ShockBoxx Gallery

Precious metal at ShockBoxx in Hermosa

Christina Smith’s (Amrta’s) show opens Saturday at ShockBoxx.

Hermosa Music Company, Shockboxx art gallery create cultural hub in Hermosa Beach

“The whole area, the Cypress industrial arts area, is so rich in history, with the surfing, with Jose Barahona, Jon Mangiagli, the Becker surfboards and Dan Cobley, it’s phenomenal.”

Sugar-Coated is Bittersweet at Shockboxx

Sugar-Coated, at Shockboxx Gallery through the end of April, is a deeply personal show. Vivid colors splash and swirl against black backgrounds, and nearly hidden in those backgrounds are a darker black image of a daisy. The implication is that the viewer must peer into the abyss to see the beauty growing there, within these large-scale works.

Joy Ray’s Duplicated Spirits at Shockboxx Project

Like a headstone rubbing xeroxed endlessly, a song chanted backwards and upside down, faded denim worn then unworn, the spirit of a little object awoken by its transition to artifact, Joy Ray’s solo exhibition Ghost Visions haunts its October-long venue, Shockboxx Project. Ray’s work, for the living, demonstrates the supernatural forces that rest upon language, material, and process.

Meet Mixed Media Painter Joy Ray

Painter Joy Ray layers pigment and sand on rough textile, along with rusted metal and laid-in wool, needlework and cross-stitch. A punk and tribal goth is expressed in her rough symphonies of black pigments whose diverse textures variegate the canvases. The prominence of hand-stitching as a form of mark-making in Ray’s compositions highlights the aspects of her practice most engaged with the art and cultural history of textile, even as these marks reference coded, extraterrestrial and/or ancient pictographic languages. An exhibition of her new works opens in Hermosa Beach this week, with a romantic witchy energy perfect for calling forth spooky season.

Joy Ray Will Conjure the Other Worldly at Shockboxx

Opening October 9th, and closing on Halloween, it’s only right that Joy Ray should offer new works with a beautifully haunting theme – Ghost Visions.

“I think of ghosts as a kind of ambassador to an unseen world,” Ray says. “This could be an actual ghost, or a dream, premonition, or intuition, one of those moments of strangeness that makes us aware of the fact we’re surrounded by the mysterious at all times.”

Life, always hanging in the balance

The figures in Scott Meskill’s recent and not-so-recent paintings are pretty much cut from the same cloth. Generally speaking, they’re male, nude, and often in a curled or contorted position. None of them have smooth, flawless skin, and several call to mind an écorché, a figurural study in which the skin has been removed in order to highlight the musculature of the body. Leonardo da Vinci and Andreas Vesalius are two artists who drew these in order to better understand human anatomy. Think of Body Works; it’s kind of like that.

Shockboxx Rocks

Pandemic or no pandemic, the show must go on. The art show that is. Shockboxx has been providing exciting new shows for by-appointment viewing in the gallery’s airy space, as well as offering virtual opening and closing events and artists’ talks since the pandemic first began. If establishing a community is more important to the art world than ever before, then this Hermosa Beach gallery is upholding that important mandate big time.

Drica Lobo’s vibrant artwork at ShockBoxx

Drica Lobo’s ShockBoxx show is about connection, and being in the moment. The exhibition is like a big candy box with its vibrant paintings, tempered by several rhythmic black and white drawings, a sculpture or two, and a small room in the back of the gallery that will indulge your five senses.

Decoding the Flow, Exhibition by Drica Lobo

Los Angeles based artist, Drica Lobo’s latest exhibit, “Decoding the Flow”, will open to the public beginning on Saturday, August 29th, 2020. Hosted by Shockboxx Project, the opening reception will virtually take place from 6-8pm via Zoom in Hermosa Beach, CA.

Meet Mike Collins | Painter, Curator, Gallery Owner & Psychologist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mike Collins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mike, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?

When we opened ShockBoxx we were sailing on more momentum than thought.

Shockboxx Vibes – Quarantine Style

Just closed, the solo show by Shockboxx program artist Kymm Swank did not disappoint. Vibrant and visceral abstracts are often a signature at the gallery, where recent shows, both group and solo, have offered a kinetic energy that feels synonymous with the gallery’s style.

