"Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown"

Chung King Road, Chinatown, L.A.

I love our Chinatown, especially on a cold, rainy November night. It's dark and mysterious, very film noir. The preview art show we attended at the Gregorio Escalante Gallery on Chung King Road is called "Dark Realism / Dark Surrealism," a perfect show for a moody night. The show opens officially to the public on December 3rd. You should definitely go!

We started our evening with some warm wor wonton soup at Foo Chow Restaurant, around the corner from the Gallery. This is a basic, American-style, throwback place with decent food. It's claim to fame is an appearance in Jackie Chan's movie, "Rush Hour." I especially like the mural on the side of the building.

Who is this mysterious lady, painted on the wall of Foo Chow's, Tokyo Rose?

After dinner, we approached the Gallery and saw that only a few people were inside. Perfect! I like preview shows because you really have a chance to actually see the artwork without a hundred people crowding the place.

The show in the main gallery, curated by artist Chet Zar, was a group show. The most prominent piece was this very large painting by Christopher Ulrich called "The Last Supper" with some rather different and disturbing images than the original!

"The Last Supper" by Christopher Ulrich, oil on wood, 202" x 106"

The downstairs gallery was completely taken over by the sculptures of Myron Conan Dyal.  These are very surreal sculptures and installations, made from papier-mâché, wood and other objects, painted wild colors. The basement is dark, with a low ceiling. The sculptures were lit with smaller lights. Scary-good.

Sculptures by Myron Conan Dyal

We must remember to visit Chinatown more often on winter nights!