The Secret Art of Animators at The Hive Gallery

Stephen Sloane

On September 6th, The Hive Gallery and Studios will proudly present The Secret Art of Animators exhibition, offering a myriad of personal animation-based works from numerous well-known contemporary artists and cartoonists. Located at 729 South Spring Street, along Los Angeles’ Downtown Art Walk, the Hive Gallery and Studios is one amongst 40-plus galleries and museums found in the areas of Little Tokyo, Bunker Hill and Gallery Row – on both Main Street and Spring Street. Art aficionados flock to this area on the second Thursday of each month to enjoy music, as well as new artworks. In operation since the spring of 2005, The Hive is comprised of two large galleries, where 25 on-site artists work, and five artists’ works are featured in any given month. It is a center for fundraising events, as well as offers programs in figure drawing, yoga and even features private movie screenings.

The Secret Art of Animators was curated by Stephen Holman and Josephine T. Huang, who produced, directed and created the stop-motion animation series Life With Loopy on Nickelodeon, Warner Brothers’ Phantom Investigators and Disney’s The Bite-sized Adventures Of Sam Sandwich. Among the twenty-plus animators exhibiting their work that evening are: Star Wars: Episodes I & II model maker Tori Bellici; Coraline and The Nightmare Before Christmas stop motion animator Justin Kohn; South Park, The Fairly Odd Parents animation director/animator Martin Cendreda; and Carol Wyatt , production and color designer on The Simpsons and Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends. Some of their works will even be available for sale to the public that evening.

The Hive’s primary objective is to display high-quality Neo-Pop works. All artists who reside at The Hive must prove their dedication on a monthly basis, leading each artist to “fine-tune their craft, develop new communication forms, and experiment with particular styles, imagery and techniques. We seek to break down the quiet, traditional, art-on-white-walls, viewing experience and create a gallery atmosphere that is as equally alive as it’s artwork.”

The gallery also prides itself on allowing each artist to sell their art at low cost, in order to create the opportunity for the public to own an original work of art. Works generally range from $10 to $5000, though a separate artist-created item store makes all works available for under $50. More expensive works are, however, also available. All buyers are encouraged to create and maintain close relationships with artists and buy directly from artist with no “middle-man” commissions required.

$5 suggested donation at the door. Visit The Hive’s official website at https://hivegallery.com/honey/ for all latest event information.