Going Out of Business

I first met Anna Helwing when I was finishing grad school at UCLA in 2003. It was only a little more than five years ago, yet to me it seems longer. I was impressed with her ambition, intelligence and spirit, and also put at ease by her informality and candor. She brought me to a glass cutting shop on La Cienega Blvd., where there wasn’t one art gallery at the time, and told me this was to be her new space, and it didn’t look too promising. Nevertheless, I felt that is was important to take risks and be part of something new, and Anna seemed open to experiment and determined to do something unique, and she was excited to meet with some of my artist friends who were also just then graduating. So that’s how it started. We painted walls, spackled holes, and hung lights, there were roaches and break-ins, and somebody spilled red wine on one of my drawings at my first show. In fact, there were a lot of artist’s first shows there, and eventually second shows and more. We carved out an identity for ourselves, and I think we had a pretty good run. I hope that in the future people will look back and remember Anna Helwing Gallery as a friendly place where one could smoke inside, see some good art, and leave feeling better than when one came. It’s a place I am proud to have been a part of. And in our small way, I hope that we contributed something lasting to the cultural life of Los Angeles.

Karl Haendel
September 2008

Anna Helwing Gallery would like to announce its final exhibition, titled Going Out of Business, a group show organized by Karl Haendel and featuring Emilie Halpern, Skylar Haskard, Dawn Kasper, Lutz/Guggisberg, Spandau Parks, Robert Russell, Maya Schindler, Mindy Shapero, and Mario Ybarra Jr.. Closing the doors for good, Anna Helwing and her daughter Louisa will move back to Switzerland to be closer to family. The opening reception will be held on Saturday, October 11, 2008 from 6 to 8 pm.

The gallery is located on 2766 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90034. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11am to 6pm.Going Out of Business will run through October 25, 2008. For further information, please contact Anna Helwing Gallery at 310.202.2213.