All kinds of artists and also food

I had a very art filled weekend. Saturday was the Culver City Art Walk and Gigi, Aven and I went to check it out. The eastern portion of Washington Blvd. near La Cienega has drawn quite a collection of little art galleries showing all kinds of up and coming artists. And some already very well established ones such as Takashi Murakami who had some works at one of the larger galleries. I chatted with a woman artist who's paintings had the most beautiful colours and a sense of space and serenity. One gallery had some works made from straight pins with string to form pictures (remember doing that as a kid?) as well as others with cut paper and paint. There was a lot of use of resin with other materials (over collaged fabric, papers, etc). I've been very drawn to more craft based art, I think I like that 'hand of the artist' thing. I definitely don't see craft technique used in art as secondary to traditional paints or sculpture. The neat thing about some of these artists was that if you saw something you really loved and wanted to buy some art, you could get some pieces for a few hundred dollars. I didn't buy anything, but at those prices at least it's within the realm of possibility. Of course food was a very important part of the day (when is it not?) and we had amazing healthy hot dogs (grass fed beef!) from the "Let's Be Frank" truck, tacos (al pastor!) at a make shift outdoor stand and pastries from the local french bistro.

On Sunday I went to check out the Kara Walker show at the Hammer. My first encounter with this artist was two years ago, where she had a small showing at the Met in NYC. Her theme there was the New Orleans hurricane and flood. I didn't know anything about her but was fascinated by the technical skill in her cut paper silhouettes as well as the provocative subject matter. The show at the Hammer is more extensive including works from early in her career (although she seems to be pretty young). She includes a lot of references to literary and other materials in her works, many of which I'm only vaguely aware of, so I feel like there is a lot I'm missing. However the works themselves are amazing. You just want to keep looking to try and see all the nuances. There is a great little video of her talking about her life and work and she seems like someone I would love to chat over coffee or a glass of wine.