Los Angeles The Sleeping Giant, exporevue, magazine, art vivant et actualité

Art L.A, a small, young, intimate fair, created 2 years ago is an alternative fair exclusively dedicated to Contemporary Art. It is an answer to the former L.A Art Show, and also to the existing one which exhibits "500 Years of Art", and offers a large panorama of works, but only a small share of contemporary art.

Art L.A is now the only existing contemporary art fair in California and is considered as a good opportunity for the galleries of Los Angeles and San Francisco to gather and exhibit their artists. The main objective of Art L.A is to bring exciting and contemporary art to Southern California, to show international famous and emerging artists, and to offer a broad range of works allowing both newcomers in art as well as collectors, to feel fulfilled and to enjoy meeting with the artists who attend the show.
Around 5000 visitors visited this second annual show. Even if less than 10 foreign galleries out of the 70 attended the Fair, a large selection of international artists was shown, giving a large scale of sensibilities and expressions. All types of art were represented, a few videos, a lot of photography, some sculptures, and more painting than in European fairs.

The Californian Art Market is dynamic; there are a huge amount of art engines going up here, a very large client base, a fantastic energy, numerous artists moved here, and collectors and curators have a strong commitment and desire to acquire works and help artists. Therefore, one major issue for this new Fair is to find a bigger venue in order to welcome more international exhibitors and to have more space and larger booths. Stephen Cohen and the exhibiting galleries seem to be happy with this second show.

Among the galleries attending this show, I chose some notable artists works:
At the Paul Kopeikin Gallery, the photographies of Angelika Rinnhofer have the spiritual, out of time, esthaetic sensibility, which reminds me the world of Bill Viola. Her references are Da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, her portraits inspired by Renaissance are full of linking beauty and psychological insight.
At the Carie Secrist Gallery from Chicago, some works of Bernar Venet, in the line of his Chicago loop Tour and Hiro Yokose's monochromatic, translucid, poetic, allusive works, and their subtle layers of wax, which evoke forgotten landscapes.
The Iturralde Gallery represents exclusively South American artists, such as the Columbian Oscar Muñoz's "Proyecto para un Memorial", shown at the "Biennale of Venice". This artist photographs the stages of his work, while "painting" portraits of dead or disappeared people on hot stones with a wet brush, images which will evaporate along this ongoing process. This representation of impermanence is an interesting concept which evokes the fragility of life in the political Columbian context. There is here more subtlety than obvious subversivity.
The only French Gallery is Deborah Zafman, and presented "post-contemporary art", who a selection of daring, edgy and violent works.

Generally speaking, Los Angeles is not comparable with the unique, strong, New York art market, the historic leader in the whole art world, nor with Miami, which is considered as the "crazy exception". The Miami district, centered on Basel Miami, major event which brings a sustained excitement and flair, drains a rising number of alternative fairs. However it allows a real development of the city as can be seen in the Winwood District.

One must admit that the Art Fair world is getting crowded offering both a wide exposure to galleries and a difficult time to choose which to select. A great number of alternative fairs have emerged, some of them like Scope, attach themselves to leading events, and offer aa appealing possibility to galleries to represent on the international scene emerging or confirmed artists at affordable prices. It is amazing to see how much they draw people and sell. The growing number of galleries leads them to a constant and drastic selection.
Pulse, an invitational fair held annually in Miami and New York has a genuine statement on contemporary art and its participating galleries are required to articulate their program in a truly curatorial fashion resulting in a more cohesive exhibition experience and Impulse works on appliance principle.
Aqua Art Miami is a new art fair which took place during Art Basel Miami Beach, December, exhibiting 36 galleries. Frisbee and Nada, auxiliary fairs with their 85 galleries, describe themselves as the unique, most compelling alternative to the Art Basel Bastion. They were held in Miami too, in December…

In a market driven by the very high prices of the auction sales, where some collectors invest huge amount of money (some would say "burn their cash"), we must admit that these small recent New York or Miami fairs are a good alternative to the Armory Show which has become so expensive and exclusive, or to the highly special and selective Art Basel Miami, and give a real dynamic to the art market.