Ruin Porn, Detroit

Detroit. The city that nature is reclaiming. Just look at the vegetation that has encrusted this house. Amazing photos of the Motor City.
LAartGuy is an American, and loves all cities, not just LA and NY. These are great photos, of a great city. Check them out, you will be awed!

Vija, Vija, Vija!

Franklin Sirmans, the newest of curators at LACMA, has curated a wonderful show; "Vija Celmins: Television and Disaster, 1964-1966"
Rarely does an exhibit show the development of an artists style, and career path.
This show does just that. These are paintings; amazing paintings. LACMA is doing just what a museum is supposed to do; educate and entertain the population of the city in exists within.
Not only does the public get to see wonderfully rendered paintings, but the stuffy, erudite art enthusiasts can marvel at the fact that the artist rendered the propellers of the plane stagnant, while the plane is obviously aloft. What is the artist trying to convey?

GEM. LA Art Association benefit

On April 2, LA Art Association, and Gallery 825 will host their annual art sale and fundraiser.
The gallery has posted the artwork up for sale, on an online site, so you can see what you like, before you get there. This event is always supported by the best restaurants, and booze distributors, so the food and drink is of the highest caliber. You can meet the LAartGuy at this years event; some might call this a highlight of the event. Others may not.
Hope to see all of you, with your checkbooks, on April 2

LAartGuy gives back

Doing for your community is something each and every one of us can do, to help elevate the quality of life, right here, where we live. This is what I believe, and this is why the LAartGuy is donating his services, of installing artwork, for this worthy cause: Homeboy Industries.
The artist, Nancy Baker-Cahill, started this wonderful art program, and has turned the project into a fundraiser. Please take a second to read the article from the LA Times, about this art show and sale. That LAartGuy, what a sweetheart!

Le Butcherettes, Mike Watt, and Norton Wisdom

LAartGuy likes music, too.
Evidence of this fact can be found in the fact that I traveled a good 12 miles to the East side music venue, The Echo, , just to see my new favorite band, Le Butcherettes. Well, you can imagine my surprise to find the the amazing Mike Watt, was playing, with Norton Wisdom, painting live on stage. With a parking spot, right out front, Stella on draft, the night couldn't have gotten much better!

Street art, and low-brow art

http://www.robertbermangallery.com/robertbermangallery/intro.htm
THIS SATURDAY NIGHT, AT BERGAMOT STATION, SANTA MONICA.
Shepard Fairy will be the DJ at yet another of Robert Berman's gala openings.
Come early. stay late. Count the men with decorative, and ironic facial hair. Guess which women are currently enrolled in an art school. Is that guy....is she with him....was that Ed Begely Jr. in a hummer?
Oh yeah, there's art for sale too!
If you buy something, tell Robert, the LAartGuy sent you. If you drink too much free beer, get sick and embarrass yourself, tell him Jim Gray sent you. No, really.

Auction results say....

The power position has reversed. The seller, now, has the upper hand at auction. Works that have been off the market for decades, are resurfacing, and people want them. The LAMA Auction, this past weekend, revealed that buyers are out there, hungry, and willing to spend. Direct examples of this were the prices realized, for some works that I had selected to procure.
First was a sweet little Lynne Foulkes, about the size of a Polaroid picture. It's estimate, under a thousand, I thought there'd be a chance I'd go home with it. Nope, went for $4000 (add another 25% to cover the "Hammer" fee). The next deal I thought I would take was a Karl Benjamin, a nice little, 2-color composition by the iconic, hard edged, abstractionist; estimated under 3k, ttok 5k, on the hammer. The Donald Judd print went for $3000, a nice Ed Ruscha, Ballerina, went for an astounding $7500, a fairly common Francis Bacon print, went for $8500 (estimate 5k). Of the 3 Mossimo Vitali prints, the 2 beach scenes went for about $2000, but the go-cart track image took in twice that at the hammer. The hand colored Jim Dine's passed, and a print of his from the tool series garnished a thin, $750. I think the real crowd shocker was the realization of a $100,000 bid on Reg Butler's "The Unknown Political Prisoner" maquette; which had a pre-auction estimate of 20-30,000. Pictured at left

Auction time!!!!

This Sunday, my favorite auction house in LA is having an auction! LA Modern Auctions.
http://www.lamodern.com/
Check out their online catalog. I picked out a Billy Al Bengsten, Lynne Foulkes (pictured), Lorser Feitelson, Massimo Vitali, Jim Dine, and a couple of James Sienna's to bid on. For this sale, many of the furnishings of Max Palevsky's Malibu home are for sale, along with some superior Albert Frey furniture as well. The quality of LAMA's offerings have caught the eye of the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/25/arts/design/25antiques.html?ref=design

Sure, I wish I were in NY, going to the Armory show; but this auction, makes staying in town, just a bit more bearable. If Peter is buying Taco's again, I might even admit to having a great time.

L & M Arts, David Hammons, Liza Lou

http://www.lmgallery.com/exhibitions/david-hammons/

How can you not LOVE the audacity of an artist that positions an armoire, in front of their painting?
The tarps, the blankets? Mesmerizing, blasphemous, brilliant, and plainly, unexpected. His last show of burned, slashed, paint splashed fur coats was equally magnetic, and transfixing. If you can't go, then at least take the internet tour!
And I can't wait for my heart-throb, Liza Lou, to show at the L&M in Venice, this month. Maybe she'll let the LAartGuy, assist with the installation

Laddie John Dill

http://www.laddiejohndill.com/
Honestly, up front, Laddie and I are friends. Known each other over a decade.
I've always loved, and owned his work. I see his work in many serious collections.
Well, on the heels of a successful show at David Zwirner's gallery, just a year ago
http://www.davidzwirner.com/exhibitions/202/
The Museum of Modern Art, bought one of Laddie's pieces. I think that's great, but they were behind these folks (by folks, I mean museums), who bought Laddie's work, earlier:

Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, Illinois

Caldwell Museum, Humboldt, Tennessee

Frederick Weisman Museum of Art, Malibu, California

Greenville County Museum, South Carolina

Laguna Beach Museum of Art, Laguna Beach, California

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, L.A. , California

Louisiana Museum, Denmark

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California

Museum of Contemporary Art, San Paulo, Brazil

Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California

Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas

Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, California

Oakland Museum, Oakland, California

Orange County Museum of Art, California

Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, California

Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.

Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona

Santa Barbara Museum, Santa Barbara, California

San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington

Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Honolulu, Hawaii

Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, California
I only bring this up, because I wanted to point out, that when Laddie wants his wall sculptures moved, or installed; He calls the LAartGUY. No one else.
There you have it, Museum artists prefer to be handled, by me, the LAartGUY. Nice