The site laArt Party.com, a useful tool to navigate what and where to see art in the Log Angeles area featured the Nepal Art Dogs recently.
For Immediate Release: March, 2016
Santa Monica, CA: “DANGER DOGS – Folk Art from the Himalayas” is the creation of Michelle Page of Santa Monica, who became intrigued by hand-painted metal “Beware of Dog” signs adorning gates in Nepal. She decided to promote a fair trade art project featuring these charming paintings and save a dying art form.
Danger Dogs are custom enamel portraits of dogs on metal signboards, approximately 1’x1’. Made in Nepal by 66 different artist studios, these signs range from primitive to photo-realistic. Each is a hand-painted original work of art, signed by the artist. Michelle has commissioned over 3400 signboards to date – making a difference in these artists’ lives. A commissioned portrait of a pet ranges from $250 to $400. They retail in museum shops for $200 to $300.
Each commission generates 3 portraits of a pet: giving 3 Nepali artists fair trade work and giving the pet lovers 3 choices.
John Walsh, Director Emeritus of the Getty (1983-2000) has written: “I have been so delighted by these paintings that I’ve bought four of them recently. Michelle has found a whole subculture of self-taught artists living in dodgy circumstances in Kathmandu and brought their delightful work to the West. All of them have fluent Nepalese warnings and delicious almost–correct English subtitles. There is a lot of sophistication here.
“American Dogs = Nepali Jobs”. This project is about keeping the artists’ dignity and giving work to the artists — keeping hand-painted art as a viable profession in this digital age.
Michelle decided to open a business in 2007 after noticing inexpensive digitized computer-generated graphics were beginning to replace hand-painted signs. She feared the art and expertise the artists employ would soon be lost to modern technology. Through her efforts, Michelle is effectively saving their livelihoods, one “Danger Dog” at a time to the delight of pet-lovers everywhere. The signs are available for purchase in art galleries in Los Angeles and the Craft and Folk Art Museum shop in Los Angeles. They are also available at shops in Boston, Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Manhattan.
Please go to www. NepalDog.com to see the full range of works available.
Partial list of collectors:
Ed Moses – Artist, Venice, Ca
Peter Sellars — Theatre Director, Curator, Los Angeles, CA
Alice Waters – Restauranteur, San Francisco, CA
Lynda Resnick – Entrepreneur, LACMA patron, Los Angeles, CA
Michael Vartan – Actor, Los Angeles, Ca
Dina Zaphiris – Animal Planet Petfinder, Los Angeles, CA
Julia Szabo – Author & Pet Blogger, New York Post
Stephen Bochco – Television Producer, Los Angeles, CA
Mary Ellen Mark – Photographer, New York, NY
Laurie Frank – Frank Pictures Gallery, Santa Monica, Ca
Dr. John Walsh – Director Emeritus 1983-2000, Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ca
Richard Heller – Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, Ca
Elsa Longhauser, Director, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, Ca
Nancy Main – Dinan Main Gallery, Ojai, Ca
Jim Applington – Lotus Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal
Amy Coane – Curator, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, Ca
Gwen Akin – Photographer, New York City
Deborah Irmas – Photography Curator, Santa Monica, Ca
Carmen Wallace Guiggia — Slow Food International, Bra, Italy
Noni Pratt – Artist, New York City
Shoshona Rose – Rose Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Christine Knoke – Curator Asian Art, Mingei International Museum, San Diego, CA
Randi Steinberg – Documentary Photographer, Santa Monica, CA
Sally Howell – Documentary Producer, Los Angeles, CA
Bob Murawski – Film Editor, Los Angeles, CA
Deborah Gribbon – Director Emeritus, Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA
CCH Pounder – Actress, Los Angeles, CA
Karin Higa – Senior Curator, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Suzanne Tennenbaum – Art Collector, Malibu, CA
William Turner – William Turner Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Terry Martin – Terrence Rogers Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Errol Morris – Documentary Film Director, Cambridge, MA
Libby Cameron – Interior Designer, New York, NY
Al Kooper – Guitarist, Cambridge, MA
