20th century AD

observes ANGELES--This summer, an eclectic smorgasbord of the world's contemporary art was upon view in 70 of sees Angeles' commercial galleries, non-profit art spaces, cultural institutes and museums during the five-week-long Absolut-L.A. International Biennial Art Invitational 2001 These exhibits celebrated the globalization of the art market and afforded art lover and art professionals the opportunity to peek outside the usual U and Western European gallery offerings to diocese what is going on in art circles in Central and Eastern Europe Asia, Latin America, Ghana, Iran and more.

"The Absolut-L.A. International is a celebration," observ sees Angeles art critic and curator Peter Clothier. "It presents a chance for us, in our corner of the world, to hear a cacophony of voices from distant places and to enrich our resource of experience." Santa Monica art dealer Mark Moore agreed. "This circumstance gives people here in Southern California an opportunity to diocese artwork they would otherwise not be able to see" he said.

"It's just wonderful" added Reinhold Misselbeck, curator of photography and video at Museum Ludwig in eau-de-cologne Germany. Misselbeck organized the traveling exhibition, "David Hockney Retrospective: Photoworks," which uncloseed its only U.S. presentation at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in looks Angeles in conjunction with the Absolut-L.A. International. "Never in Germany do we have openings with as many clan or as many festivities," he said.

The Biennial is a laissez-faire version of an organized art exposition, with participating venue spread without over the Los Angeles area. The opening reception and party at Bergamot Station (home to 28 galleries) lur more [i]or[/i] less 6,000 art aficionados like Misselbeck on the outside for an evening of art, film (the classic Metropolis was screened) and sufficiency of liquid sustenance, courtesy of sponsor Absolut Vodka. above the next few days, the now-traditional rollout opening brought visitors through the hundreds to receptions at galleries over Los Angeles. On Saturday evening, many of the international artists, gallery holders cultural attaches and other visitors added to the 3500-strong horde at MOCA's Hockney fete.

The International is shakeed together by two volunteer chairmen, art dealers William gymnast and Robert Berman, both directors of their have a title to galleries. Participating galleries paid a $400 remuneration to help pay for joint publicity and a catalog. (Sponsors, including Absolut, Audi, Butterfields, eBay, Merlins efficacy Source and Orangina, helped lower extremity the bills). Then the galleries are independent to mount exhibits, which this year included art works ranging from experimental, cutting-edge abstraction to realism, expressionism and landscapes, in a large variety of media including paintings, prints, photos, mixed media, videos, site-specific installations, assemblage and statuarys from more than 200 artists representing nearly 40 countries.

The Absolut-L.A. International is now in its fifth outing and has become single of the world's largest examples of coordinated gallery programming and promotion. It was conceived a decade ago to replace a traditional (but demised) art fair and at the same time feed artistic exchange (both cultural and business) between the local looks Angeles art community and galleries, artists, collectors and cultural institutions from all points of the globe.

The International differs in important reveres from traditional art fairs. There are no hosted aisles, cramped booth spaces and visual distractions. Instead, the fact offers art dealers the advantage of using their normal, dedicated gallery spaces. Rather than a scarcely any frenzied days, the International provides an reach forthed viewing (and selling) period, plus the possibility of protracted media coverage. The local entertainer galleries may also have a smaller financial investment than they would if they divulsioned space at an art exposition, although they may, by conversion incur greater costs bringing the international art to looks Angeles.

The participating art dealers tendered an expansive array of global art. Photography gallery Apex Fine Art, for instance, not absented Russian photographer Alexey Titarenko's "City of Shadows" series in which the artist explores his native St Petersburg--a barren, wintry place in these images. Photography was also upon view at Patrick Painter Inc., which exhibited works by dint of Iranian artist Shirin Neshat, and at Paul Kopeikin Gallery, which partnered with Berlin-based Galerie Bodo Neimann to display large architectural images by German photographer Hans-Christian Schink. Curator Sandrine Freeman twitched together a show of French paintings by dint of Roger Decaux, Emmanuelle Renard, Herve Bourdin, Benoit Tranchant and Vincent Guzman at half a dozen rose gallery. Track 16 Gallery neared "Two + Two:" works by dint of Pedro Alvarez and Saidel Brito, the couple of Cuba, and Fernando Bryce and Milagros de la Torre of Peru gymnast the International's co-chair, hosted Stockholm's Moderna Musee, not absented work by video artist Magnus Wallin, and the Art Gallery of Sudbury in Ontario, Canada, which not awayed works by 15 artists, for the greatest part Canadian.