ARTE: Kenturah's Artist Talk

Here is the live recorded video of Kenturah's art talk that took place during Leimert Park Artwalk on Sunday.  Shawanna Davis is the moderator.

ARTE: Kenturah in China

This month you can view one of Kenturah's installation hand written drawings in China at the Ucity Art Museum in Guangzhou.  The group exhibition An American Water Margin is on view now until October 10.

"Language Games" pencil on paper

ARTE: Hala Matar x Fruits de Mer

Hala Matar's short film!

ARTE: Kenturah's Radio Interview

Kenturah has a great interview on OFF RAMP with John Rabe.  Click the photo to read/listen!

ARTE: Animated history of Architecture

LOVING THIS!

ARTE: WWD

Thank you Women's Wear Daily for profiling us! And for writing about the arts revolution we are hoping to spark in Leimert Park.  It has been an incredible 6 months being open in our new neighborhood and we couldn't be more happy to be adding to Leimert's rich legacy and creating new history.

On a recent August afternoon in Los Angeles, Michelle Joan Papillion was taking a break inside her sprawling, whitewashed gallery in Leimert Park. She was a few days away from finishing preparations for a new exhibit and was enjoying a rare moment of peace before an upcoming opening. 

Papillion, in a loose-fitting tank and skirt, hasn’t had many of those moments lately. 

Since she opened her first gallery four years ago, the 32-year-old has emerged as one of L.A.’s gallerists to watch, thanks to her hit shows and prominent supporters, like Jeffrey Deitch and Franklin Sirmans, chief curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. 

“I wanted to be stimulated by many different things and different types of people in one space,” she says casually by way of explaining her rise in the art world. “And I know how to do that through art.”

Papillion grew up in Oakland with a deep interest in the arts, though she wasn’t quite sure what form that interest would take. After high school, she pursued an art history degree at Howard University in Washington, D.C., but her real education came from the people she encountered socially on trips to gallery openings in Manhattan in the early Aughts.

Read the rest of the article online here

ARTE: Narratives and Meditations

Kenturah's next solo exhibit opens this upcoming Saturday August 30th at 6pm...looking forward to seeing you all there!

ARTE: Town & Country

Happy to be included in the LA issue of Town & Country Magazine. We're in great company as one of the "34 genuises turning it into America's capital of cool!" In over its 100 years of exsistence T&C has never had a guest editor, Liz Goldwyn was the first and its an honor.  Its on newsstands now but you can read the online interview about "the LA galleriests who are remaking the art scene in their own image" HERE

Michelle Joan Papillion

Papillion

Papillion moved from New York in 2008, opening her first gallery four years ago.

HOW HAS THE ART SCENE CHANGED SINCE YOU MOVED TO L.A.?  "Back in 2008, the art community seemed very insular. It was not so inviting for an outsider. But all of that has changed. It's now the hippest place for an artist to be, and the scene feels very open and expansive."

WHAT'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT CHANGE? "I don't think there's one thing, though technology is definitely a key ingredient in facilitating the growth of the scene. Social media has been a big game changer—here and everywhere."

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A NEW YORK AND AN L.A. COLLECTOR?  "There is a greater passion for and commitment to supporting local artists here."

HOW WOULD YOU RATE L.A.'S MUSEUMS? "They are world class. I travel a great deal for work, to view exhibitions around the globe. Your Bright Future at LACMA and Art in the Streets at MOCA are in my top ten exhibitions ever. And I always look forward to MADE IN LA, the biennial at the Hammer."

IS IT EASIER TO BE A FEMALE ARTIST IN L.A.? "No. Women have to work harder and smarter to be recognized in the same circles as their male contemporaries. Diversity in the contemporary art world is not as progressive as many would think. The work of some of my favorite L.A. artists—like Miranda July and Kenturah Davis—are adding important things to this conversation."

