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Hollywood & Fine

March 22, 2017

My Next Gallery Exhibit Opens April 8th!

The Venice Institute of Contemporary Art is an initiative designed to recognize and present artists who reflect the incalculable influence Venice, and Southern California in general, has had on the art world and culture at large. ViCA founder and curator Juri Koll has personally invited me to exhibit work in their upcoming show, Hollywood & Fine, the first curated gallery to open in the A.G Geiger Fine Art Bookstore.

"In it's inaugural exhibition, the A.G. Geiger Gallery and the Venice Institute of Contemporary Art (ViCA) presents a group exhibition of work focusing on Hollywood - from glitter and glamour to the gutter, from personalities and people to pipe dreams, from dreams to songs of dust. "

The Opening Night Reception kicks off on April 8th at 6pm, and you're invited! Visit the event on Facebook to RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/259443611180538

See you there!

Help Support My Journey to Art Basel

November 14, 2016

The Obnoxious Liberals Series Is Coming To Miami!

I'm proud to announce that TXTURE Magazine has invited me to exhibit pieces from my Basquiat-Inspired Bodypaint Portrait Series "Obnoxious Liberals" this year at their annual Miami Art Basel event, #TheArtFactory!

Miami Art Basel is an annual international art fair in Miami Beach, seeing visitors in the tens of thousands as hundreds of galleries present works from countries and artists all over the world. The rest of Miami comes alive with art as well during this time, and TXTURE Magazine has teamed up with Art & Sol Studios in the heart of the Wynwood Arts District to put together an event on December 3rd to showcase new and emerging talents from across the US.

I couldn't be happier to end this year with such an amazing honor, as it was only this past January that I exhibited prints of my work for the first time ever at the RAW:Hollywood showcase.

This Is Where I Need Your Help

In order to make my Miami exhibit the best it can be, I have started a Kickstarter campaign to raise a portion of the funds necessary to print and prepare this gallery. Since the date is so close to last month's debut of the Obnoxious Liberals series at the Exchange Room Gallery, I'm having a bit of trouble covering these expenses myself while still in the red from my previous outing.

The Kickstarter campaign is essentially a fire-sale on prints, ranging from 4x6 tests all the way up to the 20x28 exhibition pieces I'd like to create for Miami. Any donation of $10 or more receives an exclusive print in return, and 8x10s from the Obnoxious Liberals series can be had for as little $25. Click Here to visit the Kickstarter to purchase your print and help me make my Art Basel exhibit one for the books!

Thank you!

Obnoxious Liberals: Opening Night Reception

October 18, 2016

Opening Night at the Exchange Room Gallery

This past Saturday my Basquiat-inspired bodypaint portrait series Obnoxious Liberals debuted at the Exchange Room Gallery of Il Tramezzino UCLA. Check out some highlights from the night below:

All photos courtesy of ERG's own Antonio Renoj.

View the Obnoxious Liberals series online here, and visit the Print Store to pickup your copy today!

The Time Has Finally Come For My First Solo Photography Exhibit!

September 28, 2016

A few months back I shared a little insight into the creative process of developing the concept that would soon become my first ever solo photography exhibit, a collection of abstract bodyscape portraits inspired by the neo-expressionist paintings of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Now after five months of shooting, Obnoxious Liberals: A Bodypaint Tribute To Jean-Michel Basquiat will open on October 15th, 2016 at the Exchange Room Gallery of Il Tramezzino UCLA!

Come enjoy the Opening Night Reception on October 15th at 7pm, featuring live art and entertainment with music from DJ Santana of TruthSeekers Radio 90.7 KPFK, a live bodypainting session, guest photographic work from Sahmia Ase, and live spoken word performances, with free food and drinks courtesy of Il Tramezzino Italian Restaurant and free beer courtesy of Golden Road Brewing!

Attendance is FREE for all ages! (Must be 21+ to drink). RSVP on Facebook and visit ExchangeRoomGallery.com for more info!

The Exchange Room Gallery is located at 110 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, California 90095

See below for parking details:

Parking Structure 4 is located at: 221 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095 — Parking Structure 4 is located at: **221 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095**

So I've Decided To Take Printing Into My Own Hands

September 20, 2016

Because Why Not Print More While Spending Less?

A typical development & low-res scan package from a photo lab ranges anywhere from about $10 to $25 per roll depending on where you go. I'd typically spend about $13 at my lab. Add that to the cost of a roll of film, like my personal favorite Portra 800, and it's safe to say it cost me roughly $25 every time I wanted to shoot a roll of film to share with the world. Now mind you, the scans included in this cost only provided enough resolution to display on the web. For a truly high resolution scan needed for printing large formats, I'd be looking at anywhere between $5 to $25 PER NEGATIVE depending on just how much enlarging I'd need.

All that covers is just getting my photos ready to make prints, never mind the printing itself. At a fine art photo lab I'd be looking at anywhere from $50 to $100 per final print, never mind the costs of testing color profiles and paper stocks. When it's all said and done I'd easily be looking at a few thousand in expenses to print enough work for my upcoming solo exhibit. Now don't get me wrong, quality prints from a fine art lab are certainly worth it, but until people start shelling out thousands of dollars for my prints (give it time), these costs just weren't gonna cut it. I am a starving artist after all, I barely clear a few thousand in annual income...

So as I've moved into the printing era of my photographic endeavors, and now working on my third (and possibly also forth) gallery exhibit of the year, it became clear that it was time I took printing into my own hands. And with the successful test run of my digital printing method and print sale, I've decided to do just that. Thanks to an impeccably-timed rebate, I've recently invested in a large format digital printer from Canon (full review coming soon).

