Art Walk Preview for October, 2008

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — While Wednesday’s temps neared 100 degrees, Thursday’s high of 75 will dip to 70 at a 6:26pm sunset, which means the cool of October’s Fall weather will blanket the Downtown Art Walk. Take the walk or ride the moving Vaudeville show known as the Hippodrome to the corners of Gallery Row.

However you travel the mean streets of Downtown, we hope you make “Take It To The Bank” a stop. Come visit, say hello, enjoy the music and bring a t-shirt to get screen-printed. It’s Art Walk, and, as usual, the attendee has a plethora of options for this fine Thursday night.

“Take It to The Bank”: As previewed on Monday, blogdowntown’s in the event business this month. Last Saturday, 26 fans of Downtown got together for our second ShootDowntown Meetup, and we’ll be projecting some of the resulting imagery. Art Walk preview-speak calls it a survey of civic landscape by a one-day collective of photographers that use the traditions of street photography to form a narrative thread, hence exploring the tension and acclamation of urban in transition.

Or, it’s cool stuff to see on the walls.

“Immersion” is the name of the show at 7+Fig Art Space by artist Cheryl Walker. The installation is dubbed as the “material result of an ephemeral exploration of the connections between all life forms.” You can meet the artist from noon to 9pm. Also, dance performances by Liz Curtis and Martha Carrascosa will be held at 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 pm. 7+Fig Art Space is on the second level of 735 S. Figueroa.

“Don’t Go to the Mall”: Julie Rico’s Red Dot Gallery, (aka the space behind Weenez), will offer works for under $100. Leo Limon remains in the burger and dog portion of the all purpose venue located at 500 S. Spring.

“Gasoline”: Bert Green Fine Art opens the exhibition of Dame Darcy’s paintings and works on paper from the Graphic Novel “Gasoline.” Opening Reception is Art Walk night from 6pm to 9pm, and a book signing will be Saturday October 25th from 2 to 4pm. Says the PR: “Dame Darcy is a celebrated fine artist, musician, performer and the creator of the well-loved, long-running comic ‘Meat Cake’.” Also, Scott Siedman’s “Obscenery” continues.

“Lookout Mountain” is video artist, illustrator and photographer Molly Schiots first gallery exhibition of large works on paper. Phyllis Stein Art (207 W. 5th) is the location, and they are holding an opening reception during Art walk. Complimenting the witty angst is Todd Browning Gallery’s (211 W. 5th) offering called BOOKED, an exhibition of vintage mugshots, joyfully curated by John Binder: “Original vintage police mugshot and line-up photography from the 1880s to 1950s, ranging from notorious underworld figures such as Dutch Schultz, Alvin Karpis, Bugsy Siegel and Lucky Luciano to petty criminals, crooks and con men.”

“A Walk Through a Range of Light” is Ben Dewell’s black and white landscape photography that echoes the name Ansel Adams through the canyons of the Sierras. It the first exhibition for Cold Spring Fine Art, the new gallery with an organic name located around the corner from Lot44 Coffee, servers of organic coffee.

Phantom Galleries LA gets somber at the PE Lofts (610 S. Main). They will be giving a slide show of XDRTB.org’s effort to tell the story of extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) and TB through photographs taken by James Nachtwey: “This is a vital story that the world needs to know about, if we are to stop this disease in its tracks.”

Switch Gallery is located at 446 S. Main and is determined to be an experimental art gallery whose “artists are precocious, extraordinarily talented, and vying together to shake the inner-city art scene.”

Dalessio Gallery will host opening receptions for painters Chris Scardino and Amanda Kindregan from 7pm to 9pm at 838 S. Spring.

The USC Windows: The animation students of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, specifically the John C. Hench Division of Animation & Digital Arts, continue in the windows and inside the Chapman Flats. Its worth the walk over to 8th and Broadway. The venue has a new name; the Chapman Windows are now called the USC Windows.