Global Gallery Hopping, No Passport Required

The Finns are coming. So are the French, the Dutch, the Koreans and the Cubans. Indeed, the third version of the L.A. International Biennial Art Invitational--a six-week, citywide exhibition beginning Thursday in commercial galleries and a few other showcases--is bigger and more international than ever.

Sixty galleries--ranging from Post, a downtown upstart, to Larry Gagosian’s elegant space in Beverly Hills--will display works by artists from 25 countries. Hosting a series of receptions, lectures, panel discussions and tours, as well as exhibitions, participating art dealers hope to invigorate the summer season with a global kaleidoscope of modern and contemporary art experiences.

Initiated in 1993 by the Santa Monica/Venice Art Dealers Assn.--partly as an alternative to the city’s now-defunct art fair, after the art market had hit bottom--the L.A. International began as a collaborative effort involving about 40 galleries. It gathered steam in 1995, when 50 galleries participated and Absolut Vodka became the major sponsor.

This year, an additional 10 galleries have joined, including such prominent enterprises as PaceWildenstein in Beverly Hills, Kiyo Higashi and Manny Silverman in West Hollywood and Fahey/Klein on La Brea Avenue. Co-chairmen William Turner and Robert Berman also have attracted more sponsors, bringing in about $135,000 in contributions, a significant increase from the last International’s total of $80,000.

Among other additions to the program, Sotheby’s, the L.A. International’s founding sponsor, has become an exhibitor too. Korean artist Cho Duck-Hyun’s figurative paintings, based on personal memories and Korean traditions, will be displayed in Sotheby’s galleries under the auspices of Andre Emmerich, a New York dealer whose gallery is a division of the auction house.

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Art from other countries is not exactly a novelty in Los Angeles, but the L.A. International brings an unusual concentration of it and introduces many artists to Southern California. In addition to Cho, the Asian contingent includes Japanese photographer Michiko Kon at Craig Krull and Taiwanese ceramist Marvin Fang at Frank Lloyd.

As in the past, Europeans will have the dominant presence. But several shows are far from the usual fare. In cooperation with Galerie Louis Carre in Paris, Louis Stern Fine Arts will present “Jacques Villon: Six Decades of Painting.” It’s L.A.’s first major Villon exhibition and a rare opportunity to see a broad survey of works by a French painter whose distinctive abstraction evolved from Cubism and figurative imagery to nonrepresentational forms.

Among other particularly notable exhibitions, Margo Leavin will present modernist French furniture, designed in the 1940s and ‘50s by Charlotte Perriand, a protegee of architect Le Corbusier, and Jean Prove, an industrial designer best known for his work with sheet metal. The show will re-create a student room from a dormitory built in 1953 for the City University of Paris.

While some dealers have made predictable choices, others have veered away from their usual programs. Photography dealer Peter Fetterman, who is British, will show photography by Nadav Kander, who lives in London but was born in Israel and spent his early years in South Africa. The Iturralde Gallery, which specializes in art from Mexico, will show three artists from Brazil. Paul Kopeikin, who generally shows photography by American artists, will present contemporary images from Cuba. African art aficionado Ernie Wolfe will devote his space to works by a group of Vietnamese artists.

Taken as a whole, the International is a massive project that covers too much geography to be seen quickly. It will begin tonight at 7, with a reception at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art featuring the recently opened exhibition “The Photomontages of Hannah Hoch” and “buffet tastings” from several local restaurants. Tickets, at $65 a person, will be available at the door.

The first big group of free gallery openings will take place Thursday, 6-10 p.m., in Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and the mid-Wilshire district. Galleries in Venice and Santa Monica, except Bergamot Station, will open their doors Friday, 6-10 p.m. The Bergamot exhibitions will open Saturday, 4-8 p.m. Additional openings are planned Saturday and Sunday at downtown galleries and a few far-flung outposts.

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Turner and Berman have long-range visions of turning the L.A. International into an event as important as Germany’s Documenta or the Venice Bienale, and to give it a critical edge by involving prominent curators. While admitting they have a long way to go, they are pleased with the local event’s growth and development.

For one thing, the increasing involvement of museums and nonprofit spaces is encouraging, they say. Canadian artist Jeff Wall will talk about his work at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sunday at 3 p.m. A panel discussion, “The Future of the Future,” will be held at the UCLA/Hammer Museum Aug. 7 at 6 p.m.

Sotheby’s will present a panel discussion, “The International Face of Conceptual Art,” Monday at 6:30 p.m. The 18th Street Arts Complex in Santa Monica will host two programs: “The Contemporary Art Scene and the Role of Art Education in France,” Tuesday at 7 p.m., and “One Hundred Thirty Years of Japanese Women Photographers,” July 31 at 7 p.m.

Also getting into the act, the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department has provided six shuttle buses to transport visitors to the galleries during Thursday night’s openings. One bus loop will cover Beverly Hills and mid-Wilshire; the other will serve West Hollywood, La Brea Avenue and Newspace Gallery in Hollywood. Information: (213) 469-9395.

The International also has received increasing support from foreign consulates, which are hosting receptions or helping to bring artists from their countries to Los Angeles. The Dutch consulate, for example, is a sponsor of seven exhibitions from the Netherlands.

“If we can get a little friendly competition going among the consulates, then we’re talking,” Berman joked, looking ahead to the next International.

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But no governing board or political pressure group influences the dealers’ choice of exhibitions, Turner said. “We don’t dictate what to show; that’s up to the tastes and ambitions of individual participants.”

Transportation costs for the art continues to be the most daunting expense for dealers, few of whom realize significant profits--if any--from the International. So far, attempts to persuade airline companies to decrease those costs have been unsuccessful, but that’s a goal for the future, Turner said.

Despite the difficulty most dealers face in doing business in Los Angeles, even without shipping in art from afar, the International represents a commitment to the city, Turner said. Making the biennial event better is a long-term process, but dealers say it has a short-term benefit in the form of public exposure and camaraderie. Among other phenomena to be seen at the International is dealers attending other dealers’ openings.

* Information on the L.A. International: (310) 392-8399 or https://www.LAin97.org