Insider Guide to LA’s Contemporary Art Scene

By Patter Hellstrom

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Los Angeles galleries exhibit work that is the antidote to June Gloom. Keeping an eye on the contemporary art scene in LA informs both my artistic and curatorial practices. Art explored from an artist viewpoint offers design professionals insight into current art movements.

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Sundaram Tagore Gallery showing of Hiroshi Senju’s Waterfalls (above) are nature-inspired, well crafted paintings that express movement. The use of subtle contemporary materials such as florescent paint providing an element that changes the work under enhanced lighting. Yayoi Kusama’s Flowers that Bloom at Gagosian Gallery are lively sculptures, however I prefer her soulful monochrome paintings with their serene presence.

ACE Beverly Hills shifts gears into geometric pattern paintings by Gary Lang. Circular canvases command the gallery with the illusion of light from within handmade geometry. West Hollywood’s Louis Stern Gallery defies gravity with mobiles by artist, Knopp Ferro. These delicate lines bring calligraphy to mind as they respond to light and air creating a subtle show of moving shadows.

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The 48-foot monochromatic blue wrap-around Trang Le painting creates an environmental reflection at Ruth Bachofner Gallery.

Samuel Freeman’s thoughtful installation of birds by Blue McRight mixes the tangible with the ephemeral at Bergamot Station Arts Center.

Also in that arts complex, the mood moves toward whimsy in the Gallery of Functional Art where one is rewarded by Johnny Swing’s Nickel Couch ~ made of 7,000 welded coins. A unique piece which is both clever and comfortable.

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Culver City offers two outstanding shows at Kim Light / Light Box Gallery and George Billis Gallery. BULE BLUE at Lightbox features Ed Rusha, Yves Klein, and Damien Hirst. It is a jewel box space sparkling with careful curatorial choices. George Billis Gallery reveals Americana deconstructed within a contemporary context. The work takes to the highways as the artists explore a connection to the road. Terry Thompson’s paintings look toward Route 66 signage abstracting Americana creating interplay of color and line.

Johnny Robertson brings our tour to an end with views of LA created from the seat of a moving car. The palm-lined streets and open sky of Robertson’s paintings express a clear facet of the Los Angles street experience.