Art and People to See

A woman shifted her weight in her Manolo Blahniks as she considered the paintings on the wall. “I like them,” she told her male companion. “They’re so colorful. And naughty!” Nearby, a tagger took a swig of the beer he was carrying in a brown paper bag, while a Japanese film crew interviewed guests in the crowd. A woman wearing gold hot pants and fishnet stockings sauntered by.

The purpose of the gathering, a reception for Gajin Fujita, was to celebrate his first show of paintings at the L.A. Louver in Venice, and some in attendance were unapologetically philistine.

“We used to call it art openings, now we call it wine openings,” said a guest, as he took his second helping.

Aside from Fujita’s art--gold leaf, graffiti and traditional Eastern erotic imagery--there was plenty on show at the gallery on this recent night.

“It’s not about the art, it’s about the event,” said Ned Evans, a local artist. “It’s about the pretty women.”

By that measure, he said, the party was a success. “People, especially in this town, come to watch. Every gallery draws a different crowd. At the Gagosian, you get the movie stars and celebrities. This crowd ... “ he paused, “well it’s very unusual.”

In a corner, the artist, with a rose made of dollar bills on his lapel, hugged taggers, art critics and movie stars.

David Arquette, who knew Fujita from the time they were both members of KGB, a tagging team, had been talking to him about an art project--a grafitti’ed van--to become part of Arquette’s collection, he said, describing his collection as decidedly “lowbrow.”

At the entrance, gallery owner Peter Goulds shook hands and grinned as art critic Dave Hickey, wearing a cap advertising a laundry detergent, joined punks, skaters, dreadlocks and blond bobs in the gallery.

“Eclectic,” was Fujita’s judgment of the guests. “Kind of like my paintings.”

Three Families

Director Ken Kwapis has three families: his own, and the dysfunctional TV clans of his two series, “The Bernie Mac Show” and “Malcolm in the Middle.”

On a recent afternoon at “Bernie Mac’s” house--a basement stage at CBS studios in Studio City--Kwapis gently guided the Macs through a spiritual crisis.

In the episode, Mac experiences the backlash of his religious awakening as his sister’s children, who live with him while she is in rehab for drug use, become holier than he is, and, among other things, throw away his toiletries to chastise him for his vanity.

“Part of my job is to create an atmosphere where people can play,” said Kwapis describing his role as paterfamilias, as he walked through the plush “Bernie Mac” house.

He’s hardly a dictatorial dad. Soft-spoken, Kwapis quietly encouraged actors to resume the taping of a scene. And his young actors responded warmly. As the director instructed Jordan (Jeremy Suarez) and Bryanna (Dee Dee Davis) on how to do a scene in which they destroy an autographed Kobe Bryant photo (the sin being idolatry), Davis cuddled up to Kwapis.

Kwapis races between the “Bernie Mac” set and “Malcolm in the Middle.”

“It’s upstairs and downstairs,” he said.

Literally.

The two shows tape a floor apart, and recently, Kwapis invited “Malcolm” dad Hal (played by Bryan Cranston) to visit the Bernie Mac residence.

“He had total TV dad house envy,” Kwapis said.

Both “The Bernie Mac Show,” which has its season premiere tomorrow, and “Malcolm in the Middle,” rely on visual wit. And both are single-camera, movie-like shows, said Kwapis, who has also directed episodes of “The Larry Sanders Show” and a couple of movies, including the romantic comedy, “He Said, She said,” which he co-directed with his then-fiancee, Marisa Silver. They are now married.

“It was a wholly autobiographical story,” Kwapis said. “If we could survive co-directing a movie, we could survive marriage.”

It’s a symbiotic relationship among his three families, off and on screen.

“I learn things about one family and bring it to another,” Kwapis said. “I have parenting skills” from all three.

Quote/Unquote

“The National Italian American Foundation, or NIAF, is disappointed that [HBO’s “The Sopranos’ ”] success is on the backs of Italian Americans who continue to be stereotyped and portrayed negatively in this fictional series,” NIAF chairman Frank J. Guarini said in a statement released last week. The group wants a disclaimer issued at each broadcast stating that the TV series doesn’t represent the 25 million Americans of Italian heritage.