Posts filed under ‘Art Appreciation’
Art LA Contemporary 2012
Rounding out the lineup of major art fairs in Los Angeles this January, we come at last to the outlier: Art LA Contemporary. Unlike the other shows which were held downtown, this one took place in Santa Monica. It’s a long haul from downtown to Santa Monica, and there’s no public transportation between the two. (You gotta have a car. It’s Los Angeles.)
Art LA Contemporary, having the word “Contemporary” in the name, is aiming for the bleeding edge of cutting edge art. The artists aren’t just alive, many of them are barely out of their teens. It’s conceptual art, mostly. Which means I’m going to take a pretty jaundiced view going in, because frankly most conceptual art comes off as childish and ridiculous to me. Not all, but a goodly percentage. Still, I enjoyed last year’s show well enough to return this year. Buried amongst all the pretentiousness is the occasional gem, and that’s what I like to concentrate on.
Let’s take a look.
The show isn’t huge, and it’s laid out in a very easy-to-understand grid. You can go through it pretty quickly and find the few pieces you really like.
Holton Rower, poured paint over square forms, shown by The Hole, New York.
I had previously seen this video showing how the artist pours the paint, so it was fun to see the finished product in person. This is one of those “why didn’t I think of that” ideas. Simple but elegant. And I do love all the dazzling colors.
Light sculpture by Ryan Perez (according to commenter Brett Schultz), shown by Yautepec Gallery, Mexico City.
Again I’m drawn to the simple idea, well executed. It’s just wood and fluorescent tubes, but this piece made a dramatic statement. It is admittedly a little reminiscent of Dan Flavin (an artist known for his work with fluorescent light tubes) but I think this is distinctive enough not to be derivative. I’m sorry I don’t know who the artist is, there was no sign in the booth and the gallery’s website doesn’t help. Thanks to commenter Brett Schultz for identifying the artist. (Too bad there’s no photo of the piece on his website.)
At another booth, I found myself snapping photos of several pieces by several different artists, rather than my usual one (or none!). This was the booth of Quint Contemporary Art in La Jolla, California (near San Diego). Any time I see a high concentration of work I like, I figure this is a gallery I should pay closer attention to. Here are the pieces that caught my eye:
Ryan McGinness, Women Parts series, acrylic on paper, 30×22 inches, shown by Quint Contemporary Art.
Thomas Glassford, Espejo 1, 2011, anodized aluminum, 32×42 inches, shown by Quint Contemporary Art.
The more I looked at this piece, the more I liked it. You could see the different kinds of industrial aluminum extrusions used: threshold, drip edging, siding, and other common building materials. The varying textures and colors are playful, which I appreciate. I like art that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Peter Alexander, Royal Blue Drip, 2011, polyester resin, 24×18 inches, shown by Quint Contemporary Art.
I enjoyed the simple yet luscious sensuality of this piece. It looked a little like slumped glass, thick and heavy yet floating slightly away from the wall. There’s no way Royal Blue Drip is the right title for this piece. I’m guessing Royal Blue Drip sold and was taken down and replaced by this similar green piece (probably called Kelly Green Drip or somesuch) and no one bothered to fix the wall label.
Kim MacConnel, enamel on board, shown by Quint Contemporary Art.
I could just sit and stare at these all day. Love!
Continuing my stroll through the show, here are some more pieces that caught my eye:
Zoi Gaitanidou, textile work, shown by David Castillo Gallery, Miami, Florida.
Unknown artist, shown by Altman Siegel, San Francisco, California.
Sérgio Sister, Caixa series, 15x10x3 inches each, shown by Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York. Not dissimilar to the previous artist, eh?
Andrew Schoultz, Melting Gold Flag (Made in China), 2011, gold leaf, acrylic, and molten gold fluid on stretched American flag, 30×54 inches, shown by Jerome Zodo Contemporary, Milan. Sold, but no price shown.
Marco Maggi, cut paper in slide mounts, 2×2 inches each, shown by Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York. These utterly fascinated me. The intricate precision of each tiny cut had to be seen to be believed. He must use a very sharp surgical scalpel to make these. Click on the photo for a bigger version.
More by Marco Maggi. Because they’re so amazing!
Frances Richardson, 010611, colored pencil on paper, detail. Shown by Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles. Full view below:
Frances Richardson, 010611, 2011, colored pencil on paper, 19×26 inches.
Mike Pratt, Redred, 2011, oil, enamel and resin on canvas, 83×55 inches, shown by Workplace Gallery, Gateshead, UK.
Georgi Tushev, Strange Attractor series, oil painting with embedded iron filings, shown by Fitzroy Gallery, New York. You can see more photos of this series here. I was fascinated by the dimensionality this artist achieved with such simple materials. He apparently uses a powerful magnet to draw the wet paint up into these spiky, mounded shapes, which retain their shape as the paint dries.
The prize for most colorful wall at the show goes to the same gallery, Fitzroy Gallery of New York, for the outside of their booth:
And the prize for the biggest paintings of… nothing in particular, but in REALLY bright colors and cheerful, goofy shapes goes to Ed Moses shown by ACE Gallery, Los Angeles:
Ed Moses is turning 86 this year, and still paints every day. A good example for us all, I think.
You may have noticed that none of the art had prices. There were no price tags at this show. Apparently being cutting edge means avoiding all trappings of commerce. We’ll have none of that filthy capitalism here, we’re above all that!
Never mind the foolishness, it was a fun show. Totally worth the $6 Groupon admission price. Thank you Groupon!
