The LA Art Show, the most comprehensive international contemporary art show in America, officially kick-off the city’s 2016 art season at the Los Angeles Convention Center on January 27, 2016. The LA Art Show is the premiere event for experiencing, collection, sharing & purchasing art, with more than 90 galleries from over 18 countries exhibiting painting, sculpture, works on paper, installation, photography, design, video & performance.
The LA Art Show has refined its focus to bring a freshly curated fair for its 21st edition. The LA Art Show team is constantly driven to present a magnificent art experience that brings together galleries, artists, curators, and collectors. The art fair world is expanding and we are proud to have emerged as one of the world’s largest and longest running events with 190,000 square feet of exhibition space and close to 60,000 attendees this past year.
As Los Angeles takes its place as a vanguard of the global art scene, LA Art Show’s ability to adapt and evolve to meet the art market’s current trends is vital. While dedicated to maintaining our commitment to technique and integrity we are refining our curatorial vision and presenting galleries that showcase premier Modern and Comtemporary work at our 2016 edition. The 21st annual show build on years of success, with new dates, a new hall, and a new direction affording the fair, our exhibitors, collectors, and tens of thousands of art emtjisoasts a new quality experirience.
In recent years, the LA Art Show has become the most internationally diverse art platform in the Western world, bringing in the largest groupings of Korean, Chinese and Japanese galleries outside of Asia. There is everything for everyone, from contemporary painting to mixed media and even traditional and representational works. This diverse, exciting art fair is designed with the true collector in mind, showcasing many artistic genres and styles to capture the essence of the ever-evolving art market.
LA Art show is the unparalleled international art experience. In the 2016 show has refined its focus creating a freshly curated fair offering visitors and collectors a new hosted art experience devoted to Modern and Contemporary art. The show continues to evolve in a new and exciting direction reflecting how LA is making its mark as a rising world-class destination for art.
The LA Art Show embraces its role as the regions preeminent art fair and emerges as the annual civic celebration of the visual arts. The record breaking enthusiasm surrounding surpassed all expectations and encourages our team to deepen our roster of galleries and pursue new exciting art programming. As Los Angeles takes its place as a vanguard of the global art scene, our ability to adapt and evolve to meet the art market’s current trends is vital. The evolving role of the art fair as a fulcrum for art commerce, connecting galleries, artists, curators, and collectors.
The fair focus on Latin America and the Pacific Rim. The event feature an array of art from contemporary and modern, to classical, and other specialized art scenes that often command their own dedicated shows. Radiant presentations are brought to life by a variety of galleries molding the Los Angeles artistic sphere as a completely accessible space for expression. The tradition and prestige of LA Art Show are already fully consolidated in the city and its surroundings,, makes it one of the main American contemporary art fairs.
LA Art Show 2016
Los Angeles has emerged as a global epicenter of art & culture, with a distinct, interwoven multi-cultural influence unique to the city. Diversity is our strength and art is most impactful when it includes or transcends all borders. As LA rises as the world-class destination for art, the LA Art Show continues to lead the way with innovative programming and one-of-a-kind experiences for an expanding collecting audience.
The LA Art Show creates one of the largest international art fairs in the United States, providing an exciting, immersive, insider art experience to sponsors, their select guests and VIP clients. The show attracts an elite roster of national and international galleries, acclaimed artists, highly regarded curators, architects, design professionals, along with discerning collectors.
The LA Art Show is also known for a robust schedule of special events during the weekend; in past years topics have ranged from fine art to fashion to film. This year’s programming highlights important themes related to the contemporary art world, including the trending topic, as it pertains to original, collectible digital files in the fine-art sector.
More than 190,000 square feet of exhibition space is committed to today’s prominent galleries. These domestic and international galleries, beyond their booths, curate special exhibits that are at the forefront of the burgeoning contemporary art movement. The fair offers an extraordinary array of works and experiences in specialized sections.
What makes LA Art Show special is its program of amazing shows that are taking place parallel with all the events related to the Gallery section. Special exhibits for this year include Visions of Chinese Art, a special curatorial project focusing on African contemporary art, and a Street Art Exhibit curated by the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles. Dozens of exhibitors that present a wide range of different art styles and movements. For example, the booth of the UNIX Gallery from New York, Gallery Tableau from Seoul, Doyle from New York.
A number of great shows that was accompanying the main gallery sector. One of the shows is the exhibition of amazing works by Spanish artist Lluis Barba, presented by Cynthia Corbett Gallery, with the artist being presenting a rare lecture during the show. One of the shows that should also be visited is Days of Future Past – a special solo show of Mari Kim’s artwork. Speaking about Korean art, there also be a great show – Dansaekhwa: The Traces of Four Artists, celebrating Korean Monochrome painting, known as Dansaekhwa, and featuring works by Young-il Ahn, Kim Hyung Dae, Lee Seung Jio and Yoo Byeong Hoon.
Hightlights
The street art-lovers enjoy the show entitled From the Streets to Canvas. Inspired by the LA’s mural culture, the exhibition features works by Carlos Almaraz, Christopher Brand, Espi, Ignacio Gomez, Willie Herrón III, Steve Martinez, MEAR ONE, Art Mortimer, Gilbert Ortiz, Frank Romero, Shizu Saldamando, Evan Skrederstu, and John Valadez.
