KrossD: 5 Questions with OM BLEICHER

Om Bleicher hails from Australia. He came out to California to visit family about nine years ago, and was taken with what he calls 'the wild west art scene' in Los Angeles. This led him to open bG Gallery in Santa Monica. Om is an interesting cat to say the least. He's a soft spoken gent, but in the short time I've known him, I've overheard him debating the relative merits of self-importance, and seen him strike up a spur of the moment chat about quantum physics.

Om has just opened a second gallery at Bergamot Station. The first show at the new space, Spectrum Gestalt (co-curated with Daniel Rolnik), is a sprawling group show hung salon style and grouped by color. Hanging the work this way ends up having a unifying effect on the art. Nothing is clashing, or at odds with one another. It's fascinating, and strangely soothing.

The second of his 'Spectacle' shows Art of the Spectacular opens this Saturday. I caught up with Om yesterday to throw 5 Questions at him.

1) It’s hard enough to run one gallery successfully. What possessed you to open a second?

Well, I just saw the space and it seemed pretty cool. I don’t know, I just have ideas and I want to make them happen.

2) Is Spectrum Gestalt an exercise in color theory? What prompted the idea?

I’m an artist as well as a gallerist. I have a few installations that use gestalt ideas. It’s a way to bring all the artists that I’ve worked with in the past together and introduce them to a new audience.

3) What kind art are you looking to show here?

I’m not afraid to show art that crosses genres. For instance, I’m not going to NOT show an artwork from the illustration world next a conceptual artwork. I’m looking for art that taps into the human condition, across fields.

4) What do you consider the most nauseating trend in art?

Hmmm, Damien Hirst dots? I think I’m sick of seeing, just people not taking risks, and gallerists second guessing their audience. Trends just come and go, you know?

5) Has a work of art ever made you cry?

Brought tears to my eyes? Yeah. There’s a piece by Courtney Reid, whose one of my artists, about three years ago. It’s called “Bald People” or something like that. Just the way that she paints---like, there’s no eyes in her paintings. So, it allows you to connect with it on a visceral level.

"Art Of The Spectacular" opens March 25

bG Gallery at Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Avenue
Space G8A
Santa Monica, CA 90404