The Los Angeles Affordable Art Fair 2012
The year 2012 brought a brand-new art fair to the city of Los Angeles: the Affordable Art Fair.
“Affordable” is defined here as $10,000 or less for each work of art. If you were paying attention to the prices at the LA Art Show and the LA Fine Art Show, you’ll realize that restricting an entire show to works under $10,000 is a rather novel concept in art fairs. (Mind you, the kinds of shows I exhibit in are typically way below this price range.)
The Affordable Art Fair is already a big hit in New York and a couple other places. I hope it becomes a regular show here; Los Angeles could use a few more art fairs, especially fun ones like this.
To get to the Affordable Art Fair, all I had to do was walk out of the Convention Center (where the LA Art Shows were held) and cross one street:
…and then climb a bunch of rickety stairs to get to the rooftop deck of LA Live, where a ginormous tent was pitched:
It hardly felt like a tent inside. Sturdy walls, bright lights and carpeting made it very welcoming:
Some of the booths I liked best were right by the entrance, so we’ll start there:
The first booth was the Conrad Wilde Gallery from Tucson, Arizona. I loved just about everything they had on display, including this gnarly wall sculpture (visible in the photo above):
Jessica Drenk, “Cerebral Mapping,” 2012, books, wax and glue, 100×42 inches, $10,000. Conrad Wilde Gallery. It says it’s made from “books” but it looks more like “strips of pages from books” to me. Quibbling, I suppose. More work from the same booth:
Robert Moya, “Untitled 2,” “Untitled 6,” and “Untitled 3,” glue on panel, 14×14 to 24×24 inches, $950 – $1800. Conrad Wilde Gallery.
Joanne Mattera, “Silk Road 125,” 2009, encaustic on panel, 12×12 inches, $2400 (between “Silk Road 120” and “73” above and below). Conrad Wilde Gallery. This is an artist I highly regard; I read her art blog religiously and have heard her speak publicly before. I even have a signed copy of her book about encaustic painting, a medium I greatly enjoy looking at and hope to someday learn.
Pieces by Jessica Drenk (left), John Dempcy (center: “Vent Life,” 2010, acrylic on panel, 36×36 inches, $3200), and an artist (right) whose name I failed to note, sorry. Conrad Wilde Gallery.
Miles Conrad, “Bioslice Pink,” “Bioslice Green,” and “Bioslice Orange,” 2006, encaustic on panel, 10x10x3 inches, $600 each. Conrad Wilde Gallery.
Clearly if I ever find myself in Tucson I need to visit the Conrad Wilde Gallery! I just loved their display.
Moving on, we suddenly find ourselves in the Australian outback:
The Cicada Aboriginal Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia.
OK, the gallery itself is located in staid Brisbane, but the artwork is produced by Aboriginal Australians (the native peoples) many of whom live in the outback. I find their traditional art inspirational and exciting to look at, so this booth was a real treat for me. Here are a few highlights:
Judy Martin, “Ngayuku Ngura (My Country),” acrylic on linen, 48×24 inches, $2500. Cicada Gallery.
A selection of works from the Cicada Gallery. Upper left: Yinarupa Nangala, “Mukula Rockhole,” 18×15 inches, $1950. Upper right: Matthew West Tjupurrula, “Ngarru,” 18×15 inches, $1700. Middle left: Maisie Campbell, “My Mother’s Country,” 18×15 inches, $990. Middle right: Wintjiya Napaltjarri, “Pinari Rockhole,” 18×15 inches, $1850. Bottom: Charlie Tjapangati, “Pirrinya,” 12×24 inches, $1600. All paintings acrylic on linen.
Left: Wintjiya Napaltjarri, “Pinari Rockhole,” $1950. Middle: Charlie Tjapangati, “Pirrinya,” $1440. Right: Kayi Kayi Nampitjinpa, “Ngaminya Rockhole,” $1850. All: acrylic on linen, 34×11 inches, from Cicada Gallery.
Returning to the U.S. we pay a quick call on Artspace Warehouse, a European gallery with a relatively new storefront in Los Angeles. The gallery’s focus is affordable art, dovetailing nicely with the theme of the Affordable Art Fair. My friend Barbara Kolo‘s works, the two blue paintings in the center of the photo below, were featured in the booth alongside works by several other artists. At least one of Barbara’s pieces sold at the fair, which makes sense because her work is lovely (and she uses dots, which I think is fabulous!). Congratulations to Barbara, Artspace Warehouse, and the lucky buyer!
Artspace Warehouse, Los Angeles, California.
Meandering further through the fair, I enjoyed this visual feast from the Accola Griefen Gallery from New York, a painting hung on a custom-painted wall:
Here are a few more pieces that caught my eye as I wandered hither and yon:
Peter Arvidson, “Village Greens,” oil on canvas, 36×36 inches(?), $4000. Offered by Rice/Polak Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts.
Mauro Soares, “Vincent,” acrylic, 42×42 inches, $10,000. Offered by Ward-Nasse Gallery, New York. I’ve seen his work before, at the Los Angeles Art Show in 2010. I still love his technique but wish he’d find more interesting subject matter to cover. But his skill is undeniable.
Teresa Stanley, 3 pieces, acrylic & resin on panel. Largest piece: “Road Map No. 2,” 42×42 inches, $4900. Offered by Anelle Gandelman Fine Art, Larchmont, New York.
