Joe

Photography by Phil Holland

Thank you all who came out to support at the Cannibal flower show last Saturday. For those who missed it, this was the piece on display. I have to give props to my boy Phil Holland
for doing such an awsome job of photographing this piece. Hopefully all of you can make it to the "Mixed Media" show Feb.17 at the Upstairs at the market Gallery Ill be presenting 6 pieces at that show.
See you there

Cass II

This is a remake of a previouse sculpture. I wasnt convinced that the first version captured the character of Cass that well.

This sculpture is based on the character Cass from the Bukowski short story entitled "The most beautiful woman in town". Cass is a woman who has lived life and has the scars to prove it. Read the story, that shit will make you cry (unless your me......Im a man, dont cry.)

Last but not least I'd like to dedicate this Sculpture to all the beautifull and real women currently in my life. Without your support, I wouldnt be able to wake up every day and continue my quest to please you all. Hugs and kisses to all you pretty dolls.
Love,
The Red Rooster

LA Mariachi

I was keeping it cheap and classy this particular evening. My buddy Fredo and I had been bouncin' from house party to house party, raiding the tables full of alcohol, getting drunk off other peoples buck. We do this on occasions when we don't have enough money to hit a bar. My goal that night was to glue my broken heart back together with various grades of alcohol following a drop in the stock value of one of my various emotional investments. I was dressed to the nines, sporting my torn jeans, leather jacket, and work boots that resembled the sad remains of a pair of burnt sausages on a discarded grill. We stumbled into a birthday party in the nice side of the city of Bell. I immediately felt the sting of their eyes burning even bigger holes in my already ragged jeans. I didn't mind the holes and neither did their free beer. With my lips locked around a bottle and a halfway grin, I toasted, "To the Birthday girl".

The party was a hand full of chicks lost in a cock forest, just like every other party that night. We tossed a few lines into the pond and managed to pull out a hand full of rejections. I mixed me up a glass of paint thinner and coke and settled in to the most comfortable place at the party, a dark corner. I was pulled out from another one of my pathetic drunken depressions that night by the sweetest thing I had ever heard. It was as if God himself pried the heavens open and spoke unto me saying,"Go on and get your rugged ass of that stool boy and listen here". The sweet sound came from the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen sing a mariachi tune. She led the all girl band with the authority of a General Washington leding his troops into Vietnam....

A pain stabbed at my heart as it does every time I see a girl who is to good for bum like me. Her eyes had a slight slant to them and her skin was as pure as carnation milk. Her golden brown hair was all done up like a gold tourniquet, highlighted by a single rose. Her elegant dress revealed a tight smoothness to her hips and the faint trace of muscle in her thighs. A beautiful creature with lips made out of strawberry cream and probably just as sweet. When a woman is that beautiful no amount of alcohol could drink her off your mind.

We hit the height of the transition ramp that connects the 105 and 110 freeway on the way home that night. From up their you can see straight across the south central LA ghettos all the way to downtown. All my beloved filthy streets full of broken hearts, crappy cars, and shattered dreams laid out before me. I gazed across the sprawled out bowels of Los Angeles in my drunken bliss and wondered what poor unlucky girl was going to answer my phone call at 3am,"Hey, momma, how you doin' ?"

The Boxer

This is a Saturday morning sketch.

So I went to this boxing match in Hollywood about 2 years ago. I had the pleasure of sitting ring side next to an old retired boxing champ from the 80's. His face looked like a Baseball mitt and his nose looked as if it had been chewed on by a mutt, but his wife was hot. He said something that night that I would never forget.

It was the second fight of the night and Action Jackson was getting beat to a pulp by Dirty Sanchez. Clearly, Jackson had no technique and was just rolling with the punches, running, and just trying to survive the fight. In the fourth round, of a 6 round fight, the old champ got up and started screaming at Jackson saying, "If your not going to fight do us all a favor and take a knee". I then heard him say to his wife,"He's too much of a pretty boy hes afraid to get hit, hes got other things on his mind besides winning". Jackson ended up losing the fight by majority decision, it was boring, it was a sad performance, and the worst fight of the night.

If your not going to fight do us all a favor and take a knee. 

Temptation

I, like many other men, enjoy the company of beautiful women. Let that be known. And I, like many other men, cant afford beautiful women and Temptation can be a cruel friend when your drunk and broke.

So I would like to dedicate this piece to all the men out their who have risked being evicted for not paying the rent on time due to dropping all their cash on a pretty broad. Myself included. Much sympathy and support for you fellas, your not alone. And remember, you cant catch anything if you don't throw your line out, only suckas fall in love with strippers, a hooker doesn't count, its better to be lucky than skillful, drunk white chicks are gods gift to minorities, and there are far worst things than being alone. Like drunk, horny, broke, and alone.

