Can art effect a green cultural shift — without being preachy? That’s the goal of SHFT’s popup gallery in downtown Los Angeles. SHFT — a multimedia platform founded by Entourage’s Adrian Grenier, film producer Peter Glatzer, and sustainable designer Lauren Gropper, debuted its shop-and-gallery during Downtown Art Walk last Thursday, attracting hundreds of Angelenos out to see eco-art, do a little green shopping, and hopefully spot Grenier (above).

 

He wasn’t at Art Walk, but did come to the less crowded opening party on Saturday night to talk about SHFT and see the art show, curated by Edie Kahula-Pereira. “It was about interpreting SHFT’s mission about sustainability,” says Edie, who sought out artworks that weren’t over-the-top preachy. “Basically, awareness — and nothing really literal.”

 

 

That meant pieces like Luigia Martelioni’s Nature of Nature (above, right) — made with recycled plastic cups and a found eucalyptus tree branch, Anaïs Wade’s photographs of an etherial-looking Los Angeles from her Under The Same Sky Series, and Ramon Coronado’s Mercado Negro — a surprisingly comfortable chaise crafted out of a repurposed shopping cart.

 

 

The temporary SHFT spot’s a shop as well as a gallery — with many of the eco-friendly items on sale also artfully handcrafted out of reclaimed materials. That meant I often couldn’t tell the difference between what was technically considered art, and what consumer products — perhaps showing the fine line between art and commerce.

 

 

The definitive way I could differentiate between the two: Labels for the “shop” items listed the price, while labels for the “art gallery” items did not. To buy the latter, you had to find the price list for the artworks.

 

 

MNN’s tech blogger Karl Burkhart was also at the party, so we took an MNN photo together! How close do we resemble our caricatures?

 

 

SHFT’s pop up space is on the first floor of the Continental Building at 408 S. Spring St., and is open by appointment through May 26.