The holiday season is upon us, and it’s time to celebrate.
Retail shops, restaurants, and even art galleries are getting into the act.
This Saturday, Dec. 15, the spirit of the holidays takes over Bergamot Station. The popular art destination in Santa Monica will hold a Holiday Open House featuring art and book sales, artist panels, art parties, live music, and receptions from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Many of the galleries will be participating in the festivities.
Refreshments and treats will be served.
Skidmore Contemporary Art (D2) hosts an artist reception for their current exhibit entitled “Candy.”
Curated by Lia Skidmore, this celebratory show “Saluting Sweets” will be on view through the end of December. The exhibition features artists Daryl Gortner, Tracey Sylvester Harris, Dave Lefner, Lori Larusso, Kelly Reemtsen, and Robert Townsend. The holiday reception will run from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Artist Dave Lefner is happy to be part of the holiday event.
“It can be a little tricky to do a holiday anything,” Lefner said. “You don’t want it to become too crafty with baskets, pinecones, bows and ribbons. But with Bergamot’s reputation and Lia Skidmore’s amazing sense of style and taste, I trusted her implicitly. As always, it was done with class.”
Daryl Gortner has been painting for about 10 years now and loves the holiday season.
“I think people entertain more during the holidays and therefore like to purchase art for their homes,” he said.
Gortner’s photorealist paintings such as “Taste of the Bubbly” and “Intoxicating” have been attracting much attention (skidmorecontemporaryart.com).
The Frostig Collection (B5), a nonprofit gallery, shows renowned artists. Ray Turner’s portraits (painted on glass) of nine of the gallery’s artists are currently on view as well as some Resin pieces by Eric Johnson. Sculptures by Chris Burden, Frank Gehry, Nancy Rubins, and Ken Price are also included in the holiday exhibition.
All the proceeds go towards helping children with learning disabilities such as Asperger’s and high functioning autism (thefrostigcollection.org).
Artists Lorraine Bubar, Peter Kempson, and Stephanie Visser will be featured at an artist talk at TAG Gallery (D3) from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Books and prints signed by the artists will be available for sale (taggallery.net)
At the Craig Krull Gallery (B3), the photography of Tim Bradley and Mark Swope will be on display. The gallery will also be selling signed books by the artists (craigkrullgallery.com). The Robert Berman Gallery (B7) will be featuring artists Christina Hale and Cira Crowell (robertbermangallery.com), while dnj Gallery (J1) celebrates the work of Todd Walker and Melanie Walker (dnjgallery.net).
Additional participating galleries include Peter Fetterman (A1, peterfetterman.com); Patrick Painter (B2, patrickpainter.com); Frank Pictures Gallery (A5, frankpicturesgallery.com); Shoshana Wayne Gallery (B1, shoshanawayne.com); Copro Gallery (T5, copronason.com), and more.
Bergamot Station is located at 2525 Michigan Avenue, Santa Monica. For more information, visit bergamotstation.com.
