Work in Progress: A Disruptive New Pop-Up Gallery

If you’re stranded in LA next week and looking to make the most of your Thanksgiving weekend, make the trek out to the border of Westlake-DTLA after your Friendsgiving festivities and retail rounds for Work In Progress (W.I.P.), opening to the public on Black Friday.

Piece by POSE.

W.I.P. is a brand new pop-up gallery and marketplace that challenges attendees to rethink the way art is traditionally curated, supplied, and sold in a gallery. Roger Gastman, who curated the Art in the Streets exhibit at the MOCA in 2011, teamed up with entrepreneur and philanthropist Doug Davis to create a new on-demand art gallery and marketplace, one that gives viewers a direct channel for purchasing works from up-and-coming contemporary artists such as street artists POSE, REVOK, and neon artist Lisa Schulte. Select prints from renowned LA artists Ed Ruscha and John Baldessari will also be available for purchase.

Unlike traditional galleries, W.I.P. eschews the pretentious and often laborious process that collectors undergo when they are interested in purchasing a piece. Interested buyers will neither be sized up nor screened, and there will be no month-long waiting lists. Simply put, if you purchase a piece that night, you will be taking it home.

The 5,000 square foot space was once a karaoke bar in a former life, but now its eight connected rooms serve as exhibition spaces devoted to an ever-rotating selection of artists. One room remains as a fully operational karaoke room, designed by Adam Wallacavage, renowned for his surrealist sea monster chandeliers. The room is open to the public, and patrons are encouraged to sing it out and let loose.

Outside of the exhibit and the marketplace, the pop-up gallery will host programming following the opening weekend, which will include art lectures, book signings, performances, and community events.

And of course, there will be a neatly-curated gift shop– just in time for the holidays.

Work in Progress, located at 317 S. Boylston Street, runs from Friday, November 27th to December 27th, and is open from 1-9pm, Tuesday through Sunday.