Roberts Projects is leaving Culver City, as gallery scene shifts to Central L.A. Culver City is not one of the most happening cities in Los Angeles, which is why the gallery scene here is so strong and why I’ve been working with a number of artists who have been here for years. I met the three of them at “A Different Kind of Art” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on May 7 and was surprised to find something that I thought I knew about this city and these artists has been wrong.
The three of them, all in their mid-twenties, are all painters. Two of them–Rudy and Ryan–are from New York City, one from Washington D.C. and now the third is a California native. Each has a distinct style while all are very talented. Although they are artists, and not yet gallery owners, they each have a few different galleries that they’re hoping to open, and each will be working with an artist from a different country.
The two guys from New York, Rudy and Ryan, have opened their first galleries, called GEM & GIG, in the West Hollywood area. They plan to move into their gallery, located at the corner of Bel-Air and Fairfax, during the first quarter of 2014. GEM & GIG is actually their first company, having just started it up in their apartment in the West Village. The gallery owner, Michael Fuchs, is an art director who worked on campaigns for both the Clinton and Bush campaigns. Ryan and Rudy have been working together since 2005, and have their own studio in Culver City.
In the same house is the gallery called B&B, located on Bel-Air and Fairfax. This small space, which is about 16’ x 30’, offers a selection of limited edition, signed and framed art that their owners, Kevin and Nicole, have made in their basement. Kevin used to work at the Culver City Arts Alliance, but left to open B&B.
B&B has been open for a few months. The couple, who have lived in the city for over thirty years, were moving when they found the space, and had to find a way to raise the $2,000 to pay