Spring Art Week Blooms with Global Variety

Posted on by Diversions LA

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Like spring flowers, art is blooming in Los Angeles – with a terrific art week at The Reef April 18th through 23rd. The DTLA location will feature three major art shows produced by Fabrik Media: Photo Independent Fair, The Los Angeles Festival of Photography, and EXPO Contemporary Fair.  Opening night festivities for all three events will take place Friday, April 21st from 6 to 10 p.m.

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Here’s a look at all three shows.

Photo Independent

In it’s fourth year, Photo Independent, which runs from the 21st to the 23rd, offers a stellar platform for independent photographic artists. These exceptional works are presented by artists who have not yet participated in gallery-based fairs or reached a global audience. As a part of the exhibition, attendees have the opportunity to view the work of internationally renowned photographer Roger Ballen.

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The South African-based artist will be presenting Ballenesque, four decades of work as well as pieces from his new series, The Theatre of Apparitions. Ballen will also be conducting a three-day Fine Art Photography workshop, as well as delivering the exhibition’s keynote speech, and holding a book signing. Working in black and white photography for over fifty years, Ballen believes that this medium as an “abstract way to interpret and transform what one might refer to as reality.”

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Ballen’s most recent series marks a departure from his already challenging oeuvre, inspired by hand-drawn carving on blacked-out windows in an abandoned women’s prison. Here his work is layered and experimental, merging painting, drawing, and photography using spray paints on glass, then removing the paint with a sharp object. We are looking at images which evoke pre-historic cave paintings. The series title refers to the theatrical mentality of life itself, dreams, imagination, and memories, as acted out on a mental and emotional stage.

In addition to Ballen’s work and that of other exhibitors, Paul Martineau, associate curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum will be reviewing photographers and their booths at Photo Independent, honoring one artist as Best of Show 2017. The winner will be awarded a solo exhibition in the 2018 fair.

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The Los Angeles Festival of Photography

This weeklong festival begins April 18th, and has as its goal the encouragement and celebration of photographic images and their creators. Lectures, workshops, gallery tours, networking, and of course, exhibitions are all a part of a festival that draws leading photographers.

Featured events include Keynotes from curator and writer Charlotte Cotton, and Roger Ballen, also leading a workshop on Fine Art Photography.  Other workshops will be presented by award winning photographers including Susan Burnstine, Karin Apollonia Müller, and Julia Dean.  Mobile Photography Workshops including David Ingraham: The iPhone Darkroom; Bob Weil: Creating Conceptual Art on Mobile Devices; and Nicki Fitz-Gerald: Life in Layers – Creative iPhone Artistry, will also be presented. The wide array of photographic exhibitions draws art lovers and photographers worldwide.

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Fabrik Expo Contemporary Linda Kunik

EXPO Contemporary

Looking for something different? Attendees will find exciting contemporary art here, in an annual exhibition that goes beyond the standard art fair experience, exposing audiences to a wide variety of artists, media, and practices. Both traditional and non-traditional media and materials will be presented from painters, printmakers, book and graphic artists, sculptors, assemblage and mixed media artists, muralists, installation artists, and high concept designers. The exhibition will also examine public art, experimental architecture, and environmental, social, and collaborative projects.

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As Chris Davies, director of Fabrik Media, explains having three different art fairs in Los Angeles at one time is an exciting prospect. “With so many options, there will be a show for every type of art patron.”

All three exhibitions will be held at The Reef, 1933 S. Broadway, in DTLA.

For more information on each fair, and to purchase weekend, day passes, and opening night tickets see fair websites:

A New Phoenix Rising

Posted on by Jack Burke

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Located on 3rd at its juncture with La Cienega is a reincarnation of the former Phoenix as – The Phoenix. And it’s a new bird rising. Sleek, French-bistro styling draws the eye to the  bar, while draft cocktails like the Dublin Donkey and La Paloma – as well as a wide selection of whiskies – draw the palette.

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While the food may be somewhat secondary to the beverages, it’s tasty too: below, Fusilli Marinara topped with a fried egg. The idea, our server tells us, is to mix the fried egg in with the basil and Parm cheese. The marinara sauce has a nice zing.
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Lighter fare is also present. The Phoenix House Salad adds feta cheese, pear, pepperocini, cilantro, cherry tomatoes, and red onions to fresh mixed green. Toasty bread on the side.
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Below, Adolfo Suaya, partner in the restaurant, ready to help patrons enjoy the classy but cool European vibe.

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The very red-lit patio was our favorite spot. Hip, happening, sexy lighting, comfortable booths and the al fresco bar scene that LA needs a lot more of.

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Below, crisply well-seasoned fries are redolent of rosemary.

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Below: those well prepared draft cocktails.

The Paloma features Milagro Blanco Tequila, Giffard’s Pamplemousse,  plus lime and soda.

We loved the Dublin Donkey, a nicely spicy blend of Tullamore Dew, Giffard’s Ginger of the Indies, lime, and Ginger Beer.

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To sum up: a welcoming place for a drink and some food, The Phoenix is open late and stays stylish. Insiders tip: the patio is the perfect spot for a date night. The Phoenix rises to become your next occasion for celebration. It’s located at 8480 3rd Street close to the Beverly Center.

  • Genie Davis; Photos: Jack Burke

Round Too: Durden and Ray Gets It Right – Again

Posted on by Diversions LA

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Curated by Max Presneill, Round Too – the second half of Durden and Ray’s opening – is strong, sensual, and smart.

