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<\/a>Santi Vernetti, Curator of FOCUS: Los Angeles 2017. Courtesy of Art Toronto<\/p>\nAnat Ebgi<\/strong><\/p>\n Gallery director Stefano di Paola studied art history at University of Southern California with an interest in academics and research. He likes working in a gallery because he gets to work directly with the artist and their work. Every six weeks there is something new. It is Anat Ebgi\u2019s first time at Art Toronto. They were invited by curator Santi Vernetti to come here. It turns out that Stefano and Santi were at college together in different programs. The gallery brought Montreal artist Magalie Gu\u00e9rin here as a way of introducing her to collectors and curators here.<\/p>\n BBQLA<\/strong><\/p>\n BBQLA describes itself as a migrating installation, rather than a gallery. Conceived by Timo Fahler, Thomas Linder, and Adam Beris, who went to school together in Kansas City, they host BBQ\u2019s that might be attended by 200 people. \u201cThe Gallery\u201d evolved, 2-1\/2 years ago from back yard and shed, to a temporary studio space, with BBQ\u2019s of course. It was, and is, very casual. Timo Fahler said, \u201cIt\u2019s been great. We\u2019ve sold work.” I spoke with BBQLA artist, Daniel Gibson, who describes his performance as doing a public service, a spirituality. He invited me to take part. This turned out to be Cee-lo, a gambling game with three dice. First throw, I rolled a perfect 4-5-6, winning the bank.<\/p>\n Club PrCo Los Angeles<\/strong><\/p>\n Kyle Roberts of Club Pro Los Angeles said, \u201cThere is so much art happening in Los Angeles, that there is tension, artists making work and trying to fit with the politics. It\u2019s a mixture of dog shit and lavender.\u201d\u00a0 Sitting with Kyle was artist, Adam Stamp who created the working bar at Art Toronto, called Sorry\u2019s. I tested it out. It serves wine like any other bar. Adam is a bit disappointed that people don\u2019t get that it\u2019s art.<\/p>\n Luis De Jesus Los Angeles<\/strong><\/p>\n Luis De Jesus represents three Canadian artists, so he decided to come to Art Toronto. He was part of the Speaker Series Power Talks, FOCUS: Los Angeles: Beyond the Hype. His gallery is located in the Culver City gallery district, a new gallery area where there were previously no galleries. The change occurred after Chinatown as a gallery district began to decline, with the departure of Perez Projects for instance. The ebb and flow of culture in urban areas has become a sensitive community issue. De Jesus maintains that it\u2019s not the artists and galleries that are driving gentrification, it\u2019s the developers.<\/p>\n ltd los angeles<\/strong><\/p>\n Gallery owner Shirley Morales of ltd Los Angeles was away in Dallas when I stopped by the booth. I spoke, however, with Kendra Popelas who said, \u201cIt\u2019s been very successful. We sold three of John Edmonds\u2019silk prints to the AGO. TD Bank bought five of Esmaa Mohamoud\u2019s basketballs. Her work is about masculinity and race, particularly as they relate to athleticism.\u201d<\/p>\n Moskowitz Bayse<\/strong><\/p>\n Meredith Bayse operates the gallery with partner Adam Moskowitz in Hollywood. She noted, \u201cThe Melrose\/LaBrea gallery district of Los Angeles emerged when post production in film went digital and these great spaces became available.\u201d Adam admits that it was risk to bring only one artist to the fair, but said, \u201cIt was worth for us to be here. There have been some sales.\u201d The artist, Kim Shoen was part of the FOCUS Los Angeles panel. She brought up the fact that a lot artist-run galleries are apartment galleries, as well as store fronts and garages. Her empty book works have an analogy to the city of Los Angeles as a site, spaces where things could take place, emptiness as possibility. She was surprised that issue didn\u2019t crop up during the panel discussion.<\/p>\n Night Gallery<\/strong><\/p>\n Davida Nemeroff of Night Gallery is from Toronto, but moved to Los Angeles eight years ago, opening her gallery after six months. She represents mainly L.A. artists. Her gallery is located in the downtown warehouse district. She said, \u201cPeople are really drawn to the work. FOCUS LA has given momentum and interest in LA galleries.\u201d<\/p>\n Royale Projects<\/strong><\/p>\n Gallerist Rick Royale wanted to show an aesthetic through-line between four different artists at display at Art Toronto. Their only similarity is that they have lived and worked in Los Angeles for about ten years. He set out to expose a formal connection to surface, colour, and light, aspects associated with the geography of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n FLOAT Museum<\/strong>, a future-facing virtual institution from Kate Parsons, was part of\u00a0 the FOCUS LA\u00a0 Project series.<\/p>\n<\/a>Gallery director Stefano di Paola<\/p>\n<\/a>BBQLA comes to Toronto<\/p>\n<\/a>Artist Adam Stamp (left) and club Pro Los Angeles gallerist Kyle Roberts (right)<\/p>\n<\/a>Adam Stamp’s Art bar, Sorry’s<\/p>\n<\/a>Luis De Jesus (standing) at his booth with Jay Wingate (seating).<\/p>\n<\/a>Kendra Popelas of ltd Los Angeles<\/p>\n<\/a>Artist Kim Shown and Adam Moskowitz of Moskowitz Bayse<\/p>\n<\/a>Night Gallery artist Josh Callaghan with his deconstructed refrigerator behind him.<\/p>\n<\/a>Paige Moss and Rick Royale of Royale Projects<\/p>\n