Comments (0) BEST ART GALLERY FOR MUSIC - 2009
L'Keg
Straddling Echo Park's south side and downtown, L'Keg sits tucked between a rotisserie-chicken restaurant and a vinyl–sign-making shop, downplaying its claustrophobic, punk-rock interior with a quiet exterior in the daytime but lighting up when night falls — long after the strip mall's other tenants have left for the day. L'Keg — named after a line in the film Velvet Goldmine (L.K.E.G. is an abbreviation of "Lipstick Kissed Elbow Glove") is, at its heart, a gallery/project space launched by members of the local band Blue Jungle. Exhibitions consist of crafty arts, pop illustrations, photography and heavy-on-the-graphic-design works on paper. But its founders — Cory Myrick, Leticia Llesmin, Nosebleed and Shannon Paley — know that rocking, too, is an art, so they've opened the space to homegrown bands of every persuasion, including Torches in Trees, Bi-polar Bear, Man's Assassination Man, Foot Village, Puppy Dog, and the folksy Leslie and the Badgers, to name a few. In addition to the venue that L'Keg offers to spotlight great local bands, the space is also a distributor of records and publications for local artsy/musical folk, and hosts occasional outlying events, like Sunday hangover poetry parties and screenings of teenage snuff films. 311 Glendale Blvd., Echo Park. myspace.com/lkeggallery.
—Wendy Gilmartin
