Wife Kelly has a Compilations and Collaborations show up at the MJ Higgins gallery in downtown L.A. The pieces are the result of collaborations with pals Walt Hall and Susan Weber. This is one of my favorites for its retro folk-art vibe. More on Kelly at her blog, Untitled 54.

Our friend Julie Peasley has created “The Particle Zoo”, super-cute plush toys inspired by the standard model of physics. Hey, I don’t understand sub-atomic theory at all, but I love my Higg’s Boson plushy! And it’s weighted (it is the “God particle” after all) so it makes a great paperweight. My daughter Claire went for the equally adorable Gluon. Check ‘em out and nab one for yourself at The Particle Zoo.

Wallace Berman was a collage artist active in the early ’60s L.A. scene at the Ferus Gallery and his own Semina Art Gallery in Larkspur, CA. The Michael Kohn Gallery on Beverly has an exhibit of his photography until January 19th. Berman’s one of those names that keeps cropping-up (his Semina journal published a who’s who of names), so it should be an interesting show. There’s a little bit more about him on this NYU Grey Art Gallery page about this past years Semina Culture show in NYC and Santa Monica.

One of my discoveries at the GR50 show was APAK, the husband-wife duo of Ayumi and Aaron Piland (how did they get APAK out of that?) Their art reminds me of video games with its fantastical, slightly mysterious and oddball imagery…or maybe a Shins cover. They have lots of cool limited edition prints and greeting cards for sale, so check them out at their APAK Studios website.

The Japanese American National Museum is celebrating the 50th issue of Giant Robot magazine with an exhibit of ten GR artists. The show’s only up ’till January 13, so you’ll have to hurry not to miss it. Imprint1 has a flicker-cam photo booth set-up, so you can immortalize your visit with a picture, just like my daughter Claire and I did!