L.A. struts in NYC now too

AS tourists and art aficionados in Paris take their first look at “Los Angeles 1955-1985,” a sprawling historical survey opening this week at the Pompidou Center, their counterparts in New York will get a juicy sampling of what L.A.’s contemporary art galleries have to offer. Sixteen local gallery owners have joined forces to create LA Art, a commercial art fair debuting Friday through next Sunday at the Altman Building in Manhattan’s Chelsea district.

The New York event is an alternative to the Armory Show, a much larger international contemporary art fair that will present its eighth edition next weekend at Piers 90 and 92, a huge special event space at the intersections of 12th Avenue and 50th and 52nd streets. That show’s roster of 148 galleries includes a smattering from L.A., such as Blum & Poe, Anna Helwig, Michael Kohn and Patrick Painter. But at the upstart LA Art, it’ll be wall-to-wall Southern California galleries in the former carriage house of B. Altman’s original department store, at 135 W. 18th St.

Although some participants in LA Art were shut out of the Armory Show, they say the new fair -- intended to be an annual event -- is a celebration of L.A.’s strength, not a salon des refuses. And just to make sure no one misses it, a complimentary shuttle bus will be available to transport visitors between the two venues.

“It’s a great idea,” dealer Rosamund Felsen says of LA Art. “We have a lot to be proud of.”

Frank Lloyd, who specializes in ceramics, says he’s looking forward to showing L.A.-based artists such as Adrian Saxe and John Mason to a new audience as well as presenting art made of clay in the context of contemporary art, not crafts. What’s more, he says, the effort it takes to set up shop on the opposite side of the country fosters camaraderie among his colleagues.

And what will visitors see at LA Art? Works by more than 100 artists, not all of whom live in Los Angeles. Among the choices will be Kevin Appel and Judie Bamber at Angles, Kim McCarty at Cherry and Martin, Lee Bontecou and R. Crumb at Daniel Weinberg, Lee Mullican and Tom Knechtel at Marc Selwyn, Russell Crotty at Shoshana Wayne, and Amy Bennett and Edward del Rosario at Richard Heller.

Suzanne Muchnic