Works by Anat Shiftan & Andrea Bonfils shown by Anelle Gandelman Fine Art. Left: Anat Shiftan, one “Bronze” and 8 “Celadon” pieces, all porcelain, 8×8 inches, $500 each. Right: works by Andrea Bonfils, “Momentum,” 2 panels above (crow in tree branches), each panel 40×20 inches, $4800 for the pair, and “Colored Woods” below, 30×40 inches, $4200, all oil and encaustic on panel. Yeah, I have a thing for encaustic.
At the back of the tent were tables and chairs which I gratefully made use of (and the obligatory Wolfgang Puck cafe, which I studiously ignored).
While resting, I noticed a display of, well, something strange and interesting. I needed to see what it was. Upon closer examination, it turned out to be uber-geeky “maker” stuff, a DIY 3-d plotter called “The Replicator” by MakerBot. They had several of the things set up, whirring away, making 3-d stuff out of molded plastic… very very slowly.
The upper box is the “Replicator,” which you can buy for under $2000. (The lower box is just a display case.) Considering the technology involved, I’m impressed it’s so cheap. Remember when 3D prototyping was cutting edge technology? Now it’s something almost anyone can have at home. Amazing.
Here’s a closer view:
You feed a spool of plastic (it looks like the stuff that goes in a weedwhacker, and comes in various colors) in the back; it gets heated and extruded through a nozzle, kind of like a glue-gun. The nozzle is on an x-y plotter, and moves back and forth quite quickly. The platform it builds the model on moves slowly in the z direction, giving you the ability to create 3-dimensional plastic parts…slowly.
I watched for several minutes. While I could see the nozzle moving back and forth, I couldn’t discern any growth in the model bust. I guess it takes hours.
The hard part is generating patterns for the 3d objects. MakerBot has a huge library of objects you can make, but I’d think the most interesting (and hardest) part would be creating new parts that no one else has ever made.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Affordable Art Fair’s Los Angeles debut, and fervently hope it’ll be back in future years. I think this is just what Los Angeles needs: an easy, comfortable, entry-level art fair where buyers can shop without busting their budgets. I appreciated all the thoughtful touches the organizers put into it. Lots of comfy seating throughout the fair, a reasonable size and layout, a very useful printed guide, extended hours, and (great for cheap folks like me) a special “free entry” time. Thank you for that!
If it comes back, I’ll definitely be back.
Next up: Art LA Contemporary.
LA Art Show 2012
My last post covered the Los Angeles Fine Art Show (Jan 19-22, 2012). Now we turn our attention to the LA Art Show, the “other” show held simultaneously in the same location at the Convention Center. Confused? Never mind, it’s all art.
The LA Art Show, the subject of this post, was the modern & contemporary side. That means 20th and 21st century art. Much of it by artists who are still alive, some of them even quite young.
Let’s take a look:
I enjoyed perusing the work in this booth (below), Denis Bloch Fine Art of Beverly Hills. Some famous names in there. Did you spot the Damien Hirst spot painting? They seem to be everywhere these days.
Speaking of spots, I did see quite a few dots this year. Perhaps it’s a trend? You know I’m all about the dots, right? So I do tend to notice them.
Here’s an example from a Korean artist, who overlays accent dots on top of traditional eastern landscape paintings. The twist is that the dots follow the underlying shapes but are intentionally offset a little, like when a printer mis-registers the different colors:
Hyun-Jae Chang, untitled, 2011, mixed media on linen, 50×50 cm, $1,750. Offered by Chung Jark Gallery, Seoul, South Korea. Detail below, showing the offset dots.
I enjoyed this colorful arrangement of dot art by Justina Ko:
Justina Ko monoprints, 15×11 inches each, shown by ECF Art Centers, Los Angeles.
Although I don’t much care for political Chinese art, I succumbed to the allure of Chairman Mao decorated with an overlaid grid of dots (you can see the dots in the detail view below). Reminded me of some of my own paintings where I put a grid of dots over an underpainting (like this one).
Liu Sheng, “Chairman Mao,” 2011, acrylic on linen, 110×90 cm. Shown by Hao Space, Guangzhou, China. Detail below.
Perhaps it’s a stretch, but this next painting struck me as one big dot made up of many little dots (dabs of paint, really, but I’m not picky):
Richard Pousette-Dart, Radiance (untitled), ca 1965-67, oil on canvas, 30×40 inches, $350,000. Detail below.
Continuing with a circular theme, we have these delicate-looking constructions by Korean artist Hee-Kyung Kim:
Hee-Kyung Kim, “Bloom” series, 2011, Korean paper, 60×60 to 90×90 cm, starting at $2,800. Offered by Art Company Misoolsidae, Seoul, South Korea.
What goes with dots? Stripes, of course! There were several flavors of stripes, but I especially liked these big colorful ones:
Tim Bavington, “Susie Q” and “Susie Q (distortion),” 2011, 64×64 inches each, synthetic polymer on canvas, $20,000 each. Offered by Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Is “synthetic polymer” a fancy way to say spraypaint?
More stripes:
John Waguespack, “Hollywood Hills,” 30×40 inches, oil on canvas. Shown by The McLoughlin Gallery, San Francisco.
From the linearity of stripes we move to rectilinear geometry, created by carving patterns through layers of multi-colored acrylic paint. Most striking (and most easily seen) from an angle:
David Allan Peters, “Untitled #4,” 2011, acrylic paint on panel, 60×48 inches, $18,000. Sold (congratulations!) by exhibiting gallery Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, Oakland, California. Detail below:
I’ve seen Peters’ work before and I’m always intrigued by the idea of carving through all those layers, like an archeological dig.
