Recently, I took a trip to Downtown LA to take in some food & culture at the LA Artwalk. This event features over 30 art galleries within walking distance, many next to each other, who open up to the public allowing the masses to enter and experience the art of their work and the current installments at that time. The Artwalk, held once a month on the 2nd Thursday, is a free event open to anybody around that is interested, showcases a wide range of work and subjects. There are photos, paintings, live music, live drawings, installation art, abstract art, and more. This plethora of creativity comes together in the Downtown are and spills out on to the streets, where people of all ages gather for one night of artistic appreciation.

The Downtown Art Walk is a free, self-guided tour of the many art exhibition venues in Downtown Los Angeles – commercial art galleries, museums, and non-profit arts venues.

The Artwalk begins at 12p.m. and goes until 9 p.m. and has been running since September of 2004 allowing thousands of people the opportunity to experience the Downtown LA art scene in all it’s creative glory. When the 9 o’clock hour strikes, the festivities are moved inside the nearest watering hole where the energy continues to hang in there air as drinks are consumed as music is turned up.

Hit the jump to see some great pictures of the artwork featured, as well as to read the rest of my adventure at the LA Artwalk. For more information on the LA Artwalk, be sure to visit their website: www.downtownartwalk.org, for the dates and locations of all the great exhibits in the future!

With beautiful weather and clear traffic, I made the drive into Downtown LA with @boobiev and @anythinganthony (click here to hear our Ke$ha karoke) eagerly anticipating our inaugural visit to the LA Artwalk. We arrived in the area early, so we decided to make our first stop at the always awesome Gallery 1988 which just happened to be exhibiting a ridiculously awesome show of He-Man artwork! Fantastic artwork, loved the art by one of my newest favorite artist Dave Perillo as well as the amazing Battlecat mural (above), and walked away with a renewed love for one of my favorite shows as a kid as well as a longer wish list of artwork I am going to buy. Next stop, DTLA Artwalk!

Once we found parking, we made our way into the hub of the Artwalk on 5th street between Main and Spring. Big crowds, lots of music, awesome energy. One of our first stops was the CB1 Gallery (@cb1gallery), showing a series of Black and White portraits of various street candids and portraits.

Next up was the Deborah Martin Gallery which was featuring Kim Ye’s Synapses installment, which was to feature live models connected in organic and deconstructed poses through latex “skins”. When we got there though there were no models, so all that was left were hollow casts and inorganic latex tubing hanging creeply on the wall.

One of the best stops of the night was the Pop-Lock Gallery (@poplockgallery) and it’s “15 minutes of fame” exhibit. Just like the galleries’ name, the artworks were vibrant, colorful, and the vibe of the gallery and live music enhanced the mood. I even had a chance to meet the galleries’ owner/curator/artist Lexie Gehrke who’s large polaroid style pieces were on display. Definitely a good time in that gallery.

Our next stop was the The Continental Gallery and even before we got there we knew this was gonna be good. A huge crowd had developed around this gallery, and when you stepped inside, we found out why. The galleries’ show “Luminosity” by Sean Sobczak was an amazing display of lighting and sculpture. A huge dragon, an octopus, sea horses and more filled the gallery, making it seem more like the Disney Electrical Parade than art show and couldn’t have been better done.

The Hold Up Exhibit featured some great artwork, very urban and hip hop themed, and was a great way to build some buzz for their soon to be open gallery in DTLA!

The last stop of the night was at M.O.N.A. (Museum of Neon Arts) for it’s “Light Gheist” show. Being a fan of neon signs, this place was awesome, boasting HUGE neon signs, lettering, and basically anything neon you could think of. A real feast for the eyes.

Lastly, what is a trip to LA without a stop at the famous 101 Coffee Shop
for a “so-good-I’ll-kill-you-for-another-one” brownie waffle sunday. Just look at that #NOM action!