Art exhibits, music, and the Fourth of July have our attention this weekend. We'll talk to the San Diego CityBeat crew about their picks for the holiday weekend.
Guests:
Kinsee Morlan is the arts and entertainment editor at San Diego CityBeat.
Peter Holslin is the music editor at San Diego CityBeat.
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This is a rush transcript created by a contractor for KPBS to improve accessibility for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Please refer to the media file as the formal record of this interview. Opinions expressed by guests during interviews reflect the guest’s individual views and do not necessarily represent those of KPBS staff, members or its sponsors.
CAVANAUGH: This is KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. Music, challenging art, and fireworks. It's 40 of July weekend in San Diego. On this weekend preview, we'll talk about new exhibits, an art tour, and a new art collective. Joining me are the CityBeat team. Kinsee Morlan is the arts and entertainment editor. Hi.
MORLAN: Thanks for having me.
CAVANAUGH: Peter Holslin is the music editor at CityBeat. Hi Peter.
HOLSLIN: What's going down, Maureen?
CAVANAUGH: It's lovely as always. I'm gonna ask you, Kinsey about a new exhibit at the Oceanside music of art. It's a work by marina de lo hose?
MORLAN: Marianela de la Hoise. He's a Mexican painter. She's really not afraid to show the darker side of life and humanity. And she's been living here in San Diego for a few years now, so I've been lucky enough to catch some of her past shows at Nopazza gallery in little Italy. And while I can't say it's always, you know, pleasurable or joyful to look at one of her paintings, I can say that it is interesting, challenging and one interesting thing about her is she works tiny. So her canvases -- picture a book, it's smaller than that, and so you really have to get up close. And she is so technically proficient that the details she gets in these tiny little pieces, it's extraordinary.
CAVANAUGH: What about it isn't pleasant though? What's challenging about it?
MORLAN: Talking to her, she put it to me this way. In snow white, she's never interested in snow white. She's interested in the evil godmother. And I don't know if I'm mixing my tales there. But she was always more interested in kind of the depth, the people with -- she does characters, all of her paintings are portraits, usually imaginary characters. She just -- it's like Goya. He got interesting when he got into his black painting, there was a war going on. And she says the same kind of thing. We're not all good, not all evil, we're somewhere in between. She calls it white violence. I don't want people to think it's going to be gory or disturbing. Upon I was looking at some of her paintings this morning. They are a little -- they'll catch you off guard. One is a butcher with his hands crossed. He's got a knife in his hand, and some flowers, and in the foreground there is a severed head in a bird cage, with a delicate red painting of a threat. It's not technically blood, but it looks to be that. She has a lot of references to this darker side. Again she calls it white violence, it's more poetic than just gore.
HOLSLIN: Sounds very picturesque.
MORLAN: It is fun to look at it explore. It's narrative art.
CAVANAUGH: And the show is called metamorphose. Which is a kind of combination of metaphor and met morphosis.
MORLAN: She's currently in the stage she's get will older like we all are. And she's obsessed with time. And so this kind of inescapable driving force of time. All of the -- most of the series in this show will focus on that, growing old, we're all fearful of growing old and maybe being alone one day. So she's touching on these really interesting universal themes that we all kind of hide and don't really talk about too often.
CAVANAUGH: It sounds like a very interesting show. And it opens at the Oceanside museum of art on Saturday. Peter, a band called the rose buds play the Casbah tonight. Tell us about them.
HOLSLIN: The rose buds are an indie rock duo, they're from Raleigh North Carolina. And there once was a time when they were known as one of indie rock's cutest married couples. They called each other Mr. And Mrs. Rose bud, they titled their debut album, the rose buds make out. They got divorced in 2008.
MORLAN: Ah.
CAVANAUGH: Heart break!
HOLSLIN: Still they never even considered breaking up the band. So they're still together musically.
CAVANAUGH: Those are musicians.
MORLAN: When you get divorced, you don't break up the band, that's a musician.
HOLSLIN: That's serious, yeah.
MORLAN: For the love of the music. Not the love of each other.
CAVANAUGH: Do you like the new album?
HOLSLIN: It's called loud planes fly low. And I think the album is just wonderful. It's one of their most personal efforts yet. It takes a hard look at their relationship and kind of accounting for what happened and it's very personal and very close. But it's also one of their first adventurous albums. They're covered a lot of territory over the years. It's intimate balladry, and arcade fire stall anthems, and this one track that's this really cool subtle almost like a disco track or something.
MORLAN: Let's hear a track from the new album. This is called woods by the rose buds.
(Audio Recording Played).
CAVANAUGH: That's the rose buds. It's called the woods from their new album. What are they like live? Do they still look and talk to each other on stage?
HOLSLIN: They have a representation for putting on really good live show. A lot of their older songs are messy, energetic power pop. It's just really feel-good energetic music. Like I said, this album is really close. It's really intimate. So I think there will be some interesting energy in the room.
CAVANAUGH: The rose buds play the Casbah tonight. An art exhibit called [CHECK AUDIO].
MORLAN: It's a tongue twister.
CAVANAUGH: Pop apocalypse. There you go. Opens at industry showroom tomorrow. What's that about?
