Daniel Rolnik in his space. | Photo: Graham & Graham, courtesy of Daniel Rolnik Gallery. In partnership with The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles: The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles leads the community and leverages its resources to assure the continuity of the Jewish people.
Daniel Rolnik serves punk art with a smile. The 27-year-old proprietor of a La Cienega Boulevard gallery that bears his name, Rolnik works with up-and-comers and art scene cult figures. He collaborates frequently with John Kilduff, the L.A.-based artist known for his public access-turned-web series Lets Paint TV. The two have concocted unusual shows, like Kilduffs Flower Shop, where the artist painted flowers for Mothers Day, and Kilduffs Bakery at the L.A. Art Show, which brought together paintings of baked goods and steaming cups of coffee.
When asked for a photo at the L.A. Art Show, Rolnik, bearded and wearing a lightly paint-splattered apron over a hoodie, breaks into an open-mouthed grin as he lifts his hand to wave. Thats become his trademark pose, much like the word epic reads as his signature on text messages. Rolnik is gregarious, enthusiastic and 100 percent committed to making art accessible.
As a teenager, he played in Right Hand Band. That only lasted a year, but it took him into the L.A. DIY music scene. Rolnik, who also wrote for music publication L.A. Record around this time, hit up all the spots that were big with the semi-underground crowd in the mid-aughts. The Smell, Echo Curio, Il Corral, Pehrspace and 2nd Street Jazz were part of his turf. Now, hes bringing a similar cheerful disregard for the establishment to the L.A. gallery scene. Just as the DIY music scene was purposefully welcoming to local young people and artists who work outside of the mainstream, so is the Daniel Rolnik Gallery. Rolnik often arranges the output in record store-style bins. He paints the interior gallery walls in bright, friendly colors, lest you confuse it with the stark high-end establishments that surround him on the border of Los Angeles and Culver City.
Daniel Rolnik Gallery brought Kilduffs Bakery to L.A. Art Fair. | Photo: Liz Ohanesian.
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He shows artists who produce a lot of work and keep their prices low, sometimes high school-budget friendly. Rolnik occasionally goes out on road trips to find people to add to an artist roster that already includes the likes of Bwana Spoons, Turtle Wayne, Tripper Dungan, Kat Philbin and many more. He looks at the people as well as their art. Theyre artists and characters, he says of the group hes gathered through the gallery. They have to be fun to hang out with and work with to be part of this.
Inside a downtown coffee shop on a recent afternoon, Rolnik confesses that, as a child, he thought art was really, really boring. That all changed after his dad took him to a group show at La Luz de Jesus. Once he realized that art didnt have to be like the museum staples, he was hooked. He poked around the Internet and found artists like David Choe. Later, when he was studying music engineering at ExPression College for Digital Arts in Northern California, he launched an art magazine. When he graduated, Rolnik landed a job working for an art blog, which led to writing for many more online outlets. Then, back in Los Angeles, he started curating shows.
When he had a chance to sublet a gallery on Ocean Boulevard in Santa Monica for the equivalent of an apartments rent, he gave up his downtown pad, moved back in with his mom and set up shop. A little over a year later, after his time was up at the Santa Monica space, he landed the La Cienega spot, which opened in early March.
Daniel Rolnik Gallery display. | Photo: Graham & Graham, courtesy of Daniel Rolnik Gallery.
Recently, Rolnik has been podcasting with friend and fellow gallerist Eric Nakamura. Rolnik speaks of Nakamura, of Giant Robot fame, in the highest terms. Hes the coolest person, says Rolnik, the most inspiring person. The two originally met when Rolnik was 18 and wanted Nakamura to join a panel on toy makers that he was organizing at his school. He was hearing out my ideas and giving me ideas, advice, on what to do, says Rolnik. He didnt have to do that.
Last fall, after the Pasadena art event DesignerCon, Nakamura suggested that the two podcast together. I thought Daniel was the perfect partner, says Nakamura. Hes 20 years younger, hes energetic, with a perfect twisted sense of humor. Hes Jewish, Im Buddhist, hes inquisitive, and were both on a journey of doing art right.
Their show, The Jew and the Lotus, derives its name from the 1994 book on Judaism and Buddhism The Jew in the Lotus, which Rolnik remembers seeing on his mothers book shelf. Rolnik and Nakamura discuss their views on art, but identity can also be part of the conversation.
In the first episode of The Jew and the Lotus, Rolnik and Nakamura discussed their backgrounds extensively. They talked about how religion shaped their youth and about their family histories. Rolnik mentioned how a program in Poland brought his fathers family to the United States and how his maternal grandfather escaped Germany shortly before the Holocaust.
Weve been thinking more about how to weave that in too, the cultural stuff, like how hes Buddhist and Im Jewish, says Rolnik.
Daniel Rolnik and Eric Nakamura. | Photo: Graham & Graham, courtesy of Daniel Rolnik Gallery.
As a child, Rolnik lived primarily with his mother, who he says explored other forms of spirituality in addition to Judaism. I grew up around spirituality, he says, adding that he celebrated the Jewish holidays, but didnt keep kosher.
His connection to Judaism today, Rolnik says, is more cultural than strictly religious, although he also brings together his creative pals for occasional shabbat dinners. I identify as Jewish, but I dont really want to go to temple, h
