Weekend Round-Up

Elonda Billera's pulling mussels from the shell at workspace in Lincoln Heights

Need an art-filled itinerary for tomorrow?  Let’s start on the Eastside and work our way west.

Start your day bright and early – and by early, we mean 11:00 — at the Los Angeles Art Fair to stroll around the gallery booths and art installations at the Los Angeles Convention Center.  Gathering local and international galleries to one spot, save yourself from gallery-hopping your way across the city this rainy weekend.  And are you in need of a few tips on how to decorate your modernist mansion tucked in the Hollywood Hills?  Architects Stephen Kanner, Michael Palladino, and Frederick Fisher, along with interior designer, James Magni, discuss architectural and design concepts as they relate to the artwork in their clients’ homes in a session called “Art in the Modernist Home” at 2:00pm.  [Info]

Not too far away and starting at 4:00pm, the USC MFA studios will be open for prying eyes just like yours.  Head just a little south to West Adams and  check out some fresh meat…erm, fresh artistic talents.  The art soiree turns into full on party around 9:30 when musical guests (Infinite Body, Lucky Dragons, and The Urxed) take the stage in between DJs Price Vernon and Clay Lerner’s sets, who are spinning for the evening.  [Info]

Make sure to pop on over to workspace, a former flower shop turn art space, to see Elonda Billera’s show pulling mussels from the shell in Lincoln Heights. Through her artwork, Billera dissects containers we use to insulate, hold, and store.  As a result, this installation attempts to defy gravity, duration, and hopefully consequence.  Intrigued?  The opening reception is tomorrow, 7:00pm – 10:00pm. [Info]

If you decide to stay in mid-town, make sure to stop by John Baldessari’s show at Margo Leavin Gallery, Blue Line (Holbein).  This show unfolds over three exhibition galleries and includes sculpture, photography, and video.  The work Blue Line is a three-dimensional object with photographic images of Hans Holbein the Younger’s The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb on two sides. Tipped diagonally and installed perpendicular to the main gallery’s entrance, the work appears as a single, solid blue line.  You need to see it to believe it.  The opening reception is tomorrow, 3:00pm – 5:00pm. [Info]

And finally, the MexiCali Biennial opens this weekend at the Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis to further investigate bi-national exchanges and alternative exhibition practices unlike most biennials you’ve been to.  For an example, the 2009-2010 biennial will span over two years in three different locations, and two counties.  This incarnation will be at the Maltz Gallery until March 20, 2010.  The opening reception is Saturday, 4:00pm – 6:00pm. [Info]