Your Social Life In A Parking Lot

More precisely, if you go tonight to LAXart there will be the kickoff  of a year-long event curated by Warren Neidich and Elena Bajo, "Art In The Parking Space". Yours truly is going to another private art event tonight, or else I'd been there to see Anita Pace, Jonathan Monk and Pierre Bismuth performing.

Aside from this, I'm sure you are all aware it is 4th of July weekend and as such many galleries will be closed on Saturday, tho I hear Human Resources is having a party at Cottage Home on Saturday (3 to 7 PM), while tonight they are doing an additional screening of Jack Smith's Normal Love.

Next week, there will be a few more openings, while the week after seems confusing because of the incoming so-called "Carmageddon". I was blissfully unaware until 15 seconds ago that the term was referring to a "violent video-game" (idle question: are there some non violent video-games ?) before signifying the horror, the horror, the 3-day closure of Los Angeles' most hated freeway, the 405, between July 15-18.
It's going to make the life of Westsiders, Valleyites  and Orangists hellish, so I suggest to all of the people whining about it to buy a few books, some records, great food, and spend that weekend having a nice staycation, so the rest of us can enjoy our life on the surface streets of Los Angeles.
Anyhow, it is a bit confusing which galleries will stay open (I hear many of those in Culver City?) or closed (I think LA Louver, call them for info).

Meanwhile, as promised last week, here's the first installment of our musical monograph Summer series, which we  inaugurated last year with John Cale. Who, incidentally, has now an official website/tumblr so now there is a reliable way to be updated on his tours, upcoming releases, etc.
This Summer, it will be the year of The Fall, with their aptly titled L.A. to start the series. Here's to hopping they will come play here very soon!

Happy 4th, everybody!

Your Social Life, Bringing You Sparks! And Ann Magnuson and Guy Maddin!

Hello, hello, dear readers, it is a time of wonderment and joy in Los Angeles, as summer is finally upon us, for a long, long time that may stretch into fire season, and also because this Saturday, at 8.30 at the Ford, Sparks are having the world premiere of The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman, with no less than Guy Maddin giving stage directions to quite a few people, including veteran performance artist Ann Magnuson. And, yes, if you wondered, I was going to do a lame joke with Sparks/lighting up the stage/fire season soon upon us, but I'm too lazy for this. Or, more likely, it wasn't going to come out as a good joke. But I am totally fired up for the event, and in case there are some tickets left, they are only $18 so it would be a crime if you were to miss it.

In other visual arts-related news, longtime FBC! pal Peter Wu's exhibition at Galerie Anais is closing on June 30th, and there is an event on Saturday if I'm not mistaken.  And even if I am, go see the show!
Another show closing, one that has a "finissage" as they say is at Greene Park Gallery, tomorrow, for the exhibition Unfinished with the event "The Artist Is Not Present", organized by Warren Neidich. In case you wondered,  "finissage" is a bad French word (i.e. it doesn't really exist in French, we would say "la fin") that some European galleries started to use when having a closing event, in opposition to the French word for opening that does exist this time and that everybody uses in Europe, "vernissage" ("varnishing").  So this is a very laborious way to explain to you, readers who never studied French, that Greene Park Gallery is making a pun on the very title of its exhibition. And one on the Abramovic exhibition at MoMA last year.

Something that is opening this Saturday is the CalArts MFA show, at the Farley Building in Eagle Rock, where Mike Kelley and Michael Smith presented their joint exhibition last year. It's up only for 2 weeks, so if you can't attend the opening tomorrow, like me, make sure to go visit before July 10. A group show is also opening at Richard Telles, Six Pack.

And now, some blog-related news. FBC! is going to be a bit dormant this Summer, because, if you've been going gallery-hopping in Los Angeles recently, you have noticed that LA galleries have started importing a very East Coast habit, the *Summer Show*. It used to be that there was no hiatus around here at all, but these times are over. Instead, what's happening is many non-profit are having their fundraisers and gala, and auctions, etc. which replace openings for all the people involved.
Which doesn't mean there won't be any openings at all this Summer (there will be Taft Green at Human Resources on July 9th, for a start), just fewer than usual. So, I may announce them or not, or maybe I will just perpetuate the Summer tradition I had started last year when I posted some John Cale videos once a week. Incidentally, John Cale is in the studio right now, so hopefully there will be a (very good?) album soon.
I think this year I'm going to do a Summer of videos by The Fall, a band I have never seen live. I feel they *should* come play  in Los Angeles very soon.

