Design and Architecture
Has LA's art scene finally arrived?
If it’s awards season it must be time for art.
By Frances Anderton • • 1 min readIf it’s awards season it must be time for art.
Between now and mid-March, LA and Palm Springs are playing host to at least seven art fairs or temporary art events, and they are timed to attract some of the same people who will be dropping by the Grammys and Oscars.
They signify LA’s arrival as an art destination, says LA Times arts and culture reporter Deborah Vankin: “Los Angeles’ [art scene] has been for a long time exploding. But right now we're right in the middle of our art fair season. And so that just adds to an already really robust scene.”
But does LA have the buyers for all this art? Some art world cognoscenti say that while LA is home to plenty of rich collectors, they do their buying elsewhere, in London, Paris, Miami, Basel, Hong Kong and New York.
Times are changing, says Vankin. She explains that while “it's true that the collector base hasn't been what it is in other cities” and L.A. has been “known as a city for art production” but not purchasing, that's now changing.
As the museum scene grows, and shows more local artists, like the Hammer’s biennial Made in L.A., “that kind of illuminates and validates the local artists for the collectors.”
Meanwhile, the growing museum scene is also bringing on some changes -- in location (MOCA has closed its West Hollywood site at the Pacific Design Center; LACMA is looking ahead to its transition at the Wilshire campus) and in name (CAFAM has become Craft Contemporary).
DnA reached out to Vankin for help in getting up to speed on a packed calendar of art fairs and how they mesh with Tinseltown. We also asked her explain to us some of the changes underway at some of our biggest museums.
It all adds up to a moment, she says “where it's all crystallising and everything is rising and it's exciting. But it does also pose the question: how much contemporary art does Los Angeles have an appetite for?”
Upcoming LA art events:
LA Convention Center, Jan 24 - 27, 2019
Barker Hangar, Santa Monica, Jan 31 - Feb 3, 2019
Coachella Valley, Feb 9 - April 21, 2019
Paramount Pictures Studios, February 15 - 17, 2019
Barker Hangar, Santa Monica, February 13 - 17, 2019
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood; Feb 14 - 17, 2019
The Kinney Venice Beach, Feb 15-17, 2019
