Chinatown November 2007

I made a run of the art galleries located over in LA's Chinatown this past week, and ran into a few really interesting things I figured I would share.

Incidentally, all of the artwork worthy of noting was in galleries along Chung King Road so it should be easy for you to go check them out yourself (should you so desire).

Here's my recomendations...

Aida Klein "Not Waving But Flailing" at the Mary Goldman Gallery!

These are some fantastic little watercolor paintings most easily described as a variety of figures making "snow angels" in the snow (also including several representations of the resultant void spaces left in the snow). Aside from the technically beautifully-exectuted painting, the images are stunning as figures seem to be simultaneously swallowed up and emerging from the blank white ground, totally suspended in some liminal state. And the paintings of the void are just as compelling! A facinating study of our environment's influence on us, and our imprint left in our environment!


Tessa Farmer and Gabriela Vanga at kontainer gallery!

These are part of a group show entitled "Growing Wild" which includes a few other artists, but it is specifically the works "Little Savages: Desecration of the Sparrow" by Farmer and "George" by Vanga that I found facinating.

Little Savages is a little grotesque, incorporating many dead insects and a dead sparrow into the work, but I could not withold my facination with the ridiculously tiny winged humanoid figures! Keep in mind that the photo above is a normal sized insect being fought by a constructed "little savage"... INSANE! For the work at kontainer gallery, these savages are shown in the midst of an apparent war against the insects over a sparrow. I'm not exactly sure what Tessa Farmer is after in this work, but I am absolutely AMAZED by her craft in the construction of these tiny figures!

As for Vanga's "George" it is a fun and somewhat interactive piece related to giving a "real" face to an old imaginary friend from the artist's past (we are even given his story). But instead of giving you a finished product, Vanga makes you work at constructing it yourself in your own creative memory; she provides in essence a puzzle, such that you are still left to imagine him, even though she has directly provided you complete concrete information! I found it thoroughly engaging, so don't miss the fun, and please spend some time with "George"!


"The Sundowners" exhibition at The Happy Lion gallery.
Not a whole lot to say here, but I did enjoy this group exhibition. In particular the mixed media panels of Maeghan Reid were pretty interesting, utilizing the materials of our urban environment (shingles, linoleum, etc.). If you are in the area you might as well stop in!

Lastly... Xiangqi! Otherwise known as "Chinese Chess"
Not exactly art, but I am suddenly taken by this strategy game, after watching a group of old Chinese men play game after game on a worn out board in a public plaza! I've never seen the game played before, and I don't speak their language, but there was something about the liturgy of it... and the way the entire group seemed to participate in the match that was really between only two men... I've decided that I want to learn how to play, then return to Chinatown and try to challenge one of the old men... just to participate in their experience! I'll let you know if I ever take up the challenge... ;)