Wednesday, September 29, 2010

L.A. ART WALK IS A JOKE.

I HAD RECENTLY BEEN ASKED TO SHOW A SCULPTURE AND SOME ARTWORK AT A LIL' GALLERY IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES FOR ART WALK. WHEN I GOT THERE I WAS TOLD THAT I COULD NOT BE IN THE SAME ROOM AS THE OTHER ARTISTS AND THAT I WAS GOING TO BE PUT IN MY OWN ROOM AT THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING. THIS ROOM WAS WAY BETTER THAN THE MAIN ROOM AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO BE AROUND SOME OF THE STUFF I DIDN'T LIKE. I SET UP AND LEFT TO GET A FEW MORE SUPPLIES. WHEN I CAME BACK, THE SCULPTURE HAD SOME CRACKS IN THE BACK OF IT. THIS INSANE WOMAN WHO "CURATED" THIS SHOW DECIDED IT WAS TOO OFFENSIVE TO BE IN THE WINDOW ON STREET LEVEL. THE MAN WHO OWNED THE BUILDING, A GAY COWBOY EX-WRESTLER, AGREED WITH HER. HE TOLD ME "AFTER TEN YEARS OF WORKING WITH ART WALK, YOU HAVE RUINED ME!" THE SCULPTURE WAS OF A NUDE MAN IN HIGH HEEL SHOES HAVING HIS GUTS RIPPED OUT BY A POODLE. THEY WERE OFFENDED NOT BY THE MAN'S GUTS BEING TORN OUT, BUT BY THE FACT THAT HIS DICK WAS EXPOSED. A GAY MAN, AND A LARGE WOMAN WHO'S ASS-CRACK HAD BEEN HANGING OUT ALL NIGHT(WHICH I FIND OFFENSIVE). IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES IN THE YEAR 2010!!?
THEY TOLD ME TO LEAVE AND I ASKED WHERE THE CRACKS HAD COME FROM AND WAS TOLD THE "CURATOR" TRIED TO MOVE IT BY HERSELF WHEN I WAS GONE. THIS SCULPTURE TOOK FOUR MEN AND A TRUCK TO MOVE. I REFUSED TO LEAVE(SINCE I WAS ASKED TO BE THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE), PATCHED UP THE CRACKS AND SAID I WASN'T GOING ANYWHERE. THEY DECIDED TO TAPE UP THE ENTIRE WINDOWS FROM TOP TO BOTTOM AND THEN PLACED A CLOTHES RACK IN FRONT OF THE DOOR. THEY SAID "THIS DOOR MUST REMAIN SHUT AT ALL TIMES." THERE WAS NOTHING I COULD DO, I HAD A SMALL HANDFUL OF VISITORS, BUT MAINLY NO ONE NEW I WAS IN THERE.
AT THE END OF THE NIGHT I WAS TOLD BY A VERY DRUNK "CURATOR" TO GET TTHE SCULPTURE OUT OF THERE. I TOLD HER I NEED A TRUCK AND THREE PEOPLE AND SHE SAID WE NEED TO MOVE IT AWAY FROM THE WINDOW BECAUSE THE "RONALD REGAN BUILDING IS ACROSS THE STREET AND THEY WILL HATE IT!" I TOLD HER BECAUSE SHE TRIED TO MOVE IT HERSELF EARLIER THE CRACKS I FIXED WERE NOT SET WELL ENOUGH AND THAT WE SHOULD JUST COVER IT WITH A BLANKET. SHE AGREED AND PROMISED ME SHE WOULDN'T TOUCH IT.
THE NEXT MORNING I RECEIVED A PHONE CALL TELLING ME THAT THIS "CURATOR" SAYS SHE "MAY HAVE MOVED IT, AND IT MAY HAVE CRACKED A LITTLE BIT." WHEN I GOT DOWN TO THE GALLERY THE FIRST THING I SAW WAS THE DOG WITH IT'S LEG BROKEN. I THEN FOLLOWED A TRAIL OF PLASTER CHUNKS TO THE BACK OF THE ROOM WHERE MY SIX FOOT TALL, FREE STANDING SCULPTURE WAS CRIPPLED, BROKEN IN HALF, IT COULD NO LONGER STAND UP ON IT'S OWN HAVING LOST SO MUCH OF IT'S ORIGINAL SURFACE MATERIAL.
I HAD NO IDEA THAT NO "REAL" ARTISTS SHOW WORK AT ART WALK, AND THAT IT WAS MAINLY A BIG REASON FOR COLLEGE KIDS TO GET WILD AND PARTY DOWNTOWN. I WISH I HAD KNOWN THAT IN THE BEGINNING, SINCE I AM NEW TO LOS ANGELES .
AND OF COURSE THIS TROLL OF A WOMAN, THE "CURATOR", HAS ADMITTED SHE DID THIS TO MY PIECE, AND STILL HAS NEVER EVEN TRIED TO APOLOGIZE, LET ALONE GIVE ANY COMPENSATION FOR THE DESTROYED WORK.

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