Los Angeles art marathon

During a four-day trip to Los Angeles with friend and art fanatic Kelly Vrana, I saw more art than most people see in a year while also squeezing in a little Venice Beach shopping and shameless celebrity stalking. During our art-viewing marathon, Kelly and I talked a lot about why we collect art.  

How did you start collecting art?

KV: In high school my best friend was a photographer and it was because of her I became interested in art. We visited Houston museums all the time to look at exhibitions, mostly of contemporary painters. Since them I've had an insatiable appetite for viewing art, but I really never went to commercial galleries until I moved to DC. It simply had never occurred to me that I could afford to buy art.  Then one day I happened to walk into a Dupont Circle gallery that specialized in works on paper and they had a piece by an artist that I'd seen recently in some museum shows.  Suddenly I realized that I could actually own a work of art by this extremely talented artist. I was thrilled! And that's what got me started collecting art.

Why do you collect art?

KV: Besides the thrill of owning amazing art objects, having art in my home means that I can experience it every day.  I also realize that art collecting is a way to support artists and galleries within my community. If no one is there to support them financially they won't be around for long. I love actively participating in DC's art community. I've met so many interesting, fun, talented people.

Our itinerary: A demanding art viewing schedule that rivaled Mera Rubell's 36 studio visits in 36 hours in December.

Day 1: Straight off the plane, we headed to the Getty Villa to see J. Paul Getty’s collection of antiquities, which is housed in a reproduction of an ancient Roman villa called the Villa Papyri. Beautiful, perfectly symmetrical gardens with spectacular views of the ocean. Next stop: the opening of the LA Contemporary Art Fair at the Pacific Design Center. I like going to art fairs because it’s a an efficient way to see a lot of art all in one place. Ran into a few people: Josh Levine, who had a great sculpture show at Irvine Contemporary a couple years back; Annie A, who used to run the WPA but now lives in LA; and Bennett Roberts, who runs a great LA gallery called Roberts & Tilton with his lovely wife Julie. (And Neal Patrick Harris and Anthony Kiedis!) We finally reached our accommodations for the trip: the spectacular modernist architecture home of artists John and Joe Dumbacher.  Built into a hillside overlooking the Rose Bowl in Pasadena with a direct view of the San Gabriel mountains, the home was filled with beautiful mid-century modern furniture.

Day 2: Started the day with a private walkthrough of the Broad Art Foundation with one of the assistant curators.  It’s an extraordinary personal art collection that contains some of my favorite contemporary artists: Tony Oursler, New Rausch, Gregory Crewdson, Mark Bradford, Cindy Sherman. The list goes on. So awesome! Next, a visit to one of my favorite art galleries LA Louver, which had a beautiful exhibition of drawings by Sol Lewitt. Gallery director Elizabeth East showed me a few gorgeous works on paper by one of my favorite street artists Gajin Fujita.  His small paintings now sell for $25,000! Well over my art collecting budget and, of course, wishing I’d bought some of his paintings when I first saw them. (Robery Downey Jr. and Anna Paquin in Venice.) Headed over to the LA County Museum of Art and walked around the Broad Contemporary wing. Got to see an exhibition of work by one of my favorite artists ever Joseph Beuys, who said, “The whole process of living is my creative act.” A leader in the Fluxus art movement, Beuys engaged in “performance-based multidisciplinary approach [that]catalyzed his unwavering conviction that art must be a vehicle for political reform.” Also got to see two Richard Serra sculptures, one of which is among my favorite, “Sequence.”

Day 3: Gallery day with Anne Ellegood, who we knew from when she was a curator at the Hirshhorn. The Hammer stole her away from DC and now she is a curator at one of the great private art collections in the world.  We started in Culver City, where many LA galleries are located.  Saw some great work at Susanne Vielmetter, including a gorgeous installation by Rodney McMillian called “Succulent.” Drove all around LA hitting other galleries under Anne’s astute guidance, then ended up at the Hammer for the opening of an exhibit of drawings by Rachel Whiteread.  I love her sculptures so it was quite interesting to see the drawings because they gave some insight into the way her mind worked as she was conceiving the sculptures. I loved the Rob Fischer installation going up the stairs.

Day 4: LA Museum of Contemporary Art, both buildings, exhibiting works from their first 30 years.  Great retrospective. An excellent work by Wangechi Mutu was one of my favorites. Then a surprise (to us) performance by Dan Graham at the Overduin & Kite gallery on Sunset Bouelvard. I drove past the space thinking it was an abandoned retail storefront but then Kelly pointed out all the artsy looking people streaming inside.  I’m most familiar with Dan Graham’s sculptures, so it was fun to see this other dimension of this interesting artist. (Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, and Eve Longoria at the Chateau Marmont!)