Artists, collectors, curators and art patrons from all over the world descended into Los Angeles to celebrate the 11th edition of Art Los Angeles Contemporary (ALAC), the premier international art fair of the West Coast at its new location, The Hollywood Athletic Club. Presenting 50 exhibitors from 11 countries, the fair welcomed guests with a curated selection of exhibitors from Los Angeles, as well as from San Francisco, Portland, New York and Chicago, in addition to international exhibitors from around the world, including Australia, Belgium, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Sweden, and the UK.
Tim Fleming, ALAC Director, commented, “We re-opened the club. We set out with immediate trust from our creatives - a collaboration between architecture and design studios Productora from Mexico City and Part Office based in LA and key support from our long standing and recent participating galleries from 11 countries. It’s been a real pleasure working within this historic, architectural building and to see how effectively it frames the great new work from both returning and established galleries and from a crop of young, ambitious galleries, that represent the future of what a gallery is in LA.” Strong sales were met with enthusiasm across the board for the bold and visionary move to Hollywood.
Gunia Nowik, Owner, Pola Magnetyczne Gallery commented “We’re excited to return to ALAC for a second year and really like this venue and being in Hollywood. It’s important for collectors to be able to circulate between all the LA fairs this week and visitors have reacted very well to the venue and history. Our sales have been strong with collectors intrigued with work by Israeli-born, Chicago based artist Nelly Agassi, by notable Polish painter Agata Bogacka, and French-Polish photographer Nicolas Grospierre.” Returning exhibitor Parisa Kind, Owner, Galerie Parisa Kind, Frankfurt, Germany, added, “Overall, we had a very successful fair. We sold works by all the artists we presented in the booth, including three large-scale paintings by LA based artist Ben Echeverria, as well as paintings by Germany-based artists Isabelle Fein and Hannes Michanek. We love the new venue – it’s incredible. The historical setting juxtaposed with the new architecture of the fair makes it a pleasure to exhibit in. The central location between the various fairs is easily accessible– it’s the perfect place to house ALAC.” John McCormack, Co-owner/director Starkwhite added “Art Los Angeles Contemporary raised the bar this year, combining architecture, Hollywood history and contemporary art in a lively boutique fair held at the magnificent Hollywood Athletic Club. The fair also performed perfectly its core art market role, attracting curators and collectors to the new venue, in sufficient numbers for us to hit our sales target. We sold pieces by all three artists presented in our booth and completely sold out the optically-charged works of Sydney-based artist Jonny Niesche.”
Guillaume Smets, Owner and Director, Stems Gallery, Brussels and Luxembourg reinforced this sentiment, “We really wanted to have a presence in LA. ALAC was the first and historic fair for contemporary art, and for us it was obvious to exhibit at ALAC. Last year we participated for the first time at the Barker Hangar and we wanted to return a second time to expand our presence among collectors and in the city. The new location at The Hollywood Athletic Club is a visionary move for the fair. It’s ideally situated between Felix and Frieze creating a “collectors’ triangle” and the set up is both intimate and sociable while providing a classical white wall space for the work. It worked for us – we had very strong sales and we’ll return again next year.”
ABOUT ALAC: Art Los Angeles Contemporary (ALAC) is Los Angeles’s international art fair. Now in its eleventh year, ALAC has helped solidify Los Angeles as an art epicenter and nurtured a generation of young collectors. With deep roots in LA’s creative community and a global reach, ALAC has acted as a gateway to an international exchange. ALAC’s recipe of combining emerging and established galleries is key to its longevity and success: ALAC is thrilled to usher in the next generation of galleries as LA’s discovery fair, while continuing to partner with the most exciting established programs in the city. ALAC maintains an unparalleled commitment to art-making, collection-building, and galleries that are the bridge between the two. Produced by Fair Grounds Associates, the eleventh edition of Art Los Angeles Contemporary took place over four days at the Hollywood Athletic Club, February 13 – 16.
ABOUT THE HOLLYWOOD ATHLETIC CLUB: A meeting place for celebrities and locals alike, the Hollywood Athletic Club was founded by Charlie Chaplin in 1924 and frequented by Joan Crawford, John Ford, Jean Harlow, Howard Hughes, Groucho Marx, Mae West, and more. ALAC 2020 will span the Club’s two floors, inhabiting both its vaulted ceiling ballroom and its athletic infrastructure, including a gymnasium and racquetball courts. The original 1920s architecture was re-envisioned by Mexico-City based architectural studio PRODUCTORA in collaboration with Los Angeles-based architecture and interior design practice Part Office.
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© All Photos by Mario D. Vasquez
