It’s summer, so the art scene is easy—with a wide range of cool openings that help beat the heat.

Dani Dodge, Kristine Schomaker, Diane Williams

It was a hot, steamy evening at PØST gallery in the Bendix Building last night, but that didn’t stop an excited and engaged crowd from enjoying the wide array of print-based art in “Spell Check,” curated by Dani Dodge. Using lines and shapes of letters to make visual images, artists got viewers engaged figuring out not only what was said but why.

PØST: Julia Couzens, Sometimes I wake up full of holes (2018)

From a stunning large-scale pen-on-panel work by Bryan Ida to Alanna Marcelletti’s mixed media wall sculpture and Steven Fujimoto’s cross-stitched, etched-glass political punch, this entry in the gallery’s ongoing July “Kamikaze” series of pop-ups was a winner. Art lovers were out in force, with occasional forays into the hallway for the breeze of a fan and a cooler stocked with ice, wine and sparkling water. There were surprisingly un-melted chocolate almonds and cheese, too.

Larry Gipe and Alanna Marceletti

At The Loft Gallery in San Pedro last Thursday, viewers took in works of “Wood, Paper, and Paint.” More fans were buzzing in search of a breeze as a crowd ascended the freight elevator to the top floor space, where sculptors Michael Falzone, Michael Stearns and Ron Therrio offered bordering-on-surreal wood and paper works to viewers sipping wine and nibbling on grapes. It was cooling to step outside for an ocean breeze but cooler to see life-size plywood works by Therrio, among other highly tactile works.

Ron Therrio

Two strong group shows offered viewers a chance to beat the heat—they were even air-conditioned—at downtown’s Brewery art complex Sunday afternoon.

Frederika Roeder

Artcore at the Brewery showed off the 50 winners of “LA Artcore’s 4th Annual Juried Exhibition.” There was only water to drink, but that didn’t stop an art-outpouring of affection from artists and their fans, who crowded into the galleries from the moment the doors opened, viewing large scale oil on canvas works and mixed media that even included a door, a Bible and an epigram.

Kim Abeles

Around the corner at Shoebox Projects, 29 artists participated in the “CSUN Arts Alumni Small Works Show.” Artist Elizabeth Tinglof presented both tasty abstract art and homemade chocolate chip scones, with whipped cream, jam and mimosas. Speaking of diminutive, in Shoebox Project’s The Closet space, Kim Abeles created the immersive “3.9,” re-shaping the small space as a padded, confessional-like chamber for one visitor at a time. The exhibit held audio collected one minute a day for 3.9 years. Deemed by Abeles to be “the container of my life,” visitors fully engaged in the experience despite the heat, proving that great art weathers any weather.