Some days it feels like Lankershim is in the process of converting all of its furniture stores to fun bars and new Ha Ha Café locations, but at least one building façade has stayed consistent: the Historic Lankershim Arts Center.
I’ve been to numerous plays held at the Lankershim Arts Center, and I’ve always spent my entire intermission time browsing the artworks in Gallery 800. Little Bonfires is a mixed media exhibition at Gallery 800 which features the artwork created from over 30 artists who are also guild members. By day, these artists masquerade as Production Designers, Art Directors, Artists, Illustrators, and Set Designers. While Little Bonfires is an entry-exclusive exhibition, the space itself of the Lankershim Arts Center is anything but pretentious. On opening night, April 28, 2018, and every other time I’ve been to Gallery 800, the space feels like a living room of a homey and well-cultured domicile that’s been in the neighborhood for generations.
The art in Gallery 800 has never seemed to have been tired together by any thread, other than that of quality. So I was happy to hear that Little Bonfires features over 30 artists in the entertainment industry. The industry is the thread that weaves this special exhibition together, and in a city where prominent film actresses and actors have moved from the big screen to dominating television, I often wonder when more spaces in the art world in LA will reflect the many talents of people in entertainment. Gallery 800 might be the local start to a wider trend for an industry/art crossover.
While names like Brian Eatwell, John V. Cartwright, and Angela Cartwright are big names in the industry, the beautiful thing is that these artists showcase their preponderance for the visual arts, and the Gallery 800 artwork stands alone from their names. It’s not until you get close to these striking and truly well done pieces of art, do you realize you know the name of the artist already.
Gallery 800 is a smart, homey, local gallery that’s survived with the fusion of a theater and an art space. Little Bonfires inverts this paradigm to internalize its usual ‘players’ in the space, and to provide them with another platform of expression.
Gallery: Art Director’s Guild Gallery 800
Exhibition: “Little Bonfires (In Boundaried Spaces)”
Artists: Brian Eatwell, John V. Cartwright, Angela Cartwright, Christine Bingham, Katie Bode, Chris Brandt, Francisco Del Mar, Thomas DeVoss, Pierre Dotman, Barbara Dunphy, Bridget Duffy, James Faulkner, Thomas Frohling, Pete Graziano, Robert Kalafut, Cathie Koon, Kenneth Larson, Cesar Lemus, Krystyna Loboda, Kim Lyons, Barbara Mesney, Robin McCarthy, John Moffitt, Dan Ouellette, Stasys Pinkus, Rhea Rebbe, Roberto Rios, May Routh, Jeff Skrimstad, Catherine Wall and Martin Whist.
Location: Gallery 800 at the Historic Lankershim Arts Center
5108 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91601