A narrow staircase leads to the second floor of Keith Rivers’ mansion in the upscale hills of Beverly Hills. The first thing you see when you arrive is a large brick wall in various shades of gray. Blocks are drawn on two thick sheets of paper. These form a perfect order, which is rare in real partitions. This work is by Chicago-based African American artist Tony Lewis, whose work explores themes of power, race, and working-class labor. When he felt he hit a conceptual wall, he began painting to stimulate the process. As he laid brick upon brick, he felt calm.
Rivers owned the painting and found echoes of his past life in it. “I love this job because it’s a repetitive exercise. You repeat the process over and over again to achieve something bigger. And that’s what soccer was for me: repeating the play over and over again with the goal in mind. ” said Rivers, 37, who played at the professional level with the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Giants and Buffalo Bills.
He is a rare collector. His first purchase in 2010 was one of Andy Warhol’s pink versions. electric chair. The former athlete admits that at the time, he thought he needed to be famous to start collecting art. However, over time he realized that was not true. He has developed his unique taste and knowledge.
The table in the center of his library reflects much of that learning process. Includes David Hammonds’ influential book on body painting, a book on Brazilian portraiture, a monograph on Lucas Arruda, and a book on the art of California’s John Baldessari, a major figure in American conceptual art. there is. There’s also a well-worn copy of a book written by art historian Robert Farris Thompson on African American art and philosophy.
Rivers opened the door to his home during Los Angeles Art Week. Artists, gallery owners, cultural promoters and collectors were able to view the work from their homes on Doheny Street. His mansion has several nods to his former profession. But the paintings that hang in his living room are certainly about sports. Artist Cyprien Gaillard has placed a giant design of the Cleveland Indians baseball team, a caricature of Indian Chief Wahoo, over a withered and uninhabited landscape. In 2018, Cleveland retired its team name and logo in the face of fan pressure and new sensibilities.
Rivers, a graduate of the University of Southern California (USC), rented housing to rival school, the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). His one of the most important private sculptural art collections in the United States is located there. Across the public university’s 485-hectare campus in La Jolla, numerous artists exhibit their work and entertain 43,000 students. Collection director Jessica Berlanga attended the event and announced that new artists will be commissioning new work this year.
Another Los Angeles institution, located a few miles down the hill in the heart of the city, is also opening its doors to art lovers. The Hollywood Roosevelt, which has catered to some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry for nearly a century, is hosting the Felix Art Fair starting Wednesday. Founded by collector Dean Valentine and gallerists Al and Mills Moran, the fair attracts galleries from around the world to display their work in a small room on his first floor of the hotel.
Visitors tour those rooms. Hundreds of people were in and out of the small room Wednesday. Furniture had been removed to make room for paintings and sculptures. Works could also be seen in the bathroom, a space in the home that is almost always reserved for works of lesser value. That rule doesn’t apply here.
Felix Tours also includes the legendary Tropicana Pool, a work of art in itself. According to legend, one day in 1988, British artist David He arrived at Hockney’s hotel to paint the bottom of the pool. He used a broomstick with a brush on the tip to draw hundreds of navy blue strokes. The movement of the water created a mesmerizing visual effect. Last week, the pool served as a gathering place for dozens of attendees at an art fair with a more casual atmosphere.
Now in its sixth year, Felix Fair is trying to differentiate itself from the city’s most important event of the year, the Frieze. Felix organizers insist this is not a sales-oriented event. From Greece to Romania to New York, galleries pay him $10,000 to $20,000 to participate. That’s just a fraction of the nearly $80,000 Freeze will earn for his 860 square feet of space.
However, Frieze continues to demonstrate its ability to attract audiences and its economic importance. On Thursday, a day dedicated only to collectors and VIP guests, the fair reported the sale of a Richard Serra drawing for $2 million at the Gladstone Gallery. The event raised cash just hours after opening, and Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Downey Jr. were also in attendance, taking time out to view the art amid Oscar campaigning. These points indicate the strength of the Los Angeles market.
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