I’ll wrap up with this piece, also rectangular, though it seems just about ready to jump out of its geometric outline:
Matt Devine, “Ember #2,” steel with red, 48x48x6 inches, $14,500. Offered by Madison Gallery, La Jolla, California.
Next stop: we venture across the street to the new Affordable Art Fair, which made its Los Angeles debut this year.
Los Angeles Fine Art Show 2012
As I mentioned, this year the LA Art Show expanded. The promo billed it as “1 Weekend, 3 Art Shows!” referring to the LA Art Show, the Los Angeles Fine Art Show, and the LA IFPDA Fine Print Fair. All three were held in one big open area in the Los Angeles Convention Center, with a single entry fee.
I think calling it “3-shows-in-1” is overstating the case, but it certainly is a big show. The “three” shows all ran together, and most visitors had no idea which one they were in. There was some separation between the two big parts (the LA Art Show and the LA Fine Art Show) but it was a pretty subtle distinction. (The third show, the Fine Print Fair, was just a single row of booths. I hardly felt it counted as a whole show.)
The LA Art Show, the largest segment, featured the more contemporary cutting-edge work. The Fine Art Show, about half its size, showcased the more traditional work: old masters, Early California Impressionists (always big here), and contemporary realism. That’s where we’ll start.
Here’s a peek at the Fine Art Show:
I walked this side first.
It wasn’t until after the show was over, while I was looking through my photos, that I realized there was one major difference between the two parts of the show: the Fine Art Show, the more traditional side, was carpeted and had colored walls. The LA Art Show, the bigger and more contemporary side, had polished concrete floors and white walls. I didn’t notice the difference when I was there. Too busy looking at the art, I guess!
Daniel W. Pinkham, “Enlightened,” 44×38 inches, oil on panel, $32,000. Offered by American Legacy Fine Arts, Pasadena, California.
Pinkham’s painting really grabbed me as I entered the Fine Art Show (the traditional side). The artist, new to me, apparently lives right here in California, and, unlike most of the other artists shown in the “historic/traditional” side, is still living. I love his work and am quite pleased to learn about him.
Here’s another landscape painting that intrigued me as I walked by:
Hugues Pissarro dit Pomié, “Bancs de Sable en Baie de Falcarragh,” oil on canvas, 51×38 inches, $28,500. Offered by Stern Pissarro Gallery, London.
This artist is apparently the grandson of the famous Camille Pissarro. The gallery specializes in works by all the Pissarro family members. Does artistic talent run in families? They certainly think so!
S. C. Yuan, “Carmel Highlands,” oil on masonite, 26.5 x 64 inches, $90,000. Offered by Trotter Galleries, Carmel & Pacific Grove, California.
This long landscape painting (which features an artistic “error” according to the curmudgeon/painter Stapleton Kearns, but which I think is perfectly fine) caught my eye, and pulled me into the booth where I spotted two more by the same artist. I enjoy his blend of eastern and western painting styles. Again, this artist was completely new to me, so I was glad to learn more about him. He led a hard life, trying unsuccessfully to balance earning money with making art, ultimately losing his marriage and taking his own life.
S. C. Yuan, “Monterey Pine,” oil on canvas, 40×40 inches, $115,000. Offered by Trotter Galleries, Carmel, California.
S. C. Yuan, “Pine Tree – Ronda, Spain,” oil on canvas, 24×30 inches, $55,000. Offered by Trotter Galleries.
Here are some more landscapes I liked. What, more landscapes? Yes, a pattern emerges. Our intrepid reporter does like the landscapes, indeed she does.
William Wendt, “Ranch in the Valley,” oil on canvas, 30×40 inches, $225,000. Offered by George Stern Fine Arts, West Hollywood, California.
Edgar Payne, “Harbor of Camaret,” oil on canvas, 22×26 inches, $85,000. Offered by Redfern Gallery, Laguna Beach, California.
OK, that’s enough landscapes. I take pictures of the paintings I like, without looking for anything specific. Apparently this year the stuff I liked on the traditional side of the show was… landscapes. Never fear, there were very few landscapes on the contemporary side! But that’s another post.
In closing, I owe a big thank-you to these guys:
M. S. Rau Antiques booth (from New Orleans, Louisiana)
They provided an online coupon to get into the show, for which I was most grateful! They also had an amazing booth which I wish I could show you. They were so busy talking to customers that I was unable to get permission to take photographs. They had a lot of beautiful pieces by old masters, including (most thrilling to me) an entire room full of 15th century Italian Renaissance altar paintings (like this one) with madonnas and gold leaf. I love that stuff!
That capped my visit to the Los Angeles Fine Art Show, the historic/traditional side. My next post will bring us firmly back into the 21st century with a look at the contemporary-art side, the LA Art Show.
The 2012 Los Angeles Art Fair Season
January in Los Angeles means art fair season. Los Angeles may not be Miami (not even close) but in 2012 suddenly the big international art fairs in Los Angeles grew and multiplied. Are we witnessing a renaissance for art in America’s second-largest city, or a desperate last gasp before the LA art market goes belly-up? Time will tell.
Here’s the lineup:
The LA Art Show, held in the downtown Convention Center, got so big this year that it declared itself “three shows in one.” Overstating the case, but it certainly expanded. Official website.
The brand-new (to Los Angeles, anyway) Affordable Art Fair made its debut just across the street at the LA Live venue. I liked being able to easily walk between the shows. Official website.
Art LA Contemporary returns this year to Santa Monica. Too bad there’s no easy way to get between the downtown shows and this one, but it’s worth the trip anyway. Official website.
