Ghettogloss gallery puts its own twist on ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’

Fiora Boes, the high-energy owner of Hollywood’s Ghettogloss gallery, isn’t content to push postcards to patrons from behind a big desk, like so many gallerists. Her latest concept, the “Twelve Days of Christmas,” pushes new limits: “It seemed like a no-brainer. Twelve shows in 12 days,” says Boes. “I like to do everything 110 percent.”

With affable candor and what seems to be an indefatigable work ethic, Boes has a reputation for exhibiting edgy, lowbrow work and orchestrating art openings that are just a little off-kilter, involving men in gorilla suits and “Carrie”-inspired photo booths complete with buckets of blood.

A graduate of Otis with a mixed résumé in fashion, fine art, costume design and event coordination, Boes thinks of her Ghettogloss shows as “one continuing performance. These kinds of events are my new art form.”

The gallery’s upcoming holiday bash starts tonight and runs through Dec. 15. Boes recalls that she “always liked the 12 days of Christmas,” before dryly adding, “and I thought it would be really fun to run myself into the ground at the end of the year.”

The roster of artists involved might be more eclectic than a mishmash of milkmaids and geese. For the opening evening, model and erotica photographer Tony Ward presents a collaborative exhibit with artist and actor Daniel Rivas, followed by a night of new works on paper and a live performance by Eddie Ruscha, known for his involvement in the L.A. music scene and the legacy of his father, artist Edward Ruscha.

Ruscha has dubbed his show “Cosmic Slop,” after the Funkadelic song. “The words have a vibrancy for me,” he explained by e-mail. He described his ink drawings as “almost like brain hiccups, like something I would have done in high school to crack myself up. I’m also going to perform live music with old synthesizers and echo machines.”

Also among the dozen shows are Danyi Deats’ collection of hand-painted birdhouses and the bleak travelscapes of photographer Rachel Weinstein. Model-turned-artist Sue-Ling Hyde will show her starkly graphic and Japanese-inspired illustrations, while painter Yarrow Earth Hock hangs buzz worthy botanical pieces. Another night, Brad Nack presents a series of sloppy-chic reindeer-inspired work, while artist and fashion designer Kime Buzzelli later takes over the space with her drippy, haunting portraits of smeary-eyed women.

If you happen into the gallery one evening to find a man with a gun, don’t be alarmed. Art duo Griffin Moss is exhibiting a glittering diamond-encrusted skull that’s worth more than most Midwesterners’ homes, accompanied by an armed security guard. “I thought it would highlight the highs and lows of the economy this year,” Boes notes.

To stay afloat in a draining market, Ghettogloss has continued to attract attention with its unconventional receptions, its adjacent boutique space and by running the weekly Silver Lake Art, Craft and Vintage fair. The gallery, which recently moved from Silver Lake to Melrose Avenue, has also expanded its art rental business, lending pieces to big-budget films including “ Spider-Man IV” and Steve Carell’s upcoming comedy “Date Night.”

Boes also notes that several of the artists she represents started in the world of graffiti and are surviving by expanding their offerings.

“If you look at the graffiti artists that are booming right now, they have their own shoe out, they’re getting into fashion, they’re getting into sculpture, they’re doing weird commissions,” she says. “They’re being really smart and taking things to the next level. They’re like street hustlers.”

In the spirit of the holiday hustle, the gallery will show December’s exhaustive roster of art, music and photography, and close on Dec. 15 with an exhibit of the cultishly adored Pullip dolls. Keeping things spicy, the openings will offer holiday libations such as spiked eggnog and nightly raffles of stockings filled with lumps of coal, hand-painted by the artists. Raffling coal strikes Boes as irresistibly ridiculous. It’s an idea, she says through laughter, that “makes me feel like I should just check myself into an insane asylum.”

So how will Boes survive hanging and tearing down art exhibits 12 days in a row?

“I’ve been taking high doses of vitamin B and training like an athlete, riding my bike 10 to 20 miles a day,” she quips. “I’m prepared.”

margaret.wappler

@latimes.com

alie.ward@latimes.com