Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Benefit auction for Little Kids Rock

Six-String Masterpieces is a charitable art exhibit that pays tribute to heavy-metal’s most influential guitarist Darrell Abbott, and supports music education in public schools. The exhibit features over 60 electric guitars; hand-painted, illustrated and sculpted by leading artists, musicians and tattooists.

The list of participants reads like a who’s who in the rock and art worlds: Mark Ryden, Alex Grey, Daniel Martin Diaz, Billy Gibbons, James Hetfield, Ace Frehley, Ozzy Osbourne, Tommy Lee, Dave Grohl, Kirk Hammett, David Stoupakis, Marilyn Manson, Jerry Cantrell, Sas Christian, Rob Zombie, Paul Booth and Mark Mothersbaugh to name a few. The exhibit is curated by Curse Mackey; an artist, musician and creative director of the Action Arts Agency. Guitars in the exhibit are the Dean ML model, which Darrell Abbott played throughout his career.

Darrell Abbott was best known as the lead guitarist for Pantera. The multi-platinum, Grammy nominated band dominated the heavy metal world in the 90’s. The musician was shot and killed on December 8, 2004, while performing onstage with Damageplan. He was 38 years old.

Six-String Masterpieces was created by Curse Mackey, creative director of the Action Arts Agency, to honor Abbot’s memory. Last year, the guitar exhibit was on tour displayed all over the world including SxSW, Ozzfest, Family Values Tour, MTV Studios, London and Tokyo. Los Angeles will be the last stop for the exhibit. La Luz De Jesus will preview the entire collection from May 4th through May 16th. On May 17, the collection moves to House of Blues, Sunset Strip.

“This is a comprehensive collection. Some of these instruments of art will be amongst the most valuable guitars ever introduced.” said Mackey.

The guitars will be auctioned off at the Six-String Masterpieces event at House of Blues on May 17 followed by an all-star benefit concert with proceeds from both the auction and the concert earmarked to support Little Kids Rock, an innovative non-profit music education program that puts music education back into public schools by providing free instruments and lessons to students.

Confirmed performers include: Dave Navarro, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, Vinnie Paul (Pantera, Damageplan) and a rare acoustic performance by Alice in Chains.

Auction Bidding will take place at both La Luz De Jesus Gallery and online. Those who are unable to attend the auction but would like to participate can view the full catalog online and leave absentee bids beginning April 24 at the official bid site http://www.liveauctioneers.com/browse/seller/sixstringmasterpieces. Live online bidding for those registered will commence at 6pm PDT on May 17 during the House of Blues Auction event.

The Live Auction will be directed by Robert Berman of Santa Monica Auctions. Online Bidding Services are provided by www.LiveAuctioneers.com. Both of these organizations have donated their vital services to this project.

LA LUZ DE JESUS is located in the Soap Plant/WACKO building, in East Hollywood at 4633 Hollywood Blvd, 90027. The gallery hours are Monday – Wednesday: 11 am – 7 pm, Thursday - Saturday 11 am – 9 pm and Sunday 12 – 6 pm.

Tickets for the House of Blues Auction + Concert event on sale now at www.HOB.com

About Little Kids Rock
Little Kids Rock believes that music is a critical component of a first-rate education. Many schools have been stripped of their music programs. These cuts have had a disproportionately large impact on children from low-income backgrounds. Little Kids Rock restores music to its rightful place in the academic lives of kids in our public schools by providing a rich music education program including instrument instruction, free instruments and trained mentors. Founded by an elementary school teacher in 1996, Little Kids Rock is now serving thousands of students in CA, GA, LA, NY, NJ and TN. More information can be found at: www.littlekidsrock.org.

No comments: