Inaugurating a program of changing exhibitions, Hal’s opens its newly-renovated private dining room gallery just in time for the Venice Art Walk. ‘Taste for Art’, (the first show), whose theme is food, drink and film, draws entirely from works loaned by leading Southern California artists and collectors, and includes film clips edited for video by V-SCAPE co-founder Mark Farina, who heads the video lab at Otis College. From Andy Warhol’s iconic Campbell soup cans, to Stanley Kubrick’s lens, to some of today’s cutting-edge emerging artists, the exhibition explores a universal theme in painting, printmaking, sculpture, art objects and film.

Special ‘Taste for Art’ lunch and dinner prix fixe menus will be offered for the duration of the exhibit. (Lunch – $22, Dinner – $28)

“In the tradition of Brughel, Daumier and Koons, a ‘Taste for Art’ celebrates humor and whimsy in serious fine art,” says V-SCAPE’s co-founder, Aldis Browne. V-SCAPE has been organizing and curating exhibitions in the Venice – Santa Monica area since 2004. From its opening in 1987, Hal Frederick’s dedication to painting, sculpture and music established Hal’s Bar & Grill as a Venice community arts landmark.

Together, Hal’s and V-SCAPE will launch Hal’s Gallery Dining Room with a public after-party immediately following the close of the Art Walk.

The public Venice Art Walk after-party kicks off at 6 pm on Sunday, May 18th. We will feature a performance and the Los Angeles premiere of My Dinner with the Klines, a 12-minute looped video, from 6 to 8pm, followed by Jazz at Hals from 8 to 11. Debby and Larry Kline are leading conceptual, performance and visual artists who work with, among other things, restaurant-found materials. In 2012, The Klines funded volume 1 of My Dinner with The Klines, a DVD and coffee-table book set, with the help of Kickstarter. For a preview of The Klines at work, visit: CollectTheKlines.com.

Guests to the after-party and book signing can view: the exhibition, the Klines performance, their video and some of their recent restaurant sculpture.

The TasteForArt.com website was contributed by V-SCAPE’s co-founder Aldis Browne’s MISSIONLINES.com. The design for the exhibition site, donated by NetStarStudio.com, includes a visitors’ guide to Venice, links to information about the exhibiting artists, and more about Hal’s.

Corinne Chaix, who completes the V-SCAPE team, designed the listing and the invitations. Working closely with Hal’s co-owner Don Novack, Corinne, Mark and Aldis curated and installed a ‘Taste for Art’ as the first of an ongoing series of exhibitions being planned for our dining room gallery.

Come to the After Party on May 18th…the exhibit will remain on view through July 30th. Hal’s Bar and Grill is located at 1349 Abbot Kinney Blvd, in Venice. http://www.halsbarandgrill.com

Website, artists links, Venice guide, and prix fixe menu: TasteForArt.com  V-SCAPE blog, lsitings, prior exhibits and comments: VeniceCalifornia.net