LOS ANGELES— Normally it’s New York you expect big things from—big galleries, big collectors, bit art stars, big buildings. But with its youthful energy and casual wealth, Southern California is setting itself up to be the next major center of the global art world.

The signs have been flashing there for a while: Hollywood moguls buying up high-priced artworks and funding special wings at the Hammer Museum and Los Angeles County Museum of Art. And student artists from CalArts, UCLA and other hot MFA programs, whose solo shows open before the ink on their diploma is even dry.

The anticipation for an explosion is palpable from all sides of the local art community. Over the next two weeks, their theories will be tested, when four (yes, four) art fairs open in Los Angeles as part of Art Week LA.

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Photo L.A.

The first weekend of Art Week LA belongs solely to the venerable Photo L.A., taking place at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium from Jan. 19-21.

At 15 years, it’s considered the oldest art event in the city, and with 73 exhibitors, it is the largest photography fair in the country. (Followed only by its recent offshoots in San Francisco, New York and Miami.)

Organizer and L.A. gallery owner Stephen Cohen is quick to point out, though, that the fair’s size is not as important as its quality. There will be more contemporary work on display this year, he notes. And the roster features a respectable smattering of international galleries, including Hackelbury Fine Art, from London; Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, from Paris; and Galleria PaciArte Contemporary, from Brescia, Italy.

The current market in Los Angeles is learning to expect a high-quality presentation, explained Cohen. “People think of this as a movie town, but it’s a lot more than that,” he said. “There have always been artists in L.A., but now, with the increased exposure of its art museums like the Hammer, it’s like a domino effect.”

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Los Angeles Art Show

Angelinos are also developing more progressive tastes, becoming less like decorators and more like serious collectors, observed Kim Martindale, producer of the Los Angeles Art Show, now in new quarters at the Barker Hangar from Jan. 24-28.

“When you have the artist base and the collector base focused on serious art, that’s the perfect storm, the perfect combination of two worlds working to make Los Angeles into the center of the arts,” Martindale said.

In its original form, the L.A. Art Show, organized by the Fine Art Dealers Association, focused only on Old Masters and Impressionists. But in response to the market, the fair has added more dealers showing contemporary work to its lineup, and it is even building a pavilion adjacent to the Barker Hangar designated for Modern and contemporary art.

Among the newer exhibitors are Gemini G.E.L. (Los Angeles), Pace Prints (New York) and Charles Cowles Gallery (New York).

“I see this fair as having a combination of historic through contemporary art” that will most benefit newer collectors, who may have preconceived notions about art, remarked Martindale. “The show gives viewers an opportunity to see more art—and a wider range of it—to test their theories. You might be looking for 19th-century painting and then walk by a contemporary booth and see something you love, which suddenly changes all your ideas. I saw it happen last year, and it proved, to me, the importance of a diverse fair.”

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ArtLA 2007

Occurring at the same time as the L.A. Art Show, but with an entirely different ambition, the ArtLA fair is being held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium from Jan. 25-28.

A mere three-year-old toddler in this clique of teenagers, ArtLA is now finding its niche. This year, the fair has gathered a collection of primarily local galleries to create what director Tim Fleming calls “an intimate affair.”

“We’ve really worked to bring together the L.A. people and galleries to give local dealers a real sense of ownership of the effort,” he said. The response from the city has been remarkable, he added. Of the 53 exhibitors participating in ArtLA this year, almost two-thirds are based in Southern California.

One major supporter of the fair has been gallery owner Daniel Hug, who helped bring in other local galleries, noted Fleming. Another critical ally was Fredric Snitzer from Miami, who will be using the fair to gain a toehold in the L.A. market.

But for most of the local galleries, such as Patrick Painter, the fair provides an opportunity to support the local art community. “Although our gallery shows artists who exhibit internationally, our focus has always been on Los Angeles and strengthening the reputation of Los Angeles artists internationally,” said gallery co-director Heather Harmon.

Her gallery plans to exhibit many of the California notables have helped fuel interest in the West Coast for decades, such as Mike Kelley, Richard Prince, Francesca Gabbiani and Larry Johnson. In contrast, other galleries will mirror the youth-driven city they inhabit by presenting more cutting-edge artwork, with a strong concentration of challenging video and new media.

The local non-profit outfit Machine Project, for instance, is planning a series of live presentations titled “Electroperformance,” that could include anything from free haircuts set to ambient music, to the construction of an 8-foot volcano out of live flowers.

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Los Angeles Fine Print Fair

Rounding out the week’s events, the Los Angeles Fine Print Fair is being co-hosted by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the UCLA Hammer Museum from Jan. 26-28.

At least 25 exhibitors from the International Fine Print Dealers Association will be participating in the event, including Marlborough Graphics, Crown Point Press, Leslie Sacks Fine Art and Graphicstudio from the University of South Florida (which was an ArtInfo favorite at last month’s Ink fair in Miami).

Their offerings will cover more than five centuries of fine prints, from Old Masters—Rembrandt, Durer—to a large representation of modern and contemporary pieces by Rauschenberg, Lewitt, Ruscha and Twombly, among many, many others.

Though the collection of exhibitors hails from throughout the U.S. and abroad, there is little doubt that the visitor base will include a large contingent of high-profile local collectors, especially with the combined power of two of the city’s best and most loved museums behind it.