Preview Of The Wide Angle³ Art Auction At The Culver City Smog Shoppe March 12, 2009

As part of a kick off to their third annual WIDE ANGLE (WA³) fundraising event, the University Art Museum at California State University, Long Beach (UCSLB) will hold an art auction preview at Culver City’s Smog Shoppe, Thursday, March 12, 2009 from 6:00 – 9:00 PM. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served while guests view artwork set to be auctioned off at the WA³ annual event on March 21 at the University Art Museum in Long Beach.

Choosing the theme of Discovered/Undiscovered, curators Michael and Sirje Gold, are taking a novel approach by pairing 31 established artists with the same number of artists whose works have been less accessible to Southern California audiences. Well-known artists, such as John Baldessari/Jamie Vasta, Todd Gray/Brenna Youngblood, Ed & Nancy Kienholz/Kris Chatterson, Tony Marsh/Dave Hicks, Kristen Morgin/Julie E. Schustack, Tony de los Reyes/Brian Sharp, and Steve Roden/Brad Eberhard are some of the pairs participating in the auction. The winning bidders will receive both of the works in each pair for the price of one bid. The Gold’s have been collecting art together since the early 1970s, and have acquired a sizable, museum worthy assortment of their own.

Half the proceeds raised on the art at the auction will go directly to the artists, while the other fifty percent will benefit future exhibitions and education programs at the University Art Museum.

Located at 2651 S. La Cienega Boulevard in Culver City, the Smog Shoppe (www.smogshoppe.com) is one of the most sustainably designed urban spaces in the US. Once a 1980s smog-check center, it’s now a 100% solar-powered, private 6,500 square foot indoor/outdoor haven with desert plants, vertical gardens, chic vintage furnishings and dozens of stylish, recycled and sustainable features. The venue hosts cocktail parties, formal sit down dinner events, film screenings and garden parties.

Curator Michael Gold will be available for interviews at the preview event at the Smog Shoppe on March 12. Valet parking will be free.

Founded in 1973, the University Art Museum (UAM) at California State University, Long Beach, is a unique cultural institution that champions new and often challenging ideas through wide-ranging exhibitions and provocative programs. Ranking among the top ten-percent of the nation’s 7,000 plus museums, and praised as one of the top museums in the state by the California Arts Council, the UAM maintains a permanent collection of works on paper, the Hampton collection of American paintings, and site-specific outdoor sculpture.

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