Courtesy hollywoodsign.org, photo by David Livingston/Getty Images.
Los Angeles is a city where the buzz never stops. It’s a hot and happening place. Sure, the soaring mercury and continuing drought have led to wildfires in the hills around town, but the art scene is equally ablaze. For artists hoping to make it big, it’s increasingly a place to be. And that includes a significant roster of Canadian artists.
Megan Abrahams, the editor of Fabrik, a leading Los Angeles art and design magazine, is one of those artists. “The art scene here is thriving,” she says. “It’s an incredible scene.” A dual Canadian-U.S. citizen with a Master’s degree in journalism, Abrahams says Los Angeles is the place to be, at least in North America. It’s more vibrant, more relevant and more important than New York, she says, and it’s drawing artists from all over the world. They are attracted by its many art schools, its numerous galleries and a bustling and diverse creative community.
Tristan Unrau is another Canadian trying his luck south of the border. “L.A., as a city to make art in, provides so much more in terms of infrastructure and opportunity,” says Unrau. “Career-wise, it seems easier.” Unrau graduated from Vancouver’s Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2012 and earned his MFA from UCLA in 2017. He’s presently on a three-year artist’s visa, living and working in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, back home, he’s one of 15 finalists in this year’s RBC Canadian Painting Competition, where his Doggy Dog Afternoon is gaining attention.
Tristan Unrau, "Doggy Dog Afternoon," 2018
oil on canvas, 72" x 83” (courtesy of the artist)
“I feel there’s a new space opening up every other weekend,” says Unrau. True. The gallery boom that started in 2013 includes everything from established galleries to pop-ups and artist-run co-ops. The Phil Gallery, which mounted Unrau’s first L.A. solo exhibition last May, is a small project space northeast of Chinatown where the artist unveiled nine new works – constructions, pencil drawings and oils – that are devoid of obvious L.A. references. Does living in the city affect his art? “Not explicitly,” he says.
The city’s appeal for him is its creative diversity.
“The community here is great. There are lots of different and overlapping circles. I would say Vancouver has a smaller, wonderful, cohesive art scene. But it doesn’t necessarily allow for different kinds of scenes. Here, there are lots of really different scenes that all interconnect and are seemingly more flexible with each other.”
Another Emily Carr grad, Sheinina Raj, was born in Britain but raised in Coquitlam, B.C. She has lived in L.A. since 2001. Her current work, Intercultural, is a multimedia presentation of 24 photographs accompanied by culturally appropriate chanting and instrumentation. It was inspired by a 2015 California Arts Council initiative decrying racism.
A victim of stereotyping herself – “I understand what it’s like to be misunderstood and disrespected because of my skin colour,” she says of her mixed English and Indian heritage – Raj jumped at the chance to make a statement.
She approached various ethnic communities, researched their history and culture, set up a studio in her Laurel Canyon home and photographed herself in a variety of traditional clothing. Intercultural, she says, is meant to induce self-reflection. “You have space for what you think and feel when you look at someone in traditional dress. The idea is to spread the message of peace.” Intercultural opened at Toronto’s Elaine Fleck Gallery in 2016 and is now touring internationally.
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Sheinina Raj, “Indian Woman,” 2015
HD photograph on aluminum, 40 x 30” (courtesy of the artist)
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Sheinina Raj, “Saudi Arabian Woman,” 2016
HD photograph on aluminum, 40” x 30” (courtesy of the artist)
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Sheinina Raj, “Hawaiian Woman,” 2016
HD photograph on aluminum, 40” x 30” (courtesy of the artist)
Shana Nys Dambrot, who writes for the LA Weekly and the Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art, says the city has long attracted artists. “Los Angeles has always, always been a place of interdisciplinary work and experimental stuff. Maker culture, the elevation of design, underground comics, street art – all that stuff started in L.A.,” she says. A keen observer of the scene for two decades, Dambrot says artists come to Los Angeles because they reject boundaries. “That’s what California and L.A. are famous for – not having boundaries.”
