Who hasn’t sat at a table, taken their beer off of a coaster and grabbed a nearby pen to doodle on the coaster? Most of us have, with varying results. The people who produce L.A. Beer Week came up with an idea and asked the gallery last year to get a group of animators, illustrators, tattoo artists, sculptors and college artists to place their art on beer coasters. This resulted in the first Coaster Show, with over 700 works of art displayed on beer coasters. This year, The Coaster Show 2014 is featuring over 1,000 works of coaster art.
Over 240 artists are participating in The Coaster Show. The range of skills is wide, from amateurs to well known, highly skilled professional artists. Even gallery owner Billy Shire has created a coaster.
All the artists were only given a few simple rules. Each coaster must be a solitary work, although several can be used together contextually. All the artists are supplied with a 4” tondo coaster, using it as a canvas to create a museum-worthy piece of art. Each coaster is for sale, with a maximum value of $250 or less. Since less is more, there is no bottom price, which means some coasters might even be free!
The Coaster Show 2014 is running through September 28 at the La Luz de Jesus Gallery, 4633 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, 90027.
