Earlier this summer, Durden and Ray offered up the fantastic We Are Here/Here We Are, a mapped exhibition which stretched all over Los Angeles with a series of online and best of all in-person drive by outdoor art exhibits. One of my favorite parts was being able to have a socially distanced visit with the artists who created some of the pieces; however, the art was fantastic. Pandemic or no pandemic, the wide-ranging exhibit of outdoor sculptures, photographs, paintings, and murals was a dazzling tour de force that embraced the spread-out grandness of Los Angeles and got me back on the road again, and finding geo-coordinates on a map.
Now, Durden and Ray joins other Bendix Building galleries — and artists from other galleries – downtown for a super cool nighttime, one-night-only drive through exhibition held on the roof of the parking garage adjacent to the gallery building. From 8 to 10 pm. on Saturday night, the themed exhibition will make you laugh and turn those High Beams on.
During the day, join the galleries in virtual exhibitions, then get in that car and head to the roof top.
The curated collection of Bendix Building art spaces drive-through art show allows viewers to see art live and in person from the safety and comfort of their cars.
As co-organizer Carl Baratta says “Since the pandemic began, each of our spaces has been able to show art only in a limited fashion, if at all, and few people have been able to participate. We have missed our huge Bendix Building opening nights where we saw all our friends.”
While a masked group of artists were helping Dani Dodge move, the show was conceived.
The exhibition features a collection of more than two dozen lawn ornaments, lighted sculptures, furniture covered in plush animal toy fur, unscripted performance art, videos and art that recreates the idea of the traffic cone. Yes, the traffic cone isn’t a lowly orange triangle anymore.
Remember, the rooftop exhibition concludes the day of virtual gallery viewing, walk-throughs, and talks. Visit the directory on the HighBeams.Art website to view virtual programming that represents the work and artists being shown at each physical location.
Attending High Beams at night, viewers will be guided through the exhibition as they enter the parking structure, drive through the exhibit, and then depart.
Saturday night’s exhibition serves as the first of a series of ongoing alternative exhibitions organized by a curatorial group of Bendix Building artists including Carl Baratta, Katya Usvitsky (TSALA); Debra Broz, Emily Blythe Jones (MVP); Molly Schulman (MVP and Maiden LA); Dani Dodge, Alanna Marcelletti, Sean Noyce, Max Presneill (Durden and Ray).
Participating art spaces include:
- Durden and Ray
- Gallery ALSO (hosted by TSALA)
- Last Ditch
- Maiden LA
- Monte Vista Projects
- Sea Farm City
- Track 16
- TSALA
- ViCA
- 515
Where and when: drive-through art show on the parking lot across from the building on Sept. 5, 2020. Address: rootop at 401 E. 12th St.
- Genie Davis; photos provided by exhibition