Archive for the 'Los Angeles' Category
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Retna @ Rivera & Rivera
Los Angeles’ art scene is all the more elevated by the emergence of Rivera & Rivera Gallery, located downtown. Their latest offering features Retna, an artist on the cusp of an explosive career trajectory. With underlying major critical support, Retna is shifting to the foreground of museums and serious collectors alike. In a bold move, Rivera & Rivera utilizes their entire gallery space in a thunderously glorious installation that signifies the magnitude of Retna’s voice. Every inch is transformed by the majestic visual landscape. In a fabulous knock-out of an exhibition, Retna and Rivera & Rivera are clearly ushering in a definitive art show.
OPENING DATE: Thursday July 29, 2010
TIME: 8:00PM -11:00PM
RSVP: rsvp@riveraandrivera.com
Monday, July 12th, 2010
Basel 41 Art Salon Talks Now Online
Videos for all the Art Salon Talks from Art 41 Basel Switzerland are now available to view or download on the fair’s website here. The above conversation, “Collector Power – Who Has It and Who Doesn’t,” between Josh Baer, art advisor and publisher of the Baer Fax art industry newsletter, and heavyweight collector Adam Lindemann is worth a watch (click pic to launch video).
Monday, June 7th, 2010
LACMA to host Baldessari Retrospective
John Baldessari -Sediment: Leg and Shirt, 2010, Inkjet print and acrylic on canvas. (Image: © Margo Leavin /John Baldessari)
American art icon, John Baldessari, is the subject of a new retrospective set to open at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on June 27. From pioneering conceptual text-based works of the 1960s, to his photographic amalgamation of film stills that helped to inform the art of appropriation, Baldessari has been at the forefront of multiple contemporary practices. John Baldessari: Pure Beauty will feature over 150 pieces, highlighting early works as far back as 1962, up to his most recent. The retrospective will also feature a special installation conceived especially for the occasion.
The museum will hold a free conversation with Baldessari and curator Leslie Jones at 2pm, opening day. Tickets for the event will be available on a first-come basis, one hour prior to the program. In addition, new 324 page exhibition catalog is available now in LACMA’s online shop.
Pure Beauty first debuted at the Tate Modern, London, in October 2009, before traveling to the Museu d’Art Contemporani in Barcelona. After LACMA, the exhibition will continue on to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, this coming October.
Baldessari also has a new series of photographic works, entitled Sediment, on view through July 10 with Margo Leavin, Los Angeles. A work from the series is pictured above.
Friday, April 9th, 2010
Banksy’s ‘Exit Through The Gift Shop’
There was anticipation in the air in the first of a three night series of press screenings in Los Angeles, after having made a major splash at Sundance. Undoubtedly, Banksy’s EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP presents a truly engaging story about some of the artists behind one of this generation’s most exciting movements in our culture – street art. However, much of the film, directed by Banksy, focuses on Thierry Guetta, aka Mr. Brainwash. Only an artist with the utter swagger as Banksy would be comfortable enough to actually elevate a newcomer like MBW, eclipsing himself in the process. Well crafted, the documentary explores Banksy’s legacy and contextualizes many events in ‘street art’ history, chronicling of some of the most important moments in Banksy’s career, as well as others, like Shepard Fairey. It’s both a comical glance at how art is about perception – and now more than ever – showmanship – while also poignantly substantiating the passion at the core of this form of expression.
The film is uniquely entertaining. With our highest recommendation, it will be very worthwhile seeking it out in your local market as it rolls out. It opens on April 16 in many cities across the USA. Read the rest of this entry »
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has just launched an online reading room, where they are gradually making available a full range of electronic facsimiles of museum publications spanning their history. LACMA’s initial offering comprises ten early exhibition catalogues, mostly from the 1960s, and serves as an invaluable academic resource.
