Along with the mild spike in sunshine this past few weeks, some of you may have noticed another influx in your area: college students, running free, wild, and naked in the streets. Spring break! Five days of release from the shackles of schooldom. Freedom. Monday, though, brought the party to an end, and students across the city are settling back in and setting their eyes on the home stretch. For Art and Photography/Media Graduate students at CalArts, though, the “home stretch” means one thing: running free, wild, naked in the streets. That’s right, folks—it’s time for the CalArts MFA Open Studios.
On Sunday, April 11th, from 2:00 to 7:00pm, more than 60 artists studying at the California Institute for the Arts will open their studios to the public. Each artist will be present and light refreshments will be provided—a great opportunity to hobnob with some of the city’s most promising creative minds. Or to just get some free food and look at cool stuff. It’s free of charge, free of pretense, clothing optional. Freedom!
By Helen Kearns
Please visit the website for directions and artist information. Reservations not required.
It’s easy to get jealous in Los Angeles. Most everyone came here from somewhere, even if it was here, to try and create art of some sort, to go behind the curtain of media-making in an attempt to toss in a pinch of their own individual ingredients. The result is an endless stream of Facebook invitations, familiar postcards on coffee shop pin-boards, and a daunting sense that others’ ingredients—some friends, some enemies, some people who just got to town—are taking over the stew.
But if there’s anything I learned in college—a smaller, but similar stew—it’s that the work of my peers, in analysis or collaboration, is often the best teacher out there. And it’s precisely because you are jealous, because you can view their creative process as a mirror of your own. You can say, “Huh, this person is no genius, they’re practically an idiot, but they made this choice. I never thought about doing that. Maybe I too can make that choice, only better.” It’s creative capitalism, but the only way it works is when you’re actively supporting one another.
This seems to be motto of the Los Angeles-based art collective, This Is What We Imagine (TIWWI, or Teewee), a group of young video, film, photography, and design makers—many of whom I went to school with—that are exhibiting their latest projects tonight, Saturday night, at the Echo Park Rec Center. Beginning at 9:00 PM, the program, called “Show and Tell,” boasts the premiere of two recent collaborative efforts: “Weekend of Wonderment 6” and “Remember When.” If you haven’t heard of the first five installments of the “Weekend of Wonderment” campaign, it’s comprised of about four or five projects, all made within the time-span of two days and with the help of anybody and everybody available. “Remember When,” also the product of many (as opposed to few), is a new comic web-series about a group of friends who try to recreate the lost memories of their amnesia-begotten buddy.
TIWWI’s “Show and Tell” begins tonight, Saturday, 9:00 PM, at the Echo Park Rec Center, located at 1161 Logan Street in Echo Park. For more information, please visit www.tiwwi.com.
It seems only natural to combine our two first loves – art and food. Yet that combination is rarely accomplished in a tasteful manner — that is, until recently.
The artist group Fallen Fruit has pioneered a considerable effort that is changing the way we view Los Angeles’s urban landscape, one tree at a time. Fallen Fruit, founded by Matias Viegener, David Burns, and Austin Young, mapped areas of Silver Lake that have public access to fruit trees — i.e. free, locally grown, organic food. This project continues to connect those with too much and those with too little of that good stuff.
Fallen Fruit’s next big project is at LACMA and is aptly titled EATLACMA. Both today and tomorrow, Fallen Fruit will be giving away free fruit trees to kick off their year-long investigation into food, art, culture, and politics. And keep your ear to the ground as their program unfold seasonally, including the exhibition Fallen Fruit Presents the Fruit of LACMA and day-long event in November.
An apple a day never tasted so good – or so free for that matter.
For more information about Fallen Fruit, click here. For more information about EATLACMA, click here.
It was only a little earlier today that the Los Angeles City Council voted down the proposition to eliminate the Transient Occupancy Tax (the TOT), the sole source of governmental funding behind of the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA). This action, had it been carried through, would have effectively shut down 18 cultural centers—including the Barnsdall Arts Center in Hollywood and the Center for the Arts in Eagle Rock, host to the Sony Pictures Media Arts Program for middle school youth—as well as five professional theatre facilities, and an array of classes, programs, and cultural events.