Lastly, for those of you who would like to spend their summer working on their dream novel/novella/poetry, etc. and would like to try the first ever Not Otherwise Specified book contest organized by Les Figues Press, please read all the guidelines, write your masterpiece, and send it along with  $25 fee for a chance to have it published by a super rad press, make $1000 in passing and get a book of your choice from their Trench Art series.

And with this, dear readers, let me wish you a great weekend and a fantastic summer!

RIP Virginia Fields

 Virginia Fields. Credit: LACMA (via the Los Angeles Times website)

I've just learned via a LACMA tweet and a LAT obituary that Virginia Fields, the lovely Senior Curator of Pre-Columbian Art at LACMA has passed away last night. She was truly a wonderful woman and I'm very saddened to hear of her passing. I hope there will be a memorial for her at LACMA and I'm sending my condolences to her family and colleagues.  Please go visit the Pre-Columbian galleries at LACMA soon and have a thought for her. She was a true lady.

Your Social Life - A Bit Neglected Recently

Jeff Cain, El Camino Real, 3 channel video installation, 2011, from the LACE website

While the entire art world and their uncle were cavorting in Europe to network in Venice and witness latter day Capitalism in action in Basel, yours truly was very busy neglecting the blog and meeting deadlines.
 Also going to the Harry Partch concert last week at REDCAT, which was immensely enjoyable, capped by the audience being let onstage to see and touch the instruments and talk to the musicians. My friend took pictures, so if he's OK to let me post them here, I'll do it shortly. I also went to a press preview of Miranda July's new movie, The Future, which I didn't enjoy at all* but you might, and I believe it's going to be previewed at MOCA soon.

Meanwhile, what's happening in Los Angeles this weekend, are you asking, faithful readers? Starting tonight, in about 2 hours, LACE presents two exhibitions, Speculative (with FBC! friendly acquaintance Jeff Cain), and Unfinished Paintings, another group show that includes the lovely Mark Dutcher. I can't go to the openings but will make sure to see the show. Starts at 8 PM tonight and the show will be up until August 28.

Saturday will be a busy day in Los Angeles, as in Santa Monica York Chang will show  his work with Second Life at 18th Street, and so will several artists as many events are scheduled for 18th Street Artnight. All information here.

Elsewhere in Los Angeles, if you are near Chinatown don't miss Rosha  Yaghmai at Tom Solomon, if near Culver City there's also an opening at Las Cienegas Projects. On the same evening, FBC! gal pal Nancy Popp will present her work at Kristi Engle, a gallery dangerously situated for me in Highland Park, a stone throw from my all-time favorite record store, Wombleton, whose owners I swear have pledged to make me bankrupt very soon. It's at 8 PM, be there or be square!
While I'm talking about record stores, let me salute the opening of Jacknife Records in Atwater Village. I haven't gone yet, but it's on my list. They don't have a website (yet), so here's their info: 3161 Glendale Boulevard, LA 90039, and they are open Tuesday to Sunday every day from noon to 8 PM, and to 10 PM on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Another remarkable store opening, this time downtown, is The Last Bookstore. On Spring street, open every day from 10 AM on, an occasion to browse real life used books, something much better than, uh, getting thumb cramps on your kindle, no?

*it has no story line, the acting is atrocious and it's neither quirky nor intelligent. All it made me want to do throughout is slap July's face and tell her to go see a doctor to get her thyroid checked and stop being such a drama queen. Sheesh, lady, you're not a poor little broken birds so sad on its tree, waiting to be rescued. I thought it was one of those whiny whitey project by people from Portland originally from Williamsburg originally from Iowa. Might appeal to this type of demographic, which I'm not part of.