Art Walk Preview for November 2008

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — November brings change and hope. Celebrate moving onward among art openings slightly less wine-soaked than months before, photography by Skid Row denizens, art demonstrations and moving Vaudeville shows.

This Thursday there's all manner of fresh activity on Gallery Row, so here's a guide to some of what's new in November.

Walk or Ride. Catch the Hippodrome bus's new counterpart, christened "Hazard's Pavilion" after the late historic performance space at 5th and Olive. The new roving saloon is a customized ultra-large limo outfitted with sleek leather seats and big screen TVs that showcase vintage scenes of Los Angeles. Both buses offer a retreat from the streets in an intimate setting with your fellow Angelenos, gentle entertainment and curated conversations by the L.A. historically hip folks of the Esotouric bus tours. Hazard Pavilion's route includes 7+Fig, Ralph's, 7th Street Restaurant Row, Colori Kitchen, FIDM and a connection to Gallery Row.

Talk Politics (401 S. Main, 6 p.m.) at "What's Next for the Left and the Right?: A Post-Election Dialogue," the first verbdowntown forum event. More info in our event preview.

Raw Materials (436 S. Main) presents their Grand Opening. The art and architecture supply store, which has been open for a few weeks, paints its way into your evening with demonstrations and art enthused give-a-ways. The ribbon ceremony begins at 5 p.m. with Councilwoman Jan Perry, Los Angeles Town Crier Don Garza, Nic Cha Kim of the Gallery Row Organization and our own Eric Richardson. Festivities begin at 6 p.m.

The Beauty of the Street at Stella Dottir (430 S. Main) features collective photography by the Skid Row Photography Club. Scope out photos taken by Skid Row locals who were given a camera to capture daily life and (maybe) hope.

Talking Art: Art Walk has become one way to introduce forums. This week, Department of Cultural Affairs will hold one of one of a series of public forums to gather ideas for the City's Cultural Master Plan at G727 Gallery (727 S. Spring). Wisely, they will begin the meeting at 4:30 p.m., before the opening receptions at various galleries begin.

Switch (1328 S. Santa Fe). Located off the main drag of the Art Walk, the Santa Fe Ave. gallery showcases a group show by artists Fabiana Pigna, Annie Terrazzo, and Jim Gentry who all feature an element of feminine portraiture. Women have been known to be the finer of the sexes. DJ Streity will be bringing the funk with obscure-retro Indian house. Hang at the Gallery10 loft for a casual reception post-Walk sponsored by Spiked-Punch LA.

Bert Green Fine Art (102 W. 5th) will be holding a reception for "Colors," a series of abstract paintings by Joe Novak, an artist that L.A. Times Art Critic Christopher Knight calls unabashed and whose works call to mind the abstractions of those leading the field. On display in the Project Windows are Megan Geckler's "Set a course for wayward schemes" and Richard Ankrom's neon-lit "Funeral Arrangement for Crabby Joe's and Charles Bukowski." The reception starts splashing at 6 p.m.

Niche.LA (453 S. Spring #443). Is art more intriguing when it comes with an alias? The mixed media/video gallery presents a collection of new works by local artist Motion One (a.k.a. Ricardo Estrada) as well as his video art debut "Mear One - Live Art Experience" a video chronicling the renown graffiti artist, Mear One.

Spring Arts Collective (453 S. Spring, Mezzanine) features a group show of work by Lily Braverman, Christina M. Felice, Anne Marie Francesco, Greg Mitchell, Thinh Nguyen, Ashley Hagen and Nick Mcphail. But most interesting may be the video installation "Around the Dinner Table" by Kim Ye in which the artist investigates eating as "a shared twitch." Artists' reception 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.