Live Free with Mike Maxwell

Speaking of artists and their tattoos, I recently got to hang out with San Diego artist Mike Maxwell and chat about everything from street art and capitalism to vaccines and the end of the world.

The conversation was recorded and entered as episode No. 18 in Maxwell's Live Free Podcast.

We also talked about the meaning of the Maxwell piece I bought a few years ago (pictured left) and the artist gives me a good lesson on what it's really like to live free (hate money, love creativity and question absolutely everything). He includes the "Live Free" slogan in some of his pieces—he told me my painting may have been the very first—and he's got the words tattooed across his knuckles, just in case he ever strays too far from freedom.

Maxwell's work is currently showing in a three-man exhibition up at Distinction Gallery and Artist Studios—yet another show I highly recommend seeing if you have some time on your hands.

More interesting San Diego art shows:

*GALLERY SELECTIONS 2011 at R.B. Stevenson Gallery, 7661 Girard Ave., La Jolla. New works by artists Judith Foosaner, Peter Halasz, Astrid Preston and Tim Rice. From 5 to 8 p.m.  Friday, Jan. 21. Exhibition runs through Feb. 19. rbstevensongallery.com

*THIRY-FOUR BASKETBALL COURTS at Joseph Bellows Gallery, 7661 Girard Ave., La Jolla. See photographs by Charles Johnstone, who takes photographs of empty basketball courts. From 5 to 8 p.m.  Friday, Jan. 21. On view through Feb. 25. 858-456-5620, josephbellows.com

*ONE SIZE FITS ALL at Thumbprint Gallery, 2637 University Ave., North Park. Over 40 local artists display work at this group show, featuring works on canvas all sized at 18x24. Artists include Luke Wessman, Tocayo, Angry Woebots, Jack Stricker and more. From 7 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22. thumbprintgallerysd.com

GLOBALIZATION AND WAR: THE AFTERMATH at Centro Cultural de la Raza, 2125 Park Blvd., Balboa Park. See a series of radical oil paintings and prints, which draw attention to the moral and political tragedies of war and the effects of displacement stimulated by globalization, by master Chicano artist Malaquias Montoya. Exhibition runs through March 4. From 6:30 to 9 p.m.  Saturday, Jan. 22. Donations appreciated. (619) 235-6135, centroculturaldelaraza.org
 
*DAPHNE HILL at Planet Rooth Design Haus, 3334 Fifth Ave., Hillcrest. Venereal Narratives and Other Cautionary Tales features Hill’s 10-year investigation of genetic deviations, venereal disease and other explorations of the microscopic at the macroscopic scale. Opening from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22. On view through Feb. 25. 619-297-9663
 
MIGRATION (WHERE TO NEXT?) at Project X, 320 S. Cedros Ave. Ste. 500, Solana Beach. See a new body of work from local artist C. Martino, focusing on the ideas of transition, movement and transformation. From 6 to 10 p.m.  Saturday, Jan. 22. 858-792-9685, projectxart.com
 
*N-GOM PREVIEW at Agitprop Gallery, 2837 University Ave., North Park. See new works by the three artists behind N-GOM collaborative, artist Guy Lombardo, designer Anjela Piccard and filmmaker Katherine Sweetman, as part of Art Meets Fashion, a collaborative project between San Diego Visual Arts Network and Fashion Opportunities Connect Us. From 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22. 619-384-7989, artmeetsfashion.org
 
*THREE NEW EXHIBITIONS at MCASD - Downtown, 1001 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. MCASD commissioned Nobel Prize-winning digital artist Jennifer Steinkamp to create new digital video animation inspired by her recent research into atomic energy, atomic explosions and the effects of these forces on nature. Exhibition runs through June 19. Also, enjoy a series of nine related oil paintings by Cuban artist Raul Cordero, on view through April 17, and a complex five-channel video installation on the Hopi snake dance by Joan Jonas, on view through May 1. Shows open Sunday, Jan. 23. 858-454-3541, mcasd.org

CAPTURED AND FRAMED at Basic, 410 10th Ave., Downtown. Check out new works by local artists Monique Jenkins, Daniel Thedell and more at this movie-themed art show. The pieces will depict scenes from famous films. At 7 p.m.  Tuesday, Jan. 25. 619-531-8869, barbasic.com