Photo LA Reviewed by Examiner.com

DNJ Gallery artist, Jane O'Neal, was spotlighted in Examiner.com's review of Photo LA 2010!


Jane O'Neal, Blue Pool, Orange County,
Cibachrome, 16 x 20 inches, 1976

The Santa Monica Civic Center was beaming with people crowding in to get a first look at this years' artists. In the crowd, I spotted people from all backgrounds, ages and worlds. From your avid fine art collector to your rebellious college student, there were even a few kids running around. Two little girls caught my eye more than anything, they must have been about 7 years old. They were complete opposites no matter how you looked at it, but what made me smile was how comfortably they fit in at Photo LA. As if they'd been there a million times before, seen all the art and all the people.

It goes to show that in the art world, there is room for all kinds of people. No matter how old or, as I learned today, how young.

Enough about the people, on to the art. The civic center was set-up with wall to wall photographs. Photos from the early years of photography dictating how far its come, to the modern technology used today. You could find a classic print on original photo paper or a vintage image printed onto fogged glass. Offering a truly diverse combination of creative photography.
Of the few pieces of art that I found profoundly intriguing were Blue Pool, Orange County from 1976 by Jane O'Neal, a print where you can see that it's vintage from the image but the boldness of the colors pop in such a modern way. Another was A Mad Day Out from 1968 by Stephen Goldblatt, from his days working with The Beatles. Goldblatt, known for his work as a Motion Picture Director of Photograph, is one of many artists that donated art to be sold by Fotovision-a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing documentary photography.

Whether it was the vast array of art, the complimentary hors d'oeuvres or just the open bar, Photo LA kicked off to a perfect opening night. At every turn, you could find someone deep in a creative exchange or admiring art on the wall or even just, sitting back and taking it all in. I over heard a woman commenting how the event was "so LA," a good thing I'm assuming.
All in all, after attending for the first time, I can't understand how anyone could start off the new year without attending even one night of Photo LA.

Fine Arts LA Reviews Photo LA 2010

Snapshots of Photo LA

January 19th, 2010 Posted by Danyel

This past Sunday afternoon with the clouds heavy with rain, I made my way west to check out Photo LA. This art fair signaled the beginning of a series of art fairs to grace Los Angeles and beckoned art-lovers, collectors, and dealers alike to scope out a wide stylistic range of photographs, which lined the impromptu walls of the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

Wandering through the booths of galleries from the US and abroad, there were a plethora of celebrity photos and black and whites — and black and white photos of celebrities for that matter. But also, politically themed photos, documentary pictures, and classic historical photographs set me in the correct mindset for more contemporary works while also flashing me back to an art history class of yesteryear. A few of my favorites included Harry Callahan’s Eleanor, Bill Brandt’s Nude, and a few special Edward Weston’s.

The MR Gallery, a gallery from Beijing, presented a series of photos by artist Mo Yi that rendered brilliantly colored comforters being aired on a clothesline. I fell in love with the fabric patterns and the intimacy the photographed captured. There were 16 individual shots of the comforters arranged in a 4 x 4 grid. Sometimes simplicity is key.

The Hous projects, a gallery that hailed from New York, featured Narelle Autio’s stunning underwater photographs of people seemingly caught in an undertow and floating with air bubbles sticking to their twisting bodies. These photos captured magnificent color, light, and motion.


Cynthia Greig, Representation #66 (still life #4), 2007

At the LA-based DNJ Gallery booth, several Cynthia Greig photographs grabbed my attention. It seemed as if the artist photographed several household objects, such as a telephone or handbag, to paint the background of the photo a solid shade of white. She then carefully painted the central object white so it appears as if it is nothing more than a tracing or a picture from a comic book and takes a final snapshot. I thought they were marvelous by themselves although I heard passerbys talking about how easy they were to hang in one’s house – the photo of the dishes can be hung in the kitchen!

Sante Fe-based Monroe Gallery pulled out the big guns with several large photographs by Stephen Wilkes. Lanswe Sock Factory, China depicted a view down an aisle at a Chinese sock factory, lined with exquisite machinery and the machine operators wearing striking orange shirts. Also, Ormond Gigli’s Models in the Windows was a sight for weary eyes. It showed a wide shot of the side of a New York-style apartment complex. At each window, a gorgeous woman stood or sat in the window dressed to the nines in a rainbow of colors. It was a refreshingly sweet, yet complex photograph.