Such a worthwhile institution as the DCA might seem like an easy stronghold in such a creatively centered city as Los Angeles, but it was largely due to incredible advocacy organizations like Arts for LA that the proposition was shot down. They, along with other activist groups and privately-funded museums such as the Hammer, urged their supporters to write letters to their councilmen, and voice their opinions at the City Council public hearing this Wednesday. Some handed out stickers with the phrase “Arts Fuel LA,” others toted hand-made signs, and one woman addressed the council in a full-on angel costume.
Lo and behold, these efforts proved successful, and as a website strictly devoted toward promoting the arts, artists, and cultural community of Los Angeles, FineArtsLA would like to sincerely thank both the City Council members, and the hard-working advocacy organizations for their aid and congratulate them on their accomplishment today.
Of course the fight for the arts is never through—the council issue still undecided is whether the current cultural grants will be honored—but in celebration of this week’s victory, may I suggest checking out the DCA-funded Municipal Arts Gallery in the Barnsdall Arts Park. From January 24th through April 18th, they are hosting an enormous series of participatory exhibitions entitled “Actions, Conversations, and Intersections,” all aimed at enhancing the artistic community of Los Angeles. In residency this week is Smart Gals Productions, whose patented “Reading Preserve and Speakeasy Collection” features public readings from some of LA’s best authors, including John Albert, Noel Alumit, and Aimee Bender (my personal favorite).
The Smart Gals will toast off their weeklong program on Sunday, February 7th at 2:00pm with the collaborative “Winter Picnic Performance,” a fun mix of music, theatre, fresh bread courtesy of the Bicycle Bread Company, and hot coffee from Cafécito Organico. So come along, fuel the arts that fuel LA, and if you get the chance, thank somebody.
Curated by Edith Abeyta and Michael Lewis Miller, “Actions, Conversations, and Intersections” runs until April 18th, 2010 at the Los Angeles Municipal Arts Gallery in the Barnsdall Art Park. For more information, visit www.actionsconversationsintersections.com
What on your itinerary for this weekend? Snuggies? Gourmet food trucks? Some good ol’ fashioned hip-shaking? Now get your minds out of the gutter. Well, not too far!
How about Elvis Presley’s 75th birthday celebration at the Egyptian Theatre? It’s complete with music, karaoke, games, prizes, food, and a special guest appearance by actress Francine York, who had worked with Elvis on several films. Whether you are a fanatic or just a really good Elvis impersonator, we are thinking that the only way to really get a leg up on your New Year’s resolution is by eating some of those banana-peanut butter pancake bites from the Buttermilk Truck. Or gnaw on a little BBQ from Barbie’s Q before you polish off a little birthday cake.
Of course, you may start to feel like Elvis in the latter portion of his career. But if you can push through it, you can revisit his prolific youth by watching an Elvis double feature: Elvis ‘56 and Jailhouse Rock.
Afterward, you’ll probably feel the need to perfect your dance moves. Remember, its all in the hips.
The Elvis Prestley double feature is this Sunday, January 10 at 5:30 pm at the Egyptian Theatre. For more information, please click here.
People tend to forget about food when talking about art. In fact, food isn’t even allowed in most museums, as if the paintings would get jealous. And although much ado is made out of drugs, nobody ever asks what an artist was eating at the time of their masterpiece.
Of course, like most artistic discourse, this is all backwards. The oldest surviving cave paintings, which in all likelihood are the first known pieces of human art, are all depictions of food (or sex). Therefore, no conversation about artistic merit should begin without first discussing the work’s relationship to the “original” art, food art (or for short: ‘fart’). One person who certainly knows the power of the ‘fart’ is Jonathan Gold, Pulitzer Prize winning food critic for LA Weekly.
In his much-celebrated column, Mr. Gold creates weekly pieces of art inspired by the best and worst food in Los Angeles. Starting last month and running until January 23 at the Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex, various artists are doing just the same; they’ve even decided to pay tribute to ‘the Gold-en boy’ by re-using his column title: “Counter Intelligence.” The work on display here, however, goes beyond the literary and into the realms of sculpture, photography, video, and performance, all in the name of the edible.
