‘L.A. Art Night’ Draws Crowd for AIDS Event

Several hundred art collectors and aficionados gathered Friday in the parking lot of Santa Monica’s Broadway Gallery Complex for the “L.A. Art Night for Life,” benefiting AIDS Project Los Angeles.

It was one of the city’s first major charity events since the previous weekend’s curfew. APLA spokesperson Nicole Russo said the city’s upheaval had resulted in only “minor inconveniences” for the agency, including temporary interruption of legal services, dental care and food-bank operation. APLA headquarters, on Romaine Street in Hollywood, was unscathed.

Event co-chairman Sandra Bernhard referred to the evening as “an incredible art cavalcade,” and the cavalcade (a raffle, actually) included some 70 original pieces of donated artwork, organized by gallery owner Patricia Shea.

Participating artists included Peter Alexander, Don Bachardy, Jonathan Borofsky, Christo, Sam Francis, Ed Moses and many others. David Lynch (who co-chaired the event with Bernhard, David Hockney and Cheech Marin) contributed one of his watercolors.

Event tickets were $50, and raffle tickets were sold for $25 apiece by a cadre of aggressive volunteers. The relatively low price tags attracted a good contingent of the Westside art scene, though APLA spokespeople had no immediate figures on the amount raised.

The biggest glitch in the smooth-running evening was the weather, which held steady somewhere between a mist and a drizzle. David Wexler, chairman of APLA’s board of directors, told the crowd, “It’s not raining. It’s Perrier that we’re sprinkling over you.”

Artwork stayed dry in the six participating galleries: Shea & Bornstein, Meyers/Bloom, Daniel Weinberg, Richard Green, Robert Berman and Lowe. Also on display were a few AIDS-related pieces, such as a stack of condom cartons and a “safe sex sofa.” Speakers hidden under sofa cushions broadcast health information to startled passersby.