Remember, our Pick of the Week is the Venice Garden and Home Tour and it takes place during the DAY….from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm TODAY.

In Santa Monica…

BritWeek takes over the Third Street Promenade to host an exciting festival celebrating all things British.

Starting at 11:00 am, enjoy live painting with artists Vyal Reyes, Razer (UK), Easi (UK), ManOne, Isaias Crow, Sand One, Inkie (UK), Codak Smith and Robert Vargas. In addition, the public is invited to celebrate the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare with exciting performances, music and dance, children’s workshops and costumes for dress-up, live performances, including Independent Shakespeare Company, and more at the Third Street Promenade this weekend.

The event runs both days, May 3 & 4, 2014 – 10am – 6pm on the Third Street Promenade in Downtown, Santa Monica.

Be sure to check the website for more info about this event.

What: BritWeek
Where: Third Street Promenade, SM
When: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Website: http://www.britweek.org

And then after the Venice Garden Tour (OUR PICK OF THE WEEK)..James and Melanie Murez host an After Party and benefit.

A portion of the proceeds from this event will be donated to honor the life and loved ones of Hayden Pacquing.

800 MAIN is featured on this year’s Venice Home and Garden Tour which takes place today…so come and continue the party…from 5pm-12am.

Food and drinks provided by: PRIMITIVO, HOTEL ERWIN. ADO, SAUCE ON HAMPTON, 3 SQUARE CAFE-Rocken Wagner Bakery, OCEAN’S HALO, SAUCE ON HAMPTON, FIRESTONE WALKER BREWING COMPANY & MORE

The work of local Fine artists will be on display and for sale.

DJ LOBOMAN and DJ 6IXSEVEN

FOR $30 PRE SALE TICKETS VISIT: http://www.800main.com/
ENTER CODE: GTAP2014

What: After Party
Where: 800 Main St. just North of Brooks
When: 5:00 pm – 12:00 am
Website: http://www.800main.com

In Culver City…

Cherry and Martin presents GOODGOD, Nathan Mabry’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery. The exhibition will contain large-scale sculptures and wall-bound intimate sculptures offering further insight into his diverse practice.

GOODGOD is a formal exploration of ancient signs and symbols combined with references to current universal gestures, elements of popular culture, spiritual and mythological belief systems and art historical innuendo.

Also opening tonight…”Boundary Figures” featuring the work of Ericka Beckman.

On view: May 3rd – June 28th

What: Opening reception
Where: Cherry Martin, 2712 S. La Cienega Blvd.
When: 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Phone: 310.559.0100


LAXART (2640 S. La Cienega) holds a book launch and discussion from 3-4pm.
http://www.laxart.org/

Prohibition Gallery holds an artist reception and photography performance tonight for Karl Clinger’s “Emulsion,” an exploration of reality and dream, of memory and moment.

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.

Clinger will be hosting a photography performance this Saturday evening, from 7 to 8:30pm. All proceeds will fund “Awaking the Art of Culver City”, a project documenting the individuals and collectives that make Culver City’s art culture vibrant.

What: Opening 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

One more for you in Culver City…

Paul Loya Gallery hosts a screening of Matt Wolf’s film TEENAGE. The movie will start at 8 pm, but please arrive around 7 – 7:30pm to secure your seat and mingle with your friends.

There will also be deserts for sale provided by “Clara’s Cakes.”

Feel free to bring beverages of your choice a blanket and sit under the stars in our courtyard and enjoy the night.

What: Opening reception
Where: P A U L L O Y A G A L L E R Y, 2677 S. La Cienega Blvd., LA 90034
When: 7:00 pm
Phone: 310 876 1410

In Santa Monica…Bergamot Station hosts a few events (2525 Michigan Ave.) that start early at Santa Monica Museum of Art with a live performance by Jeremiah Day, Simone Forti, and Fred Dewey from 4-5pm.

Ruth Bachofner Gallery hosts an opening reception for two solo exhibitions.

“Lost and Found” features new works by New York and Paris-based painter Michel Alexis and “Chara Corporea” showcases new works by Los Angeles-based painter Phillip Griswold.

See image: Michel Alexis, “Subtracted Word 7,” 2014, mixed media on canvas, 78 x 62″

On View: April 26th – June 7th

What: Opening reception
Where: Ruth Bachofner Gallery, Bergamot Station, (G-2) 2525 Michigan Avenue, Santa Monica, 90404
When: 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Phone: (310) 829-3300
Website: www.ruthbachofnergallery.com

The British will be arriving in LA Saturday May 3rd for an exclusive one night only take over of Copro Gallery for BritWeek LA 2014: showcasing a unique collection of original artworks from top British Artists.

Artists include: Pure Evil, Insa, Nick Walker, RYCA, Banksy, Inkie, Goldie, China Mike, Ben Eine..and a celebration British style! There are many surprises in store for the night and it will be an evening not to be missed!

Be aware ….YOU MUST RSVP….This Event is for VIP guests and RSVP  –  Please RSVP to Copronason@msn.com

What: Art party
Where: Copro Gallery (T-5), Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave, Santa Monica
When:  8:00 pm – 11:30 pm
Phone: 310.829.2156
Website: http://www.copronason.com/

In the Miracle Mile area…

1301PE presents its sixth solo exhibition with acclaimed British painter Paul Winstanley entitled Art School.

For the past three decades, Winstanley’s paintings have investigated the subjects of vacant spaces, the commonplace, and the dystopic, and painting’s ability to transform these familiar and at times melancholic landscapes into the sublime.

Over the span of several months Winstanley photographed the empty painting studios in art schools across England, Scotland, and Wales. In the process of photographing these spaces, Winstanley began to think not just of art studios as they were being worked in, but about the studios as empty spaces, with dormant potential. Drawn from the documentation of these studios spaces, the paintings translate the pure representation of their source into a new form of abstraction.

