Starting in mid- May, every Saturday afternoon, dozens of artists will gather at the Bronx Zoo event at La Cita, a small downtown bar on Hill and 5th streets nestled between bank buildings and lofts, for a live figure drawing class that is unlike any other in Los Angeles. Guests of all ages set up work stations and enjoy sangria in the spring weather as bikini-clad models in gorilla masks pose for their eager canvases. The class, appropriately titled Ape Escape, will be hosted by Ghettogloss, an up-and-coming art gallery in Silverlake. This will be the second annual Bronx Zoo event due to last year’s success.

The back patio, decorated with scarlet leather booths and dulled brass, vibrates with classic rock. Every fifteen minutes the bartender shakes a plastic toy monkey, whose electronic cry signifies a pose change. “I’ve done posing before, but never anything like this. I feel like a modern mythological beast; half woman, half ape” said Katinka Lincoln of last year’s event, “I definitely want that feeling again, so you can see me in the spring!”

“It gets so sticky inside these rubber masks, but at least we will have plenty of breaks and free cold drinks,” said veteran Ape Escape model, Tina Croghan.

The class will be held from 2 p.m.- 8p.m. and get increasingly crowded as the cocktails get cheaper with happy hour specials. With the exception of rowdy onlookers who caught word of models in couture lingerie and swimwear, the artists take the event very seriously. “The people who actually come for the figure drawing are here from opening to closing. They don’t come for the drinks or the girls, they come to draw,” according to Rachel Williams, the Bronx Zoo’s project manager. “We had so many compliments from last year about how we combine a professional atmosphere with a fun one,” added Williams.

Ape Escape is also a potential opportunity for the artists to have their work showcased at the gallery’s October 2009 drawing show. “Any opportunity we get, I love figure drawing, and the potential chance to get shown at Ghettogloss is priceless,” said artist and last year’s attendee Mel Trad. The winning sketches will bechosen by Shana Dambrot, the managing editor of Flavorpill, an online magazine.

“There’s no event like this anywhere else. Only in Los Angeles,” said Williams.

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La Cita
336 S Hill St
Los Angeles, CA, 90013
Monday-Sunday: 10AM-2AM