July in Downtown L.A.: 31 art shows for 31 days at PØST

Conventional wisdom has it that during the summer, things in the art world come to a grinding halt. Well, not at PØST, the alternative art space founded and run by Iranian-born artist HK Zamani. Starting July 1 (tomorrow!), the downtown L.A. space hosts one of its annual “Kamikaze” shows, consisting of 31 different exhibitions over the course of July’s 31 days.

Things get started Tuesday, with a video installation by the Long Beach-based duo JEFF&GORDON, and end July 31 with a show of abstract works by L.A.-based painters Rema Ghuloum and Kevin Scianni. In between are one-day exhibits of video, performance, readings, textile pieces, mixed-media assemblages, more paintings and even a combination BBQ/group show for Fourth of July.

It’s all a little bit seat-of-the-pants, with a revolving door of emerging and established SoCal artists headed in and out of the space. Says Zamani via email: “I don’t know what is going to happen until it happens in most cases.”

What’s certain is that for tomorrow’s kickoff show, JEFF&GORDON have created a video of themselves polishing the cement floors at PØST and crooning a well-known pop ditty. Gordon Winiemko, one-half of the pair, says their piece examines issues of labor, gender and process, with plenty of “gentle pans back and forth.”

On a more basic level, I’m sure the gallery is delighted to have a glittering floor.

“Kamikaze” runs from July 1 to July 31, 1904 E. 7th Pl., downtown Los Angeles, postlosangeles.org.