Tonight - This

"This" is a collective of sorts from what I gather that is putting on a group show tonight in Highland Park from 7-10pm. I'll be heading to check this one out, as there are lots of recognizable and respected names on here.

Click on the flyer for info.

Feature plus show - Kwaku Alston

Editorial and lifestyle photographer, Kwaku Alston's series of Sartorialist-esque street portraits of characters in Venice, Horizon Court will be on display Friday near the scene of the crime. Check out the whole set here.










Friday, Feb 12th, 6-9pm
1346 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice Beach

Opening Thurs - Ruven Afanador

Having spent 4 years of my life in Spain, I'm pretty excited for tomorrow night's opening of Ruven Afanador's new series, Mil Besos, at Fahey Klein. The series showcases the women of flamenco and select work from his first book on bullfighting will also be on display.




Thursday, Feb. 11th, 7-9pm
Fahey Klein]
148 N. La Brea

Saturday - For the Love of Haiti

This is happening on Saturday:

The Art Reserve in collaboration with Studio Morke present a night of Art, Music, People and Love to continue awareness for the healing of Haiti.

For the Love of Haiti promises to be a unique and compassionate event complete with a silent auction with complimentary beverages including beer and wine as well as an exclusive musical performance by ORGONE. Renowned artists such as Tony Duran, Clayton Brothers, Patrick Hoelck, Mark Lebowitz, Lisa Solberg, Salomon Huerta, Roni Feldman and others have donated various pieces of art in conjunction with The Art Reserve to produce a rare and never-before seen art collective with 100% of proceeds to benefit Doctors Without Borders.

For information check out www.fortheloveofhaiti.com

RSVP@studiomorke.com

Saturday, Feb. 13, 7-9pm, Rooftop Cocktail After Party 9pm - 2am.
Studio Morke : 1026 S. Santa Fe Ave. #201 Los Angeles, Ca 90021

MOCA's Downfall

Yes!  Someone did a Downfall parody of the MOCA directorship going to Jeffrey Deitch.

"There's always the Hammer..."

Feature - Raoul Gatepin

Though I prefer to feature local photographers, I'm also partial to bodies of work completed in CA by outsiders such as this and this.  In Raoul Gatepin's case, he lived here in LA for two years before he moving to the dark side (Brooklyn) so I thought I'd show some highlights from his pL.A.nes and L.A.merique series. 

And they say nobody walks in LA...

 

 

 

Quote of the Week - Charles Harbutt

"This sense of quickness, of being alive on this earth, of simple orgasmic sense perception, is the point at which great photographs are made. Photographs come from that moment in the process of cognition before the mind has analyzed meaning or the eyes design and at which the experience and the person experiencing are fully, intuitively, existentially there. Such images look like photographs, not paintings: there is a tremendous sense of stopped time, of the blinking shutter, of being alive and still there, of discovery (rather than analysis), of chance, not design, of quick emotion from an uncertain cause. Photography is at its best when it deals with the very act of seeing in itself and not with recollections in tranquility or dilletantism of design."

- Charles Harbutt

Via

Patrick Romero Interview on Mossless

Mossless is a blog that posts short interviews on photographers with accompanying photos. Patrick Romero, previously featured here has one up now.

The Photo Coterie has a similar format to Mossless. Go check them out too.

Opening / Feature - Brooke Shaden

Brooke Shaden has been a contact of mine on Flickr for quite some time now and I was excited to see she had moved to LA.  The opening for her first show here will be Thursday night at Flazh!Alley and coincides with the San Pedro Art Walk.


Brooke Shaden
"Ballet Vacate; A Dancer In Distress"
Flazh!Alley
Thursday Feb. 4th, 7-11 PM (18 and over)

1113 S. Pacific Ave. Ste. B, San Pedro, CA 90731

 

 

 

Another for Tonight

Another opening at the new Hous Projects LA location this evening from 4-7.  Stop in especially if headed to the contemporary fair.

Fishy Photos

This is pretty cool.  On Sunday the Aquarium of the Pacific is hosting photographers for one night only to have their run of the place, tripods, flashes and all.  For some reason seahorses and strobes don't mix, though.  It's the only time you can take your time and really set up and we all know how much fun aquarium shooting can be.  Tickets cost $23.95.


Info here.


Thanks, Aline!

But wait! There's more...

I just found out via Pixfeed that there's also an opening across the street from Alex Prager's show at M+B of James Welling's (of photogram and abstract fame) series Glass House, shot using color filters of Philip Johnson's masterpiece, designed in 1949.  This means you can pop right across the road to Regen Projects and get two shows for the price of, well, for free.

But there's even more. This also made me recall that there's a second opening tomorrow at the same time just one block away from these at Kopeikin Gallery of Mitch Dobrowner's excellent show so why not hit up all three?  Let the free wine flow.

James Welling: Glass House

Saturday, January 30, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Regen Projects
633 N. Almont Dr.
West Hollywood, CA 90069

Art Los Angeles Contemporary - This Weekend

In it's inaugural year, Art Los Angeles Contemporary attempts to establish a contemporary fair in LA.  Compared to the LA Art Show, this looks like the list of galleries exhibiting is a lot more legitimate when it comes to contemporary art and I think it will have art of a higher caliber.

Of course, everyone knows that photography by the biggest names is not to be seen at photo fairs, but rather at the big contemporary art fairs. You won't see a Hoffer, Gursky, or Struth at a photo fair but you will see plenty at ARCO or Basel.  I'm not sure why this is but I'd guess it's because these top-tier photographers want to be seen as contemporary artists and command similar prices to painters so they tend to be repped by big name contemporary dealers who show at this type of fair.

In any case, I'm planning to check this one out.  $16 gets you a one day pass, which is pretty on par for museum entrance fees and should be well worth it.

Saturday Opening - Alex Prager at M+B

Tomorrow is the opening for a show of local, Alex Prager's newest body of work, Week-End at M+B Gallery.  I'll be heading to this one.

From the press release:

In the artist's own words, she is “documenting a world that exists and doesn’t exist at the same time.” The trilogy began with girls playing archetypal roles in Polyester. Then in The Big Valley, the roles took on lives of their own, and the separation between make-believe and real life began to dissolve. With Week-End, which signifies the peak as well as the extent of the period, the façade becomes so thick that the illusion is now more real than the world they actually live in. 

Life Support for Haiti

Wallspace Gallery in Seattle is hosting a benefit for Doctors Without Borders and thus, the Haiti Earthquake victims through a print sale. All photos are $50. Locals Mitch Dobrowner, Emily Shur, Liz Kuball and Aline Smithson have donated prints. Other standouts include Susan Worsham, David Bram, and Lydia Panas.

Check them out here.

Also for sale to benefit Haiti are smaller versions of the photos up in the current New Directions show, in which I have a piece. They can be seen here.

Go get some art and support a noble cause.

Copyright David Bram