Meet Angela Groom of Doom and Groom in Koreatown

Today we’d like to introduce you to Angela Groom.

Angela, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
At heart, I still consider myself a “desert person.” I am originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I didn’t come to Los Angeles until the fall of 2014, at that point I was only eighteen. I didn’t know anybody. I came here on scholarship money with a car and a dream to escape my hometown.

I’ve been going to gallery openings almost every week, and museums, for the last five years here in Los Angeles and in New York. Every art class that was offered at the graduate level during my time in college I took.

I was THAT pretentious, kinda-asshole student constantly raising their hand. “Professor, what about the Dadaists and absurdism?! WHAT ABOUT THE LA-SPECIFIC POP SURREALIST/LOW-BROW MOVEMENT?” I cried when the baseball students couldn’t understand why it was worth reading Rosalind Krauss’ critical essay Video: The Aesthetics of Narcissism, or watching Vito Acconci’s Centers, or why Chris Burden might crawl on glass and air it on late-night tv. In retrospect, I’m quite certain my professor was not a fan of me. Once, I took a studio art class with him and made a massive painting. If I’m honest, it wasn’t good. In fact, it was pretty shit. He told me that if I burned it and claimed it as a “performance piece” he would give me an A for the semester. I did not. Potentially some regrets.

Art has been a part of my life for as long as I have been breathing. I know, that sounds dramatic, but I can’t say it any other way. When I moved to Brooklyn, I started writing for an itty-bitty arts publication. Through them, I ended up writing about the late Mike Kelley’s exhibition at Hauser & Wirth and a number of other shows in Los Angeles and New York. But then, you know, I had to finish college and pay bills. So I got a job at a coffee shop. I was working full-time and also a full-time student. Once I graduated, the coffee shop took up more and more of my time. Eventually, I couldn’t stand any longer that I was not pursuing what I came to Los Angeles to pursue, so I quit. That was a month ago.

What is that exactly, you might ask, I wanted to pursue? I guess, to some extent, telling my story. It took me fifty paintings over the course of a few years to finally get to any sort of work that I was proud to display. I kept trying things and playing with different ideas until I found something that felt right. I am also interested in helping other artists tell their story. I’ve written artist statements for a few friends of mine. There had been too many times where I went to a show and read the verbose, wildly academic language and thought “this is why people, like the baseball players I went to college with, don’t give a shit about ‘fine’ art.” It’s been made largely out of reach. In the last month I held my own show at a Brewery in Frogtown (holy hell, I did not realize how much work that would be). I held a show because no matter someone’s background, anyone can feel comfortable and curious about art over some craft brews.

I don’t believe in being all, like, “I’m the perfect person for the job of creating art because of this wild reason I pulled from the air and wow look at how great I am and how great my life is.” Bullshit. I don’t know if I’m the right person. I just know that I continue to show up, do the work I envision and share it with people. If I’m qualified at all it’s not because I am the most confident, or know the most, but because I care for it. It’s the one thing that has remained while most of the people and things around me seem to ebb and flow. I’ve loved hard and lost even harder. My work is my constant.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Before a month ago, I was working in the service industry as a Barista. It was increasingly difficult to find a moment to do laundry and run errands outside of working full-time (and extra, when folks called-in) much less to paint or write. Obviously, I did find the time. I still find time. But then there’s money (surprise, surprise). I have to pay rent, bills, have money to hangout with people I love, or network. Everything takes money. Including art. I had to simplify my process. I bought five basic paint colors and recalled how to combine basic colors to make new shades from an oil painting class I took in college. Used cheap paper. Used low-quality photos as a reference for what I wanted to make. Like every other painter. Used a mannequin I had and posed it in different locations. Did whatever I needed to do to make money. Walk dogs. Pitch articles. As a matter of fact, I still struggle. I am still constantly looking for work and trying to pay my bills. I wish I could say I’ve already succeeded but I’m still a work in progress.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Doom and Groom – what should we know?
I am a painter. Doom and Groom specialize in making photo-realistic (combined with a little impressionistic) paintings of a mannequin in different locations around Los Angeles. At this point in human history, no one is doing what I’m doing. I’m a forerunner in my specialty. Fingers crossed it stays that way just for a little bit.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Man, I love people. But I also don’t love people. I love connecting with other people on how we don’t like people. I like over-sharing and giving other people a place where they feel like they can also over-share. I like bonding with people. On things we like and things, we don’t like. I think coming alongside others is a really important part of being alive. But so often now, relationships can be… well… like a trendy restaurant. It looks good on Instagram but no one really knows whether or not the cooks actually wash their hands before they come back to work. No one really knows if those plates are actually washed well, if the employees are taken care of, or if the produce was even washed before serving. I like to examine that in my own life and put a mirror on it in my work. Are the people we hangout with folks we can call true friends, family or lovers? Or are they conveniently placed in our Insta Stories so that we don’t look so lonely. You know?

Contact Info:

• Website: www.doomngroom.com
• Email: angelagroom96@gmail.com
• Instagram: @doomandgroompaints

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