L.A. Galleries Get Creative in Effort to Boost Art Scene : Exhibition: A group of dealers hopes ‘L.A. International Invitational,’ with works from about 15 countries, will woo new audiences and ward off tough times.

Tough times call for creative thinking, according to Los Angeles art dealers. Art’s disappearing audience and a rash of gallery closures have offered all-too-visible proof that times are tough indeed on the local scene.

But “L.A. International Invitational,” an exhibition in about 40 galleries opening over the weekend, indicates that dealers who have survived are plotting strategies for a brighter future.

The multipart extravaganza--stretching from downtown Los Angeles to Venice Beach and representing about 15 countries--is a collective attempt to pull the art market out of the doldrums and pump new life into the local art scene.

Participating dealers hope that the city’s art crowd and novices alike will turn out in force to see such attractions as German artist Rainer Fetting’s silk screens and etchings at the Jan Baum Gallery, French sculptor Daniel Brandely’s installation at Cirrus, Cuban expatriate Tomas Esson’s expressionistic paintings at Iturralde and works by Japanese artists Tomoharu Murakami and Hisashi Okazaki at Corcoran.

Part of the dealers’ motivation in planning the cooperative venture--including a spate of public receptions, private parties, tours and a symposium--is simply to excite interest and increase gallery traffic. But participants also hope that this year’s “L.A. International Invitational” will be the start of something bigger--a high-profile biennial that will draw attention to the city and lead to foreign exchange programs.

The organizers have dreams of producing an ongoing international event that will alternate with “LAX: The Los Angeles Exhibition,” a biennial showcase for locally produced art, which was launched last year. With dreams of pulling the entire art community together, the dealers hope to coordinate gallery shows with museum exhibitions and possibly with ART/LA, the annual art fair.

“If Los Angeles is going to be an international art center or even continue to be a major art center--as it is now, ranking second only to New York in this country--it has to have more events of this kind,” said Sandra Starr, director of the James Corcoran Gallery and chair of the exhibition.

“The idea is to set up a dialogue between the Los Angeles art community and the rest of the world. Compared to New York, we are very isolated geographically from Europe and many other parts of the world. We are trying to broaden the horizons of Los Angeles dealers, collectors and artists,” Starr said.

Participating dealers frankly admit that “L.A. International Invitational” was spawned by the collapse of the art market, following a period of unprecedented growth in the late 1980s. As art collecting fizzled and galleries began to close, the urgency of taking a positive step became more apparent. So did the need for cooperation. Talks began among members of the Santa Monica/Venice Art Dealers Assn., who were considering alternatives to the annual art fair at the Convention Center, but they eventually joined forces with Los Angeles Art Galleries (an association of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills dealers) and invited non-members to join them as well.

About 60 local galleries were asked to invite dealers and artists from abroad to exhibit artworks in Los Angeles galleries for a month, Starr said. According to guidelines worked out by the organizers, guest galleries pay shipping and transportation to Los Angeles, but hosts take care of all other exhibition expenses and advertising. The hosts also offer visiting dealers and artists a hospitable, inside view of the Los Angeles scene.

“This is a more personal gesture than the art fair,” said Tobey C. Moss, who has invited Marcel Fleiss of Galerie 1900/2000 in Paris to select a show for her gallery.

The response has been enthusiastic, dealers say. Torch Gallery in Amsterdam sent works by four Dutch artists to the Robert Berman Gallery. The Kukje Gallery in Seoul, Korea, responded to Dorothy Goldeen’s invitation with works by Duk-Hyun Cho and Choong-Sup Lim. Sue Spaid is showing the Belgian duo Wastijn & Deschuymer from Galerie Etienne Ficheroulle in Brussels. L.A. Louver offers an exhibition of Italian artist Guiseppe Gallo’s work, from Galleria Gian Enzo Sperone in Rome.

