Bonhams Auction House Supports Art Project of

Aids Project Los Angeles

Art Auction In Action

By ArtQuench Correspondent

Jennifer Bentson 

 

June 6, 2015; the trip to Bonham’s Art Auction House on Sunset Boulevard for the annual Art Project Event for AIDS Project Los Angeles, was in splendor with Hollywood Culture. Driving to the event we passed the Hollywood Bowl marquee where the Eddie Izzard concert was followed by Andrea Bocelli.  It’s Hollywood and artistic tastes wander the cityscape wider than a cowpoke herding cats.

 

I wondered as I drove through Hollywood, what was in store at Bonham’s, a world wide Art Auction Platform, for various types of art, manuscripts, Hollywood paraphernalia, and antiques.  Bonham’s where the rich go to spend thousands of dollars, even millions, on collections, and legacies.  Who would I meet and what was an art auction like?

 

It was as smooth as silk to pull into the valet parking, stroll inside the red carpeted entry,  and be greeted by friendly faces dressed in the hottest couture.  My name was printed on the Auction Card and my credit card was conveniently linked to the bar coded stickers created to place on the bid sheets next to the hanging artwork.  All engineered to make it easy to spend money.  Like Vegas, you are removed from the concept of cash and quickly linked to another form of currency.  Unlike Vegas, there are smiling faces at every turn of the gallery there to assist your every whim.  Cocktails, food, glorious flower arrangements, and the star of the evening, art.  Art hung on the walls with careful attention to the style and bio of the artist and bid sheet.  Art that sang to you about the soul of the artist.  Art that elicited a smile, a thought, a feeling, or the unconscious surprise.  Art that was as diverse as the Los Angeles Culture.

 

The first artist I met was Taylor Van Horne, www.sacatar.org,

who is actually an architect with a penchant for creating art.  He had two lovely pieces at the auction.  When asked when he first realized he was an artist, he said he used to dream about art.  He and his partner have established an Artist Residency Estate in Bahia, Brazil dedicated to the development of artists.  The name of his program is Sacatar and is located on an island dedicated to art.  Not only does Sacatar nurture visual artists but also musical ones.  There is a piece of music created for this magical place which you can hear on the website.

Next I met Diana Brown www.dianabrownphotography.com who had a painting featured on the cover of the program.  She is currently in the process of painting a series of portraits in her own variation on the Van Gogh style.  She focuses on the facial expression in her painting and seems to capture a unique quality.  The painting she brought to the auction is dedicated to her long time friend, Tim Lasquade who passed away recently.  Since she is a make-up artist by trade, her painting had a fabulous facial structure and color, due to her years of focus on the make up.  Diana Brown says she loves photography as well and has a local studio.

 

Kris Reinke, Jennifer Bentson, Cathy McCloskey

My own piece, Beach Time was auctioned off as well.  My website is www.jenniferbentson.com.  I have been painting since I was in college.  Inspired by no money for a camera, I bought a box of watercolors, and now I can capture those dreamy places I visit.  Additionally over the years I have expanded and have taken up Chinese Brush Painting, Figure drawing/painting, Oil, and Acrylic painting, and public art.  Some of my works are on permanent display at Caltech and the City of Glendale.

For me, painting is meditative.  I am currently working on a project, “California Oaks as Art”, and have 27 paintings of oaks that are significant due to size, history, or location in California.

I made my way to the bar and met David French, www.davidfrenchsculptor.com. David has spent over 20 years perfecting his art and has had numerous installation shows all over the LA area.  He hails from Manchester, England and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in Art.  He constructs some of his art from environmental trash.  His website hosts a virtual exhibition.  I visited his website and learned about David French’s philosophy:

“Whilst living here in this ‘new world’, in this lap of luxury so to speak, we are faced with the threat of imminent annihilation, either from terrorism, ecologically or more recently economically. That these opposing concepts can be held concurrently in our collective social consciousness is something that I find fascinating and it is from this paradox and others that my recent work has sprung.”

 

The room was a buzz with over 150 artists and 300 guests all supporting AIDS Project LA.  AIDS Project Los Angeles aspires to be a leader in the development and provision of multidisciplinary, high quality, cost effective initiatives designed to stop HIV transmission and to reduce the human suffering caused by HIV/AIDS. AIDS Project Los Angeles is a flexible organization that responds rapidly to changes in the populations, priorities or needs of people affected by HIV disease. APLA seeks to leverage its core competencies to maximize impact and support broader community, national and international initiatives and strategies. AIDS Project Los Angeles strives to improve the overall quality of life for people living with HIV by increasing resources, sharing or pooling assets and working in partnerships and collaborations.

 

Saturday Night all of us were happy to support the Art Project of APLA and enjoyed the ample, tasty food and drinks.  At 8PM the Live Auction was opened and we sat down to the iconic auction room. The auctioneer, Mr. Swan, was a young 6’5” gentleman with a twinkle in his eye.  Yes, I saw a piece by Keith Haring sell for over $10,000.  It was exhilarating!  The energy of bidding was infectious and I wanted to bid on the piece myself.  The audience was definitely enjoying this event and glad to be giving to the Art Project of APLA.  This was my first live art auction, but definitely not my last.

 

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