MORLAN: As the hard to say name implies, it is a pop art show. But don't show up expecting to see works on canvas. This show was curated by thumb print gallery. And the two guys behind it put out a call for paper and vinyl sculptures. There will admittedly be more vinyl custom toy sculptures than paper. But there is a new artist, we have had him on our cover before, toy gamy, he does urban pop culture paper sculptures. He designs it in illustrator, cuts it out, and makes these little 3D dudes. He leaves them around town. Then the vinyl toys, it's cool because it's artists like sake, that I've never really seen -- they are more known for their canvas or graffiti work. I've never really seen them do these custom vinyl pieces. I'm interested in seeing what they came up with.
CAVANAUGH: Does this kind of build on the excitement for Comicon?
MORLAN: It does. Those who go to Comicon are fully aware of all the little vinyl collectibles that you can get there. And we all love Comicon but a lot of locals don't get to go. Those passes go, like -- they're out of there in a minute. They are hot cakes, yeah. So this is one of many events that happen before, during, and after Comicon where you can kind of get a little taste of that pop culture without having to brave those crowds or have those expensive passes. So yeah, there'll be little collectibles by local artists, which I think is really cool.
CAVANAUGH: Where is industry showroom?
MORLAN: It is a cultural space downtown at 345 Sixth Avenue in the Gaslamp. I don't know if I'm allowed to say this on public radio, but one of the goals of the space is kind of dedouchifiying the Gaslamp. Adding and inserting culture and art into a place that's really known for bars and clubs. It's a huge challenge, and they have been doing these events and building up momentum. They are a collective of retailers, so you can get your clothing, accessories, and they have this fine art gallery on the side as well. Check it out.
CAVANAUGH: I think the -ifying on the end made it okay. Pop apocalypse opens at industry showroom downtown tomorrow night. Art fist collective. Another edgy kind of thing.
MORLAN: Watch your words.
CAVANAUGH: They're having their first art show this weekend. Who are they, Peter?
HOLSLIN: A new art collective started by CityBeat nightlive columnist Enrique limon. And the members of the lion cut, which is an electropop duo whose songs are all themed around felines, and they go by the names Voltron and Kitty Tron. As you can imagine, this is going to be a pretty interesting bunch.
CAVANAUGH: From what I understand about this first show, they're showing artwork made by musicians, right?
HOLSLIN: Exactly, yeah.
CAVANAUGH: And so -- you don't necessarily -- we have a musician in the control room, I'm not gonna say anything, but you don't necessarily think of musicians also being visual artists.
HOLSLIN: It's true. I think it really depends. Like Lizzeth Santos from smile now, cry later, she's gonna have some of her work at the show. She's a professional photographer. She's a pro and --
MORLAN: Definitely known for her work.
HOLSLIN: There's also some other artists who are also musicians in San Diego like Andy raffle from writer who's not in this show. But he's also a really great local artist. I wouldn't be surprised if there's some newbies in this show.
MORLAN: There are. I heard Justin peer son from the Logan, he's a famous punk rocker in town, he's doing some photography work for the first time.
CAVANAUGH: Wow. Could you tell us a little bit about the mission statement of art fist, by doing a -ifying on the end or something?
HOLSLIN: Sure. The mission statement -- I don't know if I should read it. I have the quote here. It refers to a hygienic medical --
MORLAN: Cleansing.
HOLSLIN: Cleansing process.
MORLAN: Of the colon.
HOLSLIN: Colon cleansing vis-a-vis the local art scene.
CAVANAUGH: Beautifully done.
MORLAN: It's inserting some radness. I think they touch on they kind of go after the scene a little bit, calling it a little stale from time to time. And they want to make it fun and raucous.
HOLSLIN: They want to jolt it with a dose of cool as they say.
CAVANAUGH: Art fist collective show B side in jet gallery in little Italy Friday night. And somebody performing there, Freddy cougar, at the art fist collective show. Is he a huge horror fan or what? There's this picture of him with blood coming out of his mouth on his website.
HOLSLIN: I wouldn't say he's a huge horror fan. But I would say that he's a fan of silly nicknames. Freddy cougar is the new side project of Keith Mel Gaton, who we otherwise know as Jamuel Saxon, an electropop act, local electropop act, whose name if you switch around the J and the S, is Samuel Jackson, IE, another silly nickname. And he has a real gift for coming up with silly names like that.
CAVANAUGH: I think we can just slip in a sample of Freddy cougar. Here is Panama from the album, apocalypso now.
(Audio Recording Played).
CAVANAUGH: That is Panama by Freddy cougar who is going to perform at art fist collective show B side at jet gallery in Italy on Friday. Do you have any favorite San Diego spots to spend the fourth?
HOLSLIN: I hate to be a party pooper, but unfortunately, the fourth of July lands on a Monday for me this me. And that's the busiest day of the week for me. So I'll probably be working.
MORLAN: But basically anywhere we will be working -- but you people anywhere in San Diego get to have some fun. Anywhere in San Diego that is elevated. One year I watched the fireworks at an apartment complex on a hill outside of mission valley. If you get a spot early at the beaches, that's clearly one of the best places. I don't know if we can influence people because it's really a family holiday where you're gonna be hanging out, eating some potato salad, doing your thing, but there are some alt things that we could maybe recommend.
HOLSLIN: You could always sneak under the roof of one of the downtown hotels. That'll get you a great view.
CAVANAUGH: Why did I know? You can see a complete listing of fourth of July fireworks in San Diego on our website, KPBS.org. Whether you sneak on the officer of a downtown hotel or not. Even speaking with Kinsee Morlan and Peter Holslin, both of CityBeat. Thank you so much.
MORLAN: Thanks for having us.
HOLSLIN: Thanks for having us.
