A Glancing Blow with Richard Newton
Los Angeles artist and filmmaker Richard Newton was in the audience for the panel “Collecting: A Critical Perspective; The Changing Market Roundtable,” getting lots of new insight into the game of collecting at photo l.a. in Santa Monica last weekend.
After the panel, we visited the Jancar Gallery space where Newton showed the photo documentation of his 1979 cult hit “A Glancing Blow,” an hilarious film showing cars intentionally side-swiping one another on two famous roads in Los Angeles. Newton shows a cleverly assembled photo-montage, entitled A Glancing Blow–in the Driver’s Seat.
The film tracks the crash-action in two locations: one site is on the Fourth Street Bridge in Boyle Heights, crossing over the Los Angeles River heading into East L. A., and the other is a five-way intersection on Sunset Boulevard near the Beverly Hills Hotel.
The documentation photograph is mounted on aluminum and paired with the steering wheel from the white Dodge Dart GT, a collectible remnant from the filmed performance.
Jancar Gallery will be showing at ALAC, Art Los Angeles Contemporary, opening Thursday at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.