The exhibition not to miss this past weekend was the jam-packed opening at the Brand Library and Gallery in Glendale. With Sway, curated by Chenhung Chen, artists Debbie Carlson, Chenhung Chen, Gina Herrera, Echo Lew, Snezana Saraswati Petrovic, Linda Sue Price, and A.M. Rousseau offered an exciting exhibition involving lines and kinetically energetic images using diverse materials. The buzz was palpable as impressed viewers took in Price’s dazzling neon art; Chen’s graceful wire sculptures; two of Rousseau’s rich, large-scale painted series; and Petrovic’s jaw-dropping mixed-media installations. Deeply engaged guests wandered the galleries, meeting the artists, sipping wine, and nibbling on veggies, cheese, and charcuterie. Lew explained his mind-blowing light-created line techniques while Herrera’s found art wall sculptures and Carlson’s seemingly gravity-defying sculptural installations surprised many viewers. “How did they do that?” was a constant murmur. Guests photographed and posed by Chen’s delicate crocheted copper pieces, Price’s mesmerizing animated neon works, and Petrovic’s astonishing room-size installation that took viewers under the sea, and into Instagram-ready moments.

Linda Sue Price and her work.

Chenhung Chen sculpture.

A.M. Rousseau and her work.

Saraswati Petrovic installation.

In downtown LA, Quotidian offered COLLAPse, featuring the works of artists Rodney McMillian, Rosalyn Myles, Miguel Osuna, Jenny Hager, Charles Dickson, April Banks, Joe Davidson, Ana Rodriguez and Roy Thurston. California-based artists’ works here came in a variety of mediums: Hager’s large-scale vibrant abstracts gathered a crowd, as did Dickson’s found-materials sculpture. The sculpture, which took the floor just inside the gallery entrance, gathered a crowd around the affable Dickson, who posed for photos with his fans and demurred when receiving compliments on his always innovative work.

Jenny Hager painting.

Curator Jill Moniz.

Charles Dickson and his work.

And at the Brewery’s Shoebox Projects, Debbie Korbel presented her Strange Circus of sculptures that included clowns, copulating animals, and poignant freak-show figures. Guests enjoyed kettle corn, freshly-made “Unicorn” popcorn, and pink plastic flutes of champagne while taking in the show: no ringmaster regulated the lively opening. In The Closet: original $10 postcard art from a wide range of local artists; sales from the postcards benefitted the ACLU, Planned Parenthood and the Trevor Project, and drew strong interest.