Los Angeles Convention Center January 23-27
This story was featured in the January 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art January 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
Art transcends borders, styles, and time periods this month at the 24th annual LA Art Show, the largest art fair on the West Coast. Since its inception two decades ago, the show has increasingly expanded into the global art market, and this year is no exception, with works from a robust roster of prestigious national and international galleries. According to show producer Kim Martindale, the diverse and multicultural exhibit appeals to both LA’s ever-growing collector base and the many art aficionados who fly in from all over the world to attend. “The show includes works from 18 different countries,” he notes, “so it’s really a wide taste of what’s happening out there in the world.”
The show kicks off with a VIP collectors’ preview and premiere party on Wednesday, January 23, at 6 p.m., and then continues daily through Sunday at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where the 200,000-square-foot West Hall is transformed into an immersive display of art, from interactive installations to performance pieces to mixed-media creations. Argentinian artist Andrés Paredes, for example, features a multisensory installation made of clay domes enclosed around “fantastical” landscapes. Meanwhile, another exhibit called Design LA Art celebrates the symbiotic relationship between architecture, interior design, and art.
Martindale is quick to emphasize that traditional works make a strong appearance, too. The Roots category, in particular, brings together galleries with a focus on both historic and present-day traditional fine artists, from the Taos School painters to contemporary realists. “It’s important for people to come and see that it’s not all modern and contemporary art,” Martindale says.
As many as eight galleries contribute to the Roots showcase, including New Orleans-based M.S. Rau Antiques, which presents a mix of 19th- and early-20th-century works by heavy hitters like John Singer Sargent, Georges Seurat, and Norman Rockwell. Also among the collection is an impressionistic seascape by famed British statesman Winston Churchill, who created around 600 paintings during his lifetime. First-time participant Trinity House Paintings, of London and New York, also contributes to the Roots portion with several works by French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Contemporary works in the Roots exhibit include a collection of Native American and southwestern art from returning participant Blue Rain Gallery, of Santa Fe, and a varied selection of aboriginal art from Yaama Ganu Gallery of Australia, including bold and vivid works by artist Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi and her father, renowned artist Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri.
Less familiar to many American collectors but certainly still following in the vein of traditional art is a unique showcase of Pan-Asian ink paintings from Japan, China, and South Korea that Martindale helped curate. “Most people in the western world don’t think about ink painting as traditional art, but it has a very long tradition that probably goes back farther than oil painting,” he notes. “Very few people are able to engage, as collectors, with works like this,” adds Martindale. “The LA Art show is really about saying there is a world of art out there. If people remain open and just explore, they might find works from other parts of the world that they really respond to.” —Kim Agricola
contact information310.822.9145www.laartshow.com
This story was featured in the January 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art January 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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