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
MOCA Hires Deitch
Just in time to begin defining the new decade, LA’s venerable MOCA has hired NY Gallerist/Art Dealer Jefferey Deitch as Director, effective June 1. A letter went out to MOCA members today, outlining the details. In a partial quote of the announcement: “Jeffrey Deitch will succeed Dr. Charles E. Young, who was named MOCA chief executive officer in December 2008 when the museum was facing serious challenges. A widely respected leader with great dedication to preserving MOCA as an invaluable asset to the city of Los Angeles and the art world, Dr. Young worked closely with the Board of Trustees to restore stability and energy and strengthen the foundation of this prominent cultural center that serves thousands of visitors each year. We are deeply grateful for Dr. Young’s leadership in guiding MOCA through this pivotal transition and for successfully repositioning the museum to attract an outstanding new director.”
His three galleries are expected to close, leaving a palpable void in the New York art scene… however, speculation is rampant regarding the future of the artists he has represented. For many in the Deitch stable, a welcoming environment at MOCA is bound to be the result of this development.
Saturday, November 28th, 2009
Expect Delays for Koons’ Train
Train – Production Model © Jeff Koons Production / Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Bloomberg reports that due to budget constraints and a drastically shrunken endowment, Jeff Koons’ $25 million commission for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has been postponed, and may come to a complete halt altogether. Dubbed by The Art Newspaper as most expensive museum commission ever, the proposed sculpture would dangle a full-scale motorized replica of a 70-foot 1943 Baldwin locomotive from a crane in front of the museum’s entrance. Three times a day the train’s wheels would start up, while sounding its whistle and blowing off steam. “We wouldn’t do it unless someone funds it; someone has to write us a check,” said Barbara Pflaumer, LACMA’s associate vice president for communications and marketing.
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
Reach for the Sky :: Tomoo Gokita at Honor Fraser, LA
(All Images © Honor Fraser)
With Heaven, Tomoo Gokita reaches deeper into the metaphysical, further deconstructing the figurative forms that have come to occupy his works less and less. The increasingly abstract canvases in his second solo show with Honor Fraser (Los Angeles) also mark a shift in technique, substituting monochrome black and white gouaches for blue and white acrylics. On view now through Dec. 19. Read on for more images – click for detailed views.
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Shag’s Autumn’s Come Undone @ Corey Helford Gallery
Shag, 2009. (All Images © Pirovino/TheArtCollectors)
Culver City’s gem Corey Helford Gallery adroitly puntuated the onset of the Thanksgiving holiday week with the opening of Autumn’s Come Undone, a solo exhibition by Shag, aka Josh Agle. In what is easily the artist’s largest works available to date, Agle is releasing gigantic giclee print canvases in editions of 5, including two immense tryptichs and several expansive dyptichs. The offering of the giclees is balanced by small original paintings. With prices that could be easily described as friendly, this show represents a true opportunity for collectors to acquire superb artwork by a established artist. Increasingly, Shag’s work is heading in a museum trajectory, with his prominence growing well beyond ‘cult’ status. The artist’s masterful sense of color is evidenced in every single composition. Each piece’s color palette is impeccable and astoundingly cohesive. One of Los Angeles’ most potent moments in pop art is presently upon us, open to view until December 9. Read the rest of this entry »
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
McGee and Frost to Inaugurate Prism Gallery
Curated by RVCA/ANP founder, P.M. Tenore, Mind the Gap will present Barry McGee and Phil Frost side by side, signaling an impressive inaugural show for PRISM Gallery in Hollywood, CA.
McGee and Frost share a close history of collaboration and artistic development. The two artists are amongst the earliest with street roots to cross over into the fine art world, both with representation in highly respected galleries. This will be their first major joint installation effort since 2007′s Family Tree show (also with Creg R Stecyk) at RVCA/VASF. In 2003, they made their major L.A. gallery debut together (alongside Thomas Campbell) with Scribble and Scripture at Roberts and Tilton, Los Angeles.
McGee also has a new monograph due out early next year.
More to come…..
Barry McGee & Phil Frost – Mind the Gap
Nov. 20 – Feb. 20, 2010
Preview Dates: November 12th – 19
PRISM Gallery
8746 West Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069