EYEING THE GALLERY SCENE : The Looking Is Free-- and Often Wall-to-Wall Stimulating

In “Beverly Hills Cop,” actor Eddie Murphy, sporting jeans, a sloppy sweat shirt and an air of devil-may-care, enters a posh art gallery. You get the feeling he’s about to be told to go home and find a tie.

But, cast as a cocky Detroit cop, Murphy hardly cowers, laughing aloud at an artist’s life-size dinner table serving up plaster human heads on slowly rotating plates.

“I was wondering how much a work like this goes for,” he asks Serge, the gallery’s fastidious attendant. “About $130,000,” Serge replies, looking down his nose at Murphy. “Get the (expletive) out of here!” Murphy squeals. Serge squeals back: “No, I’m not kidding! In fact I just sold it last week.”

You may not have quite the bravado that Murphy commands in this movie. Art galleries can cause the uninitiated to feel like hayseeds in the city.

But galleries aren’t reserved for rich cognoscenti. And an excursion into the ever-expanding local galleryscape provides a leisurely, edifying way to spend more than one spring Saturday. “Though galleries have this very white, very pristine atmosphere, we are open to the public,” says Alice Ovsey, co-owner of the Ovsey Gallery on La Brea Avenue.

“Galleries are absolutely for everyone,” says Jan Baum, who owns the La Brea gallery that bears her name. “A very small percentage of the people who come to the gallery buy. Most are here to learn and enjoy. I tell people to ask questions--no question is foolish.”

Meandering among local galleries, you pass in and out of typically hushed, sanctuary-like showrooms where sun streams serenely through skylights into spacious, airy studios. High ceilings and white walls provide plenty of uninterrupted space for artworks ranging from gentle pastel watercolors to bleak abstract oil paintings.

You can see who and what are hot on the contemporary art scene, take refreshment alfresco, spend some time alone lost in aesthetic contemplation or watch a hodgepodge parade of art lovers--some clad in studied-casual, some in gritty underground glam, others in Saks Fifth Avenue silks.

You might even spy a few celebrities along the way. Some of the city’s most committed art collectors include actors such as Steve Martin and Barbra Streisand, as well as movie producers, millionaires--and politicians.

“Gallery hopping is my favorite way to spend a Saturday afternoon,” says Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs, who estimates he spends about a quarter of his salary on artworks. “It’s more than relaxing; looking at art is one of the things that gives me a lot of fulfillment.

“I know the gallery owners on a first-name basis,” adds Wachs, who chairs a committee to help the Museum of Contemporary Art plan its exhibitions, “so there’s never a pressure kind of thing about buying.”

(The secret behind this is an almost universal law in galleries that visitors--celebrities or not--be allowed to look at the art undisturbed, plus a polite assumption that if you want to know something, you’ll ask. Galleries that use active salesmanship are regarded as gauche among seasoned browsers.)

Though Saturday is traditionally the galleries’ busiest day, you’re most likely to find showrooms empty just after opening time, around 11 a.m.

A lone gallery-goer at the HoffmanBorman Gallery in Santa Monica recently stood between the twin 17-foot steel walls of Richard Serra’s towering “Core” sculpture. “Hellooooo out there,” the observer cried, testing the echo chamber created by the closely juxtaposed curving walls. No one--except a bored attendant--was around to worry about the man’s sanity.

Courtyard Stroll

Late morning generally is also a good time for quiet contemplation or meditation--inside the galleries or out. You can stroll solo through a secluded outdoor courtyard connecting the Rosamund Felsen and Simard and Halm galleries on La Cienega Boulevard. Or, outside the Daniel Weinberg showroom on Almont Avenue, there’s a bench where a couple recently sat undisturbed, mapping out their route with a free Gallery Guide (available at most galleries). Empty galleries can also inspire their directors to volunteer on-the-spot mini art history lessons.

If you prefer a crowd, afternoons are far better for people watching. And as the day goes on you’re bound to bump into someone at sunset whom you saw at noon. Longtime local collector Sara Boyers, who started off her day alone in a Santa Monica showroom, was seen at 5 p.m. chatting with friends and cuddling her baby at a West Hollywood gallery.

