The New York Times‘s travel team discovers a gallery community growing in Hollywood:

SINCE its glamorous heyday, Hollywood has become better-known for lingerie stores and head shops, strip clubs and by-the-hour motels. But in the last few years, the flashing neon lights of “Girls Girls Girls” have had to vie for attention with neighbors of a different breed — a new collection of contemporary art galleries.

“This place is full of colorful characters,” said Michael Benevento, owner of the three-year-old Michael Benevento Gallery (7578 Sunset Boulevard; 323-874-6400; www.beneventolosangeles.com), among the first on the Sunset Strip. […]

Just down the block, Khastoo (7556 Sunset Boulevard; 323-472-6498; www.khastoo.com), a gallery opened late last year by Leila Khastoo, a 27-year-old Los Angeles native, features up-and-coming artists, many of them based in Tehran (Ms. Khastoo is herself of Iranian descent). […]

Continue down Sunset and you’ll find the monochromatic exterior of the Overduin and Kite gallery (6693 Sunset Boulevard; 323-464-3600; www.overduinandkite.com). Selecting Hollywood over the gallery-lined streets of Chinatown or Bergamot Station in Santa Monica was seen as a strategic choice for Lisa Overduin, the gallery’s co-owner. […]

Three blocks south of Sunset is the Circus Gallery (7065 Lexington Avenue; 323-962-8506; www.circus-gallery.com).

Hollywood’s Fine Art Outpost (New York Times)