The 1999 L.A. International Biennial Art International Gets Off to Fast Start

Peggy Clifford
Mirror Editor

For the next five weeks, the fourth L.A. International Biennial Art International will dominate the Los Angeles art scene.
   Kicking off tonight, Wednesday, June 14, with an exhibitions preview and dinner at the UCLA Hammer Museum of Art for L.A. and visiting artists, dealers and patrons, the Biennial will get down to business tomorrow with a three-day round of exhibition openings and gallery receptions.
   As at previous Biennials, some 60 of Los Angeles’s galleries have turned over their exhibition space to visiting galleries from more than two dozen countries. They, in turn, will show the works of over 200 artists. Not only is this format unique, the participation of area museums and other arts institutions in the five-week represents a significant paradigm shift in the way art is presented.
   Thursday, July 15, galleries in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, and on Wilshire Boulevard and La Brea, Beverly and Melrose Avenues will hold receptions.
   Friday, July 16, openings are scheduled at galleries in Venice and on Main Street, Colorado Avenue and the Broadway Gallery complex in Santa Monica.
   Saturday, July 17, downtown Los Angeles galleries will hold their receptions from noon to 4 p.m, and Bergamot Station galleries, in Santa Monica, will stage their openings from 4 to 8 PM. Biennial panel discussions, lectures and special events are set for the Getty Center, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the UCLA Hammer, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), the Santa Monica Museum of Art, Cal State Long Beach Museum, the 18th Street Arts Complex, in Santa Monica, Barnsdall Art Park, Hollywood, the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, the Skirball Cultural Center and the Italian Cultural Institute.
   During the Biennial’s first week, there will be four special events. “Out of Place,” a panel discussion is scheduled Sunday, July 18, at 2:15 p.m. at the Getty. “Cuba: Art in the 90s,” will be examined at Track 16 Gallery, Bergamot Station at 7 p.m., Monday, July 19, in conjunction with an exhibit in the gallery. “Contemporary Scandinavian Art” will be discussed by Daniel Birnbaum and Svenrobert Lundquist at Highways Theater, 18th Street Arts Complex, Tuesday, July 20 at 6:30 p.m. and “Life/Boat,” an exhibition will open at MAK Center for Art and Architecture, the Schindler House, Kings Road, West Hollywood, 7 to 9 p.m., Wednesday, July 20.
   The Biennial website (www. LAin99.org) features an interactive catalogue and virtual exhibitions, an overview of events, and a guide to transportation.
   Biennial co-chairmen are Robert Berman of the Robert Berman Gallery and William Turner of the William Turner Gallery.  Absolut and the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department are the principal sponsors of the five-week event, which is also the first featured event of the City Of Los Angeles’s two-year millennium celebration, which will showcase a series of innovative programs.