Coagula Curatorial

If you are in Chinatown I highly recommend stopping by this gallary. Right now there is a showing for a local artist, Metjames Metson. He has been getting a lot of press lately and does a great job of transforming old photos and found items into new artwork. His attention to detail is excellent and the exhibit contained probably a dozen pieces ranging from medium sized wall-​art to chairs. i think this guy is really up-​and-​coming. He has been interviewed by several magazines and is getting ready to reach workshops at UCLA. Stop by and check out his work while you can.

YAY! You’ve gotta go during their open hours and talk to Mat Gleason. Always a great conversation around great art. It’s on the walking road, so you can’t see it from your car. Just park and trust your gut and you’ll find it!

Coagula Curatorial is a hit and miss gallery. Honestly, speaking most galleries are hit and miss but Coagula goes from really, really high up there to «Woah, this is BAD!»
Coagula has had two really, really ridiculously good exhibits: one called «Narcoland» I believe (which collected a series of works with the theme of Mexican drug trafficking cultural elements), and another which was an interactive wonderland of large turning squares and rectangles. God, I really wish I remember what it was called!
Right now it’s January and I was seriously underwhelmed by the exhibit which is comprised of several colorful folksy paintings. Poor execution really! I mean, there are people that pull off the naïf look and do it really tastefully and then there are those that just make you feel embarrassed for them. The only saving grace this month is a series of cardboard sheets painted with interesting messages. There is use of Spanish. I’m partial to that since I speak Spanish and found the works cleverly amusing.
This gallery is the most ethnic of all the Chinatown Arts District (CAD) galleries. For this reason and for the fact that this is the most provocative gallery in the CAD I am not going to give Coagula Curatorial three stars.
Here is their site:
Usually there are a couple of really nice guys hanging out in the gallery that really do not seem to be much like some of the lifeless attendants of the other galleries.
If you would like to visit the CAD but just don’t have the time you may be interested in my blog:
If you come to the CAD there is no need to pay for parking as there is free parking in a residential neighborhood by a phở restaurant just a short walk north of the galleries.

Most art you see in galleries is just not that good. You may say that it’s completely subjective, but I’d probably respond by laughing and/​or patting you on the head. The less acerbic side of me might concede the point that while most of the art you find in the myriad galleries strewn about L.A. is not that good, it’s also not bad, either. It’s just there, worthy of a stilted glance or nonchalant head not. Good, interesting, provocative art is out there, though. It just may take an intense, Otaku-​like scouring of the internet, galleries, magazines, et al to find the ballsy creativity that managed to make it through the stifling L.A. art world sieve. I’ve had such passions before in music, and I can attest that it does indeed take up a good portion of your life. A shortcut would be to find a taste maker, someone who has been panning in the cultural river long enough to drive themselves crazy, but in return often strikes gold. As far as Los Angeles art goes, that man is Mat Gleason.
For over 20 years, Mat Gleason published the ever quotable Coagula Art Journal, which garnered him equal parts fame and infamy in certain circles. It was always on the vanguard of modern art, and at the same time gave a voice to the L.A. scene. And it was in the 20^th year of publishing this legendary art zine that Gleason took the next step: opening up an art gallery in his hometown. This makes it all quite simple and easy to art fans: want to see something cool? Then you go to Coagula Curatorial. It’s like if Lester Bangs had his own club where he personally booked shows, or Charles Bukowski opened up a liquor store/​adult book shop. With an amped up madman at the helm, you really are getting in on the ground floor of some of the most thought provoking, modern art and photography out there. Not to mention the performance art pieces that go on from time to time, as well as the occasional comedy nights (yep, comedy in an art gallery). It’s a loose, underground and energized space, showcasing amazing talent.
If MOCA is the Great Western Forum, Coagula Curatorial is The Masque and Mat Gleason is the undisputed Punk King of Chung King.