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Best Exhibits At The LA Art Show

lagunaartmuseum 610
(credit: Laguna Art Museum)

The LA Art Show is like one gigantic candy store for art lovers. In fact, for even the most experienced, the vastness of the exhibition can be overwhelming. The LA Art Show is known as one of the most internationally diverse art forums in the Western world. So which are the top exhibits to take in? Here are six top picks from a show crammed with exhibits, live performances, and lectures. The Art Show runs from Thursday January 27, 2016 through Sunday, January 31, 2016 at DTLA's Convention Center.

The Way of Modern Man Jana Cruder
(credit: LA Art Show)

The Way of Modern Man
Jana Cruder

Comprised of 30 minute live performance sessions and a photography exhibition, Jana Cruder's "The Way of Modern Man" illustrates how smartphone culture is literally changing what it means to be human. Cruder was inspired by watching commuters hunched over, obsessively studying their cell phones in Hong Kong. The exhibition begins in an isolation booth, and participants spend 30 minutes in a private session with the artist, permitted to enter only with their mobile devices. Communication takes place solely through text message, with Cruder outside the enclosure. The final images are presented in a series of backlit panels that recreate the glow of a smartphone.

Rogue Taxidermy Installation Catherine Coan
(credit: LA Art Show)

Rogue Taxidermy Installation
Rogue Taxidermy Installation
Catherine Coan>

Assemblage artist Catherine Coan presents a sculpture and assemblage installation that features taxidermy as its centerpiece, creating surrealist scenes that evoke the sensation of natural history museum dioramas gone mad. Her Rogue Taxidermy Installation places taxidermied creatures in bizarre Victorian salon settings, designed to delight and confront viewers. Both eerie and amusing, this is one exhibit not to miss.

CBS Art Show Tanaka
Beyond Kaisho, Sumi-ism
Issai Tanaka of Gallery Kitai

One of Japan's leading calligraphy artists, Issai Tanaka of Gallery Kitai, will be performing "Beyond Kaisho, Sumi-ism." He writes in the large printed calligraphy style known as KAISHO, and will be creating pieces that are 10 x 10 feet, one word at a time. While calligraphy is a fine art form in Japan, very few artists can work in KAISHO. In short, this is a unique performance that few get to see, much less see created.

CBS Art Show Fukuda gallery
(credit: LA Art Show)

Japanese Pop Art
Gallery Kitai and the Fukuda Gallery

In conjunction with this performance, a curated selection of Japanese pop art, contemporary, word art, and manga will be on display at the show, including works from the Gallery Kitai and the Fukuda Gallery, among many others.

CBS Art Show Littletopia
(credit: LA Art Show)

Littletopia
Curated by Greg Escalante, Noah Antieu

"Littletopia" is a collection of related but diverse art featuring work from the Daniel Rolnik Gallery, Coagula Curatorial, Red Truck Gallery, and Gregorio Escalante Gallery, among many others. Described as art for art's sake, according to Escalante, visitors enter the exhibition through the installation Desert Debris Dismaland Castle, by Jeff Gillette, well known for his collaboration with Banksy, and his "homage" to Disneyland.

CBS Art Show Barber
(credit: LA Art Show)

Travellers in Time
Lluis Barba

The large scale photographs of renowned Spanish artist Lluis Barba, are another key exhibit at the LA Art Fair. Barba will offer a lecture concerning his work on Saturday January 30th at 2 p.m., and is unveiling a new work at the show as a part of his exhibition here, "Travellers in Time." A reimagining of Picasso's "Guernica" is the centerpiece of the exhibition, and this is the first time this significant work has been shown in LA. Barba's technique is to transfer people, paintings, and artworks into new compositions, creating allegories and symbols as well as purely entertaining pop cultural references.

CBS Art Show Virtues and Vice
(credit: LA Art Show)

Virtues and Vice
Curator: G. James Daichendt

Street Art is an essential part of LA culture, and as curated by G. James Daichendt, the "Virtues and Vice" exhibition looks at the commercialization of this art scene niche, and the distinct path of seven artists who forge their own way in it, defying boundaries. From storybook aesthetics to urban landscapes, vibrating patterns, and large abstract installations, there's something for everyone to explore in this stellar installation.

Genie Davis is a multi-published journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. She lives near the beach in Los Angeles. See more on: CBSLA | eco-exist.com | geniedavis.com | DiversionsLA | Twitter.
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