i guess it does work... drove to bergamot station in santa monica and checked out my buddy alex couwenberg in the group show he's in at the william turner gallery. the show, curated by peter frank had alex in there with peter lodato, larry bell, mike braden and charles arnoldi. alex's work was kick ass. in particular the piece, "guardrail", a large, thin horizontal in blue. yeah, a serious work. the matte surface created it's own light and allowed you to check out the detail and intimate workings of the piece. i was telling alex later, on the phone, while navigating 405 traffic back to the valley, that, with all the gloss, "finish fetish" action out here, so much gets lost... in any event, it was great painting, as was a large dyptich that didn't get in the show. alex said he's saving it for his upcoming st. louis show.

also checked out the ed moses show at frank lloyd gallery. pretty solid-- liquid paint laid out and spread with a trowel-- sparse, strong. ed came in for a moment or two then turned around and split before i could say hello. an enigmatic dude going strong in his 80's. god willing...

some good richard serra etchings at bobbie greenfield gallery, next door. heavy, circular works, very intense surface... it's serra, what could you expect? i would like to see some straight up drawing by the man though-- some pencil on notebook paper would be cool. maybe...

when i'm out here, it's always good to get out into the scene. tough to pull myself from the studio and the pool, however... the day after i got into LA, i went out to the secluded studio of robert kingston. i've known robert for about a decade now. his work has gone all over the spectrum, but always with a strong, intellectual resolve. in any event, the few pieces he had working were looking good. a gold piece, very rugged, was ready to be titled and wrapped. the question was which gallery would get it. and kingston pulled out a large black painting that was truely awesome. he flipped it's orientation several times and hit it a few strokes editing and adding elements here and there. it was a winner. and i gotta say, it was an honor to be there as he worked it...

so tuesday i take 3 works down to the the turner gallery and rob brander, bills director, will take some photos and take them in. i guess i'll bring back a few pieces they haven't sold. fair enough...
looking outside the blinds, it seems the rain has stopped.

good...