Smoking puffing digital portrait, talking Einstein, disturbing, realistic, covered corpse-installation, collared dog stuck in the wall, a giant polyhedron with infinite interior glass body, real Klimt prints… Just a few startling highlights from one of the world’s largest Art Shows, from Los Angeles. Our reporter was on-site.
The Los Angeles Art Show took place at the grandiose Los Angeles Convention Center, located in downtown LA from February 14th to 18th, with the participation of hundreds of artists and galleries. The fair and exhibition were especially unique because not only could we gain a deeper insight into the latest works of the American contemporary fine art world, but several overseas galleries also deemed it important to participate in the LA Art Show. Galleries arrived from Japan, France, Korea, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Taiwan, Germany, South America and even Australia.
Among the most characteristic trends were Pop-art (like Sol Galery from Melbourne) and the emerging digital art derived from it, but examples of non-figurative impressionism and representations leaning towards expressionism could also be found (like Rebecca Hossack Art Gallety, London, Art Unified NY, Artifact Project Burbank, Artworks Gallery CA, Gallery With Korea).
Some galleries specializing in technique-focused hyper-realistic representations – which is a very popular art form in America – were also present. The most exciting contemporary artworks were visible in the realm of sculpture. Intricately crafted glass works and 3D art pieces made by mixed art techniques (glass, metals, wood, digital screens etc.) were showcased at the LA Art Show. (Dagaro, Building Bridges Art Exchange CA, Fremin Gallery NY, Silver Shell Tokyo, Germany)
It became evident at the LA Art Show that in contemporary fine arts, an increasing space is being occupied by eclectically created artworks produced with or assisted by digital tools, and collections of images created by artificial intelligence have also emerged at several booths like Michael Kuechenhoff & Grant Rosen. These works raise the question currently engaging the artistic community, collectors, and enthusiasts: to what extent can art created by AI be interpreted as genuine artistic creation? The divisive question was not addressed at this year’s Los Angeles Art Show. However, it was an exciting discovery to see artworks created by artificial intelligence displayed alongside human artistic creations in equal measure, framed and presented. Overall, it can be said that in these products, the soulless machine process is still detectable, and their artistic value is questionable.
The LA Art Show introduced a fresh SoCal Youth Arts Program in collaboration with Athletes for Life, featuring Gallery Highlights and extending support to the American Heart Association as it celebrated its centennial year.
The uniqueness of the experience lay in the fact that although Los Angeles is teeming with a vibrant art scene and there are plenty of exhibition openings, shows, and workshops to attend, encountering such high-quality and quantity of artworks in one place, on one platform, is rare. Certain trends and movements defined the theme of this year’s Expo.
– Virág Vida –
