The Murderer (2012)

The Murderer (2012)/ Bronze on black granite base/ by Juan Balandran
12" x 11" x 10"

Fare well Big Fish

 

Fare well to my big fish

 My fish tank is much too small and I can feel your desperation. You are a beautiful fish and when we met I never thought you would get too big for my tank. I cared for you; fed you beef heart and bloodworms, gave you an underwater garden, and installed a heater to keep you warm but all this just made you grow too quickly. You belong deep in the waters of some calm river in Thailand devouring small guppies and large plants, that’s who you are, that’s what you do. My artificial habitat is but a joke to you. Lately you have become more aggressive uprooting my plants and thrashing your body about. You jump in and out of my tank searching for something bigger something else. I can keep you content in a bigger tank, among fish your size, and of your nature but that size of tank is much too big for me at the moment and I can’t afford you such a lifestyle. Beautiful big fish do not settle for anything less than a 45 gallon tank, reach for the stars and find that ample 200 gallon aquarium. You’re no Guppy fronting as a shark; you are grand and have worked hard to reach your size. Do not believe in those owners who promise you a bigger tank while you wait in a 20 gallon aquarium; their big tanks are either much too full or will never come. Soon I shall own a tank big enough to house a fish your size, soon I shall afford the life style you deserve, and only then will I be ready for you. So swim fast, swim hard, don’t look back, and don’t worry about me; my aquarium will not sit empty for long, there are plenty of fish in the sea, and tom’s fish emporium will give me store credit. 

Show Flyers and checklist

With the help of The sauce creative services I had flyers printed. Its official now. We are having a show.

You are cordially invited to an event of Art and Wine
In support of
Juan Balandran
Artist in Residency @ Wannabee Gallery Milan, Italy

Saturday, August 4th, 2012
7-11pm
Spring Towers rooftop
639 s.Spring st/ Los Angeles, CA 90014

Fundraising event will benefit Artists residency in Milan, Italy
Sept.12th - October22nd

This event is hosted, funded and paid for by the artist, with support from:
The Sauce creative services
Kin Agency for The Arts
The Franklin Weston Collection

 This is a check list of all my to-do stuff left for the show:
I found someone who is going to let me use their PA system for music. I will not have a DJ because this is not a party, its an art show.
I am putting together a cleaning crew for the event and also assembling a set up and break down crew. I have to set up in 2-3 hours and breakdown in 1hr...Its possible.
I may not need to build anymore sculpture pedestals, I own 10 at the moment, but I do need to decide what I will be showing.
The Sauce CS will be printing out a couple of banners for me which they need Hi-res images of.
I need show insurance, liquor license, and Wine...a whole lot of wine.
Need to finish sending out invites.
Anyone have a Cube truck I can borrow? may need to rent one.

Also I will be showing a couple of works in progress/ clay originals at the show as well. Here is an image of one of them:

August 4th show is coming together!

This past week has been very busy. I managed to (with the help of my good friend Dave Kawano from U-1 toy arts) finish 3 new sculptures and get them to the Foundry to have them cast for the show. I will be presenting three new bronzes at this show.

The Gandhi sculpture stands at 30in. He will be cast in bronze with a white patina applied to his garment.

The Murderer sculpture will be cast in bronze with a black patina.

Rooster is a sculpture I made for you, the fan, supporter. The intention of this piece was to create a bronze sculpture that could easily fit into anyones budget. I will be offering 30 limited edition (Red) Rooster sculptures at the show. details to follow.

For those of you just tuning in, I will be having a fundraising rooftop art show for my artist in residency program in Milan Italy. The funds will go towards creating new work while in Milan, Italy. This Los Angeles show will be hosted atop a wonderful historic art deco building overlooking the downtown Los Angeles skyline. Here is a sample of this spectacular view.

An official online flyer with more info will be posted soon. cheers!
-Red Rooster

My self-funded Art Show

No sleep till Milano!

In November of 2011 I was granted a six week artist in residency in Milan, Italy at the Wannabee gallery, from September 12^th to October 22^nd, 2012. I have not slept since then but more on that later, first we need to raise funds.

Wannabee gallery in association with Kin agency for the arts will be funding airfare and lodging. Unfortunately the funding of artwork produced by the artist has to come from the artist…that’s me.

“Rooster, how much does it cost to produce one of your sculptures?” you may ask. 

It costs $500-$1000 on the low end, $2500-$3000 on the high end.

“How will you raise funds to produce work?” You may wonder.

Oh that’s easy; I will have a fundraiser art show…

The self-funded Show

Objective: find a venue to host an art show.