By the end of this weekend (Jan 19-22, 2012) I’ll have been to all of these shows. I will post about them all, with pictures and commentary.
Note: I am highly biased. I don’t love all art. There are a few genres and styles that I am drawn to, and many more that I don’t care for. My reporting will emphasize what I enjoyed in each show. The good news is every show had something I liked. That is what I’ll be sharing here.
As I post about each show, I’ll put the links here. (Or, you can subscribe to my blog and get the posts automatically! See the right sidebar for subscription options.)
1. Los Angeles Fine Art Show 2012
3. The Los Angeles Affordable Art Fair 2012
I’ve done this before. You can read about my visits to previous years’ shows here:
A look at the 2011 Los Angeles Art Show
Rambling through Art Los Angeles Contemporary 2011
At long last, my promised second post about the two big commercial art fairs held in Los Angeles each year.
In my previous post, I talked about the more traditional art fair. Here we’ll turn to Art Los Angeles Contemporary, the more contemporary of the two. (In other words, most of the artists in this one are still alive.)
Actually, there are more than two fairs now. The big contemporary art fair in Los Angeles in January used to be ArtLA, but at some point it moved both its location and time (it is now held downtown in the fall). I attended ArtLA back in January of 2008 and found it quite lacking. The work was crude and sophomoric and the crowd full of annoying posers. Not surprisingly I didn’t return until this year. Or so I thought.
In January 2011 when I attended a big contemporary art show being held in ArtLA’s old location at ArtLA’s old time, you can imagine my confusion. I thought it was the same show. But boy did it look different! Sophisticated, edgy, interesting, and polished. The work shone, and the crowds were grownups. I was amazed. Could this really be the same show? It was so much improved! (It turns out: no, it’s not the same show. Ha.)
Right, we’ve cleared that up. Whew!
This was Art Los Angeles Contemporary 2011:
Per my usual MO, I attended during the week to avoid the big weekend crowds.
To lay claim to the title of “contemporary,” incomprehensible live performances in the halls are de rigueur:
A male and female performer, faces obscured, rolled around silently on the floor. Had the crowds been thicker it might have obstructed traffic, but we were hardly inconvenienced. At one point, the male rubbed an iron up and down the female’s legs while she jumped up and down and waved her hands over her head (photo below). It’s all very deep and meaningful, I’m sure.
One of the galleries held a live performance in their booth every hour. It also consisted of a male and female, but these two simply held static poses for several minutes. They were in an elaborate mini-stage evoking the Garden of Eden. Adam groped Eve, while Eve considered whether to pluck fruit or dollar bills from the tree:
The best part of this performance was how big a crowd it drew, and how long everyone stood around looking at the tableau. This performance did interfere with traffic, blocking the row and spilling into the booth opposite.
Said booth happened to belong to Kalfayan Galleries from Athens, Greece (they were very philosophical about the periodic inundations). They were showing work by artist Antonis Donef, who collages pages from antique books and then hand-alters the line illustrations. The results are intricate and intriguing, inviting close study. I indulged for quite some time.
Each piece was quite large, several feet across:
Here’s a detail view:
I especially like the creature popping out of the roof at center, peeking up the lady’s voluminous (and enhanced) skirt. (Click image for a closer view.)
Asya Geisberg Gallery from New York had some work that struck me as pretty interesting:
Untitled (Green Stripes) by Angelina Gualdoni, 50×47 inches, 2010.
Work by Todd Kelly.
After spending thousands of dollars for the booth space at the fair, airfare from New York, meals and hotel, there was apparently very little left for wall tags:
In contrast, some galleries pre-printed their wall tags with all sorts of information (but hardly ever price, unfortunately). The most elaborate were mounted on foamcore:
Now that’s a good wall tag!
But I digress. Back to the art.
Here are some paintings by Gary Lang, shown at ACE Gallery (Beverly Hills). I had seen these pieces at the gallery, but I was thrilled to get a second look. I love his work. The bigger round painting is some 10 feet across or so. Enormous. Just moving that thing around requires some serious engineering. (I had to ask.)
Here’s one of his plaid paintings, which I also greatly admire:
Detail:
Some more huge paintings at ACE (artists unknown, sorry):
More galleries! Here’s “The Company” (Los Angeles) with color-coordinated 2D and 3D art:
I really liked this big orange and green painting shown by Steve Turner Contemporary of Los Angeles, but a quick scour of their website yielded no information about the artist.
Here’s 1301PE (Los Angeles). I particularly liked the big blue and yellow painting on the back wall:
I saw more than one fishnet. That officially makes it a trend. Here are some nets I saw:
Work shown by Honor Fraser of Los Angeles. (Click to see larger version, net is in gold-colored piece on the right.)
Work by Paul Heyer, shown by the Night Gallery. This piece is made from the wooden backside of a painting, sans canvas, filled with hardened resin and overlaid with a fishnet adorned with mussel shells. The wall it hangs on is painted dark purple everywhere except behind the artwork, where it’s white. Tricksy stuff.
A note about the Night Gallery. I couldn’t figure this place out. Speaking with the folks staffing the booth didn’t help. It has some kind of identity crisis, or maybe it’s trying way too hard to be obscure and mysterious. Location? Hours? (Night only? Really?) Is it an art gallery? What’s the relation with Paperchase Press? Why is the website a .ca domain (Canada) when it’s clearly in Los Angeles? I don’t know.
