Join guest Sommelier Bonnie Graves at the third Sommelier Saturdays wine lesson at Del Frisco’s Grille.

Bonnie is a sought-after wine educator in the Southern California market, and frequently teaches classes and arranges tastings for corporate and private clients. She also writes the popular “Girl Meets Grape” blog for Yahoo’s digital food channel, is a featured correspondent for WineTasteTV and is the Food and Wine Editor for the Luxury Life & Style family of print magazines.

Reservations can be made by calling: (310) 395-7333; Valet parking is available adjacent to restaurant.

Admission: $35 per person for a two-hour wine lesson and hors d’oeuvres from Chef Tiger.

What: Wine Tasting event
Where: Del Frisco’s Grille, 1551 Ocean Ave. Santa Monica, CA 90401, corner of Ocean Ave and Colorado Blvd.
When:  1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Phone: 310-339-4115
Website: www.delfriscosgrille.com/santa-monica

In Malibu…

Malibleu Art Gallery presents “Visions.” The group exhibition features 5 diverse artists celebrating their visions of life & travels through their art, in various mediums including charcoal, paint, sculpture and photography.

The artists being celebrated at the reception include Jill McDonell, Paige De Ponte, Christine Sawicky, Sara True & Tom Savage.

Enjoy Live Music John Grover on acoustic guitar.

On view: May 31st – June 15th

What: Opening reception
Where: Malibleu Gallery, 21201 Pacific Coast Hwy. @ Las Flores Canyon, in the Cosentino’s Center
When: 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm

 

In Venice…Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) 685 Venice Blvd., Venice, 90291, hosts a reception from 5-8pm. http://sparcinla.org/

In Santa Monica..

The Ocean Park Studio is pleased to present “Freedom,” an exhibition of new paintings by Santa Monica based artist Max Jansons.

See image: “Rough and Tumble”, 16″x12″, oil on linen, 2014

This exhibition marks a new and exciting departure in Jansons’ work as the artist gives free reign to the abstract and material nature of his painting practice. It is the second exhibition that will make use of the artist’s studio as an intimate venue to show the work.

On view: May 31st – June 28th

What: Opening reception
Where: Ocean Park Studio, 2520 18th street Santa Monica, CA 90405
When: 4:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Phone: 310 871-0090

In Santa Monica…

At Bergamot Station….there are several openings happening, as well as our Pick of the Week at William Turner Gallery.

First Independent Gallery (FIG) hosts an opening reception for “Since Last Time” featuring the art of Chris Madans.

Chris Madans works in the tradition of found-object assemblage. She has long explored themes of family and personal history, love, loss, denial, longing, and redemption.

On view: May 21 – June 21

What: Opening reception
Where: FIG Gallery, 2525 Michigan ave., G-6 Bergamot Station, SM 90404
When: 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Phone: (310) 829-0345

Lora Schlesinger Gallery presents Assemblages & Constructions by Bruce Houston. The show is the artist’s third solo exhibition with the gallery.

Bruce Houston playfully combines manufactured, traditionally non-artistic materials to construct unusual sculptures that create a sense of intrigue. Some of them are humorous, some of them are mischievous, but they all have one thing in common: they use familiar conventional household items and toys to form cunning original works of art that redefine their function.

Also on view in the East Gallery are new drawings and paintings from Eowyn Wilcox McComb. The show will be her second solo-exhibition with the gallery. McComb’s new work gives insight into the artist’s daily life. The drawings are an intimate record of her environment and her connection to the world. With each brush stroke of her paintbrush and each mark of her pencil, she explores the metaphysical aspects of life as an artist.

On view: May 31st – June 21st

What: Opening reception
Where: Lora Schlesinger Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave. (T3) Santa Monica, CA 90404
When: 5:00 pm- 7:00 pm
Phone: 310-828-1133
Website: http://www.loraschlesinger.com/

Gallery Luisotti hosts a reception for the opening of “Landscape Releasing,” a debut solo presentation by Jacob Kaufman.

See image: Jacob Kaufman, Exploration #5, 2014, acrylic on canvas

The exhibition takes as its premise Kaufman’s meditations on, and close reading of Toshio Shibata’s photograph Grand Coulee Dam, Douglas County, WA , 1996. The result is a series of paintings that navigates a visual territory between abstraction and landscape.

