Don’t forget, April is the time to celebrate photography with (MOPLA) Month of Photography Los Angeles. I wrote about it extensively in my column “Art Hopping with Kathy Leonardo” in Westside Today. I also featured a couple galleries such as Gagosian and Angles Gallery. See below for both listings.

Start off your day early with some art and FREE sweets.

Celebrate the Grand opening of Vegan Tiramisu Factory from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm. Enjoy FREE Lunch and incredible tastes….YOU MUST CALL to let them know you are coming…so they have a head count.

Art by Master Ching Hai and Echo Lew.

What: Grand Opening
Where: Vegan Tiramisu Factory, 1218/1220 E. Lexington, Pomona, 91766
When: 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Phone: 909 396-7553
Website: http://vegantiramisu.com/

If  you are a foodie, be sure to check out LAArtParty’s sister site EatTravelGo.com

==========================================

Start off early….in the Miracle Mile area….

AD Gallery (in conjunction with MOPLA), will be hosting a public event where you will be able to create your own photo-based mixed media art. Multi media artist Helen K. Garber will participate in the event.

All materials will be provided and all participant’s work will be on display on the gallery walls until the closing day of the exhibit.

See image: by Helen K. Garber

FREE Parking is available in the building

What: Art Party
Where: AD Gallery: Contemporary Fine Art, 8670 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 114, Beverly Hills, CA 90011
When: 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Phone: 310 279 7931
Website: http://bit.ly/1irok7G

==========================================Another early one in the area…. ltd losangeles (7561 W. Sunset Blvd., suite 103, CA 90046), also hosts an art party from 4-6pm.

Also in Beverly Hills…

Gagosian Beverly Hills presents an exhibition of recent work by Thomas Ruff. *This event was featured in my “Art Hopping” column in this week’s Westside Today article.

See image: Thomas Ruff, r.phg.06, 2014, Chromogenic print, 94 1/2 x 72 7/8 inches (240 x 185 cm) Ed. of 4

Thomas Ruff is acknowledged as a leading innovator in the generation of German artists that propelled photography into mainstream art.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue including a conversation between Thomas Ruff, Wenzel S. Spingler, and Valeria Liebermann.

What: Opening reception
Where: Gagosian Gallery – Beverly Hills, 456 N. Camden Dr. Beverly Hills, 90210
When: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Phone: 310.271.9400
Website: http://www.gagosian.com/

==========================================

In West Hollywood, there are a few…Matthew Marks Gallery (7818 Santa Monica Blvd) presents an early reception from 3-5 pm. Anna Meliksetian Gallery/MJ Briggs (313 N Fairfax avenue, CA 90036), offers a reception from 6-8pm. 

Taking place a bit later in this area…from 8pm – 11pm, Known Gallery (441 North Fairfax Ave.) usually hosts a fun art party.

==========================================

In Culver City…

For his debut solo exhibition at Honor Fraser Gallery, Meleko Mokgosi will present the final chapters of his three-year long history painting project Pax Kaffaria.

See image: Meleko Mokgosi, Pax Kaffraria: The Ruse of Disavowal, 2013, Installation view at the 12th Biennale de Lyon

The exhibition will also include a series of charcoal drawings of iconic breeds of southern African dogs and text-based paintings interrogating recent exhibitions of African Art and imagery of Africa.

On view: April 19th – May 31st

What: Artist reception
Where: 2622 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90034
When: 6:00pm- 8:00pm
Website: http://www.honorfraser.com

Walter Maciel Gallery presents The Janus Restraint: Shift/Split by Barry Anderson.  The exhibition marks Anderson’s second solo show with the gallery and consists of custom framed video, film, mixed media sculpture and photography.

In the front gallery a curated display of works entail a greater awareness of how environmental elements expedite our understanding of self-identity by comparing constructed spaces with natural settings. Continuing to blend live video with digital animation, Anderson creates a mix of visual information to include human performance and experience within reoccurring panoramas of mountains, glaciers and water. The imagery includes Canadian glaziers with clouds swirling above at varying speeds interrupted by outward moving frames of animated information and live video of his son Finn’s experience in nature all edited appropriately within the triangular pattern.

The back gallery is dedicated to one large format projection with two narratives looped on continuous play. Using Finn as a surrogate for our experience of space, Anderson stages an observation of different introspective moments that engage physical activities and mental processes. Special Performance by VUM: 8:30pm in back lot

On view: April 19th – May 24th

What: Opening reception
Where: Walter Maciel Gallery, 2642 S. La Cienega Blvd., LA
When:  6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
phone: 310.839.1840
Website: http://waltermacielgallery.com

Close by…Anat Ebgi celebrates a solo exhibition of new works by Margo Wolowiec.Wolowiec’s woven pieces are complex canvases comprised of digital images that the artist has culled from social media sites. Each selected image is printed onto strands of thread pixel by pixel through a dye-sublimation ink process and hand woven to create a solid textile.