This piece is inspired by a burlesque dancer from Santa Monica. Aside from her wooden leg and glass eye (yeah, I like my women a little broken, got a problem?) she is one of the hottest chicks I've ever seen. You ever been confronted by a woman so hot you don't know what to say? Yeah she's one of those. So I figured what better dame to pick for this piece entitled Temptation. She can take my rent money and have me evicted anyday.

Tree born crooked

A tree born crooked never grows straight.

Burlesque Momma

If you ever make out to Los Angeles go check out this cool show down in Santa Monica called the Toledo Show, the got the right kind of jazz for this soul. Not only that they got these hot chicks who do these dance numbers on the tables and stuff, cool shit I tell you. Well those chicks have inspired alot of my upcoming sculptures as well as this one called "burlesque momma".

Chola with out a cause

Chola with out a cause is dedicated to all the beautiful and misguided cholitas sin barrios. I went to school with a lot of these girls and had countless crushes on them. They used to listen to Art Laboe on Sunday nights and always had "Smile Now-Cry Later" art work decorating the outside of their three ring binders. The only chance you had at a chick like this is if you where a bald headed knucklehead and god did I hate those muthafuckers.

I went to school with this chick, we'll call her Panchita. Panchita was a good looking girl, there was nothing wrong wither that some Thrifty make up couldn't fix. Her 3 Brothers where cholos, all of them had at least 2 bullet holes to speak of, and constantly stole shit from their own neighbors. Panchita was the only girl in the family, her pops was an alcoholic who hardly worked and her moms was constantly working. So Panchitas biggest influences, naturally, where her 3 hell bent brothers.

In High school, Panchita was sort of the leader of her pretty girl crew that she used to kick it with. That girl had full lips and those eyes that where stretched just a little it made her look like one of those china dolls.How can you not have a crush on her? Every mutha in high school wanted to get at that but panchitas man was some thug ass foo' who was like 20 years old and used to wait for her after school in his Montecarlo. That dude had a goatee and all these jailhouse tattoos, I think he was from East Side Paramount or some shit. That punk ass bumped into me on purpose one time at Tams burgers and tried to pick a fight. I should have at least tried to sock his ass, I knew I had no chance but still, I shouldn't have just taken it, I shouldn't have let him get away with it. People have more respect for a man who has fought and lost than a man who has never fought at all.

After my junior year I only saw panchita a handful of times, she ended up going to a continuation school and having a kid before she was 17. After that I kind of forgot about her until a few weeks ago.

I sometimes do my laundry at this "open 24 hour" Laundromat near Manchester and prairie in Inglewood. Its right down the street from The Forum. I usually go around midnight because their is hardly anyone there. I didn't have change for a twenty so I went to ask the attendant for some change. sitting behind the counter was Panchita. I didn't expect her to recognize me after all it took me a bit to recognize her and pretty girls didn't pay attention to me back in high school. She is 24 but looks 42 and about 20lbs heavier, she had badly died hair and a tattoo tear under her right eye. She tattooed her lip liner in and her mans name in licorice letters across her neck. I got my change, washed my dirty laundry, and played some videogames. I was folding my clothes and watching the rebroadcast of the 11 o'clock news when she said, "you still look like you did in High school." I wish I could say the same for her. Her story was she had 3 kids from 2 different dudes, her last man was locked up, and she was planning on going to nursing school as soon as he got out. Fuck. But then again, what more can you expect?

the Voodoo Bunny

The Voodoo Bunny is a collaboration between me and a talented artist named Jason Jacenko. I enjoyed working on this project because I don't normally do this type of work. Jason lives in Australia check out his site at www.Jacenko.com I just think its so fucken awesome how two people, in two different parts of the world can, collaborate on such a cool project.

Ruby

Since I took this picture I have added a skirt and further defined Ruby. She is currently laying in a clay bed awaiting, "sufficient funds", to be molded.
Ruby is a stripper who works south of downtown LA at the Alameda strip club and bar. I dig that place 'cause Budweiser's are 2.50 a piece as opposed to the 4 or 5 bucks you pay at other joints. Ruby gives lap dances for 10 bucks and they are full songs too. One night I got there at about 1am and got some dances from her. She gave me 3 lap dances for only $20, being that they where the last three songs of the night. They turned on the lights meaning we all had to leave, so as I got up from my lap dance Ruby told me that 200 bucks got me whatever I wanted, as long as I gave her a ride home after. I was tempted, but being that my ass is always broke I had to pass. Someone once told me that women take rejections a lot harder than men. Maybe its true. The following week I went back and sat down like a big man, thinking Ruby would remember me but she just kept walking by. Finally, when I got the chance to wave her down, she came over and our conversation went like this,
"Hey, remember me, the RedRooster?"
"No, but that's a funny name"
"I'm the dude from last Thursday"
"oh, yeah....Hey, I got to go dance, but Ill talk to you later"
She never came back or bothered to look over for the rest of the night.....Ouch.