WHAT'S THE MOST EXCITING GALLERY NEIGHBORHOOD?  "Regen Projects, LACE, and HVW8—all in Hollywood. But Leimert Park, where I opened my second gallery this year, is becoming the next great art destination."

IS THERE A SONG THAT SUMS UP L.A. FOR YOU? "Kendrick Lamar's album Good Kid M.A.A.D City."

ARTE: FLORIDA WATER REVIEW

Numa Perrier's Florida Water has a great write up on Shadow and Act. Numa is our week 3 artist in the Video Art Residency this summer.

ARTE: No)one. Art House

No)one. Art House, the artist collective featured during Week 4 of our Video Art Residency, is offering Summer Dance Workshops next week! Wanna know more about No)one. Art House? Check out their website here

ARTE: LA Times Datebook!!

You read it! The LA Times has put us on their datebook...so we should be seeing you this week! Numa's Florida Water is playing now!

ARTE: TOUCHING THE ART

Our new art world boo is Casey Jane Ellison!  We are happy to be a part of Touching the Art - Episode 2 - Postmodernism, post-Net & The Art Market on Ovation!

ARTE: Salon Magazine

We're happy to be in the fall ART issue of Salon Magazine and included in their Art Radar 2014.  If you're in Europe pick up a copy!!

"Papillion, located in the up and coming area of Leimert Park, has a strong programme for emerging artists and a stylish woman at its helm."

ARTE: Fabrik Mag

Kenturah is featured in the latest issue of art magazine FABRIK as one of eight emerging artist in LA to watch!

ARTE: Reading Rainbow

Reading Rainbow has a kickstarter that began a month ago and I was one of the early contributors that pledged with in the first 24 hours.  When the campaign launched the goal to reach was 1 million.  After the campaign went live they surpassed the million dollar mark in just a few hours. By day 2 they had surpassed the 2 mill mark and by day 3 they surpassed the 3 mill mark.  The raised their goal to 5 million and are just half a million shy. At just over 91,000 backers it is the largest crowd sourced campaign in history.  I gave because Reading Rainbow was one of the television shows that I was most excited by when I was a child.  The way they used art, music, dance and theater to make reading seem cool are one of the main reasons why I love reading and the arts!

They have a little under 47 hours left so get to it!

READING RAINBOW KICKSTARTER LINK

ARTE: MAD ABOUT FUTBOL

World Cup has come around again and we've been caught up in Futbol Fever...so far were rooting for USA and Nigeria...

LACMA's FUTBOL the Beautiful Game exhibition is on point with its look at the world's biggest sport.

"Pele" by Andy Warhol, 1978 silk screen, 40in x 40in

ARTE: VOGUE

Thrilled, excited and surprised to be in such great company in the July issue of Vogue Magazine, with Lupita Nyong'o on the cover.  Elizabeth von Thurn und Taxis came to visit us on a recent west coast trip and wrote about it in her TNT coloumn of the magazine.  

Here's a snippet:

"What I found most inspiring about L.A.;s art scene was the unexpected young female force it bears.  I met a series of passionate and very noteworthy women - gallerists and artists alike.  What a relief from art-world machismo! Take Michelle Joan Papillion, who, with a great eye for emerging talent, recently set up shop in Leimert Park, an area with few galleries. "I think of Leimert Park as a flower waiting to bloom," she told me. "Three years from now, this place will be the talk of the art-and-culture scene."

ARTE: SOCAL Connected

This originally aired last night.  But you can watch it again on channel 28 KCET tomorrow night at 8pm and again over the weekend.  Check us out in the segment about the future of Leimert Park.

ARTE: MADE IN LA 2014

LA's Biennial is coming! I see you Danielle Dean...

Danielle was one of the artists in our inagural group exhibition O P E N, we had "Baby Girl" featured in our Video Room.

ARTE: Kentrifican Museum of Culture

Inter-disciplinary artist Kenyatta AC Hinkle has something special going on with the Kentrifican project.  Watch the video and click the link!