Net-like:
Plucking Up Courage by Soo Kim, hand-cut chromogenic print and acrylic paint, 26×26 inches (framed), 2011. Shown by Angles Gallery, Los Angeles. (If this seems vaguely familiar, that’s because this is the source of the “good” wall tag I showed earlier.)
Also at Angles Gallery, I was highly intrigued by the next piece. I like its rhythmic, organic feeling. I thought it was a painting until I read the wall tag. Thank goodness for good wall tags!
Floating Petals by Ori Gersht, inkjet print (of a photograph), 51×80 inches, 2010.
We’ll finish off with these striking giant cross-stitch pieces by Liz Craft. What an appropriate name!
Mixed-media art by Liz Craft, shown by Patrick Painter, Inc. of Santa Monica. These pieces are 4 feet across each. That’s some thick “thread!”
Good stuff. Definitely gotta go back next year.
A look at the 2011 Los Angeles Art Show
In January, two large commercial* art shows took place in Los Angeles: the LA Art Show and Art Los Angeles Contemporary. I visited both, and will share some of my snapshots and thoughts here. First up: the LA Art Show, the more traditional of the two.
The LA Art Show brings together galleries from all over the world, showing a broad range of visual art from old masters to the work of living artists. This year, Joan Miro was much in evidence, along with Chagall and Picasso (the usual suspects of the “old guard”). There were also plenty of California Impressionists as usual.
More interesting to me was the work of contemporary, living artists. We got to meet one such artist in person: Tony Abeyta. We enjoyed viewing several of his works on display in Blue Rain Gallery’s booth:
Here he is standing in front of one of his paintings:
The painting is “Animal Tamer,” 68×54 inches, priced $16,500 and offered through the Blue Rain Gallery of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
If that’s too much for you, they do offer more modestly priced works of his, like this one:
Untitled work in charcoal and ink on paper on canvas by Tony Abeyta, 30×30 inches, $4200 from Blue Rain Gallery.
We visited the show on a weekday, which allowed us to enjoy the art without the crowding typical on the weekend. It also allowed me to snap shots of the show without too many bodies in the way. But it was by no means empty.
There’s an interesting gradient in the art on display from one end of the exhibit hall to the other. At the far left side the galleries show old masters and California Impressionists (collectively I call ’em the “dead artists.” It’s a widely acknowledged fact amongst artists that the best way to increase the price of your art is to die.). To the far right you’ll find excruciatingly avant-garde conceptual works, with a heavy emphasis on contemporary works from China and Korea (most of which tend to be heavily political). Somewhere down the middle is where I’m at my happiest, amongst the works that try neither to shock nor soothe excessively, but which I find visually intriguing and offer nuanced messages.
At the more traditional end, I found some Pointillist pieces that I liked, by artists I’d never heard of. I’m rather fond of Pointillism, since my own paintings draw heavily on that tradition. I’m always excited to learn about other artists who painted in the Pointillist style. (Yes, they’re always dead artists. Sigh.)
Sven Birger Sandzen (1871-1954), “Untitled (Moonrise)” c. 1914, oil on canvas, 12×16 inches. Offered by David Cook Galleries of Denver, Colorado. Price not posted.
Millard Sheets (1907-1989), “Wild Horses” c. 1970, watercolor, 22×24 inches, $28,000 offered by The Redfern Gallery, Laguna Beach, California. As my friend said, “Pointillism and ponies,” a combination guaranteed to grab my attention!
Some of the more contemporary work that I found exciting included angular, geometric paintings by Siddharth Parasnis:
Siddharth Parasnis, “Hometown #25,” 2010, oil on canvas, 48×48 inches, $11,000 offered by Sue Greenwood Fine Art of Laguna Beach, California. (The gallery’s website appears to be down.)
And I enjoyed this intriguing construction of thread and paint, which looks suspiciously like curly black hair (but I was told it’s definitely not hair):
Jiang Xin, “Deconstruction,” 2010, mixed media, 59×59 inches, offered by the Proud Gallery of Beijing, China. No price posted.
Next up: Art Los Angeles Contemporary.
*I’m calling these shows “commercial” to distinguish between them and the kinds of art shows I typically do where individual artists represent themselves. The two types of shows occupy very different spheres of the art world. You’d be hard pressed to find someone in one of the big commercial shows who even is aware that our little street shows exist!
The 2010 Los Angeles Art Show
This year I once again made my annual pilgrimage to the Los Angeles Art Show. It’s nothing compared with Miami’s annual multi-fair extravaganza, but it’s all we get. Galleries come from near and far (from Los Angeles to as far away as South Korea) to show and sell their art.
It ran Thursday through Sunday, January 20-24, 2010. This was its second year in the cavernous Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles, a space I think works well for the show.
For me, getting downtown is a major trek, upwards of an hour of navigating some of LA’s worst freeways. And this year there was the added complication of rain. Not light rain, not even heavy rain. We’re talking the storm of the century (well, decade anyway): several days of massively-damaging flood-inducing accident-causing downpour. On Friday the weather finally broke a little (at least when I set out) so I toughed it out to get to the show. I am relieved to report that I made it there and back without any untoward incidents, and only a little gnashing of teeth.
Let’s take a look at the show!
My intention was to enjoy the show on a weekday when I could have the place to myself and see all the art unimpeded. I arrived early enough that I could take as long as I wanted, take breaks, and revisit the more interesting booths. I spent about 3 hours at the show. The place was very quiet when I arrived, but by the time I left it was getting busier. Annoying for me, but good news for the galleries.
