by Alex Wells
The Pit, a Los Angeles gallery stalwart whose original location was an outpost on the outskirts of the city, has planted a flag firmly on the Eastside of LA with their opening of a giant gallery complex in Atwater Village. The sprawling arrangement of white cubes houses three different spaces as well as an outdoor courtyard suitable for smoking, drinking and kibitzing. Last night’s inaugural exhibition presented a group show in two of the spaces with works by mostly Los Angeles-based artists including pieces by scrapyard-poet Jon Pylypchuk and a hot mess of a painting by Trulee Hall while the third space contained a two-person show featuring layered paintings by Benjamin Weissman and the usual insanity from LA eminence grisé Paul McCarthy.
The Pit is the first larger gallery to join the passel of spaces opening on Los Angeles’s Eastside including Sade, La Beast, and Guerrero.
In LA as in New York, art is generally made on the Eastside and bought on the West. With this move and new location, the Pit has signaled that they are investing on the Eastside of town and are intending to stay. If the crowds at the opening are any indication, this was a wise move. Whether other prestigious spaces will follow suit remains to be seen.
Image: Staff