A wildly busy night of openings marked the first night of the fall art season in Los Angeles, with terrific new shows running from the west side to the east.

On Thursday in San Pedro, a terrific combo of poetry and art took over Michael Stearns Gallery, while a freight-elevator ride away, guests enjoyed watermelon, mineral water, cheese and crackers at an astonishing series of primarily sculptural works in the four artist Scavengers.

J Renee Tanner and her work at Michael Stearns.

We started our steamy hot Saturday evening in Culver City, with a wide range of openings that included the exciting figurative work of Laura Krifka at Luis de Jesus Gallery. An eager crowd circled Krifka, who described her lustrous, detailed works, many of which depict barely clad figures in lovely, natural poses, as taking many months to complete. Overheard: “They seem so alive, like these people see me watching them.” Perhaps they did.

Laura Krika and her work at Luis de Jesus.

At Walter Maciel, the astonishing vivid and dimensional abstracts of Brendan Lott made a terrific contrast with the more delicate abstracted landscaped of Cynthia Ona Innis; and speaking of dimension, the looks-like-real-bubble wrap but really a fascinating use of layered acrylic paint at Anat Ebgi drew astonished, champagne-sipping viewers up close and personal with the artworks. Tammi Campbell’s exhibition Boring Art was anything but. “I love to see people’s reactions,” Campbell laughed. Fabrik hosted the wonderfully evocative black and white photographic images of Maureen Haldeman; at George Billis, we were especially taken by the rich figurative landscape work of Bruce Everett, but both other exhibiting artists were compelling, Josh Dorman and Jennifer Joseph. Joseph, just moved to LA from New Mexico, and her bright abstracts glowed like the sun.

Bruce Everett and his work at George Billis.

Jennifer Joseph and her work at George Billis.

Moving to La Brea Avenue galleries, the jubilant crowd at Launch enjoyed the two-artist exhibition Beyond/Within featuring the work of Samuelle Richardson and Joy Ray. The pairing of Richardson’s gorgeous fabric sculptures of birds and faces with Ray’s dark, vital abstracts was a joy. Viewers mingled and lingered, creating a crunch when it came to photographs. Overheard: “Saying everyone smile for a photo here, is like herding cats.” A visit to the vivid, large-scale spiritual paintings of Naudline Pierre at Shulamit Nazarian – who shared that this was her last exhibition in LA before heading to an NYRC residency, was followed by a stop at the well-curated group show Chroma at KP Projects. Guests sipped watermelon/jalapeno cocktails and enjoyed a wide range of vividly colored work from Modigliani-esque sculptures to pop-surrealism – as well as some welcome air conditioning.

Viewers photographing Beyond/Within at Launch.

Naudline Pierre with gallerist Shulamit Nazarian at her solo-exhibition.

Heading downtown, we took in a group of galleries in the Bendix Building. At Track 16, along with a great view of city lights, there was a terrific, pointed solo exhibition that included a full wall of blue and white tiles riffing on traditional Dutch images. Elyse Pignolet’s You Should Calm Down is a trenchant look at our current political/social mores. Another must-see with a political bend was the group show packing the wine and Tecate sipping house at Durden and Ray. Regime of Images included video, sculptural, and painted works that dazzled in virtuosity. Other stops for the night included mixed media works at A+B Projects, 515, TSA, Monte Vista, and Cathedral, all strong shows in the Bendix Building. As the night wound down, running into other art goers familiar from earlier exhibitions became something of a running gag. Meeting by the Bendix elevators, the ironic greeting was “What a surprise seeing you here.”

Dani Dodge and Jenny Hager with Roni Feldman by his work at Durden and Ray.

Elyse Pignolet with her work at Track 16.

We saw 19 galleries in all – and still so many great shows to pick up another time. So much art, so little time in one evening.