LA Art Association Launches Ping Pong Exhibition (a cross-cultural exhibition and artistic exchange between Los Angeles, Basel and Miami) at 2016 LA Art Show featuring artists Bhakti Baxter, Dirk Bonsma, JT Burke, Robert Chambers, Meeson Pae Yang, Richard Slechta, Gert Handschin, Sue Irion, Daniela Keiser, Miguel Osuna, Matthias Spiess, Mette Tommerup, Antonia Wright, Clare Kenny, Martin Chramosta and Markus Muller.
The Visions of Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition; Virtues & Vice Street Art Exhibition Curated by G. James Daichendt; Japanese contemporary art program; the Way of Modern Man installation and performance piece by Jana Cruder; Charm of Ink and Wash that spotlights contemporary Chinese ink painting; Catherine Coan’s Rogue Taxidermy installation presented by Downtown Art Walk; Africa Contemporary show curated by Marisa Caichiolo and Mostapha Romli.
The Dialogs LA was one quite interesting show during the art fair – Littletopia. Littletopia was conceived by Noah Antieau, of Red Truck Gallery, as a way to showcase a diverse but congruous collection of galleries within the LA Art Show. Visitors enter Littletopia through an installation by artist Jeff Gillette, known for his Dismaland collaboration with Banksy. A number of other activities are planned within the major Littletopia project.
Modern + Contemporary
The largest section of programming at the LA Art Show, Modern + Contemporary exhibits the vast spectrum of contemporary painting, illustration, sculpture and more from galleries in Los Angeles, the Pacific Rim, and countries all around the world.
Littletopia
The LA Art Show partnered with galleries and non-profits to feature bold new art performances and continued to expand out Littletopia and Street Art sections both at the fair and at off-site events to facilitate dealer and collector networking and create a sense of immediacy.
Roots Curated
Honoring the voices and movements that came before, Roots Curated is a dedicated exhibition space for galleries that showcase historical works and contemporary artists following in those traditions.
Works On Paper
Works on Paper is a dedicated exhibition space for showcasing photographs and other works not on traditional canvas.
Project Space
Hailing from around the world, the exhibitors in Project Space showcase a broad array of ideas and talents in the form of solo exhibitions, presented by participating galleries.
JEWELS
JEWELS is a dedicated space for exhibitors who specialize in luxury items, including jewelry and other accesories that surround the world of fine art.
Featured Programming
Expanding beyond the confines of booth spaces, Featured Programming create immersive experiences to engage audiences through thought-provoking artworks, performances and other exhibitions offered by participating galleries, highlighting works that was talked about for years to come.
Ben Jones
Live Video and Sound Mixing by Ben Jones and special guests. Ben Jones was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1977 and lives and works in Los Angeles, He holds a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art. In November of 2012, Jones had a seminal exhibition titled “The Video,” which was held at MOCA LA. A founding member of the multimedia collective Paper Rad, Hones helped pionner the intersection of digital media, the Internet, and art-making.
Melanie Pullen
Melanie Pullen was creating a stage where she was reenacting a series of historic crime scenes as part of her series “High Fashion Crime Scenes,” which engages issues of glamorized violence against women. Photograhper and performance artist Melanie Pullen was born in New York City in 1975. She first began staging performances as a young child. Pullen is most noted for creating artworks engaging the issue of violence, particularly violence against women.
Metabolic Studio Sonic Division
“The Ocean is a bowl that catches a river that falls from the sky” – The Catch. The Metabolic Studio Sonic Division has repurposed an industrial ruin into a musical instrument. The silo’s song can be added to by sound played elsewhere – like this performance at the art fair. We offer this performance as a prelude to Bending the River Back into the City, an infrastructure monument which pick up water from the LA River by a waterwheel, cleanse it with sound and reconnect it to the floodplain.
Millie Brown
Surrounded by a carpet of flowers cut freshly on the opening day of the LA Art Show, Brown lay in complete isolation immersing herself in a meditative state where she focus on the beauty of the external decomposition around her, and the evolving changes within. Futher heightening the performance, Brown abstain form the basic necessity of food, surviving solely on water for the entire 5 days of the performance. Withstanding the physical discomfort and inevitably entering into an altered mental state, Brown use this fast to enable herself to explore the depths the mind can reach once physical comforts and limitations have been removed.
Venue
The LA Art Show is strategically situated at the city’s dynamic epicenter, The LA Convention Center is Southern California’s most technologically advanced green venue, featuring soaring ceilings and ample space. With convenient access to world-renowned LA LIVE!, the Grammy Awards, The Grammy Museum, and an impressive entertainment complex that includes the Nokia Theatre, the Staples Center Arena, top restaurants, and The Ritz Carlton Hotel and Residences. Patrons of the arts gladly drive to Downtown L.A. for the best in Classical Music (Disney Hall), Theater (Mark Taper and Ahmanson), and Contemporary Art (MOCA, Art District).