Art gallery openings by cutting-edge artists (usually young, with unkempt hair and a robust Myspace following) offer a casual-yet-not-beer-bonging date plan that ensures plenty of sexually charged, awkward glances, compelling topics to banter about and free liquor. Whether you're in the 310 or 323, we've got you covered this Saturday from start to finish. Bonus: both dates feature nudity.
Option #1: Go West, young man
The Art: New York native David Hochbaum touches down in L.A. for a few weeks to open his solo show, "To the Winds" at Culver City's Corey Helford Gallery on September 15. Think anachronistic photo montages veiled in gauzy amber varnish and featuring lithe women posed as messengers from another time. Also picture: free cups of wine. You and your date can chat nervously about the huge Tower of Babel installation constructed from over a hundred ladders, and memorize the French poetry scripted up the 30-foot walls. Several hundred birds (461, to be exact) hang from the ceiling, and the whole atmosphere carries the dreamy feel of a lost era. Also, there are nudes in his photographs, wink wink.
Chow: If you have a job, or want your date to think you have a job, stop into Fraiche for monkfish, rabbit tortellini and handcrafted charcuterie, whatever the hell that is. It sounds impressive, thus boosting your chances of a make out. If your date already knows that you live with your parents, head to Tito's Tacos and grub on burritos. There's a pun involving "pork" there somewhere, we just don't know what it is.
Booze: If you want to get classy, hit the Culver City wine bar BottleRock after the show. If you want to get drunk and avoid conversation with the aid of loud music, hit the Cinema Bar.
Worst case scenario: Corey Helford attracts art collectors in the know, so if your date ends up being a brainless flake, you can always post a Craigslist missed connection to the hottie standing by the cheese platter.
Option #2: Eastsiders, listen up
The Art: Black Maria Gallery is a little gem in Atwater Village. In fact, all of Atwater Village is a little gem. But that has nothing to do with skinny naked men aside from the fact that Tom Neely, one of our favorite illustrators (he just published his book “The Blot”), is opening his show “Self Indulgent Werewolf” this Saturday, September 15. Expect a DJ spinning electro experimental bizness and, yes, free booze. Also expect a fiberglass installation of a cartoonish skinny naked man (like Olive Oyl’s older, nude brother) plus pen and ink works dealing with the themes of identity struggle, werewolf heads and, uh, skinny naked men.
Chow: We’ve been drooling to try the little Cuban spot, Baracoa, down the street. Snag a patio table and get sparkly-eyed over platanos and stewed pork (again with the pork!)
Booze: To continue your post-show boozing, hit the newly opened Griffin on Los Feliz Blvd for their dark, murky interior, romantic burgundy walls and ”private room” booths. There’s also a boss dive bar in Atwater Village, but we’ve been threatened with death should we choose to reveal how awesome it is.
Worst case scenario: You end up making out with the Tom Neely sculpture. Hey, naked limbs are naked limbs. Let’s not get snobby people.
David Hochbaum's "To the Winds" runs through Oct. 6 at Corey Helford, and Tom Neely's "Self Indulgent Werewolf" will be up at Black Maria through Oct. 15—in case you, um, don't have a date this Saturday.
Alie Ward is Events editor for Metromix Los Angeles.