Some dealers have borrowed works that represent more than one country. Paul Kopeikin will present “Essentially English” in cooperation with the Zelda Cheatle Gallery of London, but the show includes witty photographs by Mari Mahr, who was born in Chile, raised in Hungary and now lives in England.

In a few cases, American artists are part of the mix. Paris dealer Fleiss arranged for Moss an exhibition of sculpture by French artist Jean-Louis Bilweis, Greek artist Pavlosand Anne Baxter, an American who lives in Oregon. Works from Stockholm’s Wetterling Gallery, on view at the Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, were created by two Swedes, Mette Petri and Eva Wolgers, and Americans Robert Rauschenberg and James Rosenquist.

Adding an element of confusion, some dealers are combining special presentations from abroad with their regular programs of American contemporary art.

Local dealers were provided with a list of about 300 foreign galleries that might be considered for inclusion but no one was obligated to use the list, Starr said.

Apart from guarding against duplication, the organizers left choices up to the dealers. Some participants took advantage of existing relationships, while other forged new alliances. Still others chose the less expensive route of borrowing foreign artists’ works from American dealers.

The result is a predominantly Eurocentric blend of art, which has made some Latino dealers uncomfortable. “It looks like it’s going to be an elite European thing, and that’s not what Los Angeles is about,” said Julie Rico, whose gallery specializes in Chicano artists who live in Los Angeles.

Rico had planned to show the work of Mati Clairwyne from Spain, but after he dropped out and she became disenchanted with the European slant of the exhibition, she decided to stick to her regular program, offering “International” viewers a show of works by artists she represents. “I’m enthusiastic about working together to create something, but I would rather see it focused more locally,” she said. “I have traveled all over the world, and I have never seen art like we have in Los Angeles.”

Ana Iturralde, whose gallery shows Latin American art, said she and her sister, Teresa, are pleased to be in the “International.” But if the next event concentrates on art from Germany, as has been suggested, there will be no place for their gallery.

At the moment, however, a spirit of good will seems pervasive. Indeed, many dealers say that working with their competitors has been one of the benefits of the exhibition. “We are accustomed to sitting in our little corners, but we have reached a time when the perils of cooperating with a community effort are outweighed by the advantages. . . . We had to stop beating our breasts and do something,” Starr said.

“There’s nothing left to lose in this city anymore,” said Joni Gordon of Newspace Gallery, expressing an oft-stated sentiment. Many of the dealers who have gone out of business either “lost their financing or lost their nerve,” she said.

The survivors who have joined the “L.A. International Invitational” have engaged in a grass-roots effort, according to Robert Berman, who did his bit by taking charge of press relations. Starr is credited with the exhibition idea and spearheading its realization.

Christopher Grimes, president of the Venice/Santa Monica Art Dealers Assn., acted as a coordinator. Michael Kohn handled advertising. Among many others who pitched in, Moss approached foreign consulates for donations of food, national flags and shuttle buses.

The result of the dealers’ efforts will be launched with a gala weekend. Public programs will begin on Friday with receptions at participating galleries in Beverly Hills (5 p.m.-8 p.m.) and on La Brea Avenue, Beverly Boulevard and Hollywood galleries (7 p.m.-10 p.m.). Santa Monica and Venice participants will host openings on Saturday afternoon (1 p.m.-6 p.m.).

Sunday morning’s program will shift downtown to Cirrus Gallery for a 10 a.m. reception for French sculptor Brandely’s show and a tour of public art projects, scheduled to depart from the gallery at about 11 a.m. The tour will cover sites that can be reached on foot and by riding the Red Line. An unlimited number of people can be accommodated, but those who plan to go on the tour are asked to notify the gallery at (213) 680-3473.

On Sunday afternoon, all participating galleries will host another round of open houses (1 p.m.-4 p.m.) and a “Global Art Forum” panel discussion is scheduled at Jack Rutberg Fine Art (5 p.m.-6:30 p.m.). Dealer William Turner is also arranging gallery tours with docent talks for March 20 and 27.

Information is available from the William Turner Gallery: (310) 392-8399.