 and, in preparation, Miami International Airport (MIA) is displaying artist Duane Hanson’s hyperrealist sculpture “Football Player.” 

The sculpture is on display on MIA’s Concourse D, between gates D47 and D48 through February 2020 and is on loan from the University of Miami’s Lowe Art Museum.

MIA isn’t the only Florida airport to display the work of Duane Hanson. Both Orlando International Airport (MCO) and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) each have a hyper-realistic Duane Hanson sculptures on permanent display.

At FLL, the Duane Hanson sculpture called “Vendor with Walkman” is in the Baggage Claim area of Terminal 1.

The airport has owned this artwork since 1990.

Orlando International Airport (MCO) has owned Hanson’s “The Traveler” since 1986. The sculpture is located in the Terminal A concourse between the East and West security checkpoints, near the food court.

Beyond these airports, many modern art museums have work by Duane Hanson in their collections.

Hanson, who died in 1996, created a special technique of casting in polyester resins reinforced with fiberglass. He’d make casts of living people and then painstakingly paint the figures to look exactly like the models.

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.