This year I didn’t see nearly as much Chinese art as last year. The Koreans, however, were still much in evidence.
The layout was better this year than last. There weren’t any pinched corners like I noticed last year. And I really enjoyed the large open “lounge” area placed at the center of the show. It provided ample seating with an interesting assortment of sofas, chairs, benches and oversized ottomans. Even though the crowds were light, the lounge was well-used (mostly, it seemed, by exhibitors taking a break).
There was the usual wide variety of art from traditional to modern to contemporary. I didn’t notice many overarching themes this time, but one I did notice was what I’ll call the “woman-as-sex-object” theme. I don’t remember seeing so many paintings and sculptures of naked or scantily-clad provocatively-posed women in prior years. Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention before. Certainly sex sells, and it always has. It just seemed a little more crass than usual this year.
Only a few pieces really grabbed me this year. The work by Brazilian artist Mauro Soares (the 3 square paintings in the center of the above photo, shown by the Ward-Nasse Gallery from New York) excited me more for its technique than its subject matter. His technique is a variation on Pointillism using thin, angular brushstrokes instead of dots. The effect is shimmering and lush, just the way I like it. Here’s a detail view of the center painting:
Although a lot of abstract works featured stripes this year, I was more taken by paintings with an all-over organic patterned feel, like this one by Ghanaian artist Rikki Wemega-Kwawu (shown by African Encounters Gallery):
and these by Tony Abeyta (shown by Blue Rain Gallery of Santa Fe, NM):
For another opinion about the show, see this article by Christopher Knight of the LA Times. I disagree with him about the “highlights” of the show. I thought the bird-call video was tiresome and ridiculous. (I find most conceptual art tiresome and ridiculous, so that’s not much of a surprise.) However, I will admit to enjoying the silly but fun “galaxy of moss-covered spheres” installation at Gallery 825’s booth. Take note: you don’t often hear me say anything positive about installations!
If you go next year, be sure to dig around on the LA Art Show website for the discount coupon for admission. And be smarter than I was: actually bring the coupon to the show. Oh well, next year.
Is Art a Good Christmas Present?
It’s December, and Christmas is just around the corner. For those of us who celebrate this holiday, our thoughts naturally turn to gift-giving. (And for those who don’t do Christmas, there are still birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and other gift-giving events that we all deal with.)
So, it’s Christmas (or some other gift-giving occasion) and the age-old question arises once again: What to get for the person who has everything?
They don’t really have everything, of course, but they certainly have everything they need. Worse, they probably already have everything they really want. If they really wanted an iPhone, or a bread machine, or a puppy, they probably would have gotten one by now, right? This kind of dilemma makes it hard to come up with ideas for gifts that would surprise and delight, the ultimate goal for a thoughtful gift-giver.
So what about giving art as a gift?
Art seems to fill the unique-gift niche nicely. Most people like art in one form or another. And many people don’t take time to shop for art for themselves. Lives are busy, time is short. An original work of art is guaranteed to be different from anything else they have, even if they own a lot of art already.
So art makes a perfect gift, right?
Well, maybe. Art is extremely subjective. Everyone likes different things, different styles, different colors. Even people who live together and know each other intimately have trouble predicting what each other will like best when it comes to art.
I learned this lesson at my very first art festival. A family came into my booth and it was clear they all enjoyed my paintings very much. They started talking about which paintings everyone liked best. Mom favored one painting, Dad preferred another. The younger son challenged the others to guess which painting he liked best, and no one guessed correctly. Daughter did the same, and again no one guessed right. Even though they all agreed that they liked my work, everyone preferred a different painting, and no one could predict what the others would like best. (The story has a happy ending: they ended up buying three of my paintings, which I delivered to their home and helped to hang in different rooms. That sure made my day!)
If you want to give art as a gift, I recommend proceeding with some caution. Even if you know the recipient and their tastes very well, you probably won’t be able to guess their absolute favorite piece. You don’t want them thinking “gee, I wish you’d given me that other painting that I like so much better!” The only way to know which is their favorite is to ask them, or do some careful sleuthing. Art can be a wonderful, thoughtful, special gift, but it’s best done with the cooperation of the giftee. But you can still do this in a way that preserves some of the fun and surprise of an unexpected gift.
Try this: ask the person to identify a few pieces that are their favorites (for example, while visiting an art gallery, or looking together at an artist’s website, ahem, like mine for instance). Find out which pieces are their absolute favorites, and which they’re less interested in. You’ll probably be surprised at their choices! But that’s the whole point of this exercise: you just don’t know what someone else will love. Get them to point out several favorites. You can then go back later and purchase one of their favorites without telling them which one you got. That way you keep a sense of surprise, but you know they’re going to absolutely adore their gift. And that is the goal, isn’t it?
Another option would be to give a gift certificate. You could tailor it toward the purchase of their favorite artist’s work (it might be easier for you to find out their favorite artist than their favorite piece of art). This would allow you to give whatever dollar amount you’re comfortable with (this is especially good for you if your giftee has expensive tastes!).
The gift certificate idea could be made even more fun if the artist herself creates a custom gift certificate for you to wrap and give, like you would a store’s gift card. (I’d be happy to create a personalized gift certificate for the purchase of my art. And of course, I’d refund it if your gift recipient decided not to use it within, say, a year. Email me if you’d like to do this! I think it would be fun.)
So to the question of whether art makes a good Christmas (or any other occasion’s) present, the answer is yes, if you do it right. With a little extra effort you can ensure you’re giving a piece of art that the recipient will love and enjoy for years to come. And you can feel good about being such a generous, thoughtful gift-giver, as well as a patron of the arts. A happy ending for everyone. Happy art shopping!