Receptions, a kind of party marking the opening of a new exhibition, also tend to be well populated. Generally anyone may attend a reception, and galleries send out announcements to those who sign mailing lists.

An Unmatched Mix

Veteran gallery director Margo Leavin recently hosted a Saturday afternoon reception for sculptor Donald Judd and painter Peter Halley. The eclectic crowd, sipping Chablis, gabbed and gazed at Halley’s day-glo canvases and Judd’s sleek metal constructions. The bunch included a middle-aged man wearing a fluorescent orange jogging suit, another clad in preppy pink Brooks Brothers finery, a female Andy Warhol look-alike and young men with ponytails and pierced ears.

“Oh sure, it’s definitely a social thing too,” Leavin says.

Whatever you encounter, you’ll certainly have the opportunity to find the kind of showroom atmosphere you prefer. Galleries seem to be proliferating, perhaps buoyed by the recent openings of the County Museum of Art’s 20th-Century art wing and the new Museum of Contemporary Art.

Two Major Clusters

Following is a descriptive list of two major local gallery clusters. It is a suggested guide for two separate Saturday afternoon jaunts, with ideas for nearby places for dining or just to take five. (The Times will explore two more clusters in an upcoming Saturday View section.)

You may not have the stamina to visit every gallery within each geographic region. Or you may want to add to the roster--it is not all-inclusive. The Times prints a more complete museum and gallery listing each week in the Sunday Calendar.

Most galleries are open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday (and the rest of the week, excluding Sundays and Mondays), though variations in hours of operation make it advisable to phone ahead.

LA BREA AVENUE AREA

Once lined with used-car lots and vacuum cleaner repair shops, La Brea has sprouted about 20 new galleries in the last six years (roughly between 2nd Street and Santa Monica Boulevard), transforming it into one of the city’s most fertile gallery rows. New clothing boutiques, restaurants and other shops have also helped to popularize the avenue.

A natural starting place for this trek is the Post-Modern 170 S. La Brea Ave. building. Four narrow galleries, a store with artists’ books and two restaurants share the edifice.

You might begin with brunch at Cafe 170 or City restaurant. The former exhibits artworks from the galleries in the building and serves lunch Tuesday-Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m.--fresh swordfish tacos were a recent special. The latter, open every day, 11:45 a.m.-11:45 p.m., offers alfresco dining and California nouvelle cuisine.

On to the art at 170 South :

Jan Baum Gallery, (213) 932-0170. Baum, considered the pioneer of La Brea Avenue, opened the first gallery there in 1981. She shows primitive art, primarily from Africa, as well as contemporary works in a friendly setting where new visitors are greeted with a smile, regulars with a hug and a kiss.

Roy Boyd Gallery, (213) 938-2328. The avenue’s Chicago connection, Boyd also owns a gallery there and imports avant-garde works by artists from the Windy City for exhibitions at his sleek white showcase.

Garth Clark Gallery, (213) 939-2189. A compact, two-part showroom with contemporary utilitarian ceramic works from around the world that often read much more like abstract sculptures than conventional flower vases.

Gallery 170 (213) 936-7399. This gallery, with an emphasis on 19th-Century American and European paintings, provides “a pleasant excursion into the past, and a bit of culture shock” compared to most local galleries, says co-director Ray Levin.

Artworks, (213) 934-2205. A tiny retail store--that becomes jammed during evening receptions--featuring contemporary artists’ books (original artworks shaped as books). Also hard-to-find or ephemeral art magazines and journals from around the world.

Leaving 170 South, progress north along La Brea:

Ovsey Gallery, 126 N. La Brea Ave., (213) 935-1883. General consensus has it that the downtown gallery scene didn’t blossom into the art center many predicted it would. Still, the ever-optimistic Neil and Alice Ovsey say that for six years their business downtown was good. But now, Neil says, they’re sorry they didn’t relocate to the burgeoning Westside area sooner.

Ivey Gallery, 154 N. La Brea Ave., (213) 937-9299. A pink Mediterranean-style facade was created for this gallery, “because that exterior design had an artsy feel to it,” says co-director Brad Alan.

Richard/Bennett Gallery, 332 1/2 La Brea Ave., (213) 931-4933. Raw, energetic works from the youngest gallery owners on La Brea--and perhaps in the city. Richard Heller and Bennett Roberts are both 26.