Because as any foodie like Jonathan Gold knows, you can’t make ‘fart’ without the food.
A good lot of us cannot wait to say good-bye to 2009 and the ’00s as a whole. Sayonara, the aughts. And hellooo, teens!
But there are a couple of us having a hard time letting go of the holiday spirit. And if you happen to be one of them, keep your iTunes radio on the Christmas carol channel and bake those cookies just a couple more days.
If ice-skating is your thing, swing by Pershing Square for some outdoors ice with your sweetest. Hot cocoa is not included, but the fee and skate rentals are only $8. [Info] Need a few drinks to ease the pain when the ice breaks your fall one too many times? The W Los Angeles in Westwood offers a skating rink of its own for those who need a little liquid courage…erm, holiday cheer to accompany them. [Info]
Do you need lots of bright lights to stay warm and cheery? The DWP’s Holiday Light Festival is going strong…until tomorrow night. You don’t even need to leave the safety of your own car while driving down a mile-long stretch of ligh decorations gracing Griffith Park. [Info] If you tend to trot the unbeaten path, head down to the LBC to see Phantom Galleries’ version of a holiday light show. Aptly titled Let There Be Light!, twenty-eight exhibitions in 25 storefronts will be shining with various light-based works ranging from the subtle, abstract shapes to the bold and fluorescent. [Info]
You don’t have to say good-bye just yet to the holiday season, but since CVS has its Christmas display right next to Valentine treats, the countdown is on.
Image: Fiat Lux IV – Susan Chorpenning; photo by Dan Scott
Well, dear readers… It’s that time of year again. We want to take a moment to wish you a very happy holiday season filled with warmth, joy, and love. Most of all, we want to thank you for being so loyal and supportive to us – we (quite literally) would be lost in cyberspace without you!
So enjoy your Christmas Day and let’s keep our fingers crossed that someone was listening as you dropped hints all year… “Ooh, I would just love to hang that print in the dining room…”
Happy Holidays, everyone!
xoxo FALA
Note: Christmas in LA looks nothing like this photo…
We imagine that a great many of you, dear readers, have guests in town for the holidays. If you’re lucky enough to have them staying at your house, you’ll appreciate this little listing of places to send them so that they can experience all the art and culture that LA has to offer. (Remind them that Woody Allen was wrong when he said it was only frozen yogurt and right turns on red…)
Bergamot Station
A healthy sized collection of art galleries in Santa Monica, Bergamot Station does actually have something for every walk of life. Your sister-in-law prefers installations while your uncle is a photography nut? Send them west of the 405 to this once dilapidated train station for a day filled with some of LA’s most innovative galleries. They’ve even got a café, salon, and vintage clothing shop on site, so let them know they could be occupied for hours!
Bergamot Station is located at 2525 Michigan Ave in Santa Monica. Please call (310) 828-4001 or click here for more information.
Annenberg Space for Photography
Your guests will surely appreciate a jaunt to Annenberg Space for Photography’s latest exhibit: SPORT: Iooss and Leifer. Read our take on it here. It’s a spectacular collection that chronicles the recent history of sports including inspiring snaps of Serena Williams and Mohammad Ali. They have no excuse to come back before grabbing a bite at the little café downstairs and then maybe catching a movie across the street at the Century City shopping center – drop a hint about your favorite shops in the mall.
The Annenberg Space for Photography is located at 2000 Avenue of the Stars #10 in Century City. Call (213) 403-3000 for more information or click here.
Walt Disney Concert Hall
If you’ve got guests over New Year’s Eve, grab a couple seats to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy take advantage of the unparalleled acoustics at Disney Hall. There’s a show at 7:00pm and one at 10:30pm – we’d recommend a quick bite either before or after the performance at Kendall’s Brasserie across the street at the Dorothy Chandler to help ring in the New Year!
Walt Disney Concert Hall is located at 111 South Grand Ave. in Downtown LA. Please call (323) 850-2000 or click here for more information.
