Death Cult at Torrance Art Museum 2020

Had this wonderful large black skull I made for the exhibition Death Cult at Torrance Art Museum. It runs through March 2020 

Fresh Air, a collaboration with Harry Mathews

Fresh Air, a collaboration with Harry Mathews. Harry was deceased when I moved into his studio and home in San Diego in 2014 . I tried on a pair of glasses I found in his studio and they were my exact prescription. I became obsessed with finding out more and I discovered he was an oil painter but I never found any of his art in the studio or house. So, I started to collaborate with Harry and his spirit by making things with the items I discovered in his studio.

Photos of New York Installation

Reviews

Don Porcella solo exhibition "Everything Must Go". Reception: Saturday, June 3, 6-9pm

Don Porcella: "Everything Must Go"

Opening Reception: Saturday, June 3, 6-9pm

Noysky Projects

7/8, 6727 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028

Noysky Projects is pleased to present Everything Must Go, a site-specific exhibition by Don Porcella that examines the intersection of consumer culture and the commodification of memories. Located just 100 feet from the hustle and bustle of Hollywood Boulevard, Everything Must Go illuminates America’s obsession with nostalgia, the lure of the tourist industry, and the manipulation of desire.

The souvenir shop is one of the few places where the average person can purchase a token symbolizing the American Dream, affording the tourist a memento of a place and time that has intense meaning. Relics from a souvenir shop are typically a cheap imitation of luxury that are made from impermanent materials, much like a film set. But unlike the polished veneer of a stage, Porcella embraces unrefined characteristics in his relics, using accessible materials like pipe cleaner, puffy paint, and cardboard, affirming the true value of the subjects represented.

Porcella’s awkward and comical representations conjure a formative, more innocent time. Vivid recreations from his memories are commodified, including shoes that were stolen, pure air from his childhood, and his unrealized sports career, critiquing consumer culture and the idea that people will sell anything, including their own humanity, to obtain material prosperity.

As historic cathedrals to capitalism like Sears and JC Penney fall in favor of virtual ones like Amazon and eBay, the brick-and-mortar shop is rapidly becoming a relic of the past. Drawing inspiration from the ebbs and flows of consumerism, Porcella will restock objets d’art throughout the duration of the exhibition, implying both the scarcity of product and the ephemerality of memory.

While consumer culture remains central to Porcella’s work, the absurdity of the art business also appears throughout the exhibition. Art trope avatars are apparent in Patron, Critic, Dealer, and Artist, where the sale of cheap merchandise is conflated with the sale of serious art, revealing the internal dialogue artist is faced as both the facilitator and inhibitor of their own work.

Despite its wide embrace of American culture, Porcella’s work remains equally critical of it, mirroring the country’s socio-economic trends and its obsession with the authenticity of the past. Everything Must Go is a rare opportunity for people from disparate walks of life to discuss their dreams and aspirations while evoking an inclusive space to discuss new ones.

Don Porcella’s work has been exhibited in galleries, museums, and alternative spaces across the globe. Everything Must Go is his first solo show at Noysky Projects. His work has been reviewed by The New York Times, NY ARTS, Fiber Arts Magazine, Chelsea Now, San Francisco Magazine and The Village Voice. He has a BA in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego; a BFA from California College of Arts and Crafts; and an MFA from Hunter College, New York. Porcella’s work is included in public and private collections across the United States and Europe. He has received grants from the Council on the Arts and Humanities for Staten Island, the Brooklyn Arts Council, an EAF Fellowship from Socrates Sculpture Park, the 2012 West Collects Prize, an artist residency at the Museum of Arts and Design, and a 2014 Swatch Art Residency in Shanghai.

a VIDEO INTERVIEW about my project for Hermes by a Chinese Luxury Magazine

It doesn't get much better than this! Here I am talking about weaving, craftsmanship and my Mom. This is a VIDEO INTERVIEW about my project for Hermes by a Chinese Luxury Magazine. Click the link to watch the interview:

http://www.acmedynasty.com/video-ultimate.html?id=275

Don Porcella Art Installation and Exhibition in Shanghai, China

Creatures in Wonderland 

by Don Porcella
2016-06-10 @ HERMES Maison Shanghai, China 217 Huahai Road

June 8th, 2016 - September 7th, 2016

To echo "gallop between the natural world," the annual theme, the Haiaimashi home to join the American artist Mr. Don Porcella, interesting sketch of the landscape of the 2016 Summer House Haiaimashi showcase theme - "creatures in Wonderland" will be a natural feeling to simple and straightforward visual language drawn map out the unique humanistic feelings.

Mr. Don Porcella of rare value creation and respected craft, good at using common materials to create simple proximity popular culture works of art to explore the mechanism of interaction between man and nature. This time, he chenille material as the material of the pipe cleaners, hand-woven and sculptures presented by modality animal life, animal and human metaphor shape and interaction, leading the viewer to rethink the life philosophy of natural origin. Window to four eminent zoologist named, to pay tribute to the great natural explorers.