I started looking for gallery space back in March. I knew I wanted the show to be in or near downtown Los Angeles. Ideally in a gallery on Gallery row. (Not ambitious at all) I looked high and low but most gallery spaces did not return calls or emails and those that did already had stuff booked or where not interested in renting out a gallery space for a one night event. I was going nowhere fast. I called a few well connected friends and got a few leads but most of the gallery spaces where either too small or too far from downtown Los Angeles. I happened to be on craigslist one day looking for Motorcycle parts and thought to myself, “hey maybe I can find something on here”. Sure enough after a few unanswered emails and phone calls I was starting to strongly consider taking this show to Long Beach. Then I received a call from one of the ads I called. I made an appointment to check out the place the following day.

The venue is a 14th story penthouse situated on the rooftop of an art deco building in downtown Los Angeles, Gallery row. From the second I laid eyes on the venue, I knew it was perfect for hosting this event. The interior of the penthouse is perfect for displaying my work and the rooftop terrace with grand views of the downtown Los Angeles skyline is ideal for hosting my guests.  

I asked the venue owner, what do I need to do to get this place in early August? He told me, "a description of the event, exact date, and after approval, a DEPOSIT for half of the cost of the venue". I submitted a date and description of the event. Within a couple of days I was approved and told that in order to secure the date I needed to place a DEPOSIT by the following day. Damn. With the help of my brother, some funds juggling, and a strict cup-o-noodle diet, I was able to come up with the deposit the following day. The agreement was signed and the date has been sealed.

On Saturday, August 4^th I will be hosting a Self-funded, Fundraiser art show on the rooftop of 639 s.Spring st, Los Angeles, CA 90014, Details to follow.

Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi (Feb 2012). Just a few more adjustments.
Limited edition to be cast in bronze. 30 inches in height
I am thank full for David Kawano from U1toys help in building this massive 30" sculpture of Mr.Mahatma Gandhi.
(Inquire about pre-sale price and or pre-cast viewings by emailing: Juan@JuanBalandran.com)

The Rebel (in bronze)

So I was convinced to recast the Rebel in Bronze. He is a limited edition of 20 pieces. I was considering placing a rocks glass or a brandy snifter in place of the cigarette for a few pieces in the edition.

I consider the Rebel sculpture a mood or atmosphere piece; I believe that in a low lit room this piece sets the mood for some cocktails and jazz.

the Rebel

Beverly Hills affair at the Gardens fall 2011

Thank you to all who came out to the Beverly Hills Art show: Affaire at the Gardens this past weekend. I had the pleasure of meeting some very cool and talented people. The Show had some very talented artists and it was an honor to be amongst them. I also got to work on my "Murderer" piece at the show and in turn attendees got to see a little bit of how I work.

Here we have the initial drawing of the Murderer. It was done in black ink and splattered with Red sparkle nail polish... dont ask.


this is the sculpture, which I was working on at the show, in progress...


I will be working this sculpt over the next couple of weeks and am hoping to have this bird up and flying by the end of November.

Once again, thank you all for coming out this weekend. I will be applying to the Woodland Hills Rotary Art Fair and to the La Quinta Art Festival by the end of the Month. If I'm accepted expect to see new works at the show. cheers!
-Red Rooster

...it's been a Minute

So I'll give you a quick up to date on whats been going down in Rooster town over the last year that ive been M.I.A. from this blog.

I have officially started Juan Balandran Studios. You can check out www.JuanBalandran.com or www.JuanBalandranFineArt.com. please tell me in what ways I can improve these two site. What Ive been doing with Juan Balandran Studios is Fine art fairs. This past may I was a part of the beverly hills affair at the gardens art fair. It was a good show, sold a bronze and got second place in the Sculptors category. Although I did fall short of my initial investment I did appreciate being recognized in such a respected show. I was also a part of the 1st annual Napa valley art and music festival over the 4th of july weekend. That show put me in a deep hole and I prefer not to talk about it.
Ive got a few new bronzes since we last spoke and over the course of the next few weeks I will be posting photos and stories.

Here are a few drawings that I made over the past year. Hope you dig.
-Rooster

Now I got an armature

Now I would like to explain how I made the armature for my sculpture.
First I went over to the copy machine and enlarged my drawing to 12 inches.
Second, I went ahead and cut an mdf board so that it may fit inside the sculpture. this particular sculpture is very simple. very similar to a relief sculpture.
third I screwed in a couple of 1 inch screws and started adding some clay.

Now, a quick word on armatures. when working with chavant, It really doesn't matter what you use for an armature just as long as its sturdy. I have gone as far as (not recommended) making one out paper cups, cardboard and duct tape. As a beginner I suggest you use an aluminum armature wire, found in any art supply store, and bulk it out with aluminum foil.