Los Angeles Art Show
There is a large art show in Los Angeles every year – it used to be held in a couple of hangars at the Santa Monica Airport, but this year it was down the street from me at the LA Convention Center. I’ve missed too many interesting things at that Convention Center since I moved in here over 2 years ago, so I walked down to see it.
I didn’t take too many pictures, as there was a “No Photography” sign, though I probably could have. I’m kind of glad I didn’t though, since taking pictures often causes me to not really look at things until later, when I’m going through the photos. Then, it’s generally too late, as all the valuable lessons are really to be had from looking at the paintings and sculptures in person.
There were some really wonderful things there. In particular I loved Khang Pham-New’s sculptures. The large one they had there was Escutcheon, and it really is mesmerizing to look at up close.
There were both contemporary and antique dealers there, and I was surprised to find three actual Bouguereaus on display! I’ve never seen any of these paintings in person, and they were magnificent.
There was also a dealer who handled prints of old botanical illustrations. Those were gorgeous, but the way she had them framed was almost better than the drawings themselves. There were several galleries with pieces that took advantage of optical illusions, or the texture and shadow-casting of different materials (some fine-mesh wire horse bas reliefs with oblique lighting were stunning). There was also an abstract wood sculpture of a woman running with a horse that was stylized in a way similar to something I was doing in a sculpted bottle design for a client late last year. That design has remained a set of drawings, but seeing this sculpture really makes me want to bring that bottle into three dimensions.
I was struck by how high quality everything was, and not in a safe, tedious way (or at least not got the most part!). There was really good work on display. I’ve been going to the Downtown Art Walk here in LA for over a year now, and I rarely see work this skilled or fully formed at any of those galleries. I don’t know how to define it, but these pieces had substance.
It was a good couple of hours.
On the way back home, since I didn’t get to take many pictures at the show, I decided to try a couple of self portrait experiments.
This one is built out of a snapshot of my reflection in the convention center doors. I was going for a kind of playing-card feeling:
And this one I tried to make somewhat unsettling. I think of it as an illustration of a conscience:
