The ARTRA Curatorial crew specializes in making sure independent, experimental, and artist-run kunsthalles get their seats at the various art-fair tables — for example, notably enlivening the proceedings at both 2011 and 2012's Art Platform fairs with warrens of progressive installations. Although not officially participating in this weekend's L.A. Art Show at the Convention Center downtown, their latest project, MAS: ATTACK [Mutual Appreciation Society] is timed to coincide with and augment the fair's elegant, commercial sprawl with some unique, crowd-sourced counterprogramming. For one night only, something like 100 L.A.-based painters descend on the nearby L.A. Mart, take up their allotted 10 square feet of wall space and steel themselves for the world's biggest studio visit. The public is, of course, invited to mix, mingle and converse, and a bar and live music facilitates the conviviality. The rare opportunity for direct, unmediated interaction with so many real live working artists is the compelling main attraction for curators and the simply curious, fairgoers weary of market-driven presentations, fair skippers who are more comfortable around painters than dealers, dealers on the prowl for something new and, of course, the participating artists themselves. L.A. Mart, 1933 S Broadway, dwntwn.. Sat., Jan. 26, 6-11 p.m.; free. facebook.com/events/404626332944625.

Sat., Jan. 26, 6-11 p.m., 2013

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