Interesting material impact natural philosophy, handmade Pierre encounter Smart Art. 2016 on the theme of summer Haiaimashi House window, through the flexible use of the daily life of the artist materials, remodeling into artistic expression. Borrow from the organism of interest depicted Smart lead the viewer ponder life and a new definition of nature, exploring deep Ziranzhili yet chic fun. As interspersed therebetween Hermes handicrafts, inherited the centuries-old tradition, take the source of life, return to nature, adding to the quality of life for the brilliant comment.


Monkey Summer Paradise

Zoologist Jane Goodall (Jane Goodall) devoted his life to wildlife research, education and protection, especially in the field of research chimpanzees remarkable achievements. Tribute to Jane Goodall, named for its artists the window painted a bright picture of the summer. Vibrant green outline of rolling hills and lush forests, showing a monkey summer paradise. Lightweight and agile monkey clever as innocent children, frolic or play, or with a companion whispering, or sit and enjoy the food. Ordinary material via handmade, creating every little monkeys off joy, pleasant demeanor and actions, the window jumping a sense of freedom.


Flamingo Love Story

Charles Darwin (Charles Darwin) as the founder of the theory of evolution on reproduction and development of the entire biosphere made ​​a materialistic interpretation of the law. Named after him in the window, a symbol of freedom in South America will be blazing red head dove love with the atmosphere to land in South America and imaginative. Bright shades chenille create an elegant and inspirational flamingos, slender neck and body lightly walking to the couples to love freeze. Vibrant colors collision, love Mashi Zhen goods tempting whisper, vividly recounting brand dedication to traditional arts and crafts as well as the natural breeding way of reverence.

Sea World Penguins


Jacques Cousteau (Jacques Cousteau) is a French naval officer, also a famous explorer and marine biological researchers. In its name in the window, the cool deep blue ocean lay out one of the Antarctic, to pay tribute to Jacques Cousteau initiative to defend Antarctica enthusiasm. Naive penguin to the thick ice as a platform, slightly open wings, swinging round body, as if the next second you can hear the sound of spray they jumped into the water after the light.

Deer · Jungle Adventure

As an early leader of the environmental movement, John Muir (John Muir) and text adventure with nature are well known. With his name in the window, chameleons and butterflies in the trees breath, a nimble deer being stopped running in mountain forest, eyes clear look to the fruit of the tree. Quiet and nice to talk with joy picture natural thinking and enlightenment.

Group Exhibition in New York City at Cindy Rucker Gallery​

I will be in a group exhibition in New York City at Cindy Rucker Gallery​ opening this FRIDAY! The Emperor of Ice Cream : Adam Hayes, Matt Kleberg, Markus Linnenbrink, Don Porcella - November 13, 2015 to December 20, 2015
http://cindyruckergallery.com/exhibition/emperor-ice-cream-adam-hayes-matt-kleberg-markus-linnenbrink-don-porcella

Solo Museum Exhibition Opens December 4th in Southern California

I am having a solo exhibition at this museum in Southern California that opens December 4th and

will go through March 31st, 2016.

Parsonage Museum

• 1. ADDRESS:3185 Olive Street
     Lemon Grove, CA 91945
  2. PHONE:(619) 460-4353

I will be in a group exhibition in Los Angeles opening November, 2015.

I will be in a group exhibition in Los Angeles opening November, 2015. 

When Jupiter Aligns with Mars 

Opening, November 7, 7 - 10 p.m.

Show dates: November 7 - December 5, 2015

SugarMynt Gallery

810 Meridian

South Pasadena, CA 91030

2 person exhibition opening next week in Paris, France

"The Natural" pipe cleaners, 34 x 3 x 3 inches, 2015. By Don Porcella​

"The Natural" pipe cleaners, 34 x 3 x 3 inches, 2015. By Don Porcella​

I just made this homage to the hand made. In the movie clip, Hobbs says he made the bat by hand when he was a kid. This adds a conceptual element to the sculpture that ties it to the movie and the experience we all feel when watching an aging man return to the game he loves. I value the hand made and this sculpture makes a distinct connection to hand made things.

"The Natural" pipe cleaners, 34 x 3 x 3 inches, 2015. By Don Porcella​

"The Natural" pipe cleaners, 34 x 3 x 3 inches, 2015. By Don Porcella​

here is the movie clip...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8Ancd0WztU

Newsletter

Interview on Public Radio

You can listen to this interview that will be broadcast on 40 Public Radio stations across the United States today. I mention my Mom, artist Yvonne Porcella​, my Dad, Robert S Porcella​ and his science fiction book collection, Raw Vision Magazine, Harry Mathews, the mural I painted in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn at The Owl's Head​, my Shapeshifter exhibition at Low Gallery​ and much, much more.

http://jackshalom.net/2015/08/06/the-outsider-as-artist/

"Selfie Masks" @ Ship in the Woods Exhibition

"Selfie Masks" by Don Porcellapipe cleaners2015Post photos of yourself in the mask and live through your avatar on social media

Cognitive Camouflage

Friday, January 30 at 6:00pm

1660 Lugano Lane, Del Mar, CA 92014

Cognitive Camouflage is a group exhibition whose collective works delve into the many aspects of social anxiety in the postmodern era. Mediums such as installation, sound, film, painting and interactive performance will be displayed. WSOHOIDPS will present a deep examination of contemporary social anxiety topics that range from the cliché of “fitting in” to the increasing pinch of systemic oppression. 

