June 2009

Lita Albuquerque’s studio is Santa Monica was the CCC’s first stop. In her light-filled studio, Albuquerque, an internationally renowned artist, explained her practice. In particular, Albuquerque focused on her most recent project Stellar Axis which connects to her current projects in New Delhi and Paris. After lunch, a full itinerary was set in Culver City - Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects to see exhibitions on Whitney Bedford and Suzanne Lacey; S. LaCienega Boulevard galleries including Blum & Poe, LAX Art, Taylor de Cordoba, and Walter Maciel Gallery. The group also visited Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI), an untraditional space given to looking at the land as a curatable medium. Lastly, and even less traditionally, a few in the group couldn’t resist the stop next door into the Museum of Jurassic Technology where things real and historic are questionable, but certainly fun.

April 2009

CCC spent a day in Century City and Santa Monica. The first stop was at the Creative Artists Agency in their Century City headquarters with a docent tour of their architecture and renewed contemporary art collection. The second stop in Century City is the newly opened Annenberg Space for Photography to view their opening exhibit L8S ANG3LES: Perspectives of Eleven LA Photographers which includes the works of John Baldessari, Carolyn Cole and Catherine Opie. All based in Los Angeles, the exhibition reveals the influence of the city in multiple genres of fine art, architecture, photojournalism, fashion, and documentary. After lunch at Soleil’s in Westwood, the group headed to Santa Monica Museum of Art and received a very special tour of Ethiopia’s most original and prolific artists, Elias Simé (his painting, Filega 4, above). The exhibition was titled Eye of the Needle, Eye of the Heart curated by Meskerem Assegued, a revered Ethiopian curator and anthropologist, and visionary theater, opera, and multi-disciplinary artist Peter Sellars. Simé happened to be at the exhibition, so council members had a chance to ask some questions to the curators and artist. The group ended the visit with Mark Moore and Shoshana Wayne galleries in Bergamot Station to view the exhibitions of Japanese artist, Kenichi Yokono, Canadian artist, Kim Dorland, and Israeli sculptor, Zadok Ben David.

February 2009

The Contemporary Collectors Council had a high-energy trip in February beginning with a lively studio visit with Mario Ybarra, Jr. With thoughtfulness and humor, Ybarra, who has been receiving international recognition, lives and runs his studio space in Wilmington where he was raised. Ybarra along with his wife, Karla Diaz, also founded Slanguage in 2002, a workshop collective bringing artistic collaboration with local teenagers. The group then visited the Museum of Latin American Art for a fantastic docent tour led by Harold Cannon. In addition to looking at the Museum’s permanent collection, Cannon also led the group through the exhibition of Puerto Rican artist Arnaldo Roche (b. 1955). The next stop was to Ali Smith’s studio. In December, 2007, Smith was included in Christopher Knight’s article “45 Painters Under 45” in the Los Angeles Times and Smith’s work was also featured in our live auction component this past weekend. Lastly, the group visited the private collection of Greg Escalante. Escalante co-owns Copro-Nason Gallery and is the curator of Juxtapoz magazine. Escalante is also known as a legend among the enthusiasts of lowbrow art.

November 2008 Trip

On November 15, the group, including Grace Kook-Anderson, Laguna Art Museum’s new Curator of Exhibitions, visited the studios of artist Wayne White and Oliver Arms. After a delicious lunch at McCormick & Schmick’s, which is surrounded by significant art in public places including the controversial Robert Graham fountain, the group visited the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) and had a docent tour of the Louise Bourgeois exhibition. Next, the group visited the joint exhibition of Ed and Andy Moses where both father and son graciously agreed to have their picture taken with the group.