Featuring artists  Jorin Bossen, Gul Cagin, Sijia Chen, Lana Duong, Ed Gomez, Brian Thomas Jones, Chris Mercier, Ty Pownall, Nano Rubio, Curtis Stage, Valerie Wilcox, and Steven Wolkoff, the exhibition has a cool, clean look from its colors to its spacing.  Both the style of the cohesive exhibition and that of the artists’ represented is innately different from the first half of gallery’s inaugural, Round Won.

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Christopher Mercier’s “In Proximity” describes his work as “an art conservator’s disaster.” Using frames to build new space, Mercier works with “Just paint. No rubber, no plastic, it’s just painting and the frame, latex, enamel, oil, water based ink,” he explains. By refolding the frames, Mercier has expanded the space in his wall sculpture to bring the painting into a three-dimensional space.

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The incredibly thick paint and even the artist’s unique use of space evokes the Excessivist movement. The piece is an encompassing 24 x 96 x 18 inches.

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Equally fascinating is the very different work by Nano Rubio, “Anti Flag.”

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Oil, acrylic, and spray paint on canvas, the work employs techniques Rubio often used in customizing cars. “There are lots of pin striping tools that I use, and I like to build up layers. I like the idea of trickery, that things can change your perception. Yes, the piece can be ready as very political,” he asserts.

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“Things are getting grittier to deal with politics in the California landscape.”

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Ty Pownall created his “Untitled (single fade out)” right on site. Comprised of steel, sand, and spray paint, the work needs to be created from scratch whenever Pownall exhibits it.

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“It’s loose sand raised on a steel sheet. The pigment is sifted on with a screen, you essentially tap it on in order to put the particulate on top. I do it all on site.” The piece seems to fade off into infinity at one end, creating an image that is both one of perfection and incompletion.

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Valerie Wilcox’ “Passage” is a mixed media work in cool whites, off-whites, grey and green. It’s both bold and ghostly; both all angular lines and soft colors.

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Steven Wolkoff, who curated the first half of Durden & Ray’s opening, here offers “High Adventure (a pile of gummy behrs).”

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Using Behr acrylic house paint to create his miniature paint bears, Wolkoff’s deliciously tactile work is available at a crazy-reasonable cost: $5 per bear. Good enough to eat, but don’t.

The impressionist abstract of Sijia Chen’s “Stray;” the photo diptych of Brian Thomas-Jones “Untitled (Green/Tan),” which fits visually with Wilcox’ “Passage” like they were destined to be shown together; and Gul Gain’s “To Look Aimlessly,” an abstract that looks as if a head was literally exploding other shadowy forms around it – are among the other standouts in a strong exhibition.

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Above, Durden and Ray’s Dani Dodge with curator Max Presneill.

The Durden and Ray collective continues to hit their art out of the ballpark – rarely has a gallery’s “opening season” looked so good.

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Durden and Ray is located at 1923 S. Santa Fe Avenue in a building now brimming with art galleries, including CB1.

  • Genie Davis; photos: Genie Davis

 

 

 

Ethan Sultry – Jazz with a Twist

Posted on by Diversions LA

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The jazz is smooth and vibrantly flamenco flourished – and the club is chill tonight. Listening to The Ethan Sultry Band at the Blue Whale in DTLA is a sensory jolt. Deliciously fluid vocals joined to a hybrid jazz sound five-person band feature:
guitarist/composer/vocalist Ethan Sultry (Margolis. Fresh from Spain performing his iTunes featured album, Sonikete Blues, the blend of Adalucian rhythms with blues and jazz creates a stirring fusion that’s as graceful as it is assertive.IMG_6641

Along with Sultry the stage was shared by Reggie Hamilton on bass; Katisse Buckingham on flute, keys, and sax; Munyungo Jackson on percussion; and Donald Barrett on drums. IMG_6643

Born in Santa Cruz, Sultry lived in Spain for more than a decade before moving to Los Angeles, bringing his exciting fusion sound like the best kind of baggage.

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Opening with the song “Butterflies and the Moon,” from his new album Sultry moved into playing a compulsively cool Robert Johnson tune “Malted Milk” played in “E flat” as Sultry noted. The music flowed like a rhythmic waterfall, with Suitry pausing only to justifiably praise the ambiance and acoustics of the club – who could help but love a space with a Rumi quote on the ceiling and a stellar cheese plate available at the bar.

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This is a rare and delightful mix of Gypsy roots, Delta Blues, and sleek jazz. Vocals are compelling and the percussion wills you to move along with the music. Buckingham even added a side of hip hop lyricism to a music mix that was seamlessly blended.

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Sultry offers an intriguing take on a jazz path that evokes Miles Davis and a bit of Les McCann. His take on the traditional spiritual “Go Down Moses” defies comparison – and indeed most all of the ensemble’s pulsing and yet delicate musicianship is entirely unique.

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I’m sure I wasn’t the only audience member involved enough to want to dance – and at the same time listen and contemplate.
However the music makes you feel,the important thing is that it truly makes you FEEL.

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Missed them live? Then check out Sonikete Blues on iTunes now and get ready to move and feel and find yourself in some alternative and wonderfully eclectic place between Spain and Mississippi and jazz Heaven.

  • Genie Davis; photos by Jack Burke

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