Every second Thursday of the month in the portion of downtown Los Angeles (L.A.) also known as Gallery Row, thousands of visitors show up to enjoy the Downtown L.A. Art Walk. Thursday, March 13 was the most recent art walk.
Gallery owner, Bert Green, began the downtown L.A. art walk. From about 30 participating galleries in 2007, this event has grown to close to 50 participating galleries. Most of the galleries are located on Spring and Main streets between 2nd and 9th streets. Hours vary by gallery with most galleries open from noon to 10 p.m. Earlier attendees usually enjoy less of a crowd.
The downtown L.A. art walk is a self-guided, free, public art phenomenon. It is an enjoyable opportunity to view art and frequent dining and entertainment venues throughout this area of dynamic and evolving L.A. real estate.
With so much art to see, one may think it would be difficult to choose a favorite jewel amongst all the gems available for viewing. That is why this art examiner has chosen three that stood out for her from the March 2013 event (in no particular order).
- Stephan Canthal's L.A. Rhythm II viewed at The Hive Gallery, 729 S. Spring St. The artist considers this piece to be his masterpiece. To him it represents how people see L.A. "It is about L.A. icon-ism. Everyone sees L.A. as freeways and palm trees." L.A. Rhythm II is printed on aluminum, which is what caught this author's eye. Stephan also shared, "I wanted to break out of the traditional box and print on substrate that represents the imagery and works with it to evoke a new design."
- Queen of Spades by Brittney Lee at GR Space's gallery, 114 W. 4th St. Brittney created a series of four pieces representing each queen in the card deck: hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds. Each piece is a 3-dimensional delight. The Queen of Spades was this author's fave for the sassy attitude she seemed to exude in spades. Ms. Lee let us in on her inspiration, "with all of the queens, I was hoping to channel a bit of mid-century aesthetic. So I was also drawing inspiration for the girls themselves from prominent mid-century female figures. Without question, the Queen of Spades was my Marilyn Monroe with the slightest hint of Brigitte Bardot mixed in."
- Killing the Messenger by Robert Toll as seen at Gloria Delson Contemporary Arts, 215 W. 6th St. With the advent of thin, flat screen TVs, this sculpture's statement on what to do with the big TVs of the past seemed to be an interesting statement addressing this dilemma.
Thank you to all the gallery owners, artists and amazing beings that make this event possible every month. Also, thanks to all the officers and security guards who help make this event a safe one.
Next Downtown L.A. Art Walk is April 11, 2013.
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