99 Cents Store Becomes Pop-Up Gallery
An abandoned 99 Cents Only store in Los Angeles has been transformed into a pop-up art gallery for one week. The temporary exhibition illustrates LA's dynamic approach to repurposing urban spaces for cultural programming and represents the city's ongoing creativity in making art accessible through unconventional gallery experiences. The project demonstrates how vacant retail spaces can be reimagined as cultural venues.
- The pop-up, titled "99CENT," is a free exhibition located at 6121 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, just a block from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. - The exhibition is spearheaded by artist Gary Baseman with support from The Hole, a contemporary art gallery with locations in New York and Los Angeles, and the Jeffrey Deitch Gallery. - Featured artists include prominent figures like San Francisco-based street artist Barry McGee, who has works in the Museum of Modern Art, and Gary Baseman, known for his work on the Disney cartoon "Teacher's Pet" and the board game Cranium. - The installation is described as an "artist flea market" and features a wide range of art, from paintings and sculptures to video art displayed on shelves and even shopping carts suspended from the ceiling. - The 99 Cents Only store chain, founded by Dave Gold in Los Angeles in 1982, announced in April 2024 that it was closing all 371 of its stores across California, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. - The company cited several reasons for its closure, including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, shifting consumer demand, and rising inflation. - The closure of the popular discount chain resulted in the layoff of approximately 14,000 employees. - The exhibition is part of a larger trend of art events coinciding with Frieze LA, an annual art fair that brings together numerous galleries and artists in the city.