On view: May 24th – July 12th

What: Opening reception
Where: Gallery Luisotti, (A-2), Bergamot Station 2525 Michigan Ave. Santa Monica, 90404
When: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Phone: (310) 453-0043
Website: http://www.galleryluisotti.com/

Also in Santa Monica…

“Mysterious Flight…and other Beautiful Tales” opens @ studio FIVE08 tonight.

The unique exhibition features eight Los Angeles artists including Javiera Estrada, David Butow, Andreanna Iakovidis, Lisa Agaran, Marian Devney, Swig, Sharan Brooks and David Brady.

From the dark and exotic oil painting and mixed media assemblages to leather-made Dragon’s, this exhibition features a wide-range of work to stimulate the senses.

Cool beats flowing from 6-10 pm at 508 A- Santa Monica Blvd @ 5th next door to “Seasalt Grill.”

On view: May 31st – July 5th

What: Opening reception
Where: Studio FIVE08, 508 Santa Monica Blvd at 5th St., SM
When: 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Phone: 310-994-9400

Also in Santa Monica…

Arena 1 Gallery hosts the second portion of the Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD) annual Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Thesis Exhibition.

The group exhibition opening tonight will feature works by the following MFA candidates: Sandra Manich, Michael McGregor, Katie Schmid, Cynthia Sitton, Benjamin Sowards and Trevor Walker.

On view: May 10th – June 3rd

What: Annual Art Walk
Where: Santa Monica Art Studios, 3026 Airport Ave., Santa Monica. 90405.
When:  6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Phone: 310.397.7449
Website: http://www.santamonicaartstudios.com

Or in Culver City…several here on LA Cienega and Washington Blvd.

Just off Venice Blvd…stop into Samuel Freeman (2639 South La Cienega Blvd.), for an opening from 6-9pm. http://samuelfreeman.com/

Walter Maciel Gallery presents “Maker,” a solo exhibition of new work by Philadelphia artist J.A. Christensen.

Christensen’s textiles, sculptures, and drawings reflect upon the history of early twentieth-century American manufacturing and the politics embedded in historical and contemporary forms of labor and craftsmanship.

All of the works presented in Maker are marked by an intentional hand-made quality that Christensen calls “home-spun.” As such, they pay homage to this country’s history of working-class immigrant labor and point to the value of the individual’s unique contribution to the whole.

On view: May 31st – July 3rd

What: Opening reception
Where: Walter Maciel Gallery, 2642 S. La Cienega Blvd., LA
When:  6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
phone: 310.839.1840
Website: http://waltermacielgallery.com

Blum & Poe (2727 S. La Cienega Blvd..) holds an opening from 6-8pm. http://www.blumandpoe.com

Cherry and Martin celebrates the work of Katy Cowan and Ross Iannatti in a two-person exhibition at the 2732 space.

See image: Katy Cowan, ‘Moon (Front & Back)’ 2014 Concrete, fabric dye, sawdust, pencils, fake flowers, ceramic toe cast 24.5 x 25.5 x 9 inches, 62.23 x 64.77 x 22.86 centimeters

The works on view reveal the artists’ shared approach to object-making. They complement rather than conceal the original intent of each material—woven industrial nylon, poplar, wax, ceramic, bronze, cotton—while they are simultaneously rooted in abstraction.

On view: May 31st – July 3rd

What: Opening reception
Where: Cherry Martin, 2712 S. La Cienega Blvd.
When: 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Head to Washington Blvd…

Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects celebrates the second solo exhibition of paintings by Los Angeles artist Raffi Kalenderian (see image).

Kalenderians intimate portraits are concerned with process, solitude, and psychological states. These new paintings continue to feature the artists friends, often other artists, musicians, and writers. Kalenderians close relationships with the subjects of his paintings elevate their intimate mood. While Kalenderian does occasionally paint from photographs, most of his subjects sit for their portraits.

Also opening tonight is the first solo exhibition of paintings by Nick Aguayo in gallery 3 and 4. Aguayo’s new works are an attempt to dissect the compositions he develops, like an anatomy lab for painting. Aguayo achieves a particularly tactile, matte surface by mixing marble dust into the paint, thus enhancing the handmade aspect of his compositions.

On view: May 31st – July 6th

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

Prohibition Gallery hosts a closing reception for “Karl Clinger :: Emulsion.”

Photographer Karl Clinger takes us back in time to explore the use of emulsion and the process of manipulation organically without digital enhancement.

