“Hey, I thought this thing started at 6 o’clock?” Yeah, so did everyone else. As the time neared 6:20, variations of this conversation could be heard throughout the main foyer of the Hammer where many eager (read impatient) gallerygoers and who’s who stood around waiting as we were the early guests on the VIP list of Museum Director Ann Philbin. The restlessness in the room was boiling over; everyone was more than ready to get a glimpse of veteran painter Lari Pittman’s major retrospective “Lari Pittman: Declaration of Independence” this past Saturday night. (Well, it was that or the open bar which would only last until 8, as then it’s open to the public and cash bar only)

Annie Philbin.

Ready to storm the foyer stairs and trample the excess of volunteer staff, we were relieved to hear the reception was finally open so we could enter with our civility and humanity intact. Approaching the doors to the first gallery, I was stunned to see the majority of the crowd was already on its way out the other side. Could they really have zipped through so quickly? But the booze was waiting and it had an expiration on it. (It’s always about the open bar, folks.)

Installation view.

Keeping focus on the art, Pittman’s exhibition sprawled across the walls of both major galleries of the Hammer in a dizzying sensory-overload (just one painting can keep one occupied for hours)—an impressive amount of square footage matching equally to the impressive scale of his works. After doing a preliminary walkthrough, I realized something else was sprawling in scale: Otis faculty and alumni. Did we miss the memo? Was this opening actually an umpteenth reunion for the Fine Arts department? We first ran into Kathrin Burmester, artist and acting assistant chair and assistant prof at Otis College of Art + Design followed by fellow artist and faculty member Judie Bamber. Of course, Roy Dowell was close to Pittman’s side, being his SO for decades (and faculty at Otis).

Roy Dowell and Lari Pittman.

Andrew Berardini and Meghan Gordon.

After pulling ourselves away from Otis’ unofficial official reunion, we joined the crowds circling the food and bar setup. We spotted some LA greats and usual suspects such as Ry Rocklen and Todd Gray. Andy Moses was, dare I say, moseying around and even Carol Eliel, senior curator of Modern Art at LACMA was spotted making the rounds in support of Pittman’s evening. Other guests included LA Times staff-writer Carolina Miranda, art critic/curator Andrew Berardini, former KCRW’s art spokesman Edward Goldman, Regen Projects’ President/Owner Shaun Caley—she better be there!—painters John Sonsini, Sandeep Mukherjee and so many others!

Carolina Miranda and guests.

I felt ready to leave, but was also unsure if I had really attended an LA art world event of note. Feeling torn on the subject, I turned the corner to see Jonas Wood in a not-quite-yet vintage bucket hat with Shio Kusaka by his side. And with that, I could rest assured—it was time to go.

Jonas Wood and Shio Kusaka on the bench.

On our way out, almost at the doors to the inexplicable “cash only” parking lot (its LA, get a Square), we were stopped by one final Otis Fine Art affiliate late to the reunion, Benjamin Weissman. Unsure if he was on the list, and hoping to sneak in a self-identified “posse,” we gave him our ticket and wished him the best. Godspeed, Ben.