Your Social Life, Wishing Stevie Wonder A Happy Birthday!

Howdy, readers!

Blogger was down for about 48 hours, hence the lateness of our weekly installment detailing the fabulous social life you will enjoy this weekend.
There are about 3 things yours truly really recommend this weekend, starting with the annual garden party and fundraiser for Los Angeles avant-garde publisher Les Figues Press. $15 at the door, a hat fashion show(yay!) and artist Stephanie Taylor is MC-ing. All the info you need here.

In the strictly visual department,  both David Kordansky and Las Cienegas Project have an opening this Saturday. Heather Cook caught my attention last year during a group show at Kordansky, so I'm looking forward to her solo exhibition there. As for LCP, I really like their programming and their space, so don't miss the show!

I've missed the opening of 91 92 93 at the MAK on Wednesday, and exhibition featuring Andrea Fraser, Simon Leung and Lincoln Tobier. I'd love to link to something specific on the website of the MAK but the show is strangely absent of their current/upcoming exhibition tab. Please someone at the MAK fix this, and I guess if you guys want to see the show, you'd better call the MAK for specifics.

Also, today is Stevie Wonder's birthday, so you superstitious people forget this is Friday the 13th and rock your stereo with some wonderful music from the Master Blaster!

A Short Visit To Some LA Art Shows

For my regular readership (hi Joseph, hi Leslie!), as you know I'm still disabled by these 2 effing car accidents, and I haven't gotten back my trusted vehicle yet (seriously, anyone has a Japanese/Korean make car to lend me? With power steering, as my shoulder still hurts like hell) so my visiting and reviewing of current shows in LA is severely limited. I depend on friends who are sweet enough to come pick me up and bring me back home, and openings are still out of the question. Reviewing is a bit difficult too (can't really concentrate, typing hurts the damn shoulder).


So, quickly: last Saturday, Ivan Morley who's a hell of a great painter kindly took me to see the tail end of 9 Lives: Visionary Artists From Los Angeles at the Hammer. I'm not sure about the theme of the show/idea of the curator (I don't even know who curated it) but I have a vague idea it has to do with the work of many of them to be visually reminiscent of "outsider" artists, also sometimes called visionary, in the sense that it flirts with visual and cultural tropes coming straight out of the vernacular. I think. Though it may be true of artists such as Jeffrey Vallance or Llyn Foulkes but I doubt it applies to Charlie White, Hirsch Perlman or Lisa Ann Auerbach's work. Or is it maybe because all these artists tend to be under the radar of a certain LA artworld? I have no idea, except that we had a great time.


We continued on to Culver City, where we had a blast at the group show at David Kordansky, and admired Matthew Brannon prints (seriously, they are exquisite) as well as some very shiny-looking Broodthaers plates, and work by James Lee Byars and William E. Jones. We were delighted by the show and braced ourselves to check the Keith Tyson show at Blum & Poe, which was just ... meh. We had hoped to rejuvenate ourselves with the architectural ice cream sandwiches being churned out by the Coolhaus truck, alas they had sold out and were out of creamwiches. Boo hoo!



[Pictures: Charlie White's video, the Coolhaus truck in Culver City, and 3 pics of the show at Kordansky's]

More Pictures Without Too Many Words

So last Saturday FBC! went for a round of openings in Chinatown.
Best show was at Dan Hug, though the presentation of the works at Kordansky was pretty interesting. The trophy for the most inane and overblown show, of course, goes to Terence Koh at Peres Projects. FBC! didn't go down the basement though, seeing that chalk stains on my clothes would have been unbecoming at the birthday party I went to after, and also I am now too old to attend openings that require dry cleaning after the fact. Although, if I was paid to do so and the art dealer would provide cleaners reimbursement after, why not?

Pictures from the Erika Vogt opening at Daniel Hug, with artist Stephanie Taylor, her husband Mike Holtz and someone who looks a lot like photographer/artist Joyce Campbell, the Nicolau Verguero opening at David Kordansky, artists Tom Allen, Ivan Morley and Will Fowler.