Art Escapes the Gallery - April 2012

Chagaritto, Folk Art Everywhere, Mastodon Mesa, Shoebox LA and Yarn Bombing Los Angeles are run by passionate people who take art and art-making far beyond the traditional gallery into communities throughout Los Angeles. A panel discussion in a small back room at the Craft and Folk Art Museum made for a fun and fascinating afternoon on April 29th.

Changaritto, conceived by artist Maximo Gonzalez, is a modern riff on the Latin American tradition of street vending - individual artists present work on a "makeshift ambulant contemporary art vending cart." Fifteen Los Angeles artists participated in Changaritto in conjunction with Gonzalez' recent exhibit at the Craft and Folk Art Museum. Read more here.

Folk Art Everywhere, a project of the Craft and Folk Art Museum, "promotes the unique cultural and artistic landscape of Los Angeles by bringing art into unexpected spaces and celebrating all folk." Grab a map explore the diversity of our city "through the lens of art." Read more here.

Mastodon Mesa is a "nomadic art gallery, currently operating out of the Melrose Trading Post, which was born out of curiosity, friendliness, and an accident of fate caused by roaming around Los Angeles at random." Read more here.

Shoebox LA , created by artists Paul and Sophia, "gives Los Angeles artists an opportunity to do one-day, site-specific exhibitions... locations change for each show." The gallery space is an 18" by 24" white box, and the exhibit lasts for 3 hours. Their next exhibit, LA Pinball by Joshua Levine, is Saturday, May 12, 2012 from 4-7pm at the Studio for Southern California History in Chinatown. Read more here.

Yarn Bombing Los Angeles is "a group of guerrilla knitters who... stage public installations and performances to help expand the definitions of public art to include street art, and street art and graffiti to include yarn bombing." Read more here. The image shown is a portion of "Forest for the Trees" (with a reflection of an actual tree) in the front window of the Craft and Folk Art Museum.

I knew about Yarn Bombing and Folk Art Everywhere before this event, and was excited to learn about what others are up to. There is no reason ever to ask "What is there to do?" living in Los Angeles!