Santa Fe: Art, Food, and Chocolate, oh my!
I just got back from my dream vacation in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Wow.
Photo: San Miguel Church, Santa Fe, built 1610
I knew it would be cool and fun and arty. But I was unprepared for the magnitude of the awesomeness.
It occurred to me that maybe I shouldn’t write about it, wanting to keep the secret to myself. But then I realized (1) it’s not exactly a secret that Santa Fe is cool and artistic (after all, even clueless I knew that much), and (2) my obscure little blog is hardly going to make a dent in Santa Fe’s tourism industry.
So fine, let’s talk about Santa Fe and how amazing it is.
First of all there’s the food. I love hot and spicy food. Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Indian, bring it on! The hotter the better. Sadly for me, the vast majority of the US feels otherwise. I’ve lived in New England, California, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Midwest, and I can say with authority that most Americans are spice wimps.
But not New Mexico! This is the one place in the US where spicy is the norm. To New Mexicans, chile peppers are a major food group, and they unapologetically add chiles or chile sauce to just about everything. I love it.
There’s a huge debate in New Mexico over which is better, red or green chile sauce. The difference between the two is quite striking, and I had great fun sampling both and coming to my own conclusions. You can order a dish “Christmas” which means you get both red and green sauces for a side-by-side comparison. The red chile sauce is made from dried, ground-up red chiles, while the green is made from the same chiles picked while still green. The red has a deep, rich smoky flavor. Green has a bright, fresh, tart flavor. Everyone has their favorite. I tried both several times but I quickly came to strongly prefer the green.
Interestingly, in spite of getting all sorts of recommendations from friends, people on Twitter, foodie blogs and rating websites, we never found the holy grail for foodies: the perfect authentic New Mexican restaurant. Not for lack of trying, I assure you. We ate at plenty of decent little places that came highly recommended, but none were real standouts. The best chile sauce we had was on an amazing plate of huevos rancheros at a breakfast place (The Chocolate Maven). The best dinner we had was at a Spanish tapas place called El Meson – amazing food but not particularly New Mexican. I’m sure there are lots of superb authentic New Mexican restaurants, but we didn’t quite find them. Still, the hunt was fun, and turned up a few goodies here and there.
Art. Did I mention art? Because you can’t go to Santa Fe without noticing the art. It’s everywhere. You trip over it just turning around. Our hotel room was decorated with original art. Several pieces. Even in the bathroom! Swoon.
Photo: Allan Houser sculpture "When Friends Meet"
Every restaurant and cafe we ate in had art hanging on the walls, all of it for sale. (We bought a small piece from one restaurant where we had dinner.) In downtown Santa Fe, art galleries seem to outnumber all other businesses. One street, Canyon Road, is almost nothing but art galleries for its entire length. But even off of Canyon Road art galleries are everywhere.
Photo: Canyon Road, Santa Fe
Sculpture is everywhere too. Just wandering around town you see sculptures in public spaces, at the State Capitol building, at bus stops, in gardens, everywhere. Plenty of art galleries display large sculptures outside. I was particularly struck by the number of private homes, many quite modest, with sculpture visible in the front yard.
For an artist like me, all this art everywhere is almost too much to take. It’s like throwing someone dying of thirst into a swimming pool full of drinking water. I felt overwhelmed and overstimulated (but you know, in a good way). So different from Los Angeles! In Santa Fe art is a way of life, fully incorporated into every aspect of living. I’ve never seen anything like it. These are my people!
So, chocolate. This is the part I really didn’t expect. We hadn’t thought of Santa Fe as a major chocolate destination. But while planning our trip we came across something called the Santa Fe Chocolate Trail, and from that discovered the Mecca for serious chocolate lovers: Kakawa Chocolate House.
Photo: Kakawa Chocolate House, Santa Fe
Kakawa is not for chocolate wimps. Their chocolates are dark, bitter, rich, varied, and complex. Not to mention extensively researched and historically accurate. The house specialty is their drinking chocolates, hot concoctions that you sip slowly and savor like fine wine. When you go there in person, you can sample as many of their dozens of drinking chocolates as they have on hand (usually about a dozen) for free before ordering. Oh, and they will also cheerfully custom blend a half-and-half version if you just can’t decide between two. Try a blend of Jeffersonian and Modern Mexican. That was our hands-down favorite.
Beyond Kakawa there are several other good places for chocolate in Santa Fe. We didn’t visit the other stores on the Chocolate Trail but did make it to the Chocolate Maven, which is actually a bakery and breakfast restaurant. True to their name the chocolate croissants are beyond description (we watched them being made while we ate breakfast). Their plain croissants are also amazing: flaky and buttery yet satisfyingly substantial. Then there’s the Spanish Table, a cookery store that will blow the mind of any serious cook. They had several specialty Spanish chocolates available so of course we just had to buy them. We came home with quite a bit of chocolate, and a newfound respect for Santa Fe as a serious chocolate destination.
Photo: Kakawa’s make-your-own hot chocolate wafers on the left, Spanish Blanxart chocolate bars for either eating or making hot chocolate, and a bag of Blanxart powdered hot chocolate mix on the right. Quite a haul.
Was it the trip of a lifetime, as I had predicted? Sort of… it was certainly a fantastic trip, but it won’t be the only one of my lifetime! I’ll definitely be back. I’ve found art-food-chocolate heaven.
Barbara J Carter 