This seemed to make the most sense from a business perspective as well. As much as people tell me they like my photos, it's hard to like something enough to spend upwards of $200 a piece on it (lookin' at you, Tinder dates, hope you like Ramen), so I'll be the first to admit that the darkroom pricing options currently in my Print Store just aren't for everybody. And since I've officially reached the limit of how many pieces of furniture and/or photographic equipment I can reasonably fit into a studio apartment, my home darkroom project is going to have to wait a few years.

Still, it makes sense to offer a more economical solution for people who truly enjoy my work and would like to own a piece of it. Especially considering that the majority of my audience are other film photographers, and we all know how broke we are. But with that out of the way, there's still the other elephant in the room, in that scanning high res is fcking expensive. How do we solve this problem? Well, that's a good question for another time. (Hint: I'm bought a scanner too). For now, I've got some learning to do, as digital printing opens up a whole new science of photography that I have only just begun to scratch the surface of.

First Test of the Nimslo 3D Camera

April 29, 2016

Do These Count As Motion Pictures?

At last week's I AM Group Art Show, I got a chance to test out my new-to-me Nimslo camera. This was a "3D" camera introduced in 1980 as a way of shooting 3D images that could be viewed without glasses through a technology called Lenticular printing. Think of old school trading cards that have moving images on them if you moved the card back and forth to view it from different angels. Lenticular printing isn't around anymore, but these cameras were built to use traditional 35mm film, meaning they're still perfectly good cameras. They work but firing the shutters of 4 lenses at the same time, to capture four of the same image across the span of two 35mm negatives. These days, you can scan those negatives into Photoshop and create mini "3D" moving pictures by layering them all on top of each other and creating animations that alternate between the visible layers.

I tested it out at the gallery opening during David Vines' performance and got some pretty cool results...

The trick here is to find the right subjects to shoot in the right way, in order to really emphasize the separation between the foreground and background, and the subject's position in relation to both. It'll certainly be fun to play around with, that's for sure.

I AM: Group Art Show

April 13, 2016

ART . MUSIC . FOOD . FREE

What more could you ask for?

I'm proud to announce that my second official photography exhibit will be up and on display in The Exchange Room Gallery at the Il Tramezzino Italian restaurant at UCLA from April 23rd until July 31st!

The official gallery opening will begin at 7pm on the 23rd and feature live music from RnB singer/songwriter David Vines, DJ Santana from TruthSeekers Radio 90.7 KPFK, food and drinks provided by Il Tramezzino, a live installation painting by The Exchange Room Gallery's own Suzan Z, and the collective work of 16 visual artists!

This is a FREE event for ALL AGES! So mark your calendars and get ready for a night of food, art and entertainment!

Except for parking. Parking isn't free. It's still in Los Angeles after all...

But everything else, yeah... Free.

PARKING AND LOCATION INFO

THE EXCHANGE ROOM GALLERY

UCLA ANDERSON SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

110 Westwood Plaza F211

Los Angeles, CA 90095

In case you missed it, PARKING ISN'T FREE.

Visit ExchangeRoomGallery.com for more info!

RAW:Hollywood Presents Futures

January 14, 2016

My First Photography Exhibit

"Instagram? You mean the place where people take pictures of their food and put dramatic filters on their bathroom selfies? Yeah, no thanks." - Corey Deshon, circa 2010

Okay, I'll admit it, I was never an early pioneer of the emerging social networking trends, despite studying Information Technology for nine years. Even as of today, I don't have a Snapchat, I don't have a Vine, I'm still not really sure what Periscope is, I've retired from Facebook, and literally the only reason why my Twitter account exists is because I figured I might as well claim the name @CoreyDeshon, because who knows what I might need it for one day. (I will say I am actively trying to use it now. We'll see how that goes).

But Instagram, I must say, has certainly pulled its weight. I finally joined in 2014 after my shoot with Ama, who convinced me that it would be well worth it to promote my work. After all, I was really only shooting because I loved it, so why market? Well, this is why...

After a year and a half working up a pretty decent following (hoping to cross the 9k followers mark next month), my photos began getting some attention in places I'd never think to find them. One of those such places was an event in San Diego, that if I remember correctly had something to do with women's empowerment. I really have no idea what the event actually was, because they didn't exactly ask if they could use my photos. But no harm done, as they did their due diligence by ensuring to credit my name as the photographer and link back to my Instagram. And to be honest, I'm actually quite proud of this, since I do try to ensure that when photographing women, I do so in a way that is respectful, empowering, and unexploitative. So for this event to receive my photos that way must mean I'm doing something right haha. But anyway...

A few weeks after this event I get a call from one of the Showcase Directors of RAW Artists, inviting me to come display my work their upcoming showcase in Hollywood. It turns out, someone saw my work at this event, traced the photo back to Instagram and eventually my old website, found my contact information, and asked if I'd want to exhibit. And that, my friends, is why every photographer should have an Instagram.

Well, the RAW Showcase was tonight, and it was one of the best experiences I've had in my photographic journey to date. Check out some photos below:

(RAW Showcase photos courtesy of Jeffrey Smallwood, Flip Cassidy, and Gil Riego).

Not only was this my first time ever exhibiting my work in print, but it was my first time ever printing photos as well. (Read more about the series I chose to print in my interview with Pixel Magazine here). Naturally, I chose to go with all darkroom printing methods, to ensure the heart of analogue still remained a key factor of my exhibit. I can't wait to showcase again with RAW, and to continue printing my photos for display. Making prints has been a long time coming for me, and this was certainly the jump start I needed to begin the new year strong.

Prints from the showcase and more are available for purchase now in the store!

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