Caught within an era where lies are sold as truths, Clinger manipulates reality to create his own renditions of the world around him. His current work takes the physical realities of the world, where it evolves to his own personal reality, where memory becomes an emotion and a sensation.

What: Closing Reception
Where: Prohibition, 6039a Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232
When: 6:00 pm- 9:00 pm
Phone: 323-743-3256
Website:  http://prohibitiongallery.com

In Culver City…enjoy some live music (gypsy jazz) at Boulevard Music with the Gonzalo Bergara Quartet. Admission is $17.50. Doors open at 7:30, show at 8:00. 4316 Sepulveda Blvd. (310) 398-2583 www.boulevardmusic.com

In Inglewood…

The artists of 1019WEST host “ZERO DOWN” a one-night art event in the studios and on the premises of the 1019WEST Artists Studio Building on the Inglewood-Westchester border, two blocks west of the 405.

This year the multi-disciplinary artists from 1019WEST team up with artists from the Beacon Arts Building and guest performance artists to bring alive the entire site for an exciting evening of performance art, music, group exhibition, installations, and open studios staged at the massive retrofit building.

What: Open Stuidos – Group show
Where: 1019 West, 1019 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood, CA 90301
When: 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Website: http://beaconartsbuilding.com/ http://1019west.com/

In Pasadena…Flower Pepper Gallery (121 E Union St., Pasadena, 91103), hosts a Meet The Artists Day from 1-5pm. https://www.flower-pepper.com

In Downtown…Also close by…Downtown Photoroom (1933 S. Broadway Suite 1242, LA, 90007), hosts an opening from 7-10pm.

Also nearby…Groundspace Project (1427 E. 4th St. #4, LA 90033) throws an art party from 6-8pm.  http://groundspaceproject.wordpress.com/

In Chinatown….

There are several art parties…that run from 7-10pm…The Good Luck Gallery (945 Chung King Road, 90012), Charlie James Gallery (969 Chung King Road, LA 90012); Red Pipe Gallery (978 Chung King Road), 

Just down the street…

Coagula Curatorial celebrates the first solo exhibition by LA based artist Jonmarc Edwards.

See image: Jonmarc Edwards, Paris Commune 1871 (detail), Mixed Media, 2014

This show will feature work from Jonmarc’s provocative and tactile series of paintings, Mid-City. Named after the location of Jonmarc’s studio in Los Angeles, Mid-City integrates the topography of information and textual fallout with an array of mixed materials, distinctive color and bold compositions.

On view: May 31st – June 21st

What: Opening Reception
Where: Coagula Curatorial, 977 Chung King Rd., LA, 90012
When: 7:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Phone: 213-620-1569

Also nearby…

KBG Gallery presents “Exploding Tattoo,” a multimedia visual art and performance work by artists Ted Meyer and Anna Stump.

The artiss will be joined by an exclusive group of tattoo artists from Southern California.

A live performance will be presented during the opening reception.

One Night Only Pop up Show

Free Admission; Parking available on Spring Street

What: Opening reception
Where: KGB Gallery, 1649 North Spring St., LA 90012
When: 7:00 pm – 11:00pm
Phone: 323.224.1900

In Downtown…

Cannibal Flower holds another late night art party and group exhibition at Think Tank.

This huge group show includes featured artist Wiley Wallace.

As well as many more such as: Seitaku Tak Aoyama, Louie Metz, Nate Seubert,  Paul Torres, Joey Rotten, Spenser Little, Zachary Schoenbaum, Ken Flewellyn, Jennifer Korsen, Matthew Land, Jim Lembeck, Sammy Wong, Nora Quinn, Kasim Patton, Tarikh Brown, Ahhd Art, Bene Digital, Nicolette Spear, Jaclyn Rose, Ckay Walker, Edan Curtis, Hugo Hidalgo, Erwin Glaub, Mr. Benja, and the list goes on….

Music Featured by Digital Sound Exchange
Showcasing the future of electronica with DSX DJs: Knite Watch, Everhue, Slick TrillaMoralz.

Alongside the originator of Cannibal Flower: Mr. Numberonederful

Live Music By Cat Museum; Body painting and performance Art By Nicolette Spear,  Duran Songbird and performer Maya Papaya.

$10 admission OR
$8 with donation to L.A. Food Bank OR
$6 in costume

What: Art Party
Where: Think Tank, 939 Maple Ave., Second Floor, LA, 90015
When: 8:00 pm – 1:00 am