Stephen Wilkes, Lanswe Sock Factory, China, 2005
And finally, Barcelona’s Galeria Sicart presented a large triptych by artist Nicola Costantino. When the triptych’s side panels were open, the large photograph showed a beautiful, yet bound woman bathed in gorgeous light reclining in a large, serving platter that sat on top of a table that resembled the table of The Last Supper. And when the triptych’s panels were closed, poof! The serving platter was empty. Much like the convention center’s halls at closing time.

ARTFIXdaily Reviews Photo LA 2010

Artist: Darryl Curran Title: Untitled Year: 1974 Medium: Cyanotype with multi color gum pigment print on Rives BFK Courtesy of DNJ Gallery
(photo l.a.)
(ArtfixDaily.com)

photo l.a. 2010

The 19th Annual International Los Angeles Photographic Art Exposition, photo l.a. 2010, returns January 14 - 17 to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Over the past eighteen years photo l.a. has earned a reputation as one of the foremost art fairs and the leading photo-based event in the country. Presenting the finest galleries from around the globe, this 19th edition promises to be the best ever.

Created by Stephen Cohen, producer of the highly acclaimed art fairs artLA and photo Miami, photo l.a. will feature the finest photographic art from the earliest 19th Century photographic experiments to the most contemporary photography and photo-based art. Many of the world’s leading galleries and private dealers representing international and U.S. artists will display work at photo l.a. 2010. Participating Los Angeles exhibitors include The Lapis Press, DNJ Gallery, Robert Berman Gallery, and Stephen Cohen Gallery. International galleries including Galeria Sicart (Spain), Queensland Centre (Australia), Gallery Suite 59 (Netherlands), and MR Gallery (Beijing) will also participate in the fair.

“Los Angeles continues to be home for more and more artists and it has become a major creative center for the production of photography and photo-based art,” says Stephen Cohen, producer of photo l.a., owner of the Stephen Cohen Gallery in Los Angeles. “photo l.a. 2010 presents an international array of galleries and artists giving to curators, collectors, critics and art enthusiasts the opportunity to enjoy the best photography that our city and the world have to offer. Now in its 19th year, it is the longest running art fair in Los Angeles and it will be a major cultural event in the Los Angeles fine art landscape.”

Opening Night Reception
The opening night reception on Thursday, January 14, from 6 to 9pm, will benefit the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department at LACMA and will be hosted by noted photographer David LaChapelle and actor/photographer Chris Lowell. Reception tickets are $75 and can be purchased directly from LACMA at www.lacma.org/art/photola.aspx or email: photola@lacma.org.
Debuts and Previews

The La Brea Matrix, produced by The Lapis Press and Schaden.com, with the support of MAK Center for Art and Architecture and the Goethe-Institut, will have its debut at photo l.a.

The Museum of Latin American Art (MoLAA) will present a preview of their exhibition: Changing the Focus: Latin American Photography (1990-2005). Its curator, Idurre Alonso, will talk about the exhibition and give an on-site collecting seminar, as will Gordon Baldwin, former Curator of Photography at the Getty Institute. Photographer Lynn Saville will lecture on her new book. Onsite collecting seminars are $80 (include a three-day pass). Seminars have limited enrollment and tickets should be purchased in advance. Student discounts for lectures and the fair are available with valid I.D.

On Saturday, January 16, LACMA will also present a curated program of lectures, free to the public with day-of tickets, limited attendance. Lectures will take place in the Marquee Ballroom of the Doubletree Guest Suites across from the Civic at 1707 Fourth Street. Please check the website (www.photola.com) for updated programming and information on the LACMA curated lectures.

DNJ Gallery featured on LENSCRATCH

TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2010

Photo LA/Review LA 2010
Image by Eric Chuang, the rest badly photographed by me...

LENSCRATCH

In case you are not familiar with Photo LA, it's a three day photographic art fair with galleries from all over the world under one roof. Each gallery has a booth space where they showcase and sell work from their artist rosters, giving us a window into what's selling and what's popular. Included are collecting seminars with photo experts such as Anthony Bannon from the George Eastman House and lectures by images makers such as David La Chapelle and Lynn Saville. In addition to Photo LA, there are lots of parties and openings at Los Angeles galleries and a second selling venue at the Michael Dawson Gallery featuring classic photographs. And finally, Center hosted a weekend of photographic reviews that took place steps away from Photo LA.

Photo LA was all about the black and white print. Booth after booth showed traditional and vintage imagery in smaller sizes, undoubtedly a reflection of a more conservative buying public. It appeared that photographs were selling, but the the age of the large color statement piece seemed to be absent (at least until the economy picks up). A few galleries were color centric, but none brought large scale prints.


Pamela Schoenberg, owner of DNJ Gallery, at Photo LA 2010