{"id":11204,"date":"2019-12-13T07:00:55","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T15:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000005402"},"modified":"2019-12-20T13:18:05","modified_gmt":"2019-12-20T21:18:05","slug":"dan-litzingers-heroine-junkie-celebrates-women-and-non-binary-people-in-a-big-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/dan-litzingers-heroine-junkie-celebrates-women-and-non-binary-people-in-a-big-way","title":{"rendered":"Dan Litzinger’s ‘Heroine Junkie’ celebrates women and non-binary people in a big way"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cA prominent gallerist advised me, \u2018Don\u2019t paint African American women, it won\u2019t sell,\u2019 so I knew exactly what to do for my largest work to date.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Portrait by artist Dan Litzinger at The Dark Art Emporium in Long Beach. Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019. Photo by Asia Morris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This quote by Glendale-based pop artist Dan Litzinger is scrawled on the wall of The Dark Art Emporium, where his first solo show, \u201cHeroine Junkie: Art Celebrating Women and Non-Binary Folks,\u201d is opening on Saturday, Dec. 14.<\/p>\n

On a Wednesday afternoon, bold, brightly colored portraits lean against the walls of the East Village art gallery ready to be hung, while Litzinger makes progress on a mural of wife Chelsea Steiner, his hero and the greatest woman he knows.<\/p>\n

The show is a full-on celebration and dedication to a group he feels is undervalued by the current administration, that faces certain roadblocks others don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust living their truths is an act of heroism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Pop artist Dan Litzinger works on his mural at The Dark Art Emporium in Long Beach. Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019. Photo by Asia Morris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So to highlight the \u201cunsung everyday heroics of women in American society,\u201d he put out a call on Instagram asking for female identifying and non-binary people to volunteer as muses for a series of portraits and received responses from all over the country.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s Penny Slice, a painter and model specializing in horror-themed work in Lowell, Massachusetts; Mary Russell, a Los Angeles-based filmmaker fundraising for her first feature film, \u201cThe Otherkind\u201d and Cara Zozula, a friend of Litzinger\u2019s, who has an extensive background in animation as well as acting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI draw inspiration and guidance in some way from every woman I meet and that’s one of the fun parts of this project, is getting to know more amazing people and learning their stories and philosophies on life,\u201d said Litzinger.<\/p>\n

Gallery owner Jeremy Schott discovered Litzinger, who had been a film and TV editor for 10 years, at Litzinger’s booth at Midsummer Scream in Long Beach before the gallery opened a few years ago. The first artist contacted by DAE, Litzinger, who started out in horror-themed work, was also the first to drop off artwork and even helped select the wall color of the original location.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Portrait by artist Dan Litzinger at The Dark Art Emporium in Long Beach. Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019. Photo by Asia Morris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cDan is one of those artists that has been around the gallery since the beginning, or at least it feels that way,\u201d said DAE Assistant Director Jeremy Cross. \u201cHe is an incredibly supportive and positive force in the Los Angeles and Long Beach art scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Litzinger\u2019s portraits are powerful and dotted, his style in this series is more pop and less parody than his grade-school idol, Roy Lichtenstein may have preferred, but ultimately reflect Litzinger\u2019s talent for storytelling.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis techniques are executed flawlessly and he manages to take a style that is immediately familiar and take it places unexpected,\u201d said Cross. \u201cBut what makes his work extraordinary is his vision and heart. Dan has taken his social advocacy and awareness and placed it front and center. Equality plays the main stage. And it\u2019s a platform we are proud to help him bring to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fifty percent of all sales will be donated to a charity of each subject\u2019s choice, including Planned Parenthood, Downtown Women\u2019s Center, supporting women experiencing homelessness, RAICES Texas, Affinity Community Services serving LGBTQ black women in Chicago and Happy Period, providing menstrual hygiene kits to those in need.<\/p>\n

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Pop artist Dan Litzinger works on his mural at The Dark Art Emporium in Long Beach. Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019. Photo by Asia Morris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Litzinger\u2019s reasoning for giving to charity is two-fold. As a recovering alcoholic, sober for almost 10 years\u2014 now he stays up all night painting instead of drinking, with Steiner to thank for pushing him to finally quit\u2014he wants \u201cto try to give back to the world to say thanks for putting up with me this long,” he wrote in the event description.<\/p>\n

“I like the feeling of giving back to the world with my artwork much more than the feeling of being a selfish and depressed drunk, which is what I was,” Litzinger said.<\/p>\n

Litzinger plans to continue the series indefinitely and urges anyone interested in volunteering as a portrait subject to contact him at danlitzingerfineart@gmail.com<\/a> or on Instagram @danlitzingerfineart.<\/a> His hope is to paint everyone who reaches out with a priority on intersectional subjects and charities.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cHeroine Junkie: Art Celebrating Women and Non-Binary Folks\u201d opens Saturday, Dec. 14, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at The Dark Art Emporium at 256 Elm. Ave and will be on view through Sunday, Dec. 22. For more info, visit the event page here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The show, opening Saturday, Dec. 14 at The Dark Art Emporium, is a full-on dedication to the group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":70731,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[1013],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[2744],"class_list":["post-11204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-hi-lo","tag-fine-arts","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11204"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=11204"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}