Welcome to Wet Paint in the Wild, the free – and free – spin-off! – from Artnet News Pro’s beloved Wet Paint gossip column, where we give art world insiders a disposable camera to chronicle their life on the circuit. To read the last Wet Paint column, Click here (members only).
James Fuentes is the latest cool downtown gallerist to pull out a pebble in the LA heat. He’s a reputed stalwart of the Lower East Side and when I discovered that if he was panning for gold in the West, I had a feeling the cross-pollination between our two cultural capitals had finally peaked. He opened the space on Melrose Hill earlier this month, and while I couldn’t make the opening, I handed him a camera to see what it looked like from his perspective. Let’s dive in…
A week before opening, we held our first event in our new Los Angeles space: the Bard Spring 2023 Alumni Gathering. As an alumni, giving back to the Bard community in this capacity is really important to me.
The calm before the storm… Here are our Senior Director, Katrin Lewinsky, and our Associate Director, Quinn Charles, getting ready for our grand opening weekend.
The day before our official opening, friends and family came to see the space and our inaugural performance by Didier William, “Things Like This Don’t Happen Here”. It was so meaningful to celebrate alongside everyone who helped make JF LA a reality.
Didier and Gina Athéna Ulysse celebrate the occasion. Gina wrote a wonderful article about Didier’s MOCA North Miami exhibition, “Nou Kite Tout Sa Dèyè”.
Caught Gabbi Gard on film as she walked around waving to everyone. She was our first member of the LA team and did a great job helping us prepare for the opening of the new space!
Blurred image, but Joseph Gaegan in the center will exhibit at the gallery in 2024, a follow-up to his exhibition at our gallery in New York in 2018. Joseph also has a gallery in LA, Gaylord Apartments.
My daughter and Katrin’s daughter met that night and instantly became best friends. Pictured here playing chess after viewing the artwork!
Difficult to photograph with these disposable cameras in Yamashiro, but there was a full moon over downtown LA…you had to be there!
Here are Job Piston and Jennifer Piejko enjoying the evening.
SATURDAY! The grand opening! We are so happy that Los Angeles has been so welcoming. Here are some friends reading Didier’s book, which James Fuentes Press published last year alongside Didier’s MOCA North Miami catalog.
Entertainer Joe Lewis flew in from Irvine, California to liven up the evening. His work is currently featured in our group exhibition, “Study in Form (Chapter One)”, curated by Arden Wohl in New York.
Our wonderful architect, Christopher Leong (of Leong Leong), defines the space.
I had to include our PR mavericks, Sarah Miller and Hannah Gottlieb-Graham, in holding it down.
Final hurrah in Los Angeles; the team celebrated our LA launch with a lovely dinner at The Jar, after we opened to the public on Saturday. Steaks and martinis all around!
Branwen Jones, being the most stylish woman in the room, sporting our brand new James Fuentes LA product. We caught up with Johanna Burton and Tim Griffin – you never know who you might see in Jar…
It’s over our opening weekend, come visit us at 5015 Melrose Ave!
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