Your Social Life In Anniversary Mode

No, not FBC! anniversary, but China Art Objects, the Chinatown gallery with which everything started (well, not exactly, let's call it the second or third LA art boom, OK?).
China Art Objects opened 10 years ago and will celebrate this Saturday with a show/bash at Cottage as well as in its original location, followed by an after party at the Mountain Bar. When you go see the show or if you end up at the Mountain Bar, please don't forget to have a thought, or better yet a drink in honor of the late Giovanni Intra, one of the co-founder of China Art Objects. The opening will last from 6 to 9 PM, with many, many artists, so many it's impossible to list them all.
Many are personal pals of FBC! so I'll pay a rare appearance at an opening, but on the early side as I'm recovering from yet another car accident!

[To the moron who plowed into my car at a red light and sent me flying into a SUV: Drop. Dead. Now. And next time you drive, that is if you don't drop dead now, do it with a valid driver's license and put your bloody cell phone away. My future lawyer is going to have a field day with you, b••ch!].

I'm fine, if a bit sore, and taking meds that make me very sleepy, hence the early appearance at the opening. Meanwhile Mam'zelle VaVaVoom is at the car doctor, waiting for her diagnosis, hopefully she's fixable. I have a nice replacement rental but nowhere as cool as Mam'zelle VaVaVoom.

Unfortunately, because of this I have to make a choice in my opening attendance, so I will miss Walead Beshty at LAXart, but you guys should be able to go, before or after China Art Objects.
There are lots of other openings on Saturday, such as the group show "The Ballad That Becomes An Anthem" at Acme, with among others, FBC! absolute fav' Mary Heilmann and also Rebecca Morris.
To make your life even more complicated, there's an interesting group show opening at the Armory in Pasadena, Under The Knife (I guess "under the box cutter" was not so appealing, and "running with scissors" was already taken) about artists cutting up paper and doing collages. It's from 7 to 9 PM so I guess if you start at ACME, go to LAXart, then China Art Objects/Cottage you may conceivably be able to reach the Armory at the tail end of the opening.
But wait! There's also an opening at Charlie James in Chinatown. And one at Marc Foxx, who also shows some work by the recently deceased Hanne Darboven.
All in all a pretty busy weekend for opening-goers in LA. Have fun, but above all drive responsively and shove that cell phone in your trunk, OK?

Your Social Life, Rather Late Today

Hello my dear faithful, devoted readership!

This new installment of Your Social Life is rather late today, and I apologize, sorry my beloved readers!
I'm engrossed not only in frantically trying to finish writing my novel until I run out out of money and need a job (anyone?), but Ive also been busy this week transcribing a 3-hour interview of LA artist Edgar Arceneaux for the next issue of Area Sneaks. It's painstakingly slow, and with the heat we had over the last few days, I'm getting headaches that slow the process even more. But I'm pretty happy with what Edgar and I got, so brace yourselves for a 50,000words interview. Or more!!!

I hope to be done in the next 4/5 days, unless a hot, hot, young and gratis intern decides to show up. Not allergic to cats is a must. Needless to say FBC! isn't an equal-opportunity employer, so my unpaid future slave has to be male, dark-haired, not too tall (5'7"" to 6' at best, OK?) and straight. Dimples are cute. I like 'em swarthy, it means hairy-chested in French. In exchange for your labor, dear future sexy intern, you will get the fabulous opportunity to hear firsthand Edgar's great ideas, and I make very good coffee. Plus you get to know which very select openings and other art events to go to each weak! A great job, let me tell you.

Anyway, before your dark-haired version of Daniel Craig comes and rings my bell, I'm not a b*eotch, so I'm taking care of your social agenda. It's unlikely I'm going anywhere until the transcript is finished, so if you spot me it's because I need a break badly.

So, what cool things should you do this weekend, to recover from the debate, the heat, the stock market crash, the bailout discussion and the upcoming resurrection of the Bretton-Woods agreement (I've seen that one coming for several weeks now, I feel vindicated.)? That's right, come to think of it, where should you go?

Well, not too far: There's Martin Kersels at Acme, to accompany is current retrospective at SMMOA, on Saturday. I think Ricky Swallow opens at Marc Foxx as well on the same day.
On Sunday, you can go see the much anticipated special project by Haim Steinbach on Mike Kelley at Overduin and Kite. Right after you should rush to the Mandrake in Culver City, as there's at 7:30pm for a screening of videos from the exhibition Documental, an exchange between artists from Dusseldorf and Los Angeles. The show closes on Saturday at Chapman University.
If you had forked over some monies or been invited by grand and well-connected people, you may also go to the Hammer Gala this weekend. The difference between the Hammer Gala and the other types of fundraisers in LA Museums is, since the food isn't catered by the Patina Group, but by Suzanne Goin of Lucques and AOC fame, it is in fact really good (the desserts tend to be just OK though). I wish they won't have rain.
And on Wednesday is one of LACMA's lame openings. I love LACMA, I think their shows tend to be under-reviewed and under-estimated, but please, please, please, add at least 500 more people to your sacrosanct-invites list, and revoke that lame contract with Patina. The food sucks to such an extant it's unbearable. Anyway, there's an opening for a show that is already open, but is really good, Fabiola by Francis Alÿs. They also open the CP11 show (yours truly curated the CP10 in the past), and I'd love to be supportive, but the subject I find boring and very dated, "Masculinity and Sports". Let's try the gender opposite "Feminity and...and? Needlepoint? Knitting?". See? 'nuff said. I'll have a look because I'm going to see Fabiola and I'm all for supporting Belgium, my favorite country that's constantly on the verge of self-implosion. But I wouldn't make a detour out of my own volition, not with that type of title. But I'm looking forward to the Hearst Collection one (Hi Mary!).

OK, with all that, I have more Edgar Arceneaux prose to materialize on paper, so have a nice weekend and enjoy your art!