The Downtown Artist Project Group Fundraising Show The goal of DAP is to define and organize the downtown Los Angeles artistic community, in order to promote their interests. This community includes all people working on a freelance or self-employed basis in the creative arts, such as fine art, performance, music, graphic arts and design, living and/or working in the downtown area. |
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| DAP hosts an online registry of artists and is currently producing a series of shows in downtown Los Angeles' Pershing Square, featuring large, square prints of paintings, photographs and digital art mounted on the walls of the park. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As the DAP fundraiser fell on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Eros chose to include two of his larger paintings, commemorating 9/11: "The Lost Souls" and "911" (pictured at right). "'The Lost Souls' first came from when my grandfather passed away in the same year," says Eros. "It was at that time that I began to have what I |
The Lost Souls 911 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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would call spiritual experiences, more attuned to "the real other reality." A different painting that also emerged from that time, one that works with the same theme, is a memory of my grandfather, what I named The Other Side. With The Lost Souls painting, in my studio one day, I began to see images of lights, images from 9/11 - well before the actual attacks themselves. Of course, I didn't have a context for that, but I nonetheless began to transfer my interpretation of this to the canvas. Several weeks later, I flew to Nantucket, passing through New York. I saw the twin towers for the first time from my plane, and I was very impressed. I also had an eery feeling. Only later, back in Los Angeles, on that terrible day, did it all come together as I watched the attacks - like everyone else - with horror. And the canvas started to call me, the images of light that I had begun to experience before. What evolved was the finished painting as it is today - The Lost Souls - an energetic and pictorial representation honoring those poor peeople who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. "
Eros continues, "After the attacks of September 11, I became interested in the stories of the people who were at work at ground zero. I call another painting of mine that I did during that time by the same name, Ground Zero. At the time of the terrorists' attack, the differences that always seem to divide us didn't exist. Race, religion, politics, and so forth, took a back seat to our common experience as human beings. I tried to capture this experience in the 911 painting, depicting rescue workers, some wearing their masks, of all different races, at work together. At the center of the 911 painting, on the bottom, is also a representation of New York City Fireman #4 - his fire hat - a tribute to all of those who lost their lives in the rescue efforts. And, or course, 911 is a double entendre, not only the numerical code for September 11, but also the 3-digit telephone number you dial to report an emergency."
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 A Sidelong Look at Artwork Hanging in the Show |
 Amanda from Art Scene |
 An Artist Embrace |
 Announcing the Raffles Winners! |
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 Arturo from the Mexican Consulate |
 Arturo, Maria Montes, and Oswaldo Navarrete Arriving for the Evening |
 D.A.P. Art on Display |
 Downtown Artist, Cathy Charles, talking with Mark Walsh, Sculptor and Founder of the Downtown Artist Project |
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 Downtown Skyscape, with the Disney Hall in Front |
 Enjoying the Show at the Downtown Artist Project |
 Eros, Marta and Paul Posing in front of the 911 Painting |
 Everyone Turned Out For The Show |
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 Jonathan and His Autograph Skull |
 Maria Montes Posing with Arturo from the Mexican Consulate |
 Michael sseated in front of the Laughing Donkey |
 More of the D.A.P. Art |
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 Oswaldo Navarrete from the Mexcian Consulate |
 Part of the Entertainment for the Night |
 Part of the Evening Entertainment |
 Playing Solo on the Cello |
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 Robert Reynolds Interpretive Box Art |
 Screen Prints on Burnished Aluminum |
 Some of the D.A.P. Show |
 Talking About the Art |
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 The 911 Painting in the Show |
 The artist, Eros, posing in front of his 911 Canvas |
 Up and Down from the Upper Gallery Level |
 Visual Artist, Eros, and his boyfriend, Paul, Together |
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