TARGET VIDEO: Blogging to Catch Up in 2012

Jackie Sharp & Joe Rees at Annie Wharton Gallery

Ok, so it's been a year since my last post. A lot has been going on but I've just not been driven to blog about it until now. So sue me. Time brings perspective, eh? Well, maybe.

Here's a pic of me and Joe at the Annie Wharton Gallery opening. If you missed the exhibit, you really missed a good one: an entire black room with a couch and beer for the sole purpose of viewing Black Flag. All you folks requesting Black Flag could have had it all. Let me know if you made it by the gallery. Joe pulled some large format prints from the Target Video footage for purchase.

Last October through January, MOCA's exhibition, "Under the Big Black Sun: California Art 1974-1981 was up. Paul Schimmel did an incredible job curating over 130 artists. In the exhibit, Target Video blared in its own theater with a 20 minute show. Mark Pauline also had a piece in the show and there was a ton of Black Flag imagery courtesy of Raymond Pettibon. The museum had our old pal, Bruce Conner's (RIP,) Mabuhay photos up in the show as well.

For the greater part of last year I worked with MOCA, Aandrea Stang and Paul Schimmel to bring together some great bands for a live show to close the exhibit. At the end of January, during the "LA Goes Live" week of " Pacific Standard Time" (Google it), X, Dead Kennedys and the Avengers put on an incredible outdoor show at the museum in Little Tokyo. Each band was amazing, as usual. They all, always deliver great performances.

Jackie Sharp, John Doe, Trudie & KK Barrett, Dewey Peek at MOCA "Under the Big Black Sun" Live show. Photo by Lynda Burdick.

The next generation got a glimpse of the past as I took Chip Kinman's son, Guilliano Scarfo (aka Dewey Peek,) around to meet some of his heroes. Guilliano's band, The Peeks, are really one of the next great LA bands. These guys are still in high school and already have a following. Watch for them!

Cliff Roman & Bruce Barf at the Dix Denney art opening, Sancho Gallery, Echo Park, CA

Photo by Jackie Sharp.

Another event that slipped by unnoticed here until now, the Dix Denney art show opening at the Sancho Gallery in Echo Park. It was a chilly, rainy evening last November that brought out the crowd for the opening. Behind the gallery Don Bolles spun music and bands played once it quit raining. Joe made it down to LA for the opening and we ran into Cliff & Grace Roman and Bruce Barf all former Weirdos. Dix's art was great and I think he sold several pieces that night. A fun night.

Tony Kinman & Chip Kinman at Jackie's birthday party at the Red Door.

Photo by Jackie Sharp.

So February comes along and so does my birthday. Party at The Red Door included the Kinman brothers and their wives, Kristie White and Lisa Reed, Cliff & Grace Roman,Trudie Barrett, Lisa Fancher, Hank Ford and plenty of other great friends. We had a great chance to catch up and relax.

Joe, Jackie & Jill at the SF Punk Reunion, September 15, 2012

Finally, a couple of weeks ago Jill and I drove up to SF for the SF Punk Reunion. We met up with Joe and had a great 3 days getting together with old friends and got to see some great music. So many bands played. Though I didn't get to see them all, I did catch the Zeros, the Mutants, the Offs, Noh Mercy, and Avengers. I'll get to posting on that later. Chi Chi, Peter Urban and the rest of "The Committee" did a great job pulling everything together. They made it possible for so many friends to meet up again after many years. Ruby Ray curated a great photo exhibit for the show. Jill, Ruby, Sue Brisk, Chester Simpson, James Stark, and many other photographers participated with fantastic work. Joe, Jill and I also got a chance to get to SFMOMA to see the Cindy Sherman show which was outstanding. Sunday Joe had to fly off to Austin, TX for a Target show, so he missed the great night at the Bottom of the Hill club with Noh Mercy, the Avengers and the Mutants. That night was just like the old days, lots of friends and noise... almost like the Mab.

Bruce Pollack, Jill Hoffman Kowal, Bruce Slesiger at the Bottom of the Hill, SF, CA September 16, 2012.

Photo by Jackie Sharp

While Jill and I were quite busy with the rest of the reunion, Joe put on a great show at the Alamo in Austin. We should be back there in a few months with more great footage!