This exhibition will also focus on how the technological apparatus can magnify conflict between culture, class, gender and related issues. The works will also address how desire for image perfection, status or achieving a level of acceptability set among peers can lead to self-doubt or alienation. In response, artists will demonstrate how to break down barriers causing social anxiety by using the same technology that fostered them, allowing the audience to participate in techniques on how to overcome social anxiety through interactive performances. 

Upcoming Exhibitions

I will have artwork in several upcoming exhibitions. Here is one of them and I will add the other exhibition information as the press kits become available…

1. Unloaded
http://www.spacepittsburgh.org/portfolio-view/unloaded/

UNLOADED

ORGANIZED BY SUSANNE SLAVICK

2/13/2015 - 4/26/2015

Gallery Crawl: April 24, 2015

Unloaded is a group show organized by Susanne Slavick that explores historical and social issues surrounding the availability, use and impact of guns in our culture. 

Artists to date include: Lauren F. Adams, Nina Berman, Josh Bienko, Anthony Cervino, Mel Chin, Cathy Colman, James Duesing, Vanessa German, Jinshan, Andrew Ellis Johnson, Adrian Piper, Don Porcella, Susanne Slavick, Renee Stout and Stephanie Syjuco

2. A SHIP IN THE WOODS - House Show opens January 2015.

3. LOW Gallery - Drawing Exhibition by Don Porcella, June 2015.

Global Identity Project at the San Diego Art Institute

The Global Identity Project started in Shanghai, China this summer during my 3 month art residency at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel. It is a series of photographs I took of people from all over the world wearing a hat I made. The hat is made with pipe cleaners that I bought in China. In this case, the hat symbolizes China and America, but in a new way. My theory is that national identity is giving way to a more inclusive global identity. By wearing a hat that symbolizes China and America, these people change our perception of what identity has become in a global world where travel and the internet has blurred the lines of our identity.

On Saturday November 8th from 2pm - 4pm, I will be photographing people in the hat I made. People who visit the SAN DIEGO ART INSTITUTE in Balboa Park @ 1439 EL PRADO, SAN DIEGO, CA, 92101 from 2pm - 4pm tomorrow can have their photo taken in the Global Identity Project. Photos will be added to future exhibitions of this project. Come be a part of a cool art project that attempts to show how we are all part of a global community. 
http://www.sdai-beyondlimits.squarespace.com/

Since the project's inception this summer, I have taken photos of 75 people in this hat. 

The first version of the "Global Identity Project" by Don Porcella 

will be in an exhibition in Shanghai, China as part of SWATCH's permanent collection.
FACES and TRACES – A contemporary arts exhibition,
中国上海市南京东路23号(外滩19号),邮编:200002
23 East Nanjing Road (Bund 19), Shanghai 200002, China
October 31st, 2014 – January 31st, 2015

2014 Sculpture by Don Porcella made during Shanghai, China art residency

Bust of Shanghai Woman, 2014

25x20x15 inches, pipe cleaners, 2014. 

Made in Shanghai, China during 

Swatch Art Peace Hotel residency.

"Tree Huggers" by Don Porcella is in a traveling exhibition in France

"Tree Huggers" by Don Porcella is in a traveling exhibition in France right now and it will also travel to Como, Italy.

27/02/2014 - 23/03/2014
Le Beffroi
2, place Emile Cresp
Montrouge FR

Il grande progetto degli ultimi anni è stato, per Montrouge, il rinnovo del suo antico teatro, trasformato in un importante centro culturale e di congressi. Con la restaurazione del Beffroi, la città di Montrouge dispone ora di una nuova sede destinata ad accogliere mostre, spettacoli teatrali e concerti, oltre a congressi e meeting per privati, disponendo di una sala dell'estensione di 1 000 m2, e di 2 sale per spettacoli, di cui una con 735 posti a sedere.

Pipe Cleaner Swatch Watch

In honor of receiving the SWATCH ART Residency in Shanghai, China this year, I made a pipe cleaner Swatch Watch. Here are some photos. It is a prototype. I own a pretty good size Swatch Watch Collection so I have always been open to designing a watch. Let's see what happens...

A-Side/B-Side opens Dec. 13, 2013 6-8PM

A-Side/B-Side opens Dec. 13, 2013 6-8PM and runs through Jan. 19, 2014
Co-curated by MaDora Frey and Katerina Lanfranco
A-Side/B-Side is a show featuring artworks and artistic side projects byJolynn Krystosek, Sharon Louden, Rachel Ostrow, Don Porcella, Richard Saja, and Nicole Tschampel. The work in this exhibition investigates the expanding field of artistic practice in Contemporary Art.

Pipe Cleaner Baseball

This is the baseball I made for the Fantasy Baseball league I am in. It is made using

pipe cleaners. It is a process I invented of making three dimensional sculpture

and it is what I am mostly known for as an artist. It is a signature piece and relates to my

passion for baseball and art.