The paintings in this exhibition are the final works from Winstanley’s Art School series.

On view: May 2nd – June 28th

What: Opening reception
Where: 1301PE, 6150 Wilshire Blvd., 90048
When: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Phone: 323 938-5822
Website: http://www.1301pe.com/

Steve Turner Contemporary (6026 Wilshire Blvd.,) hosts a reception from 6-8pm. http://steveturnercontemporary.com/

Also nearby…

M+B presents an exhibition of Pierre Molinier’s photomontages alongside a new series of drawings by Aurel Schmidt. Feelings of obsession, repetition, fetishism, pain, longing, death and the psychedelic tumble throughout the intimate works.

See image: Aurel Schmidt, Untitled, 2014 (left) and Pierre Molinier, Lenah, c. 1966 (right)

Both Molinier’s and Schmidt’s work reflect their exquisite craftsmanship, as well as practices that are thoroughly intertwined with their own lives. Precious and personal, the work is exacting, highly detailed and teeming with overt intimacy. Decorative religious and sexual symbols abound throughout the work speaking to memory, fantasy and desire.

On view: May 3rd – June 21st

What: Opening reception
Where: M+B 612 North Almont Drive, LA 90069
When: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Phone: 310 550 0050
Website: www.mbart.com

In Hollywood…

Kohn Gallery (Michael Kohn Gallery) announces the inaugural exhibition of its new, expansive 12,000-square foot space: new work by Los Angeles-based, Pop-Surrealist artist Mark Ryden.

“Mark Ryden, The Gay 90s: West” will be on view at the new Kohn Gallery, 1227 N. Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038, from May 3 through June 28, 2014.

Designed by Malibu-based architect Lester Tobias, the new gallery building features an immense space with 22-foot ceilings, allowing for stunning exhibitions on a monumental scale. This design also incorporates a massive glass window along Highland Avenue and extensive skylights to bathe the gallery with natural light. With an eye always towards the future, the Kohn Gallery will utilize this expansive new exhibition space to continue to mount bold exhibitions of established and emerging artists.

What: Grand Opening
Where:  Kohn Gallery, 1227 N. Highland Ave., LA 90038
When: 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm…(yes it’s an all day event)
Phone: 323.658.8088
Website: http://www.kohngallery.com/

Also nearby…

Artist’s Corner Gallery offers an opening reception for artist Damian Siqueiros.

Damian Siqueiros is a Mexican/Quebecer image maker, a photographer, not the kind that reflects reality, but the kind that imagines one to transform it into something tangible, most often trough multidisciplinary work, may this be art direction, stage design, make up or styling. Gender equality and the acceptance of diversity are key elements of his work.

What: Opening
Where: Artist’s Corner Gallery, 6585 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, CA 9003
When: 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Phone: 323 464-3900
Website: http://www.bookblocks.us/

In Echo park…

Co-hosted by Otherwild and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, readings from the catalogue by contributors Terry Castle and Litia Perta, and refreshments by Eden Bakti.

See image: Nicole Eisenman to

The largest definitive mid-career survey of the work of celebrated American artist Nicole Eisenman to date, “Dear Nemesis, Nicole Eisenman 1993- 2013” includes more than 120 works, charting the development of Eisenman’s practice across painting, printmaking, and drawing from the 1990s to the present.

What: Launch
Where: Otherwild, 1932 Echo Park Ave., LA 90026
When: 5:00 pm 6:00 pm
Phone: 323-546-8437
Website: http://otherwild.com/

In Chinatown…Jancar Gallery (961 Chung King Road) hosts a reception from 6-9pm. http://www.jancargallery.com/

Then back in Santa Monica…

A bit later in the evening…The World Premiere engagement of a new comedy. “Coming Out Kinky” opens at Promenade Playhouse with a reception afterwards.

Written, performed and produced by Jean Franzblau, “Coming Out Kinky: A Grown-Up Story” is developed and directed by Karen Aschenbach.

This show is not for kids! For more info about the show…see our Upcoming Events Page.

Admission: $25.00
Reservations: (800) 838-3006 or go to website below.
Estimated Time: 70 minutes.

What: Performance
Where: Promenade Playhouse, 1404 Third Street Promenade, SM, CA 90401
When: 8:30 pm; Sundays – 7:30 pm  – May 4, 11, 18, 25, June 1 and June 8.
Website: www.comingoutkinky.brownpapertickets.com

In Pasadena… a couple for you…Flower Pepper Gallery (121 E Union St., 91103) hosts a reception from 6:30 to 9:30pm. http://www.flower-pepper.com  Fremont Gallery 812 Fremont Avenue Suite 100, South Pasadena, CA 91030, also offers an opening from 6-9pm. 

In Laguna Beach…

Artists Republic 4 Tomorrow is excited to announce “Distance Decay and Time Space Compression,” an art exhibition of new works by Don Pendleton, Ferris Plock and Jason Adams.

Don Pendleton talks about the show… “Sometimes the best way to tie something together is by pointing out the differences. Art has to overcome the physical boundaries of geographic location. We’re all directly influenced by where we live and that influences the art we all do. Actively bringing each of the artists closer together by exhibiting art that was created in different areas has a positive effect. We’re trying to bridge that gap that naturally exists (the distance decay of geography) and using art and communication to do so (the time/ space compression).”

Opening Reception beverages provided by
Pizza Port Brewing Company

What: Opening reception
Where: Artists Republic 4 Tomorrow, 1175 S. Coast Hwy. Laguna Beach, CA 92651
When: 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Phone: 949-988-0603
Website: www.ar4t.com