Favorite Goods
Address: 936 1/2 Chung King Road, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Contact: info@favoritegoodslosangeles.com
Website: www.favoritegoodslosangeles.com
Phone: 323-488-3289
Open Hours: Thursdays 6-10, Saturday 12-5.
How is the project operated?
It’s an artist-run space. We are not a nonprofit, and also don’t consider ourselves a commercial gallery.
How long has it been in existence?
Favorite Goods opened in October 2011.
What was your motivation?
We moved to Los Angeles in March 2011 and wanted to open a space to be able to bring in artists from out of town to share with a new audience. Opening Favorite Goods was part of a decision to live and work in Los Angeles for a while, and has been helpful in allowing us to meet new people and work with the existing community. As well, Ryan has run two art spaces in Cincinnati, David Shoe (2003-2005) and Junior (2007-2009), so for him running a public project is a part of his practice.
Number of organizers/responsible persons of the project.
2 – Ryan Fabel and Audrey Moyer.
How are programs funded?
Programming is funded mostly by our own money with the help of an occasional sale, private event, and grant. So far we’ve sold two pieces, sold exhibition catalogues and received tips from the bar at our NO DANCING: The Mountain School of Arts class of 2012 group show. For Trouble Rainbow II, because we were working with Swiss artists, the exhibition was sponsored by three Swiss organizations in the US, Los Angeles, and Switzerland. We’ve hosted an alumni event for Audrey’s alma mater as a way to fund our fourth show.
Who is responsible for the programming?
The two of us put together the programming, but we also invite guest curators to organize exhibitions. Since opening, we’ve worked with Martine Syms and Sarah Walzer as guest curators. This September artist Amy Howden-Chapman will be putting together a show.
Number and average duration of exhibitions/events per year.
Since October 2011 we’ve had eight exhibitions that are 4-5 weeks long and a handful of one-night events. Moving forward our exhibitions will be 5-6 weeks long.
What kind of events are usually organized?
So far all of our exhibitions have been group shows. This fall we are excited to have Aude Pariset (b. France, lives/works in Berlin) for our first solo show.
How is your programming determined?
We organize shows to be in conversation with each other regarding the continuity of our programming. It has been important for us to both be able to bring in artists that we like as well as work with other curators, allowing them to take over the space periodically.
Do you accept proposals/submissions?
Yes we accept proposals, however all of the artists and curators we’ve worked with have been invited by us.
What is your artistic/curatorial approach?
We collaborate with artists, curators, creative people who we think are producing work that is conceptually and aesthetically challenging.
What’s working? What’s not working?
What’s working is the space and our location. We love the energy, other art spaces, scenery of Chinatown. We’ve had a good response from the community, which is really positive. What’s not working is funding the project. We get by, but we’re always trying to figure out how to actually be profitable by trying to sell more work, finding sponsorship for exhibitions, and finally opening the store section of Favorite Goods. We’ll have amazing books, zines, records, tapes, objects made by the artists we work with and our friends, we just have yet to dedicate a section of the space as well as add a web store to our site.
What kind of role do you hope to play in your local art scene or community?
We’d like to continue to work within the community that exists while also bringing in a new energy by working with artists from outside of Los Angeles. The artists we are working with are from all over the US, Europe, and this fall we will be showing work by artists from Canada, New Zealand, France and Germany.
What idea are you most excited about for the future?
The reason we started the space – to work with other artists and form and facilitate positive experiences – and continuing to work with artists that we really like.
Images courtesy of Favorite Goods
Sarah Croop is an undergraduate American Culture Studies student at Washington University in St. Louis. Her work explores the intersection between the photographic object, specifically in the vernacular of the family snapshot, and the psychology of memory, and how the interaction between these is changing in the age of digital photography and social media.
