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.