Generally misconceived as script-reading, yoga-doing, early-to-bed Philistines, Angelenos have gotten a bad rap. Transplants from other US cities (ahem, New York) see us as their less-than-cultured cousins with a love of all things fast and blonde. How wrong they are! Our fair and sprawling town is chock full of cultural outposts from art galleries to museums, performance organizations, established theatre troupes, and an obviously thriving film scene. When you need to feed your mind with more than just what your therapist tells you, a cultural jaunt may be just what you need – modern art galleries offer up a cross-section of art that’s being produced right now and that is, as a result, a reflection of our current society. Los Angeles has galleries aplenty, but here are your haute five.
Fahey/Klein Gallery
Black and white photographs can be amongst the boldest and most beautiful produced. Yes, there’s something to be said for all that Technicolor, but at Fahey/Klein Gallery on La Brea Blvd, you’ll garner a whole new appreciation for such stark, rich photography. The gallery’s twenty-four year history is rife with wild stories of working with some of the medium’s most fantastical artists – they’ve exhibited Alfred Stieglitz, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Herb Ritts, and Man Ray. Their current exhibitions feature the power and intensity of men and women in the deserts of Spain in photographs by Ruven Afanador. Late last year, their two rooms featured photographs by Ralph Gibson and Rasmus Mogensen in exhibitions called “Nudes” and “Perfectly Natural,” respectively.
Image by Ruven Afanador
Fahey/Klein Gallery is located at 148 N. La Brea Blvd. in Los Angeles (323) 934-2250
