16/08/2017

ART TORONTO. FOCUS: Los Angeles

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Art Toronto is thrilled to announce the FOCUS project for the 18th edition of Canada’s fair for modern and contemporary art - FOCUS: Los Angeles, a curated section of the fair highlighting galleries and projects from Los Angeles, California. In recent years, Los Angeles has redefined itself as a major centre for artistic production and curatorial vision. What is it precisely about LA, its history, values and physicality that draws artists, curators and gallerists to it today? FOCUS: Los Angeles will unpack and highlight contemporary cultural praxis from this city. 
 

Anat Ebgi: Chris Coy, Mona Lisa Overdrive 1, 206. Oil on canvas, 78 x 104 inches.

/FOCUS: Los Angeles Galleries

In addition to the curated program, Art Toronto will welcome the following leading galleries representing Los Angeles: Moskowitz Bayse, Anat Ebgi, Royale Projects: Contemporary Art, Night Gallery, Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, ltd los angeles, and Club Pro Los Angeles.

/Meet the Curator: Santiago Vernetti

Santiago Vernetti is an independent curator and writer based in Los Angeles. Some of his most recent group exhibitions include Top Five Buddy Cop Films at Steve Turner, Thus Spake the Fungus at Arturo Bandini, and Aria Dean, Merideth Hillbrand, Hannah Boone at Club Pro. His writings have been featured in FOUNDATIONS Magazine, LXAQ, Baumtest and his essays have been included in a variety of artist books and catalogues including Transmorphing Utopia, a monograph on the work of Paul W Waddell. He was previously at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and is currently at work on a group exhibition of site-responsive works for the Angels Gate Cultural Center with co-curator Jeanne Dreskin.

Night Gallery: David Korty, Blue Shelf #35, 2015
 

/FOCUS: LA Artist Project Series, And the Sky is Grey

The FOCUS: LA Artist Project Series, curated by Santiago Vernetti, will present a number of projects by LA artists placed throughout the fairgrounds. These will be comprised of in-situ installations, including the FLOAT Museum, a future-facing virtual institution from Kate Parsons, Ben Vance, and Daniel Lisi, an art bar and installation by Adam Stamp, recent sculptures by Josh Callaghan, and a pop-up microcinema showcasing some of Los Angeles’ most experimental and engaging moving image art practices, and more.

The central group exhibition titled And the Sky is Grey will feature works by Christopher Coy, Karen Lofgren, Grant Levy-Lucero, Christopher Richmond, Nicolas Grenier, Jake Longstrethand other artists whose practices have been shaped by the city's complex cultural history and landscape. 

/FOCUS: LA Talk, Beyond the Hype
 

Date: Saturday, October 28, 2017
Time: 2:30 - 3:30 PM
Location: Art Toronto stage

Los Angeles has undoubtedly become an exciting epicenter for artists, art schools, museums and galleries. But we’ve also begun to see backlash to all the growth, whether anti-gallery protests in Boyle Heights or concerns about mega-collectors opening their own museums. How big is too big? Can the city sustain all the new galleries and museums in town? And which trendy Los Angeles art neighborhoods do experts say are fading fast, versus here to stay?

In a panel moderated by journalist Jori Finkel (The New York Times and The Art Newspaper), curator Santi Vernetti, gallerist Luis de Jesus and artist Kim Schoen will discuss the fast-changing landscape of the LA art scene.

Fuente: Art Toronto