Love at First Sight: The Molly Barnes Collection is the second in a series of exhibitions at Pharmaka focusing on important Los Angeles collections, born out of passion, that would otherwise not be seen by the public. Molly Barnes is both a collector and an art dealer who has helped to shape the LA art scene from the 1960s to the present by discovering and introducing artists to the public.

"The work I've bought has always caused a strong reaction in my gut and then later in my imagination," says Molly. “As Gertrude Stein once said, a person can afford one obsession: horses, clothes or art. If the addiction is art, the collector will buy second hand clothes in order to support their habit.”

Molly Barnes became interested in Abstract Expressionism while living in East Hampton

when the painter, Joan Mitchell, introduced her to Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, Conrad Marca-Relli and James Brooks. After working at several galleries, Molly opened her first Los Angeles gallery on La Cienega in 1967. A major presence in the art world on both coasts ever since, she has shown work by more than 500 artists at her galleries in Los Angeles and New York, as well as curating several dozen

major shows.

Molly Barnes has always trusted her instincts when choosing which artists to collect. In addition to Love at First Sight what Molly looks for is: what movement is yet to be explored, what movement is coming next, who are the best representatives of that movement; and which artists from the past have influenced the current trends. Molly's wide-ranging and eclectic personal collection features work by the artists she loves.

Artists featured in the show include: Peter Alexander, Carlos Almerez, David Amico, Chuck Arnoldi, Don Bachardy, John Baldessari, Billy Al Bengston, Warren Brant, Judy Chicago, Larry Cohen, Robert Cottingham, Ron Davis, Jim DeFrance, Laddie John Dill, Marcel Duchamp, Dennis Dutzi, Simone Gad, Red Grooms, Phyllis Herfield, George Herms, Tom Holland, Richard Jackson, Jeremy Kidd, Tony King, Willem de Kooning, Mark Kostabi, Gary Lang, Jerry McMillen, Jim Morphesis, Martin Mull, Alice Neal, Claes Oldenberg, Ray Parker, Picasso, Frank Roth, Ed Ruscha, Nikki de Saint Phalle, Tom Slaughter, Don Sorenson, Sam Tchakalian, Vasa, Robert Walker and Tom Wudhl.