IN BLACK? MUST BE AN ART PARTY

WHERE could you ponder the significance of a neon sign reading “Make tacos, not war,” a painted mattress nailed to a wall and a 35-seat bus that looks like it collided with a Mack truck? These and other surreal objets were on display last week at L.A.’s premier contemporary art fair, Art LA, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

The event’s opening-night party, which benefited the Hammer Museum’s emerging artists series, Hammer Projects, brought out gallerists, buyers and art hounds, who – true to stereotype – were almost all dressed in black (with a bunch of guys going full Johnny Cash in black button-down shirts under black blazers). Fashion-savvy femmes sported opaque black tights and long black boots under architectural dresses and overcoats. There was also plenty of bold eyewear (of course), from horn-rims to wraparounds.

The show featured more than 60 galleries – roughly half from L.A. – and lured buyers from around the world. Most of the night’s conversation swirled around deals and acquisitions, but it wasn’t all “Sell, sell, sell!” As the red wine flowed, some guests curled up on straw mats in a lounge/art installation kitted-out with Sharpie markers and blank-canvas Art LA totes to create some artwork for themselves. Others kicked back at a makeshift bar set up in a vendor booth: a functional installation piece called “Blame Canada” by Terence Koh, which recreates the seedy Bang Bang Bar in the David Lynch movie “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.”

Still, major deals were brewing everywhere. Marc Selwyn of Marc Selwyn Fine Art never had time to grab a drink – he sold six paintings in the first hour. Talk about a party.

emili.vesilind@latimes.com