The Beautiful Chaos of Showing Your Work

Thinkspace Projects

The opening night of Thinkspace's February show, I walked into the gallery promptly at 6pm. In hand was a loaf of sourdough fresh from the oven with the gallerist’s initials baked into the crust. There were only a handful of people in the gallery, so after delivering the bread (it always gets a smile) I slipped back to my car to eat a sandwich and gather myself before the night ahead. When I came back fifteen minutes later, the place was packed.

I made my way to the wall where my work was hanging, and the gallery owner pulled me aside to share that someone just purchased "What Type Are You?" What a way to start a night and begin a relationship with a new gallery! The rest of the night was silly conversations, familiar faces, fellow artists, and genuinely stunning work on every wall. It's an honor to be showing at Thinkspace. And they absolutely know how to throw an opening night party.

LC, a geeky artist, and a red dot

Startup Art Fair - Venice

Startup is an independent, artist-led fair that transforms boutique hotel rooms into temporary galleries. The hotel’s artwork comes down and the contents of the room are yours to reconfigure. I'd rented a suite, so I had two distinct spaces, which was perfect for showing two different series of work. I scouted the space in advance, photographed everything, measured every wall and piece of furniture, and spent weeks mapping out my placement options.

For me, deciding to participate in an art fair is tantamount to putting on a theatrical production, except I’m simultaneously the director, the set designer, the lighting crew, the publicist, and the performer. There's no gallery staff to handle the details, no white walls pre-lit and waiting. You build out the room, strike it when it's over, and smile through every minute of it. I must confess, I had help from my partner and, on install day, a friend helped, too.

By opening night, the work was hung, lighting installed on the ceiling, vinyl lettering on the wall, signage up, and social media posts posted. It's exhausting, exhilarating, and completely worth it, but make no mistake, it is a production.

To promote the show, I started animating my work and, so far, it’s gotten great feedback. Click the image below. You can find more on my IG page.

This piece, Atomic City, is about 60 lbs and it was a challenge to hang since we aren’t allowed to nail into the walls. She rested on an easel and other heavy works were to hang on heavy-duty rolling racks built for large monitor displays. But my plans didn’t pan out so I had to improvise with picture rails, command strips, and planks of wood.

Plan B: Improvising a hanging system using planks and command strips

After several hours of work the day before and the morning of the opening, everything was in place. I was ready.

Two rooms, two styles, two different vibes

Startup ran concurrently with seven other major fairs across Los Angeles, which spread the art audience a little thin, but the guests passing through The Kinney Hotel were high quality. Art advisors, gallerists, critics, and genuine art lovers lingered, laughed and bought.

Picking a fight with Shana Nys Dambrot

There were candy cigarettes handed out to promote No Smoking, a girl fight photo op, and a giveaway for an original one-off artist proof of Punch Comics.

The Adults Only room, featuring my sexy comic book series, got plenty of laughs and lingering looks. The new original Love Slave! panel sold right away, and then three more prints of it sold. That was a surprise! The last time I showed my Comic Series, I spent too much time explaining the concept. This time, I made a sign that did the talking.

How my Comic Book series is made

Probably the most surprising repeated comment was people saying they thought my Appliance Series belonged in a museum. (I kept doing double-takes with my husband. Did you put them up to this?!) Well, it’s super flattering to hear that and, if I’m honest, it’s my top goal. I'm working on it, and in the meantime, I've got Smithsonian Affiliate The Atomic Museum on my CV.

So, in addition to fun ego strokes, I also met several new collectors.

Eliane Gans, a new collector

A collector who already owns a piece from my Appliance Series (it hangs in his Mid-Century Modern Architectural masterpiece in Silverlake, CA), circled back to buy a Comic Book piece for his New York lake house. It’s sitting in Silverlake waiting for its trip across the country.

Dating Do’s and Dont’s: Waterlogged Love

I managed to take breaks to wander through my fellow artists' rooms. Breezing through 63 spaces doesn't do anyone's work real justice, but I got a genuine sense of the range and quality on display, and I was in very good company.

A huge thanks to promoter Ray Beldner, who creates an atmosphere that keeps the energy high with great food, drink, and music. He's also just a genuinely wonderful human being who roots for every artist in the building. Of course, he got his own loaf of sourdough, too. I'm already looking forward to the Los Angeles show next year.

Opening night with Ray Beldner

Upcoming shows

My garage studio renovation is back on, and it looks like work starts next week. In the meantime, I'll have a few pieces on view at The Makery in Downtown Los Angeles as part of Unredacted, a group show with fellow artists from my critique group.

🗓 Preview: April 2

🗓 Artist Reception: April 12

🗓 Show runs: April 3–30

📍 260 S Los Angeles Street, DTLA

260 S Los Angeles Street, DTLA

Following that, my piece Ecstasy XL will be included in a group show at Gabba Gallery.

🗓 Opening night: May 16

📍235 S. Broadway, DTLA

235 S Broadway, DTLA

After the opening, I'm taking a well-earned break for some travel to Portland, Oregon and then it’s off Mexico City to see the BritPop band Pulp, then San Miguel de Allende. ✈️

If you have thoughts or comments about this blog, you can write to me below.

Carpe diem,

Julie

Calm before the fun