Siran Babayan

Credit: Bold Pas

Arts Pick: Bold Pas

Siran Babayan
Taking place in and around Old Town Pasadena, BoldPas: A Day of Art & Play in Old Pasadena might be the most Instagram-worthy spot to visit this week...
Ernie Barnes

Ernie Barnes: An Artist and a Sportsman

Siran Babayan
Professionally, Ernie Barnes was a football player for the NFL. Creatively, he was a painter. He switched careers and reinvented himself in the 1960s; the civil rights movement was breaking through, but few African-Americans were visible in mainstream museums and galleries. He would not only become a successful artist and break down racial barriers, but create one of the most recognizable and beloved works of modern art....
Hell Kross; Credit: Brandon Zachary

The People vs. Hell Kross Recalls Metal's Satanic Panic

Siran Babayan
In the 1980s, heavy metal was dangerous. Hard rock’s subgenre became a societal scapegoat, blamed for corrupting young people’s minds and inciting deaths. Bands went to court and even the Senate to defend lyrics about Satanism, violence, drugs and beastly sex. Millennials might find this quaint or laughable, which is why the guys in Hell Kross created The People Vs. Hell Kross, a comedic rock opera that summons the dark forces of metal back when it was equal parts evil and entertaining, misogynistic and stupid....
Credit: Levon Mardikyan

Glendale Gallery Celebrates "Queer-Armenian Art"

Siran Babayan
In March, Glendale's Roslin Art Gallery and WeHo-based Gay and Lesbian Armenian Society (GALAS) announced they would co-host "The Many Faces of Armenians: A Celebration of Queer-Armenian Art," a small but significant group show that's the first of its kind in the United States....