On The Scene At L.A. Art Show 2017!

"On The Scene In '17" is my motto for this new year, but I haven't been able to really execute because I've had this dreadful cold for pretty much the whole year so far. The show must go on though, so I headed down to the always great opening night of the 2017 L.A. Art Show at the Convention Center downtown, Kleenex in hand.

The line to get inside the hall was so long it was like we were trying to get into a Bernie Sanders rally last Summer (ahem). It went pretty fast, and there was good people watching while waiting, like this lady with a dress made entirely out of forks (who made it much easier for my friends to find me with her as a landmark - thank you!).

It's fun to attend this event with my brother, Paul, because he's deep in the L.A. art world and has a lot of great insight - but he also gets stopped every two feet to chat, so he needs to be abandoned at times if I was going to see any of the art in an already super-densely filled massive space crowded with art aficionados.

Aside from the intense line to get in at the beginning, the Art Show has figured out some things to make it go more smoothly, starting with several little bars throughout so you don't end up wasting all your art looking time in line for a drink. The whole thing seemed more spread out and manageable, even if I never figure out how to get to the food area before they close down. Oh, well.

I think I saw my favorite pieces right out of the gate when Paul showed me the sculpture works by Larry Kagan, where he bends wires in such a way that their shadow on the wall is the real image. How cool! It always intrigues me how artists come up with their art, and this one takes the cake. Like, "I bet if I bend this wire just so, it will look like a chair in the shadow on the wall." What?! Smartie.

... Or "What if I make sculptures entirely out of screws?" How do they come up with these things?! I'm actually always more interested in art like this than the classic landscape in a gold frame, but if that's your thing, there's plenty of that too.

I've always been fond of the quote from Bertolt Brecht when he said, " Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it." - because it's so true, and this show was no different. There was a ton of art that reflected our times and current events ... and the reporters from all over the world to cover it.

Much of art is derivative, of course, and there are many exhibitors who clearly have been majorly influenced by Warhol and Basquiat - like almost straight knock-offs - but then you get those bent wires and screws and the performance artists, and the relief that there is still some original thought and creativity left in the world.

The performance art was all at one end this year, and though we missed a lot of the action/performance of it by the time we got to that side, it was still cool to see what people are up to. An inflatable amoeba type thing with painted dancers cavorting around it was interesting ...

An invitation to destroy a couch had viewers sitting and watching the destruction while "Pennies From Heaven" played and pennies DID fall occasionally from the Heavens (ceiling).

There was a bloody forest where limbs were dismembered that we missed (and I'm fine with that), but we very much dug the pink carwash thing buffing out silver "LA." letters, that so perfectly matched my friend Deb's arty get-up that people thought she was part of the installation and asking her for photos. Awesome.

I very much enjoyed the live painting that featured street artists like bumblebeelovesyou (who I also love) creating one of his whimsical, happy childhood pieces ...

... and Venice's own Jules Muck there doing a self-portrait, showing this art world that she has indeed arrived.

My favorite section of the L.A. Art Show is always the Littletopia area, full of the latest, coolest stuff from artists who always seem to be the most up my alley.

Littletopia is curated by my favorite gallery at the L.A. Art Show, the Red Truck Gallery, from New Orleans. I love me some folk art, and Red Truck is probably the very best place in the country to feature that wonderful genre.

They had a bunch of new art this year, of which I think the one I most coveted was this piece that warns against the dangers of mixing Pop Rocks with Coke. Don't do it.

I loved the "Artist's Room" by the duo Dosshaus, where a couple hangs out and talks to you in an entirely monochromatic, colorless room where all of the items, including their clothes, were made from recycled cardboard. Deb also looked especially great here in her pink.

There was a surreal installation of stretched out, super-realistic people from Yi Hwan Kwon, that was also very popular with the Instagrammers in the house. To stand in front of them was to question your own reality - or sobriety - as so trippy were they. 

Another really great installation was the big portrayal "Cut-Outs" by Ramiro Gomez of a Los Angeles home. It uses negative space very effectively when the housekeepers and gardeners are cut out of the piece and erected in front of it, proving their importance. It reminded me of the great and important documentary, A Day Without A Mexican from Sergio Arau. Crucial viewing, both. 

Coagula Projects brought an installation from Fred Tieken that would be very Venice-appropriate as it portrayed birds and skateboards and said, "No birds on skateboards allowed on this beach".  Only we would never stand for that. 

There was so much to see and do at this year's L.A. Art Show that it insists upon a return visit, when it's not so full of opening night crowds and people to catch up with. For every piece I saw, there were probably 100 that I didn't - or more. It's always so gratifying to attend events that are all about the art and the people that make it, and that recognize the beauty and importance of art in our lives. The show runs through January 15th, so you have until then to be "On The Scene in '17" yourselves. No excuses. 

Thank you to all involved for another wonderful showcase of the world's art and artists, indeed helping to shape our reality. Hooray for Art! 

The 2016 L.A. Art Show - So. Much. Art!

The opening of the 2016 L.A. Art Show was last night, and it was truly something to behold. Art just everywhere! So much art it can feel overwhelming to see it all, especially when you're stopping to talk to people you know every few feet. We got there a little late, and I began hyperventilating about how we could possibly see it all ... when person after person said, just cruise, relax, enjoy the pieces you see vs. trying to see everything. Such good advice ... and with that, I was off! (and this is just a random sampling of all that I saw ... someone else might have a whole different trove of photos).

