stARTup Art Fair Returns to Los Angeles for Fourth Year

stARTup Art Fair takes over the Kinney Hotel in Venice Beach | Image: stARTup Art Fair and Mido Lee Productions

In addition to the art fairs — Art Los Angeles Contemporary (ALAC) and Frieze — taking place this weekend in Santa Monica and Hollywood respectively, the stARTup Art Fair also returns to The Kinney hotel in Venice, Calif. But unlike the aforementioned fairs, stARTup bypasses the traditional gallery system by bringing work directly to consumers. CalArts is one of stARTup’s Community Partners.

The 2019 edition of stARTup features work from more than 70 independent artists in various hotel rooms and spaces at The Kinney. All the StARTup fair participants are selected by a committee whose goal is to ensure a dynamic group of exhibitors. 

The fair, which opens on Friday (Feb. 15) at 2 pm and runs through Feb. 17, also incorporates public programming centered on the theme of art and technology. Included on the lineup are panels, performances and conversations from artists and local nonprofits as well as artificial intelligence and augmented reality installations.

Programming highlights include:

• Painter Lezler Saar and art critic Peter Frank in conversation;
• A presentation by artist Alexander Reben on human-machine collaboration and artificial intelligence;
• A discussion lead by art critic Sana Nys Dambrot on artists taking charge of their business; and
• Works from Jill Taffet, Camila Magrane, Tiffany Trenda and Venice Arts.

The full programming schedule can be found online.

A free shuttle runs between the stARTup Art Fair and Art Los Angeles Contemporary Art Fair at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica from noon-6 pm each day.