THE BEAT GOES ON

The Los Angeles collection of William Escalera and Francisco George focuses on the contemporary art scene.

William Escalera and Francisco George have their fingers on the pulse of contemporary art in Los Angeles. Francisco is a docent at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and William is a member and former chair of the museum’s Modern and Contemporary Art Council, which supports acquisitions for LACMA’s modern and dontemporary art departments. Both are members of LACMA’s collectors’ group Art Here and Now (AHAN): Studio Forum, which arranges visits to artist studios and acquires works for the museum’s collection.

The couple has also been jurors of the Los Angeles Art Association’s annual Out There exhibitions, celebrating the LGBT experience, at the association’s Gallery 825.

William began collecting decorative art reproductions when he was a boy and would go to Bullock’s Department Store—“but I was more interested in the architecture” of the art deco masterpiece, he recalls.

“I decorated my own room and when I moved into an apartment I bought colorful posters. A collector friend told me, ‘You have to go to Venice’ and she took me there,” William continues. That was the beginning of his interest in contemporary art, collecting then-unknowns such as Chuck Arnoldi, Laddie John Dill and Joe Goode. He and Francisco, who have been together for 10 years, continue to collect artists just emerging on the scene. “We go to look at emerging artists not yet quite famous,” he says.

“As a docent, Francisco looks at art in a different way than I do,” William says. “We go to studios and see the artists socially and get friendly with them. We like knowing more about the work and how it’s done and seek out up-and-coming artists and get to know them. Our collecting is organic. He’ll recommend something or I’ll recommend something. Sometimes it’s impulsive. Unless we’re going to an exhibition to see an artist in particular, we often have no intention of buying anything. But there’s always something we’re going to like. Francisco reads a lot. He fills me in and will say ‘Let’s go look.’

“In the beginning I only bought work from Jim Corcoran,” he explains. James Corcoran Gallery began the gallery boom in Santa Monica in 1986 when it moved there from West Hollywood.

“I’d buy something and live with it for a while and sometimes gave it away,” William says. “Taste does change. You go on to explore something else. We’re looking at different art than I looked at before. I would never have bought a pink resin box, which we bought at the

Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) auction. Carmen Argote is one of our LACMA AHAN artists. We now know what it means and find it creative…and she’s cool. We want to support Latino artists, especially women.”

Argote’s Object Box, 2017, now sits on top of a vintage Louis Vuitton trunk; Argote’s work was included in the Hammer Museum’s biennial Made in L.A. 2018.

Her sculpture sits in front of an amazing collection of bronzes, bas-reliefs and a drawing by the late Venice artist Robert Graham. Graham is known for his monumental sculptures including the gateway for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and the Great Bronze Doors of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles.

Aaron Fowler was also shown in Made in L.A. 2018. William shares, “I saw Aaron’s work and asked Franklin Sirmans, who is director of the Pérez Art Museum in Miami, if I should buy a piece. He told me to go for it. Aaron is now a huge deal.”

Cayetano Ferrer was born in Las Vegas and had his first museum show at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in 2015. He covered the floor of the museum’s historic Ludington Court with a carpet made of fragments of carpets from casinos such as Bellagio and Palms in Las Vegas. “We asked him to make one for our living room,” William says.

“We lived in a larger house before moving to the beach and sold a lot of art with the house,” he continues. “Francisco wants to rotate the art but I’m comfortable with it where it is. We’re about 30 feet from the ocean and the view is always there. Some days I don’t notice the art and other days I just stop and look.”

As for the pulse of contemporary art in Los Angeles? “The beat goes on,” William affirms. John O’Hern, who has retired after 30 years in the museum business, specifically as the Executive Director and Curator of the Arnot Art Museum,

Elmira, N.Y., is the originator of the internationally acclaimed Re-presenting Representation exhibitions which promote realism in its many guises. John was chair of the Artists Panel of the New York State Council on the Arts. He writes for gallery publications around the world, including regular monthly features on Art Market Insights and on Sculpture in Western Art Collector magazine.

1 To the right of the window is Jesse Edwards’ ceramic Speedy Gonzales, 2017. The large piece is Chuck Arnoldi’s stick construction. The paintings on the right, from top, are Mulholland Drive by Ramiro Gomez, and two paintings by Carlos Almaraz (1941-1989). The granite Los Angeles cityscape on the floor is by Diane Buckman. The rug is by Cayetano Ferrer and made from casino carpet fragments.

3 On the wall to the left is a collage by George Herms. On the top shelf is a painting by Michael Chearney next to Jeff Koon’s Cracked Egg (Red). On the next shelf down are works by Andy Moses and Chearney. On the shelf below is a pointing finger auction paddle by Alex Israel. The box on the next shelf is a House by Tony Berlant. Beneath it is a painting by Leonel Matheu. At the bottom are two bitumen in acrylic pieces from the In Memoriam series, 2015/2016, by Tony Vazquez-Figueroa.

5 The large piece on the left is by Robert Graham (1938-2008). Next to it are four works by Tony Brown. The circular piece is Sundial by Pamela Jorden. On the floor is ART by Fernando Moro. In the center is a piece by William Escalera’s nephew, Emilio González. The painting on the right is Another Sunny & Sinister 96 Degrees in LA by Mark Verabioff. On the table in the foreground is a piece by Russ Havard.

4 High on the wall is a work by Ron Davis. Beneath it is After the Party, 1979, serigraph, by Andy Warhol (1928-1987). The piece to the right is by Tony Brown.

6 Sitting on an antique Louis Vuitton trunk is Object Box, 2017, by Carmen Argote. On the wall behind are sculptures and drawings by Robert Graham. On the wall to the right are a model Tucker automobile dipped in tar by Mattia Biagi and a Plexiglas map of Santa Monica by Patrick Bion. On the left in the living room are Jesse Edwards’ ceramic, Speedy Gonzalez, 2017 and Chuck Arnoldi’s stick and paint construction.

7 An iris painting by Billy Al Bengston from 1980 hangs above the fireplace and a small painting of his is on the right wall. The boxes are from travels around the world. The chair is a vintage Eames side chair. 8 Above the windows is a paper sculpture by Vincent Tomczyk. The large piece is Vote by Joe Deutch. The square piece next to the orchid is by Joey Terrill. 9 William Escalera and Francisco George in their California home. Behind them, at left, is a large work by Gonzalo Fuenmayor. In front of it on the chest is the maquette for Plumed Serpent (Quetzalcóatl) by Robert Graham (1938-2008). On the right is an African sculpture embodying welcome. On the table is a commissioned ceramic globe by Ry Rocklen. 10 In the bedroom, the triptych is Scored Clouds, 1977, by Joe Goode. The two small pieces above the lamp are by Vincent Tomczyk. Above the bed is Boogie Bad Ass, an assemblage by Aaron Fowler.