Must See Art

LAXART’s Second Benefit Auction

More than 100 artists have donated works to support exhibitions, public projects and publications at LA><ART, a nonprofit whose projects have included site-specific installations, public projects and performances, and artist collaborations. An impressive list of participants includes Edgar Arceneaux, John Baldessari, Sam Durant, Evan Holloway, Isaac Julien, Wade Guyton, Mary Kelly, Glenn Ligon, Ruben Ochoa, Catherine Opie, Laura Owens, Raymond Pettibon, Paul Pfieffer, Allen Ruppersberg, Jim Welling, Leslie Vance and many others. The live auction starts at 6 p.m., with a silent auction at 7. Regular tickets are $75, VIP tickets $150 (with preview and cocktail reception), available at the door, or in advance at (310) 559-0166 or benefit@laxart.org.

2640 La Cienega Blvd., L.A. | (310) 559-0166 | www.laxart.org | Sun., Nov. 4, 6-9 p.m.

Don Van Vliet at David Kordansky Gallery

Don Van Vliet, a.k.a. Captain Beefheart, turned to painting when he stopped making music in the early 1980s. In this show, we see 19 works on paper, spanning the early ’80s and into the early ’90s. Many are from the time Van Vliet spent in the Mojave Desert, which undoubtedly influenced his artistic vision. Labeled as both a neo-primitive painter and an abstract expressionist, Van Vliet seems to have a premodern language and style unto himself. While he may not be interested in the communicative aspect of painting, the forms and gestures he makes in ink, wax crayon, pencil and gouache seem explicitly linked to a language of the unconscious, using white space to leave plenty of room for the forms — as well as our thoughts. Van Vliet has denied any historical influences on his art-making process and has done his best to stay out of the art world, although his paintings have had a lot of attention over the years. With recent shows at Michael Werner Gallery, Anton Kern and now Kordansky, it seems that he has agreed to let it in, just a little.

510 Bernard St., Chinatown | (323) 222-1482 | www.davidkordanskygallery.com | Tues.-Sat. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. | Through December 1