Seems like for every gallery in LA I've visited, there are 2 more that I haven't! I finally checked out the burgeoning "Gallery Row" in Downtown LA, and there are some very cool things going on down there, especially at Pharmaka Art. The current exhibition is work by Wall Batterton. Better-known in the early '70s, Batterton is still working on his frenetic, abstract works, and his old buddy Ed Ruscha curated a great show from his early work to the present.Batterton's story is fascinating, and a little heartbreaking. In the '60s and early '70s, he worked with aluminum paints and auto lacquer (as with this work here). While he achieved a brilliant sheen and texture not possible with regular paints, it made him very, VERY sick. He was so full of toxins and so ill, he didn't paint for ten years. Of course that is ten lifetimes in the art world, and he was pretty much forgotten about during that time. This show is a great opportunity to see the work of an artist who should be better recognized for his contribution to the LA art scene.
While on Pharmaka's site, read more about their history and mission. It's a gallery, but it's also a non-profit institution, with a mission to show truly great art - and protest the superficial and market-driven cacophony that has displaced real critique.