Getty Villa in Malibu
There is no better place to remind your guests that you live in paradise than the Getty Villa in Malibu. It’s free to view the ancient Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiques and objets d’art, you’ve just got to make a reservation beforehand for parking. On view now at the Villa is an exhibition called “Reconstructing Identity: A Statue of a God from Dresden.” Once you’ve gotten your fill of the gorgeous views and Roman-inspired architecture, head a bit farther down PCH to Cross Creek Road, where you’ll find Taverna Tony’s (delicious Greek food) and some dangerous shopping.
The Getty Villa is located at 17985 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Please call (310) 440-7300 or click here for more information.
Fuel up your car and pack some snacks because come this weekend, you will be zipping around Los Angeles to stay on the pulse of the art scene. It may be easier said than done, but you can be the judge of that…
Start your Saturday at the Honor Fraser Gallery in Culver City with a panel titled “Pop Art and Ethics,” which will be moderated by Ed Schad and include Irving Blum, David LaChapelle, Holly Myers, and Catherine Taft. This discussion will explore what makes pop continually vital, continually hated, and perhaps a state of art practice that will always exist. If you have two or three cents, be sure to throw them in. [Panel is Saturday, December 12 at 2:00. Click here for more info.]
Over at Regen Projects in West Hollywood, Glenn Ligon’s new exhibition Off Books is made up of paintings that continue Ligon’s study of James Baldwin’s seminal 1953 essay Stranger in the Village. Ligon’s work focuses on themes found within this text, including cultural identity, the decipherability of the other, and the burden of history. [Opening reception is Saturday, December 12, 6 – 8pm. Click here for more info.]
Grab a drink at the Mountain Bar as you continue the adventure in Chinatown. The doors for Chinatown galleries will be wide open during Chinatown Art Nights. At FOCA, the exhibition All Time Greatest, curated by Natilee Harren, explores how an artist’s musical tastes add another dimension to his or her work. We are hoping to find someone’s guilty musical pleasure. Beyoncé, anyone? [Opening reception is Saturday, December 12, 7 – 9 pm. Click here for more info.]
Continuing northward, in Highland Park, workspace is playing it digital in “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened,” curated by Graham Kolbeins, which features a looped screening of videos. These films explore reviving and exorcising the recent past. [Event is Saturday, December 12, 7 – 10pm. Click here for more info.]
If you are still on your art high from Saturday, swing by MOCA to watch Herb & Dorothy on Sunday. This film features a couple, a postal clerk and librarian, who amassed one of the most important collections of contemporary art by buying art work “we liked, what we could afford, and what would fit in our one-bedroom apartment.” [Film is Sunday, December 13, 3–5pm. Click here for more info.]
Those are the rounds to be made. It’s a hard job, but someone’s got to do it.
Along with the mild spike in sunshine this past few weeks, some of you may have noticed another influx in your area: college students, running free, wild, and naked in the streets. Spring break! Five days of release from the shackles of schooldom. Freedom. Monday, though, brought the party to an end, and students across the city are settling back in and setting their eyes on the home stretch. For Art and Photography/Media Graduate students at CalArts, though, the “home stretch” means one thing: running free, wild, naked in the streets. That’s right, folks—it’s time for the CalArts MFA Open Studios.
It’s easy to get jealous in Los Angeles. Most everyone came here from somewhere, even if it was here, to try and create art of some sort, to go behind the curtain of media-making in an attempt to toss in a pinch of their own individual ingredients. The result is an endless stream of Facebook invitations, familiar postcards on coffee shop pin-boards, and a daunting sense that others’ ingredients—some friends, some enemies, some people who just got to town—are taking over the stew.
People tend to forget about food when talking about art. In fact, food isn’t even allowed in most museums, as if the paintings would get jealous. And although much ado is made out of drugs, nobody ever asks what an artist was eating at the time of their masterpiece.
A good lot of us cannot wait to say good-bye to 2009 and the ’00s as a whole. Sayonara, the aughts. And hellooo, teens!
Well, dear readers… It’s that time of year again. We want to take a moment to wish you a very happy holiday season filled with warmth, joy, and love. Most of all, we want to thank you for being so loyal and supportive to us – we (quite literally) would be lost in cyberspace without you!
Fuel up your car and pack some snacks because come this weekend, you will be zipping around Los Angeles to stay on the pulse of the art scene. It may be easier said than done, but you can be the judge of that…
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