Travel Bursary 2017: Los Angeles

After a quick visit Downtown to visit Chateau Shatto, Monte Vista Projects and DTLA, all located in the same building, I headed across to Koreatown to visit Commonwealth and Council and meet with Young Chung who heads it up. Described on the website as a ‘mom and pop’ exhibition space – Commonwealth and Council seems intertwined with much that is interesting in the city, Young was super-helpful in connecting me with other artists, curators and spaces, and whilst there I met with artist Carolina Caycedo who had a solo exhibition on in the gallery (and heard that she would be exhibiting in Nottingham where I am based), and curators involve with PST: LA/LA and visiting from out of town.

From there I headed up to Glendale to visit The Pit – a space focused on emerging and mid career Los Angeles based artists, housed in a former mechanic’s auto shop – and at the time showing Erik Frydenborg’s comlinked effigies in ‘Gated Snare’.

Although not the purpose of my visit, the trip coincided with Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA an exploration of Latin American and Latino art in dialogue with Los Angeles.

Led by the Getty, Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA is a collaborative effort with arts institutions across Southern California, and my time in Los Angeles would be punctuated by this overarching project.

My first day in Los Angeles was spent at The Getty Center, as the perfect place to settle after the long flight, familiarise myself with PST: LA/LA programme, and fix plans for the next two weeks.

Two exhibitions at the Getty stood out: ‘Making Art Conrete’, looking at artists in Argentina and Brazil associated with the concrete art movement, and ‘Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas’.