Painting In L.A.: Highlights From Art Los Angeles Contemporary 2013

In part one of our rundown of this year's Art Los Angeles Contemporary we focused on galleries based here in Los Angeles. Part two is a look at some highlights from the rest of the fair.

We might as well start with the New York folks, who brought a strong selection of work with them from the East Coast. American Contemporary had a great looking booth featuring a series of paintings by Julia Goldman.

Painting by Julia Goldman via American Contemporary

Goldman struck an interesting balance between abstraction and figuration with these paintings. And at the risk of interpreting things too literally, this work seemed to play with the idea of painting as a "window" through which to view an image - each painting offering the viewer a controled level of transparency into the picture plane. Whatever Goldman's intentions, the paintings were really fun to look at.

Painting by Julia Goldman via American Contemporary

Brennan & Griffin brought work by Guy Goodwin - colorful acrylic and tempera paintings on shaped cardboard. The booth attendant referred me to this recent review of Goodwin's work by Roberta Smith in the New York Times.

Work by Guy Goodwin via Brennan & Griffin

Work by Guy Goodwin, side view

Artist Sadie Benning was being featured in two booths at the same time, Johannes Vogt Gallery and Callicoon Fine Arts where she is currently part of a three-person show running through February 17.

Sadie Benning, Untitled, 2012, Medite 2, spray paint, dowels and plaster, 30 x 20in, via Johannes Vogt Gallery

Sadie Benning, Wipe, Pink and Blue, 2012, Medite 2, spray paint, dowels and plaster, 13 x 11 1/2in, via Callicoon Fine Arts

Two other New York galleries that had interesting paintings on view were The Hole and Clifton Benevento showing work by Kadar Brock and Gina Beavers respectively. Brock seems to spend a great deal of time grinding his surfaces down to the point of leaving holes in the canvas. Beavers, on the other hand, builds her surfaces up so thickly that you could have helped yourself to a crab claw.

Kadar Brock, Deredemistii, 2009-12, oil, acrylic, flash, house and spray paint on canvas, 57 x 42in, via The Hole

Painting by Gina Beavers via Clifton Benevento

The Green Gallery, out of Milwaukee, had a beautiful selection of work up by Michelle Grabner. Grabner was chosen to be one of the curators at the 2014 Whitney Biennial.

Work by Michelle Grabner via The Green Gallery

This little gem (below) by artist Fredrik Værslev was tucked around a corner in the Standard (Oslo) booth. The surface of the painting had been built up and stripped down repeatedly to beautiful effect.