A buck naked Michelan Man, radioactive chicken heads, a dinosaur dog and a blob of liquid fat attacking a gallery full of art hung on yellow, pink AND green walls. Sound like a really intense acid trip? Nope. Just a party at Daniel Rolnik Gallery. 

This Saturday night we decided to attend “Kilduff’s Cavern”—the opening of a new art exhibit, featuring original paintings by John Kilduff (Let’s Paint TV) at a new Culver City gallery where we weren’t exactly sure what we were getting ourselves into. Tucked away inside a courtyard shared by Egg Office and Paul Loya Gallery (look for the sassy wooden sign in the driveway) Daniel Rolnik Gallery stands out in a neighborhood of blue-chip bourgeoisie. It’s one part brick-and-mortar store selling artist goods, one part gallery showing artist goods, and a lot of parts personality—showing their own goods. 

The aforementioned naked Michelin Man was in fact a real thing performed by naked actor/art model Michael Q. Schmidt who wore a special sash, filmed parts of the evenings, and generally sat around taking photos with people. Apparently he’s been a muse of John Kilduff’s for quite some time. Comedy punk band Radioactive Chicken Heads (wasn’t a joke) played a wild set where a fake blob of liquid fat did in fact try to eat the band and the gallery (also wasn’t a joke) while a dog dressed in a dinosaur suit (none of this is a joke!) ran around barking in excitement.

This, we realized, is the Art World’s B Side at its best. Openings that feel accessible, wild, off beat, and a little off guard. Artwork you can afford, artists that don’t take themselves too seriously, a gallery that doesn’t take itself too seriously. This was fun. Unorthodox maybe but when was the last time we felt like an opening at say, Blum & Poe, was fun?