Opening night is so fun to see all the people, but opening night is more about that than even the art. It's hard to see the art, in fact, because so many people are squeezed in around the crowd pleasers that you can't really appreciate them as well as they're meant to be appreciated. But that's why you go back over the weekend. To see things like Melanie Pullen shooting people for her High Fashion Crime Scenes, where there was a huge crowd all night.

A bunch of exhibitors had interaction going on, with performers dressed up to match the art in some instances ...

Or you could BE the scene, if Robert Vargas chooses you to create a mural of in front of you ...

There was a lot of live painting, with giant creations coming to life right before our eyes ...

There was a big showing from Asian artists this year, with a whole Chinese section, and a lot of great stuff from Korean artists as well.

There was a "Fortune" castle, where once inside you were surrounded by mirrors and giant wedding cakes ... but I didn't see any fortunes?

There was an adorable "Bakery" from the Daniel Rolnik Gallery, selling little works of art like (and of) baked goods, complete with a Chef back there. Fun!

A great part of the L.A. Art Show is the fun. Every few feet you run into fun people you know, and with as many Venice folks that make the trip downtown, it calms me down a little bit about artists disappearing in Venice. The Art Scene remains strong!

It's also one of those shows where you realize that absolutely anything can be considered art. A pile of purple sandbags? Art.

A claw holding the Earth while it rotates? Art.

A giant red Sumo wrestler statue? Art.

Taxidermied animals chilling in a dining room setting? Art.

A pile of inflatable animals? Art.

Tires rolled out with fabric across the floor? Art. Just think up an idea that looks cool, and it's Art!

A true highlight every year, and the section I beeline for, is Littletopia. It's where all my favorite stuff is.

My MOST favorite within Littletopia every year is always Red Truck Gallery.

What a delight to walk up and see Noah Antieau and Nick Sin chilling there at the table with friends like they were having a house party in the middle of all this chaos.

Antieau curates his awesome gallery with mostly treasures from New Orleans, where they are located (until they open another one soon in San Francisco - yay!). He represents his Mother, Chris Roberts Antieau, and her simply gorgeous works of folk art and quilts, of which I adore every single one. Like this one, Constellations.

They also feature whimsical automatons like you won't see anywhere else.

Antieau was excited about his new artist that does teeny tiny carvings on the top of pencils out of the lead. Tiny!

I would love to have stayed and hung out with the Red Truck boys, but there was just too much ground to cover. This year's Dali and Warhol heads were replaced by Frida Kahlo, in the always eerily real work of Kazuhiro Tsuji. Trippy.

This year we pretty much skipped the bars altogether because they just take too dang long (although spreading them out this year helped some with that), though you could see a lot of your friends in line if you so chose. I ran into my old pal, Seth Green and his wife, Clare ... and only then was jealous I didn't have a drink to toast him with.

We met a couple who had just returned from Banksy's Dismaland - they reported that it was pretty cool, and they sported a whole lot of merch.

Not to be outdone by Banksy, Mr. Brainwash has a strong showing here, especially with his very cool Jimi Hendriz made out of smashed vinyl records. Loved it.

A nice companion piece with this for me would be the great piece of a guitar wielding butterfly girl that I want by Mark Andrew Allen, who I learned worked out of Venice for years. And also misses Hal's.

Allen's booth also featured a "Selfie Booth" that I did not participate in because I don't do that, but people loved it as much as they to take selfies. A lot.

There were also a lot of butterflies from Damien Hirst, of course, and there was one that almost exactly matched my dress. I had to take a photo - but not a selfie.

Never mind the selfies, most of what people were doing was taking pictures of themselves with all the great art. It can't be helped.

You could see yourself in the cool, steel and studded skateboards hanging on one wall ...

But then, you could see yourself in a lot of the art ... and isn't that what Art is? And why you like it? I mean, I've been a sucker before ...

Some of the art is frustrating because you feel like a monkey could do it. Then there's the art that you have to wonder just how they did it, because it doesn't feel like anyone could do it, so intricate and amazing it is. That's the Art world, though. Just blame Obama.

There was a lot of David Bowie art (that all seemed to be done before his death at least), but this was the best one, kind of 3-D.

A similar looking piece was up the way, of a woman, made entirely from wine corks, lighters, and other ephemera that makes up mixed media. Save those wine corks!

If you needed a little break from art and the bar lines, you could cool out with some friends and play some arty ping pong. Why not?

Someone who could probably really use a break was performance artist, Millie Brown, with her Wilting Point piece. She is lying there almost naked, surrounded by flowers, surviving on only water for the five days of the show. She is "focusing on the beauty of the external decomposition around her, and the evolving changes within." And being photographed an awful lot. It was beautiful, but I bet it gets pretty old for her before the weekend is up.

My friend Big Cookie was showing with his sculpture series, Toy Soldiers, depicting young boys as violent men, but still children, in his biting social commentary work. It's powerful stuff.

I loved this deer with waterfalls eyes.



I also loved this piece made from rice paper rolled up, where it would change color depending on where you stood.

There was a crazy installation of sound waves and stuff that I didn't really get from the Metabolic Studio, but it's always fun to immerse yourself in something.

Which is, of course, the point of art, I think. To immerse yourself in something outside of you, to discover the inside of you. There was a big red wall near the VIP area that quoted Auguste Rodin, saying, "The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live."

That's what Art is all about, what LIFE is all about, and I hope you'll get to enjoy some for yourself this weekend at the wonderful L.A. Art Show. I barely scratched the surface here, so you've got a lot to see!

The L.A. Art Show runs now through Sunday, January 31, at the L.A. Convention Center Downtown.