Jack Rutberg Gallery, 357 N. La Brea Ave., (213) 938-5222. American and European works with a traditional, historical bent in a cozy old building that opens into a surprising, barnlike rear gallery. Exhibits such established Los Angeles-based artists as Clair Falkenstein, Ruth Weisburg and Hans Burkhardt.

Wenger Gallery, 828 N. La Brea Ave., (213) 464-4431. This gallery, with a European flavor, exhibits several artists who were important in the ‘60s and ‘70s and are now attracting new attention, such as Arman, Elaine de Kooning and Tapies.

Turske & Whitney Gallery, 962 N. La Brea Ave., (213) 874-0787. Art from California and Europe with a brash, young look. Fiona Whitney, a British transplant who used to run a local gallery independently, recently merged with the Turske & Turske Gallery in Zurich.

Burnett Miller Gallery, 964 N. La Brea Ave., (213) 874-4757. This gallery takes the prize for a distinctive exterior: In concrete relief are Aristotle, King Tut, Venus de Milo and other ancient look-alikes. The designs existed before the gallery came along when the building housed an art supply store, says gallery assistant Kelley Sena.

Three galleries on Beverly Boulevard form a natural side trip off La Brea. Heading west from the avenue, there’s:

Tobey C. Moss Gallery, 7321 Beverly Blvd., (213) 933-5523. With an emphasis on California art between the two world wars, director Moss accents the state’s historical contribution to modernism of the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s. A tiny, cramped space where works by Lorser Feitelson and others are kept in pull-out storage racks.

Krygier/Landau Contemporary Art, 7416 Beverly Blvd., (213) 937-2991. A hot item on the gallery lists of those in the know, this spare showcase exhibits California and New York artists.

Saxon-Lee Gallery, 7525 Beverly Blvd., (213) 933-5282. Gronk, a well-regarded local artist who once defaced the County Museum of Art with graffiti, left his mark atop this gallery just before opening an exhibit there when he sprayed an ephemeral artwork over the gallery’s rooftop billboard.

SANTA MONICA/VENICE AREA

This cluster includes the newest gallery hot spot. Within the last four months, four particularly spacious galleries opened shop, all next door to one another on Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica. With the arrival of this new enclave, some pundits worry that Westsiders will never go downtown again. The new mall comprises:

Pence Gallery, 908 Colorado Ave., (213) 393-0069. Mid-career and established artists, with a special emphasis on young unknowns from New York and Los Angeles.

Michael Maloney Gallery, 910 Colorado Ave., (213) 394-5155. Artists from New York, Los Angeles and Boston, where Maloney had a gallery for four years.

HoffmanBorman Gallery, 912 Colorado Ave., (213) 394-4199. Well-known New York and California contemporary artists such as Richard Serra, Peter Schuyff, John McCracken and John Miller.

BlumHelman Gallery, 916 Colorado Ave., (213) 451-0955. Blue-chip New York art. Opening show featured luminaries Jaspar Johns, Frank Stella and Robert Rauchenberg.

James Corcoran Gallery, 1327 5th St., Santa Monica, (213) 451-4666. Prestigious top-flight American and European artists such as Ed Ruscha, Francesco Clemente and Sandro Chia in this light-filled showcase, recently relocated from West Hollywood.

At this point it might be time for a croissant and cappuccino at the Napoleon bakery, 2301 Main St., catty-corner to your next gallery stop. Serving at sidewalk tables begins at 7 a.m. on weekends, 6 a.m. during the week.

Angles Gallery, 2230 Main St., Santa Monica, (213) 396-5019. A clean-lined space showing slightly lesser-known California, New York and European artists.

Tortue Gallery, 2917 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, (213) 828-8878. Mostly well-established Los Angeles artists such as Joyce Treiman, Martha Alf and Jim Morphesis in a two-story brick building whose owners have an admirable track record.

L.A. Louver Gallery, 55 N. Venice Blvd., and 77 Market St., Venice, (213) 822-4955. Top-quality artists, such as David Hockney, the gallery’s star.

Piezo Electric Gallery, 21 Market St., Venice, (213) 392-4105. Mostly emerging Los Angeles and New York artists.