I was able to get up to Danzinger yesterday afternoon and it was absolutely worth the drive. Danzinger is a great space, in Bergamot Station which has so many cool gallery spaces and is actually pretty easy to get to considering how hectic summer traffic can be in Santa Monica. The staff at Danzinger is also outstanding, they know the exhibition well and were actively engaging visitors to explain interesting facts about the work. The staff obviously has a passion for art and are motivated, I wish every gallery was like that.
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Bergamot Station Arts Center - Santa Monica
In the other blog post I am putting up today I talk about the Todd Papageorge exhibition at Danziger which is why I went to Bergamot Station Arts Center yesterday. While I was there, I bounced around the other galleries and found enough other good work that I liked so I decided to do a separate post on the other spaces.
Galerie XII - Los Angeles. French photographer Sacha Goldberger’s first Los Angeles solo exhibition “Alien Love” is a lot of fun. His images are stunning, so well made, and the story line is hilarious. 1950’s Sci Fi feel with the clean look of modern image making. There is an accompanying DIY book of the Alien Love portfolio, which is interesting, but I took pass on it. The book printing is okay, but it doesn’t come close to the beautiful prints in the exhibition, so it wasn’t the same for me. It is a solid exhibition still which runs through September 3rd. Below are my two favorite photographs. I am sure my law enforcement background, my ties to Arizona and its Saguaros, and my appreciation of beautiful brunette women had something to do with these prints standing out for me.
Galerie XII was also showing Matthew Arnold’s “Longing for Amelia”. I was not familiar with Arnold or his work but found “Longing for Amelia” to be a tight exhibition with lots of unique details. I felt it had good value.
Rose Gallery had Life:Still by Godeleine De Rosamel which I would best describe as pottery-based sculpture. I thought it was interesting and fun, I enjoyed viewing it, but it doesn’t fit my collecting interests.
I absolutely loved some of the paintings up at Skidmore Contemporary Art. Jessica Brilli’s “Chrystler in Carport” brought me back to my mom’s blue Chevy station wagon I grew up in and Jessica’s “Morning of the Camping Trip” was equally beautiful. I love her style. Richard Baker’s “Sonoran Sunset” was also awesome. Reminded me of Ed Mell’s work, one of my favorite painters. Lia Skidmore has a solid eye for work and a nice space, I will definitely be back there again.
Peter Fetterman Gallery had his “Power of Photography” exhibition up to coincide with the release of his new book of the same title. I love the fact he chose a Max Yavno photograph for the book cover, I love Yavno’s work, and how he used a long lens to flatten out his subject matter, an interesting different perspective and wonderful prints. The same print is on the wall in Fetterman, and it is such a beautiful rich print. Fetterman always has classic prints up, always something good to see there. It should be noted that Peter also has a book signing and discussion scheduled at Arcana Books in Culver City on Saturday August 13th from 4:00 - 6:00 PM. Arcana is one of the best fine art photography bookstores in the country, their stock is amazing, great space, and knowledgeable staff. John Divola is also signing his new book “Scapes” at Arcana tomorrow, Sunday July 24th from 4:00-6:00 PM. See Map below for Arcana Books location:
William Karl Valentine at PHOTO LA 2020 - Barker Hanger, Santa Monica, California 2-2-20
PHOTO LA 2020
Even though 2020 has been a hectic year, I was still able to make it out to PHOTO LA this year. I definitely saw some great photographs there, and even better still I found lots of images to photograph myself. I have been writing volumes for this blog the last few days so I will keep this post simple, and for the most part let my photographs do the talking with the exception of one image.
William Karl Valentine with Mel Etherton by Danny Lyon print - Photo LA 2020 - Santa Monica CA 2-2-20
I met Mel in Tucson in January when I was out for the Legacies of LIGHT symposium in Tucson. Her Husband, Terry, founded Etherton Gallery and I am featuring the gallery in another post here in my blog. To be specific I actually met Mel in Mary Virginia Swanson’s kitchen at a party after the symposium Sunday afternoon as someone was photographing her hair (true story, cool party). Anyways, at PHOTO LA I see Mel at the Etherton Gallery booth and I start a conversation with her, eventually asking her which print is her favorite. Without hesitation she pointed to this Danny Lyon print behind us in the photo , a photograph which is one of my favorites. After we talked about how great Danny’s work is she explained her connection to this particular image. She said they were at a Paris Photo LA event in 2014 when Brad Pitt came by their gallery space which was featuring Danny Lyon. She said Terry was busy with a client or off somewhere conducting business so she talked to Brad and basically sold him the print. The sale of the print made several news outlets and she got to tease Terry about it after that she was the one who closed the deal with Brad Pitt. Epic story, so happy she shared that with me.
So as for the rest of the PHOTO LA 2020 Experience I am just going to post a gallery and let the reader plow through some images.
