The LA Art Show

For me, the New Year hasn't begun without visiting the LA Art Show.  For four days (January 23-27), galleries and artists from all over the world gather in my town to present their very best.  I get overwhelmed by the work, but I always leave happy.  Knowing that there is so much creativity happening on earth makes me feel hopeful.

There are certain artists I never get tired of seeing (Edgar Payne, SC Yuan), both of whom are dead.  So, I get giddy when I actually get to meet and chat (via his interpreter) with a live artist.  I was taken with Li Guanglin, a Chinese artist based in Beijing.  His large canvasses of Tibetan life are simply breathtaking. 

He has been visiting Tibet since 1985.  He photographs his subjects, but says only 70 percent of the paintings are from a photograph.  The rest is remembered from his spending time with them.


I was fond of the paintings where he painted the subjects from behind.  The images are of the devoted praying at a holy lake. 

At fifty years old, Mr. Guanglin has many years of painting ahead of him.  I look forward to seeing more.

Other artists who made an impression...

Rimi Yang, an artist from Santa Fe, New Mexico painted these large (48 X 72) child-like images.  I felt like I walked into a storybook.

Cuban artist Gina Pellon did these mixed media pieces.  I enjoyed the colors and energy of the pieces.  There was something rural, yet sophisticated about them.

                        (76.25 X 51)                                         (28.5 X 23.5)

Russian artist Sergey Fedotov did these figurative abstracts.  You can't tell from the pictures, but I really enjoyed the textures of these paintings.  I wanted to run my fingers across them and feel them.

(39.4 X 31.5)                                        (31.5 X 27.6)