Kymm Swank: Was There Any Reason That You Could Not Have Accepted Full-Time Work Each Workday?

LA-based abstract artist Kymm Swank has been using her time in self-quarantine to produce a new series of work and has an entire solo show, which opened at ShockBoxx Gallery last week, to show for it. Her show Was There Any Reason That You Could Not Have Accepted Full-Time Work Each Workday? showcases a departure from her previous style to study texture + explore the juxtaposition of structure + chaos. We chatted with Kymm all about the show, her process + the making of the largest piece she’s ever done (226x58 inches!!!).

Quarantine Q&A: Mike Collins of ShockBoxx

Art, Life and the Business of Art during COVID-19

Are you still changing exhibitions as you would if open and are the exhibitions virtual-only now? How’s that going?

We haven’t slowed our programming at all during quarantine. The opening reception for Sarah Svetlana’s solo show, “Secret Garden,” was on March 7th, with the show scheduled to run through the end of that month. The opening was well attended, but the effects of the coming changes were already being felt.

ShockBoxx in Hermosa Beach offers 3-D virtual tours to showcase artist’s work

Sarah Svetlana’s solo art show at ShockBoxx in Hermosa Beach was put in limbo when the novel coronavirus pandemic hit and the show was eventually shut down following a successful opening.

After the lockdown, with Svetlana’s work still in the gallery and unfinished works on the floor, ShockBoxx co-founder Mike Collins said they “didn’t want to rock back on our heels and wait.”

5 Ways Galleries Are Finding Success during COVID-19

California-based gallery ShockBoxx worked with a digital designer to put together a 3D model of its current exhibition, and has been streaming artist talks via Zoom. ShockBoxx’s digital visitors can make instant purchases through Artsy’s Buy Now and Make Offer selling options.

Mike Collins: The Funeral Party

Meet LA-based artist, psychologist + ShockBoxx Gallery owner Mike Collins. Collins has been working tirelessly on his upcoming solo show, The Funeral Party, opening at ShockBoxx on Saturday, March 23. The dark, massive pieces, constructed of any material Collins could get his hands on, are inspired by his personal struggles with alcoholism + have The Cure references dispersed throughout.

Scott Meskill: An Everlasting Itch

Painter + sculptor Scott Meskill expresses themes of hope, boundaries + current political issues through a series of captivating faceless, limbless figures. The LA-based artist is taking over ShockBoxx Gallery with his solo show An Everlasting Itch.

Sarah Svetlana: секретный сад [secret garden]

We’ve had our eye on LA-based painter Sarah Svetlana since first seeing her work around our longtime favorite spot ShockBoxx. This time around, she’s taking over the entire gallery with her upcoming solo show.

Theodosia Marchant: Domestic Animals

LA-based artist Theodosia Marchant paints a narrative of human nature in 16 frames in her solo show Domestic Animals. The collection is Marchant’s personal experiment on human behavior, combining her signature figures + love of psychology.

Preston M. Smith: Playtime Is Over?

Abstract artist Preston M. Smith asks Playtime Is Over? in his upcoming solo show at ShockBoxx Gallery, opening this Saturday, May 18th from 7:00-9:00pm. After chatting with him, we can confidently say that the playfulness is nowhere near over.

Sharks invade ShockBoxx gallery in Hermosa Beach

By Mike Hixon

“Shark Week” opened Saturday at the ShockBoxx Project Gallery, located at 636 Cypress St. in Hermosa Beach. The exhibit was the brainchild of artist Chris Prenter, according to ShockBoxx co-founder Mike Collins.

“Off with their heads!” It’s a Queendom at ShockBoxx Gallery

by bondo Wyszpolski

“Queendom,” the installation piece by Patty Grau and Diane Strack, which was one of the highlights or hijinks of last month’s “CA 101.” Despite its resemblance to a kitschy photobooth, the work mesmerized nearly everyone who wandered over to it, and that included Mike Collins and Laura Schuler, the proprietors of Hermosa’s ShockBoxx Project Gallery.

Work of Art: Cypress Street fixture Keoni Boyd, after decades in surfboard industry, looks back with a Hermosa Beach gallery show steps from the places he calls home

By ryan mcdonald

Timing is everything in surfboard manufacturing, but Keoni Boyd does not wear a watch. Nor does he have a cell phone.