Los Angeles: The Hive Gallery & Studios

In the heart of Los Angeles is a fantasy world that’s constantly changing and evolving. It’s called The Hive Gallery & Studios (hivegallery.com) and is an art gallery where you can see beautiful and bizarre creations, including sculptures, paintings and photographs. The Hive has a different exhibition every month and about 40 resident artists work and exhibit there. 

The owner and curator of The Hive is Nathan Cartwright. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, he moved to Downtown Los Angeles in 2001. The area has changed completely since then, from a place of crime and homelessness to a cultural Mecca and destination for art lovers.

The Hive is in Gallery Row, one of 15 sub-neighborhoods in Downtown L.A. (DTLA). It was one of the first places to participate in the DTLA Art Walk, which began there in 2004. This self-guided tour now encompasses more than 50 galleries, museums and other art venues. It is on the second Thursday of every month and attracts about 15,000 visitors. 

Interview: pop surrealism

Nathan Cartwright talked to Speak Up about The Hive Gallery & Studios. We asked him about the type of art that is on display there:

Nathan Cartwright: L.A., Southern California, is the hub for what’s called lowbrow or pop surrealism. They’ve kind of blended the two together. Lowbrow was kind of seen as a derogatory term, so it’s become pop surrealism, but a lot of pop surrealists... artists, are selling works for millions of dollars now, so they can’t call it lowbrow anymore! But lowbrow was actually a compliment because it was kind of like gathering people that work in the commercial world. I mean, we see this art all the time in advertisements. These guys do the drawings. Tattoo art. Hot-rod art. Pinstriping. Graffiti. All those art forms, a lot of times that were even self-taught, kind of got put under what’s called lowbrow and kind of has emerged into this really amazing thing that is being shown all over the world now.  

LIKE A GOOD BOOK OR MOVIE

And Nathan Cartwright agrees that L.A. art tends to be eclectic: 

Nathan Cartwright: Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, it was the concept first and then what you see second, and I think over time, people haven’t been buying it. I mean, literally and metaphorically, they don’t buy it. You’ve got to show some skill. You can have concept and be really amazing figuratively, conceptually, you know, all that should be working. I think, as an artist, things should be either appealing or repulsive. There should be a cathartic experience right away, and then you can kind of get into the other levels of the artistic experience, which is the metaphor, the meaning, the concepts. Kind of like a good book or a good movie, it should look good first and then you kind of fall into the meaning and all the deep levels. That’s kind of what I like to show.

THIS MUST BE THE PLACE

And he believes that L.A. is probably a better place for a young artist than New York, which is a recognized international centre:

Nathan Cartwright: Well, I think L.A. is such a great city. Los Angeles, technically, is the largest youngest city, definitely in the United States, if not in the world, because we were one of the last cities to be made as the United States became made, and the United States is one of the youngest countries in the world, so when you think about that, it’s a young city and it has a very young art scene. I think it’s just a great place to get started as an artist, for sure. I think New York holds strong on established artists, but I think the thing is, is the emerging and new artists don’t have really a place to show there ‘cause, to pay the rent, a gallery needs to sell stuff for millions just to try to stay in business! So L.A., it’s a younger scene. There’s always new galleries popping up. There’s a lot of underground shows that artists can show in. There’s just so many different shows that an artist can show in that I think it’s just a great place to get started, for sure. 

(Read more at: downtownartwalk.org).