Gelatobaby

Los Angeles is the featured city this year at ARCOmadrid, and it’s so fun to see little reminders of home by the L.A. artists all over town. This is a painting of the Olive Motel, which is just up the street from my house.

Also from my neighborhood, the collective Fallen Fruit had a fantastic exhibition at Intermediae Matadero.

They’re trying to plant these 60 fruit trees in the neighborhood…more on that later.

Doug Aitken’s The Moment screening in a cavernous space inside the Matadero, a former slaughterhouse.

Invisible City at Le Instituto Cervantes, featuring a dozen LA artists addressing everything from our city’s relationship to the police to the way the ficus trees buckle the sidewalks.

The incredible Panorama Los Angeles curatorial team of Kris ‘n’ Chris, otherwise known as Kris Kuramistu and Christopher Miles. You can read more about the show in an article by another Chris, Chris Lee, over at the Los Angeles Times.

The adorable Christopher James Alexander, curator for the Getty Research Institute, just after introducing the Madrid version of the show he first created in LA: Julius Shulman’s Los Angeles. I covered the opening for Dwell: In Madrid: Julius Shulman’s LA.

The Shulman show was designed by the stunning Maria Velez from the Getty, who also designed the show’s exhibition at the Getty and in Guadalajara, Mexico.

One of the best events of the fair was a panel on alternative ways to present art, featuring Emi Fontana from West of Rome (whose Women in the City show I wrote about for Print), Russell Ferguson of UCLA, Wendy Yao of Ooga Booga (who I included in my favorite LA places for Dwell) and Mark Allen of Machine Project (whose LACMA takeover I wrote about for Fast Company).

Two of my favorite new friends from the fantastic gallery 1301PE on Wilshire, Brian Butler and Isha Welsh (if they look a little shadowy here it is because they are mysterious men).

The tireless ladies of ForYourArt: Karen, Bettina and Melissa. If their fingers lose contact with their BlackBerrys for too long they start to turn blue.

LA-based performance troupe My Barbarian presenting their hilarious version of the Oscars, which are really called the Goyas in Spain—you even get a little statue of Goya’s head.

ForYourArt’s Melissa Goldberg and Bari Ziperstein (in sharp vintage frames!) at a fantastic dinner organized by Mary Leigh Cherry of Culver City gallery Cherry and Martin (thanks, Mary Leigh!).

Muchas, muchas more photos over at Flickr…

Have a seat and check out some of my favorites from the quite fantastic ARCOmadrid fair, which just happens to be the largest art fair in Europe.

This was like my 80’s wardrobe had been liquefied in a blender and poured onto a canvas.

Devendra Banhart does the most wonderful little drawings, which are now available as a limited edition catalogue. You also get this awesome zine as well as some of his music.

Taking photos of “hidden” cell phone towers was totally something I wanted to do, but Robert Voit beat me to it.

Paintings of Hearst Tower by Enoc Perez. We found a painting of the London Gherkin in the closet. He must have a thing for Norman Foster.

I loved these. Famous album covers rendered in embroidery by Alice Wagner.

Me in a Tony Cragg funhouse mirror.

A Warhol that looks like Matt Damon.

And a Hockney that looks like Corey Feldman.

I wore just the right kawstume to the KAWS opening.

And found some extremely gorgeous new work by Ryan McGinness.

There’s lots more photos where those came from…