Affordable studio space is also a draw. A survey last February by Artsy magazine pegged studio rents at $4.79 a square foot in Brooklyn compared to $1.76 a square foot in Los Angeles. (Berlin was even cheaper at $1.28 a square foot). But there’s a caveat. Rapidly rising prices are forcing studios and galleries to move if they want affordable digs.
There’s no one centralized studio or gallery row in Los Angeles, not an issue in a city where the car is king. “That’s the thing about L.A.,” says Night Gallery owner Davida Nemeroff. “People will travel so you don’t necessarily have to be in a hub.”
Originally from Montreal, Nemeroff, a photographer, arrived in Los Angeles in 2009 after completing her BFA at Ryerson University’s School of Image Arts in Toronto and her MFA at New York’s Columbia University. She established her influential gallery as both a showplace and a meeting place, inviting bands and performers to drop in after hours. “Space was the medium and Night Gallery was an art work,” she says. Today, Nemeroff continues her mentorship role by participating in art fairs (Dallas, Seattle, Chicago, Toronto and elsewhere) to provide exposure to her stable of artists and promising individuals she likes but doesn’t represent.
“It’s a good time to be a Canadian artist in L.A.,” she says. “Now, Canadians are exotic and worshipped. Before, you’d say this artist is from Canada and people’s eyes would glaze over. But now it’s different. Now, it’s an actual asset, it has a cultural currency.” And yes, this currency is due to the American political climate. “I probably wouldn’t have been able to sell a Canadian artist’s work before the Trump administration,” says Nemeroff. “Now, I can.”
Erik Olson, “Untitled,” 2018
oil on canvas (courtesy of the artist)
Calgary-born Erik Olson is another Canadian artist familiar with the L.A. art scene. Known for his exuberant impasto portraits, Olson spent two months at La Brea studio residency in 2017 and 2018 “painting my ass off.” He was picked up by the city’s Luis De Jesus Gallery shortly afterward. Olson now lives in Dusseldorf, Germany – L.A. without the traffic, he jokes – and while he agrees Los Angeles is vibrant and energetic, he brings a sobering perspective to the discussion.
“I think a young artist moving to L.A. and having huge expectations is in trouble,” he says. “It’s a tough city and it can chew you up pretty easily. So you just have to be careful. It depends how you approach it because it can be pretty intense.”
Erik Olson’s studio in Los Angeles during his La Brea residency in 2018. (courtesy of the artist)
With so many artists flocking to Los Angeles, the competition is brutal.
“No one wants to receive your portfolio,” says Raj. No one wants to read your emails. So it’s more about how do you make them discover your work? How do they find out about it?”
Dambrot says the numbers are not in a newcomer’s favour. “If you’re young and you don’t know many people here, you’re at the back of the line.”
Abrahams says the key is to be enterprising. “You have to stand out. You have to find your own voice. How do you break in? There are a number of ways. People are always scouting around. There are some art fairs that are set up for emerging artists. There are lots of calls for artists. There are tons of grants and residencies. People see your work, that’s the key. And go to galleries. You need to work the scene. It’s a hustle.”
For emerging artists, attending graduate school is Los Angeles is a big predictor of success. “The schools are so important to the scene,” says Unrau. “They are the engine – Cal Arts and UCLA being the big two.”
For established artists, it comes down to someone vouching for your work, says Raj.
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Megan Frances Abrahams, “Fleur de Lys 12 (Leaves),” 2017
acrylic on canvas, 9” x 9” (courtesy of the artist, photo by Rick Friesen)
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Megan Frances Abrahams, “Fleur de Lys 14 (Flowers),” 2018
acrylic on canvas, 9” x 9” (courtesy of the artist, photo by Rick Friesen)
“It’s the big pond,” says Abrahams, who has her own tale of struggle and triumph. Two back-to-back exhibitions of her Fleur de Lys series are on view, a testament to her talent and perseverance.
“It’s important to schmooze your way around the scene,” she says. “There are little meccas of the art world all over L.A. and to get to know that really takes time. She says you can be a star at home in Canada and disappear in Los Angeles.
“But if you can swim ... it’s mind boggling. There’s so much.” ■
