San Diego weekend arts events: 'Kitschmas,' opera and unity through dance
KPBS
By JULIA DIXON EVANS
"A Kitschmas Pageant" is a festive, kitschy and artistic holiday-themed installation and performance spectacular at the Athenaeum Art Center in Logan Heights. On view will be a delightfully low-brow, strange, colorful exhibition of ornaments, animatronics, dioramas, sculptures and more.
The exhibit is informed by the duo Brian & Ryan's commitment to kitsch as an art form.
"By and large, I feel like an artist's responsibility is to shine light onto things that we sometimes overlook."
Ryan Bulis, artist in Brian & Ryan
"I think not having access to much of contemporary art or art museums growing up, most of my exposure to visual culture was through objects and images, comic books, things that many artists probably are inspired by. But I think being able to appreciate something that's mass produced and maybe cheaply produced — or standing in line at 7-Eleven and looking at the gumball machines with the little toys inside and and just appreciating these, the smallest of gestures that somebody designed, that somebody spent time and energy making decisions," said Ryan Bulis. "By and large, I feel like an artist's responsibility is to shine light onto things that we sometimes overlook."