Valley Arts Thrive With Getty as Backdrop

In 1998, the art scene in the Valley, as in much of Los Angeles, existed in the shadow of the cultural phenom known as the Getty Center.

On its lofty, grandiose--and some might say pompous--hilltop site, the richly endowed and appointed Getty wowed visitors from both sides of the Sepulveda Pass, and, to its credit, opened its arms to the hordes. Viewed from another angle, the Getty is the crowning touch in the cultural byway that is the Sepulveda gulch, just over the hill and easily accessible to Valley dwellers.

Fine art shows could also be expected, as usual, in the Platt Gallery of the University of Judaism, which brought intriguing work by Barbara Mendes and the three-dimensional show, “Sculptural Rhythms.” Just across the 405 Freeway, the Skirball Center’s agenda included an enticing exhibition of installation art, “Finding Family Stories.”

Meanwhile, on the Valley side, the milestone of the year had to be the 40th anniversary of the Orlando Gallery, on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. The gallery, run by Bob Gino and Don Grant, is unique in its defiance of the notion that a private art gallery can’t exist in the Valley.

Of course, institution-sponsored spaces have an edge and a sense of security over the private domain, and they account for some of the better art spaces in the area. CSUN’s Art Dome featured, among others, Patssi Valdez and David Hume Kennerly.

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Art continued to make its way into such in-house spaces as the Finegood Gallery at the Bernard Milken Jewish Community Center in West Hills, and, to a lesser degree than years past, Woodbury University’s gallery.

The Century Gallery is tucked away on the far perimeter of Sylmar, but hosts some of the strongest group shows in the Valley, and this year showed work around such themes as “Spiritual Presence” and “Sensual Abstraction.” Up on another fringe, in Glendale, the Brand Library is still one of the Valley’s most reliable sources of artistic inspiration, and this year featured work by Klever, Jan Kunkle, and Davis and Davis.

Other 1998 shows of note: “in the garden,” at Burbank’s Creative Arts Center, “Innerworks ‘98” at the impressive but very temporary space, Available Light Ltd. Gallery.

The Lankershim Arts Center Gallery remains the hub of the art scene in the promising, but yet-to-flower NoHo art zone in North Hollywood. Memorable theme-driven shows there this year included “Humor in Art” and the Roland Reiss-curated “A Mystery Show.”

In short, while there were no dramatic changes in the gallery landscape in these parts, art was very much a presence in the Valley, for those willing to seek it out. It may have been the year of the Getty, but aesthetic energies bubbled on here in the expanse on the other side of Hollywood.