On view: April 19th – May 31st

What: Opening reception
Where: Anat Ebgi, 2660 La Cienega Blvd.
When: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Also back to the East side of the Street…

Angles Gallery hosts an opening reception for “Whether it happened or not,” a new series of photographs by Los Angeles artist Augusta Wood.

See image: Augusta Wood, Garden (1976, 2012, 2013), 2013, 47-3/4 x 82-3/4 inches

*This event was featured in my “Art Hopping” column in this week’s Westside Today article.

This is the artist’s second solo exhibition at Angles Gallery.

What: Opening reception
Where: Angles Gallery, 2754 S. La Cienega Blvd., 
When: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Phone: 310.396.5019

There’s also one right across the street…don’t forget to use the crosswalk! Head to Blum and Poe at 2727 La Cienega….which runs from 6-8pm.  http://www.blumandpoe.com/

Head South on La Cienega….Two more receptions take place in the same complex and both begin at 6pm…Mihai Nicodim Gallery (3143 S. La Cienega Blvd, Unit B , Entrance on Blackwelder), this first one run till 9pm. http://www.nicodimgallery.com/ Then right next door….David Kordansky Gallery (3143 S. La Cienega Blvd., Unit A) ends earlier at 8pm; http://davidkordanskygallery.com/

Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects presents Stanya Kahn’s third solo show with the gallery.

See image: Courtesy of the Artist and SUSANNE VIELMETTER LOS ANGELES PROJECTS

This exhibition fills three gallery spaces and reflects an expansion of Kahn’s practice with the premiere of the artist’s feature-length video, “Don’t Go Back to Sleep,” and two rooms of large and small drawings on canvas and paper. This new body of work raises Kahn’s incisive wit to new levels of sensitivity and offers idiosyncratic insights into affect and communication in contemporary culture.

On view: April 19th – May 24th

What: Opening reception
Where: Susanne Vielmetter Gallery, 6006 Washington Blvd., Culver City, 90232
When: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Phone: 310-837-2117
Website: http://www.vielmetter.com

Another art party takes place from 6-8pm on Washington Blvd., Cardwell Jimmerson Contemporary Art, 8568 Washington Blvd. 

==========================================

In Malibu…In conjunction with the Los Angeles Art Association,  The Malibu Lumber Yard Gallery (MLY GALLERY.com), and artist & curator Seda Saar, present a group exhibition: “Perceptual Nature.” The opening reception will be on Saturday, April 19th from 6- 8 pm at the gallery. Private viewing 5-6 pm. Special live performance by artist Yana Clark: 7:00pm. The artworks in this exhibition explore aesthetic engagement with perceptions of nature, space and sensory experiences. The artists featured in Perceptual Nature include: Kelly Berg, Yana Clark, Gabor Ekecs, Brigit Faustmann, Rebecca Hamm, Caroline Jones,Flora Kao, Kim Kimbro, Barbara Kolo, Andrew Pasquella, Richard Slechta and Michael Wood. There will be a private viewing 5-6 pm

On view: April 19th – May 11th

What: Opening reception
Where: MLY Gallery, 3939 Cross Creek Road, D130 Malibu, CA 90265
When: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Phone: 310 317 1918

==========================================

There are also a couple taking place at Bergamot Station (2525 Michigan Ave., SM)…one at FIG (5-7pm) and one at Rose Gallery (G-5) from 6-8pm  Also, much later at Bergamot Station….From 8-11:00pm Copro Gallery (#T-5) holds an art party! http://www.copronason.com/

In Silverlake….

Enjoy the opening reception of “Bright Ideas” at The Gabba Gallery. With guest curator, LC of Cannibal Flower.

LC and The Gabba Gallery chose these particular and diverse group of artists based on the bright palettes they each use in their work.

Artists include: Adam Abraham, Alec Grosso, Amy Smith, Andrea Lahue, Daniel Bilmes, Dave MacDowell, David Acuna, Delfin Finley, Essi Zimm, Euth, Henry Niller, Jaime Becker, Jared Yamahata, Jason Ostro, Jeaneen Carlino, John Park, Jon Measures, Judy Ostro, Ken Flewellyn, Kohshin Finley, L. Croskey, Liz Peterson, Michael Christy, Nagisa Kamae, Nate Seubert, Nick Fadely, Norman Maxwell, Patrick Haemmerlein, Preston Thomas, Ramiro Hernandez, Rene Gagnon, Robert Nelson, Sarah Ramirez, Sarah Stieber, Seitaku Tak Aoyama, Shawn Waco, Thomas Lynch III, Tony Venegas.

On view: April 19th – May 10th

What: Opening reception
Where: The Gabba Gallery, 3126 Beverly Blvd. 90057
When: 7 pm – 11 pm.
Phone: 310-498-2697
Website: www.thegabbagallery.com