A Benefit Bash for ‘Guerrilla Artist’

The Scene: Thursday night’s party for Robbie Conal, the “guerrilla artist” whose portraits of the famous and infamous regularly adorn every vertical surface in L. A. His paintings with sly captions (“Contra Diction” with Oliver North, “False Profit” with Jim and Tammy Bakker) had moved from the streets into Conal’s first gallery show at the Pasadena Center for the Arts, and the event, at the West Hollywood club Po Na Na Souk, was both a closing night for the show and a benefit for the nonprofit monthly magazine the New Art Examiner. Santa Monica gallery owner Robert Berman emceed the evening, which featured a raffle of some Conal art works and dancing to Brazilian pop music.

The Buzz: Everyone seemed to have an opinion on the reelection of North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms, who has taken on the stature of Public Enemy No. 1 in the art world. Conal’s portrait of the senator features his visage on an artist’s pallet, with the hole position in the senator’s forehead and captions like “Artificial Art Official.” “I put it up (on posters) all over Washington, D. C., but I don’t know if he’s seen it,” said Conal. “But my work is for regular people, anyway.”

Dress Code: Lots of ponytails on the men and slinky black dresses on the women. Overalls are making a comeback--worn by night crawlers who are just coming home at the hour when real farmers are getting up to feed the chickens.

Fashion Statements: Conal wore a bowling shirt with “Art” stitched over the pocket, while Joan Hugo, the new L. A. editor of the New Art Examiner, wore a brooch made of light-emitting diodes.

Chow: Mussels, quiche, duck sausage, and rumaki, served up by waiters wearing harem pants, big shaggy hair and a lot of attitude.

Money Matters: The event was open to the public--at least those members of the public with $30 to spare. Ten dollars bought a chance to win a framed and signed Conal poster. And $4 got a beer--a relative bargain on the private club scene, where a glass of club soda can go for $6.

Quoted: Conal’s image of Jesse Helms was erected on a billboard at the corner of Santa Monica and La Cienega in West Hollywood, only to be taken down by the billboard company after a few days. After considerable protest from Conal and friends in the art community, it was put back up. “The experience with that billboard taught me never to do anything legal ever again,” said Conal.