10 L.A. Art Spaces That Change Our Idea of What an Art Space Is

thevanitygallery.tumblr.com

Patricia Lennox-Boyd's "The Pull" pulls you into someone's vanity closet

Located in artist Asha Schechter's apartment off the Miracle Mile, the Vanity gallery makes use of a vintage vanity closet to mount mysterious, intimate exhibitions. Its minimal website contains an archive of just five past exhibitions dating back to July 2011. Check out, for example, Patricia Lennox-Boyd's "The Pull," a quasi-scientific layout that appears to have been inspired by a dental extraction, or Olga Balema's "The Garden Collection," which plays off the closet's various storage functions.

The Vanity's has been an extremely low-key operation so far, with only a select network of people knowing about its laid-back Sunday afternoon opening receptions. Schechter has promised, however, to "be a more responsible gallerist going forward"; the website will feature announcements of upcoming exhibitions. 630 Dunsmuir Ave., #204, Mid-Wilshire. thevanitygallery.tumblr.com.

Kate Wolf

Miggie Wong welcomes visitors to Los Angeles Road Concerts on Sunset Boulevard

Los Angeles Road Concerts is an ongoing series of daylong art, music, literary and performance extravaganzas that take up the entire length of one of L.A.'s iconic boulevards. Happening roughly annually, Road Concerts has had three iterations so far, occupying San Fernando Road, Washington Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard.

Organizer Stephen van Dyck, an artist with a background in music and writing, says the Road Concerts are a direct reflection of the city's vast and untamed diversity. Van Dyck puts out a wide call for submissions and doesn't turn anyone down; at the Sunset Boulevard event in 2011, 113 projects took place from downtown all the way to Pacific Palisades.

It would have been impossible to see everything, but Van Dyck has his favorites -- like old punk-rockers Artie Vegas and Tequila Mockingbird plugging into the Sunset Grill and rocking out on the street; and performance artist Kate Durbin creating a colorful pile of donated used panties in the middle of the sidewalk.

The next event will take place Dec. 9 along the length of Mulholland Drive. laroadconcerts.org.

See also:
*5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This Week
*25 Alternative L.A. Art Spaces to Check Out Now

Carol Cheh blogs about L.A.'s performance art scene at Another Righteous Transfer! Follow her on Twitter at @righteoustrans. For more arts news follow @LAWeeklyArts and like us on Facebook.