Review Los Angeles Chain Letter 2011

I went to the Chain Letter Group Show at Shoshana Wayne Gallery in Santa Monica. We got there at 5:45 for a 6pm opening time, and the parking lots was already packed. Luckily for us, there wasn't a line to get in yet, but by the time we left, the lines were at least 200 people long at each of the 3 galleries they put the art in. We only went through one of the three, and then we wandered around checking out Bergamot Station.

There's an intriguing paper supplier at Bergamot station called Hiromi Paper, and I had been doing investigations into Los Angeles art paper supplier options, only to discover that this paper supplier was right where I was headed on Saturday. They're only open weekdays, so I pressed my face up against the window and looked in at the shop. It looks like it has a ton of really beautiful plain papers.  I'm looking forward to taking an afternoon and checking them out sometime soon.

So. Chain Letter. It was interesting. Sort of a big art jumble sale, or art attic. As a whole, it really hammered home that arresting art which can stand out in a crowd is hard to make. When you throw all these pieces together, instead of spreading them out in a big white gallery, most of them get eaten right up.  

Additionally, as was mentioned of the Boston show by Joan Mattera  most artists didn't think to put in their names or descriptions of the pieces. On the one hand, I applaud this. I think reading about a piece is sort of missing the point, but on the other hand, everyone was slowly shuffling through this overwhelming mass, and trying to pick out something to look at, so once you'd honed in on a piece and comprehended it, "oh it's dried fruit on a plate" or "its a very large pink penis I think..." then there was nothing really for you to do with your observation. The pieces all were numbered, so I guess if you wanted to buy one, that would be the way to also find out who did it?

All in all I didn't regret my decision not to include anything. The show felt like an explosion, a thing done for the "why the hell not" of it all, and I think for me, that was cool, if I'd had some little sculpture I didn't care too much about hanging around I would have enjoyed jamming it in just for kicks. But for a piece you've slaved over and loved and given time and energy to? I didn't feel this show necessarily did that aspect of art justice. I don't mean to imply that it disrespectful or anything, it was sincere and joyful, and it didn't take things too seriously, just didn't feel transformative.

One of the most interesting things about the show was how democratic the trickle-down was. I assume the original 10 artist invitees were relatively well known professional artists, and they probably only did invite people they thought well of, but there were also Thomas Kinkade style landscapes and crappy student art that looked slapdash and silly, and that made me think a lot about how big and iceberg-y art making is. How it can get all the way down to sculpy art on plywood from the first 10 people.

So. Yes. Conclusion. Chain Letter 2011, interesting, but somewhat meaningless?